Page 50 of Between Wrath and Mercy

At one point, I thought I might get the upper hand when I hit him in the shoulder and he stumbled, but he quickly recovered and kicked my foot out from under me. When he helped me up, he gave me quite a compliment, and I hadn’t stopped grinning since.

“Almost ready. I had Dickey rearrange some things on the horses so you can have your own.” I wasn’t sure how he managed it considering one packhorse had been killed in the tírrúil attack. I was grateful for some space between us; it would make it easier for me to distance myself from our conversation the night before.

“Dewalt said you’ll have your hands full with me.” I nodded to the training swords in my hand.

His voice was deadpan when he retorted. “I didn’t need Dewalt to tell me that.” I didn’t think he was only talking about sword fighting.

“Here ya go, Lady Emmeline. This is Clyde.” Dickey joined us with an older buckskin horse and a smile. “I think I have all your things but let me know if you need anything.” He practically ran back to where the pack horses were.

“Thank you, Dickey!” I called out to him and got a wave in response.

“He’s a good kid. He’s going to love you forever for fixing his arm and being so nice to him.” Rainier smiled as he watched Dickey run off.

“Are people not nice to him here?” I crossed my arms. I was about to find out who was mean and have it out with them.

“That’s not what I meant. A lot of the soldiers just don’t have time for the young ones, but you made time.”

“He was injured.” I shrugged.

“You missed it this morning.” Lavenia came walking up to me with a hand on her hip. I stared at her blankly, not sure what she was talking about. “The shifters.”

“Oh no,” I groaned. “I completely forgot.”

“I’m sure you’ll see them again one way or another.” Lavenia smiled as she walked off to her horse. In truth, part of me hadn’t wanted to see them. The twins. It was almost a punch to the gut to think about. I turned to my horse and saw my bow and quiver were there, sent from Ravemont while Bree was kept behind. I added my pack I had with me and strapped the training swords to the horse as well. I approached Clyde and held out a hand, and the good-natured old horse pushed his snout into it.

“Well met, friend.” I smiled and petted him for a moment before clambering on the saddle, in a lighter mood than I had been. I’d worked out some energy, discovered new aspects of my divinity, and felt more hopeful than I had in days.

Chapter 18

Ispentthedayin my thoughts. I couldn’t believe I was finding out things about my own divinity this far into my life. I was extremely grateful for it, as I would have been dead without it, but I was still processing the shock of it. Was I stronger than I thought, and I just hadn’t practiced enough to know? Maybe I could have helped Lucia. I’d just wrapped my head around the fact that there was nothing I could have done, but now I began to second guess. But I tried to banish the thoughts, remembering that I hadn’t even come into my full divinity when she died. Still, it gnawed at me. I began to wonder about the limitations of my abilities. Obviously, my divinity couldn’t heal me if I had my head chopped off, but would it work if I was stabbed in the heart? Would the onaán have killed me if not for my divinity? Curious, I pulled out my dagger, and sliced my palm open.

“Hanwen’s asshole, what are you doing?” Dewalt rode up alongside me, confusion and surprise warring on his face. I snorted as I closed my hand, doing my best to focus my divinity on the sliced skin. “Did you cut yourself on purpose?” Dewalt was practically shouting, distracting me from my task.

“I’m testing something, calm down.” I felt his eyes on me, but he stayed quiet as I opened my hand, the skin healed. “Huh. It worked.”

“Sure, but now your hand is all bloody, and it’s going to get all over your bread.”

I glanced over at him, not realizing he’d brought me food. I spotted a large roll, bigger than my fist, and I reached out with my clean hand to take it. It smelled delicious, like the honey bread Nana used to make.

“Ravemont. They sent quite a few provisions.” Dewalt could tell by the look on my face as I devoured the bread that I wondered where it had come from.

“Thank you. Sorry we missed breakfast.” He shrugged.

“It was worth it. I have to say, I was surprised you were still so good. I didn’t imagine you were keeping up with your skills all this time. Did you teach your daughter any of it?”

“A bit. She hated it, just like Lucia.” The sad smile spreading on his face told me he remembered. “She didn’t want to bother.”

“Lucia always said it was pointless, no matter how many times I begged her to practice with me.” She’d always laugh and flirt with him to get out of it every time he asked her. “It doesn’t matter if she was right. She could overpower any of us, even Rainier.”

“She was impossible.” I laughed. My sister had definitely been stubborn.

“We can practice again in the morning if you’d like.”

“That would be nice.”

“Oh, and you can bunk with Lavenia tonight. I’ll share with Rainier.” Even though he stared straight ahead, I could tell he was curious but thought better of asking. I wasn’t going to give him any satisfaction.

“Thank you, I appreciate it.” He nodded and then fell back, leaving me in peace.

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