Page 66 of Oathborn
They walked on through the woods, where the trees crowded close together, their trunks dark and gnarled, as if the forest had grown in on itself over centuries. The air was thick with the scent of pine, damp earth, and the sharptang of rotting leaves. Yansin’s whistle broke the silence, a bright, carefree tune that seemed like a challenge to the gloom.
Zari glanced at him. “Nothing ever weighs on you for long, does it?”
A smile tugged at his lips, mischief dancing in his gaze. “Should I be worried?”
“I thought you were on the run,” she began, cautiously, disliking the sudden reminder of how little she knew about Yansin. “And I just told you that I could potentially be arrested.”
“Ah, but you are not, we are safe, and the sun is bright overhead. I will take comfort in these small joys, for they are rare indeed.”
Soon, he switched to humming, as they fought past heavier vegetation. Thick vines and tangled branches grabbed at their clothes, scraping against their skin as they pushed forward. Eventually, as they once more stumbled onto a dirt path ahead, Yansin broke into song.
“Tomorrow, tomorrow, shine as brightly as the moon.” His voice was as lovely as his smile, smooth like silk and as warm as sunlight. The tune carried them both for the next mile or two, until once more they broke for lunch.
Slowly, the first stars emerged, far brighter and more numerous than any Zari had ever seen in the capital’s polluted skies. She craned her neck to look up, attempting to pick out constellations she barely remembered from her childhood.
Yansin laughed, gently, at her wonderment. “Certainly makes up for the lack of other comforts of city living.” He pointed out a bright set of stars. “Those five, though, I could always see. In Karsic, in the capital, or in any place I’ve ever laid my head.”
“The Five Jewels of the Kingdoms,” Zari agreed. “The brightest in the sky.”
“On the isles, they call themLiros Elendin.The five elementals.” He pointed out another set of vivid stars, one at a time. “And those four, theMires Cardinele.The four cardinals, which share the name of the four most important isles, apart from the Queen’s own.”
“Like the South Star?” Zari asked, instantly thinking of Hazelle.
He nodded, then, pointed at one more star, a faint one that seemed trapped between the points of the crescent moon. “And that one? I call him Bob.”
Zari burst into laughter, which Yansin soon joined in. Their mirth echoed through the woods, and seemed to reverberate in her bones. Despite the dangers, she never wanted to forget this moment, with their laughter as bright as the stars above.
Chapter twenty-five
Tivre
Tivre enjoyed magic a great deal. It was endlessly fascinating to him, full of riddles and puzzles. It could create objects from nothing, change appearances, and reshape memories. It could not, however, make walking any easier, which he found incredibly annoying.
Especially right now, as he stomped along the path made by a much faster, much taller, and much stronger fae than him.
At least the view of Daeden’s back wasn’t an unpleasant one. The same couldn’t be said for Hazelle’s company, as she insisted on remaining nearly glued to Tivre’s side, as if he might disappear. Which was quite frustrating as, if he could, he absolutely would vanish, to be free of her disapproving glare. “What,” he finally muttered. “Is it something I said?”
“You do say many things, most of which are annoying.” Hazelle grabbed him by the arm and pulled him further away from Daeden. “How did Javenthal know to come looking for us?”
“You know, he goes by Javen these days. Captain Javen, of the—”
“I don’t care what he calls himself!”
As anger flushed her cheeks, Tivre saw the reflection of her sister. The two resembled each other, and in more than just appearance. Liyale, for all she’d been Oathborn, had never been one to be cowed by the duty of the Oath. She’d pushed the limits until the day the Oath had shattered.
That had been the first Oathbreaking in a thousand years. No one expected another to follow, let alone for it to have been Javenthal’s. He had been theperfect warrior, the fae that centuries of prophecies suggested would bring about a new age. When he’d broken, so many had wept over the anguish that those longed-for times might not come. Other fae, however, were not the ones who received the visions. That duty belonged only to Godspeakers, and they, above all, knew that visions could be twisted or shifted as the divine’s whims changed. For Javenthalhadbrought about a new age. It just was one, with its fragile Accords and the bloodthirsty Queen, that almost no one had ever longed for.
“Enough,” he told Hazelle.
He had no further words for her, none that he would risk with Daeden so close. Not for the first time, he closed his eyes to test the magic of the Accords. Their bindings pulsed in the air, stronger each mile he’d drawn closer to Lochna, where they had been signed.
The Accords held. Lesser rules had already been broken, perhaps, for General Ankmetta had requested a number of provisions, such as a decreasing of weapons and hostility. The man, for all his intelligence, never fully understood how magically complex the fae half of the Accords were. He’d always believed they were just a peace treaty, like so many before them.
But they were not. Magic coursed through them, nearly as strong as an Oath, binding the peace to two specific clauses.No Oathborn fae shall kill a human on human lands. No human shall kill a fae, unless in self-defense.
Javen’s Oathbreaking must have kept him outside those clauses, just as part-fae were exempt.
That was why Annette would have been so useful, and so deadly, for the Queen. If Annette had an Oath to kill the prime minister of Rhydonia, she would have done so without any repercussions from the Accords. The magic could not bind wildlings. Hence why it was safer to bring Zari to the isles. Once she saw her father, he’d let the Queen give her one of those assassination Oaths, offer to help ensure Zari did so, and then bundle her up and escape with her. She’d return to her life relatively unchanged, except for a mark on her wrist that would never come off.
