Page 27 of Kill the Beast
She moved on to the botanicals, which also had to be gathered during the waning moon, writing downash, rowan, ivy, boxwood, blackberry stalks.They were all common faerie-repellants, so if Alderic had an idea for a botanical item of his own, she could use one of these for the repellant category, instead.
Staring at the words, Lyssa’s breath caught in her throat. She actually had something for this one: the ash tree in her old backyard. She and Eddie had climbed its branches as children, had carved their names into its trunk, had used it as a hiding place when their father was drunk and angry. It was full of memories, sun-dappled and comforting.
It was perfect.
Her eyes stinging with the sudden threat of tears, Lyssa circledash.
Finally, she moved on to the personal concerns. Necessary for any of Ragnhild’s workings. They usually used an item that had once belonged to a victim of the Hound in question—clothing, toys, a wedding ring or a favorite necklace. Photographs worked as well. Lyssa hoped Alderic had something they could use, because she had nothing left of Eddie.
Then she remembered what Rags had said, about thembothneeding a personal concern, given how personal the Beast’s glyph was.
Fuck.Well, she would have to worry about that later.
With an ache in her chest, she folded up the paper and put it in her pocket.
Lyssa packed and repacked her bag, making sure she had everything she might need on their journey: bedroll, med kit, food rations, canteen, knives, bullets. They wouldn’t be on the road much, since Lyssa could use the Gate to travel around most of Ibyrnika, but there were only certain places she could come through, and they would have to make up the difference themselves.
It wasn’t quite dawn when she left the smithy, and she was surprised to find Alderic awake and doing squats not far from where he had bedded down for the night. His hair was tangled and had leaves in it, but his skin was surprisingly free of bug bites. Usually when Lyssa stayed outside for too long she looked like a teenager again, riddled with red bumps.
He didn’t see her at first; Lyssa watched him for a few minutes, bemused.
“You’re up early,” she said finally.
He started violently, almost falling on his ass. “Oh, good morning. You snuck up on me.”
“What are you doing?”
“Stretching!” he cried, sinking into a lunge so deep it was a miracle his pants didn’t split. “I figured it might help.”
“Squats and lunges won’t be of much use if we get attacked,”she said, setting down her pack. “And being limber won’t keep you from getting killed.”
“Why are you so convinced that I’m going to be murdered?” he asked conversationally, dropping into another lunge. “It’s the lace, isn’t it?”
“It certainly doesn’t help.”
“I assure you, madam, that lace or no lace, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
“I’m sure you are,” she said in the tone that adults use when praising children for being barely adequate at simple tasks.
He stopped his lunges and frowned at her. “You don’t believe me.”
“Not particularly.” She crossed her arms. “How many fights have you been in?”
“Do sword fights count?” he asked after a moment of consideration.
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You know how to use a sword?”
“I used to.”
“That might actually come in handy, once we have to face the Hound-wardens.” The faerie-lovers didn’t use firearms, preferring instead the weapons favored by their “gods”—bronze swords and silver knives, bows and arrows, spears tipped with obsidian or bone. A sword wouldn’t protect Alderic from an arrow in the chest, but at least he wouldn’t be completely defenseless. “I have a few that I haven’t had a chance to bring to the market yet. You can pick whichever one you’d like. But we’re still getting you a pistol.”
“Splendid!” Another lunge.
“Have you ever used one before? A pistol, I mean.”
“Once or twice.”
Lyssa found a tree at a suitable distance from Alderic and carved an X into the trunk with her knife. When she returned, she loaded her pistol and handed it to him. The first thing he did was look down the barrel, and she smacked him on the back of the head.
