Page 53 of Witchlight
Nadje had feared her, and illogical as it was, Aeduan now felt that ancient fear too.
He spurred his magic wider. Harder. And for hours, he only ever sensed Safiya and the horses. And of course, the silver taler Iseult always wore around her neck.
Which eventually stirred within the tent, and moments later, Iseult revealed herself. Her eyes were thick with sleep, her face creased from a bedroll. “The first watch ended an hour ago,” she scolded. For once, the winds had softened on the plains—as if perhaps one of the many offerings here had finally appeased Middle Sister Swallow. “You should have woken me.”
“You need the sleep, Dark-Giver.”
“As do you, Bloodwitch.” She stepped toward him, picking her way through cleared snow. “Let me take over.”
“No.”
“Please. Aeduan.” She’d rarely said his name since leaving the hunting lodge. They had both been careful to adhere to their roles. He was a Bloodwitch monk; she was the Cahr Awen he served.Or failed to serve.Formality was safest when so much was at stake.
And yet …
“Forgive me.” Aeduan felt his face crease inward while his feelingsreached outward in a way he didn’t want to place upon Iseult. “For earlier. I failed you and the Empress.”
“How?”
“I should have sensed the raiders coming. But I did not, and I failed you.”
“You failed no more than I did. I d-didn’t sense them either.”
“Yes, butyouhave not sworn vows to protect me. This is my one duty. The reason I’m here.”
Iseult’s golden-green eyes thinned. For several seconds, she simply stared at Aeduan. Then she murmured: “Maybe I should, though.”
“Should what?”
She didn’t answer, but instead claimed another step toward him. “Have you evernothad a master?”
“I… don’t understand.” It was true: he didn’t understand. He also didn’t like how instantly his abdomen tightened.
“You became a monk so young. Have youeverexisted w-without some outside force telling you what to do? First it was the Monastery.” Iseult waved vaguely east. “Missions that sent you out for coin. Then it was Guildmaster Yotiluzzi. Then it was your f-father. Then… the Old One.” She shivered here. “And finally… me.”
Aeduan’s abdomen knotted tighter. “You forget the times I disobeyed.” Now he was the one to approach. To claim a single step. “I broke orders to help you find Safiya. To search for Owl and her tribe. To get you from the Aether Well to safety. And now…”
“And now,” Iseult replied. Her face pinched up. An inward frown that sent her gaze to the snow. Made her head wag with a self-loathing he recognized. “I don’t like it. I know I accepted your vow at the lodge, and I know I a-agreed to bring you—”
“Do not make me go back.”
“No.” Her gaze shot to him again. “But I want to know: if you could do anything, Aeduan, what would it be? If there was no Cahr Awen, no Well, no Raider King or slow cleaving or war across the Witchlands. W-what would you do?”
He sucked in sharply. Frozen air sliced his throat, his lungs. He felt the six old wounds throb as if they too awaited his answer.Run, my child, run.
“I do not know,” he said eventually. It was an honest answer, if a bleak one. “I… do not know.”
Iseult sighed. It was a sound of sadness, of grief, of pain. “Then I willmake a vow to you.” She closed the space between them. Her fingers came to touch his jaw; they were cold, but then so was he.
Her eyes bored into his, a shade like the sun through forest leaves. “When this is done, you’ll serve no one but yourself, and we’ll find what you want. Together… i-if you will have me.”
Aeduan’s heart skittered. More frozen air cut deep. Then he scoffed and shook his head. “Stupid.”
Iseult blinked. “My vow is stupid?”
“No. Wondering if I will have you is stupid. Have I not made it clear?”
Her lips twitched with a nearly imperceptible smile. “Made… w-what clear?”
