Page 40 of Blood of the Fallen
Next to me, Ila sighed wistfully. I followed her gaze and discovered it led directly to Maki. He was talking to Chepi, smiling graciously. When Ila caught me watching her, she didn’t immediately glance away. Instead, she lazily allowed her gaze to wander off, appearing nonchalant. It seemed she was an expert at feigning disinterest in him, so much that I had suspected no one knew how she felt about him, including Maki.
I leaned closer to make sure no one heard me. “Why don’t you tell him?”
Blinking her eyes wide, she craned her neck back and stared into my face. “Tell who what?” she responded so coolly, leaving me no doubt she could hold a job at any of the performing theaters in Lux City.
I smiled crookedly. “You don’t fool me, Ila. I know you like him.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Turning on her heel, she walked away.
I followed her to a fallen log a fair distance away from the crowd, where she sat and crossed her arms, doing her best to appear disinterested. I sat next to Ila and was quiet for several minutes, watching tiny embers float from the roaring fire. As they hit the backdrop of the darkening sky, I imagined they were stars able to move across the firmament, carving their own path.
Finally, I decided to prod further. “Why do you feel you have to hide your attraction for Maki?”
She looked irate and opened her mouth to contradict me, no doubt.
I didn’t let her. “There’s no use in denying it. I can see it as clear as water.”
Her shoulders slumped as she admitted her defeat. “How? No one has…” She trailed off, then chuckled. “I should’ve known you would notice. When you were little, you could always tell when I was sad and needed comfort. You would slip your little hand in mine and… it would make it all better.”
There was a twinge in my heart as I wished I could remember that time.
“To answer your question,” she went on, “Maki and I… it’s complicated. A few years back, he and I shared something.” She hugged herself and stared into the distant trees. “It was great at first. He seemed to care about me, at least for a bit. But you know how he is. He never takes anything seriously.” She was quiet for a long moment.
When she didn’t elaborate, I pressed her. “So what happened?”
“I saw him with… Desna.”
I gasped. “With that…” I tried to search for an insult, but all the ones I would’ve used on her came from my past. Using witch or bitch would’ve been all kinds of wrong.
“Yeah, with her.” She exhaled wistfully. “The next day I told him I was done with him.”
“You never told him you saw him with her?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of injuring my pride. Since then he’s… sampled every willing female and hasn’t looked back.”
My shoulders drooped. “I’m sorry, Ila.”
She turned her palms up and shrugged. “It’s not the end of the world.”
“Just so you know… he hasn’t tried to… with me.”
“That’s because you like Kall.” She nudged me and winked.
Heat bloomed in my cheeks. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who noticed things.
“And he likes you,” Ila added.
I pulled on my tunic as heat continued to build. I glanced toward the campfire, trying to find a culprit for the feverish feeling, but we weren’t even close to it. More sparks danced in its depths and shot up, making me wonder ifIcould, one day, carve my own path, too.
“It’s so pretty,” I said, smiling like an idiot.
Ila raised her eyebrows and peered into my face. “Hmm, I think the kinnikinnick is having some effect on you.”
“The what?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She patted my hand. “I’ll go get something to eat. It’ll pass quickly with something in your stomach. Don’t do anything crazy. I’ll be right back.”
My pretty sister walked toward Nosh, her long braid swinging from side to side. One day, my hair would be as long as hers, and then Kall would quit complaining about my cropped style.
