Page 36 of Beneath a Shattered Sky
Wraith nuzzles me, and Lore pats the space in front of him with a grin. “Want to join me today, pet?”
“She rides with me.” Drystan spurs Blizzard between us.
“Sharing is caring.” Lore blinks around the horse, then blinks us both back onto Wraith without losing his grin. “Don’t you think a barghest is more comfortable than a horse?”
I think about it for a second, and then shrug. To be very honest, there are pros and cons of both. Wraith’s gait is smoother, but the rhythm of it is so different from a horse. How has Lore been doing this and controlling him without reins?
Experience, I suppose. He’s thousands of years old. During that time, I’m sure he’s ridden far stranger beasts. I wouldn’t put it past the redcap to try to ride a tunnel wyrm.
On the other hand, I can barely ride a horse. I’m pretty sure—given the way the fur I’m clinging to is standing on end—that Wraith doesn’t appreciate me gripping him so tightly either.
“I think I’ll ride with Drystan,” I murmur, quietly resolving to practise riding Wraith later.
Lore pouts but kisses me and blinks me onto Blizzard without complaint. “Fiinneee.”
Lore has blinked me behind Drystan, and I go to hug him only for him to tut in irritation. In a few moments, I’m back in my usual place, my ass flush with his crotch. I understood this before, when my fever was pushing us to be more intimate, but I look up in confusion now. What was wrong with me being on the back?
When I look back at him questioningly, he shrugs. “If an arrow comes at us, I’d rather it hit me.”
My heart stutters.
All this time, he’s made me ride in front because he was afraid I’d get shot again?
“You’re not making it easy to stay mad at you,” I mumble, settling back against him as we move off and into the trees.
He relaxes an infinitesimal degree. “Good. The seelie need you to be calm and level-headed.” He pauses. “You did very well at managing Danu’s rage in the palace. I half expected the Goddess to force you into rushing in on a suicidal magical assault.”
I pause. That sounded almost like a compliment.
“We agreed on what needed to be done,” I admit, softly. “We—Ikilled one of the soldiers guarding Bree. Danu had nothing to do with that, or the blaze. It was all me.”
“Any fae would do the same.” His calmness is oddly soothing. “It was inevitable that you’d take a life by yourself eventually, but that doesn’t mean you’ll forget it any time soon, either.”
“Do you remember?”
“The first fae I killed?” He snorts. “Yes. It was an assassin I caught slipping something into my drink. It was at a time in my youth where my control of my power wasn’t as fine-tuned. I meant to burn off his hand so we could interrogate him but ended up incinerating him. My mother ordered me locked in the cells for a week for being so sloppy.”
“From what you’ve told me, I don’t think I like your family very much.”
He throws back his head and snorts. “I’d be more concerned if you did.”
Dropping the subject, I slip from the saddle as we approach the first shrine. It’s a natural recess in the sharp stone cliff before us, almost like a half-cave. Inside, a tiny trickle of water runs free from a crack, cascading down onto a moss-covered rock.
I’m not sure which part is supposed to be sacred; the cave, the water, or the rock, but I like this one. It’s understated, without the ribbons or the fanfare of some of the previous shrines. In fact, only the small line of fae letters etched vertically into the rock beside it mark it as a shrine at all.
I breathe in deeply, the moist earthy scent soothing me.
“May all of Danu’s children find peace at this shrine,” I whisper, closing my eyes as I touch the cool damp rocks at the base.
I keep breathing, waiting for something to happen. For Danu’s blessing to break this one like it has all the others.
Nothing. I crack open one eye, wondering if the rock has changed colour or something.
Everything is the same. Frowning with confusion, I feel for the bond to Danu in my chest.
“Well, that was disappointing.” Lore’s hat actually droops on his head. “I was hoping for some obnoxious display of favour that would shut Eero up.”
“Not helping, redcap.” Jaro’s voice is gravelly with the sound of his wolf.
