Page 74 of Of Sword & Silver

“How long have you known?” I ask her. I’ve been debating for days on when to ask her, or if I should even pry, if her knowing even matters.

“As soon as I knew she drank from the chalice.” She pats her horse’s neck. “She was marked before that, though, as I’m sure you know too. It’s what drew her to me, drew us together. Our fates have been entwined as long as yours.”

“You haven’t told her?” I narrow my eyes in suspicion.

She shrugs a shoulder, but her expression and the sadness in her eyes are anything but cavalier. “It is not my place to interfere in the will of the gods. I am the instrument of Nakush. Unlike Kyrie, I put my faith in my god.”

“Kyrie considers you a friend.” It comes out a snarl, and her horse tosses its head at my tone.

“I am her friend.”

“You would lead her like a bull towards—” I shake my head, angry. Angry at Lara for doing exactly what she should be doing, and keeping secrets from Kyrie.

Mostly, though, furious with myself for keeping secrets from Kyrie—and for doing what must be done.

Lara simply watches me, our horses keeping pace behind Morrow and the thief, who are now singing a rollicking shanty about what to do with a drunken soldier.

“I do what Nakush bids. I trust in their judgment. I trust in fate, and I trust in Kyrie, who is my friend, who has always been my friend.” Her words are thick with emotion. “Just because I submit to the will of the god of magic does not mean that I want my friend to suffer. I have faith, Sword.” She spits the word out like the falsehood it is. “I have faith that good will come of what she chooses to do. I have faith in the good in her, more than anything else.”

I chuckle, but there’s no mirth in the sound. “Then you have more than I do.”

She raises her chin, her dark brown eyes redolent with magic, holding mine firm, and I see more of Nakush in this woman than I’d like.

“That makes me sad for you. Of everyone here, you should have the most faith. You almost have as much to lose as Kyrie should fate’s great plan falter.” Lara’s voice is not her own and I dip my head, acknowledging the god who’s chosen her.

Nakush is right, as is Lara, who speaks their words.

Only time will show the full hand we have been dealt, that the humans have been dealt, thanks to my choices.

Fate’s great plan may yet break us all.

25

KYRIE

Iavoided the Sword on our cross-country ride. Now that we’re stopping for the night, only to rest our horses—and unfortunately, my own wasted body—it’s harder to avoid him.

Impossible, even.

I sigh, settling next to the campfire and staring around at the four tents constructed around it. There’s not enough room to do anything but sit and eat the food Lara’s happily making.

A rabbit turns on a spit, mushrooms Caedia foraged roasting on a skillet underneath it with chunks of potatoes and herbs. The fat from the rabbit hisses as it splatters onto the vegetables below, flames licking up the sides of the skillet.

“It looks much better than what I made at camp the past few weeks,” I tell Lara. “Thank you.”

She grins at me as she turns the spit. “I always was the better cook.”

“I brought strawberry wine,” Caedia trills, sitting alongside me. She’s so petite, I feel like an ogre next to the green-skinned woman. “Made it myself two springs ago. I thought we could celebrate our first night with a glass. Or two.”

“Never thought I’d be drinking strawberry cordial with a dryad, much less the most beautiful witch I’ve ever seen.” Morrow threads another rabbit on a second spit, adding it to the fire as Lara’s cheeks turn red.

I grin. Morrow’s grown on me, like one of the fungi in Lara’s dish, and he seems much more amiable to me after I took out the manticore.

“Wildest thing I’ve ever seen in a fight,” he told me as we rode together. “You were utterly fearless. Slid under it like a snake, and then boom! It was dead. Incredible work.”

It’s clearer than the sparkling night sky that he likes Lara, too, and it makes me giddy for them. They would be darling together. Lara, however, treats him as she does everyone else. Polite, tolerant, cold at times.

Well, everyone except me, but that’s a privilege I’ve earned.

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