Page 170 of Blood of the Stars

“You—?” The same winex spoke up but then turned to Felk. “They stole you. We came to bring you back.”

“She didn’t steal me. She raised me.” Felk stood even taller as the words left his lips.

Several winex backed away as though ready to slink into the brush. Aeliana took in the state of her comrades. Surface injuries were scattered across their bodies, but the winex were in far worse shape. A few winex lay slain, and others had injuries that would never properly heal.

“We can heal your wounded,” Aeliana offered before they got too far. The winex stopped.

“Aeliana…” Sylmar’s warning tone demanded attention, but Aeliana ignored him.

“You say you came to rescue Felk,” she continued, “so it appears this was a misunderstanding. We’ll heal your wounded, and Felk can choose to join you if he wishes to be with his kind.” The last words pained her, but it was time. She knew she couldn’t keep him with her forever, and Felk deserved the opportunity to be with his people.

The self-appointed leader eyed her suspiciously. “Not all came to free. Those with Baljekk”—she gestured to the dead winex at her feet—“came for blood.”

“Thank you for your honesty.” Aeliana turned and raised her voice, making sure her gaze took in every stunned winex before her. “Those of you wanting peace and healing, you will have it. Those of you wishing for blood may leave, or it will be your own blood that’s shed.”

The winex exchanged troubled looks, and several rushed off into the desert.

“Would you like help burying your dead?” Cyrus asked the female winex.

She shook her head. “Not our way.” The others sneaked away through the brush, the camp quickly becoming deserted of winex.

The female came forward and offered her arm to Aeliana. A gash dripped silver, and Aeliana placed a hand over it, ready to heal.

“No.” She gripped Aeliana’s forearm, placing them in a handshake of comrades. “Thank you for mercy. If we meet in another moon, forgive me when I don’t remember.”

She turned to leave, but her gaze rested on Felk, and she waited.

Aeliana held her breath. He should go. She knew he should.

Felk faced her, and the indecision on his face broke her.

“They seem like a good group,” she lied. No group of wild winex was good enough for him. He stood taller and spoke clearer. He’d been changed by her influence. Would he last among a group of real winex?

“I’ll find you again, Ma.” His voice cracked, and she nodded. He wouldn’t find her. And if he did, he wouldn’t remember her. They both knew that. She reached out a hand to touch the teardrop forever on his cheek.

The female winex turned, loping off through the brush.

“Perhaps I’ll find you first.” Aeliana gave him a smile, and he buried his face in her shoulder, his arms wrapped tightly around her back. “Now, go,” she whispered, gently shoving him away.

He ran after the winex, and her arms ached with the emptiness.

Aeliana turned back to the camp. Lukai finished healing a scratch on Kendalyhn’s face, then approached Velden. The others slowly found their bedrolls or went back to taking watch on the berm. The Sun’s morn wouldn’t come for a few more hours, but Kendalyhn built up the fire, already pulling out pans to cook the morning meal. Before Aeliana could process the normalcy in the wake of the attack, Sylmar stood before her.

“You reacted.”

She almost missed his soft words. A light breeze swept in from the sea, and Aeliana hugged herself at the sudden chill.

“Does it make you happy that I was finally willing to take a life?” The question came out bitter as her shock gave way to the reality of what she’d done. Although she wasn’t sure Sylmar would count Baljekk as a life. The image of his lifeless eyes, so like Felk’s, swam through her mind. She pursed her lips to keep them from trembling.

“No. I’m grateful your training is saving your life.” He leaned over his staff, studying her closely. “Even good choices can have consequences that are difficult to bear. Cyrus was right to tell you the motive can change the outcome, but sometimes the motive merely makes the outcome more bearable.”

Tears gathered in her eyes, and she nodded. Pushing past him, she settled back in her bedroll, knowing she wouldn't sleep anymore that night.

CHAPTER 69

Aeliana couldn’t help looking for Felk over the next few days. A part of her still hoped to see him even though she knew it was better for him to move on, but the winex either left or remained hidden. As their group traveled away from the coast, the eastern horizon shifted from seashore to cliffs and the sandy desert to sheer rock.

Orra remained in her constant position as a straggler in the back of the group, so Aeliana slowed, thinking the older woman’s calming presence might be good for her raw nerves.

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