Page 70 of Lich's Mate

“Are you okay?”

I look up from where I’m resting, on the hard hallway floor. The torches are burning brightly even though the sun is already up.

Meera stands above me, a small satchel in her hands.

“Fine,” I grumble simply. “Why?”

She purses her lip.

“Well, it’s just that you’re really wearing down that armor,” she replies. “I think it’s probably plenty polished by now.”

I smile simply in response.

“Of course.” I nod. “Thank you for the reminder.”

Her eyes dart awkwardly from side to side.

“I didn’t mean that you couldn’t help pack,” she says. “If you want to help, feel free.”

I nod.

“How much did you say this carriage could fit again?” she asks.

I start to reply, but she waves her hand.

She gestures for me to follow, and I mirror her pace, moving along the hallway which will soon be empty once more.

When I’m alone, I don't often maintain these halls. I used to have a servant for exactly that purpose. Now, Vex is the closest thing I have to help, and he only jokes about it.

I can already feel myself wasting away here.

But as Meera leads me back toward her bedroom, and I’m standing in the doorway looking in, I have to suppress a laugh.

The room is piled high with luggage. I didn’t even know she had this much to her name.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I might be borrowing a few things, to remember you by,” Meera suggests.

I take a second to collect myself, feeling my lips that were earlier curled upward start to narrow.

“Hey, it’s better you take them than them being lost in some terrible fire.”

That was the part I wasn’t supposed to say out loud.

“That’s kind of what I figured,” she says.

Is Meera a kleptomaniac?

She opens satchels, revealing the first candlestick we ever burned together, some old scuffed silverware, several used and worn quills, among a host of other things that have sentimental value to her, but which I’d just as easily discard.

And she knows what matters to me because nothing in these bags would I ever even remotely consider an heirloom.

Maybe I should stash those somewhere, just in case, I think. I could even have some of that stuff sent along with her anyway, just in case.

“I’m not taking too much, am I?” she asks.

I shake my head.

“Like I told you, the carriage is plenty spacious,” I tell her. “So you really don’t need to worry about overcrowding it.”

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