Page 21 of The Sundered Blade

“Well.” Leisa’s shoulders slumped as she stared after them. “That could theoretically have gone worse.”

“It certainly could have.” Senaya urged her horse forward, eyes snapping with anger. “And if I had not stepped in, it undoubtedlywouldhave.”

“You?” Leisa scoffed. “You used magic in front of Garimoran soldiers! When we weretryingto go unnoticed.”

“By attempting to rescue every helpless traveler from here to Hanselm?” Senaya sounded far more sarcastic than sorry.

Karreya was beginning to feel rather annoyed with both of them. She understood that she had made mistakes. All of them had, but was there really any need for her companions to talk those mistakes to death?

“I’m not going to stand by and watch while innocent and unarmed people are hurt by this war. I can’t.” That was Leisa. Determined to change the world around her, whether or not it wanted to be changed.

“Innocent people will always be hurt. But you cannot save them for good if you die while involving yourself in every petty squabble you encounter.” And that was Senaya. Thinking like the empress she’d been trained to be.

Leisa’s hands flexed impatiently, and a frustrated sigh escaped her as she regarded her mother. “Really? Isthatwhy you chose to broadcast what you are so that rumors will already be flying by the time we reach Hanselm? You know what Garimore does to mirror mages. Why did you reveal yourself?”

“I already told you.” Senaya sounded quietly furious. “I willnotwatch you die.”

“I was in no danger!” Leisa snapped. “Could you not see that those men were not in serious earnest? They were hungry. Trying to intimidate. But they were barely armed. Most of their weapons were left in camp somewhere, and the one holding the girl was terrified that he might accidentally hurt her.”

“She is correct.” Karreya decided she ought to at least attempt to end the argument. They were being loud when they ought to be avoiding attention. “I did not note the strangeness at first, but their threats were only partially true. And they did not tear the wagon apart until someone mentioned food.”

“True or not, there were eight of them! Even an accident could have ended your life.”

Leisa pulled herself into the saddle and turned to stare at her mother incredulously. “An accident? Did you perhaps miss that I have spent most of my life practicing with weapons? I began training as a bodyguard to a princess when I waseight. Became her protector at thirteen. I have spent years preparing to deal with exactly this sort of situation, which means I am more likely to have anaccidentwhile trying to cook dinner.”

“Humans are far more dangerous when they are hungry and desperate,” Senaya insisted. “They become unpredictable.”

“Yes.” Leisa’s gaze dropped to her hands where they gripped her horse’s reins. “I know exactly how unpredictable they become, because when I was five, I started a fight with two of King Soren’s guards. I was hungry and frightened and they were standing between me and food.”

Senaya’s jaw clenched and her own grip on her reins tightened, causing her horse to toss its head uncomfortably. “You still do not understand. I regret that things occurred as they did, but we made the best choice we could. We were trying to save you.”

“You’re right,” Leisa said simply. “I do not understand. I don’t know if I ever will.”

Then she turned her horse and kicked it into a swift trot down the road, leaving the others to follow.

CHAPTER7

Vaniell and Kyrion departed Oakhaven under the cover of darkness, after resting and ensuring that Allera both understood the plan and stood ready to receive messages from Arandar when the time came. She clearly still harbored some doubts about Vaniell—and his plan—but said that if Evaraine and Danric agreed, she would commit her troops as well.

Vaniell had also left one of his remaining hoard of spell gems with Caro, begging her to relay it to his contacts in Oakhaven. He’d been unable to send money for far too long, and their expenses would only continue to grow if war became a reality. She’d eyed him askance, but agreed, with a warning that he would suffer the full weight of her wrath if any harm came to her messenger at his people’s hands.

It was the best he could have hoped for under the circumstances, so as Kyrion lifted off with powerful wing beats that carried them both northward, Vaniell huddled into a borrowed cloak and began to consider the next of his many problems—namely, what he was going to say to his brother.

What would it be like, seeing him again? Years of cruel words lay between them, borne out of a relationship twisted by lies and manipulation. And they had not seen one another since Danric learned that his father and brother were mages—the very people Melger had taught him to hate. Could there be any hope for them moving forward? Would Danric even agree to an alliance, or would he convince Evaraine not to trust anything to do with his younger sibling?

“You are thinking very loudly,” Kyrion said, his voice muffled somewhat by the speed of the wind. “Could it be that you are feeling uncertain about our next destination?”

“Can’t imagine why I would be feeling anything of the sort.” Vaniell couldn’t always prevent his sarcasm from escaping. “It’s going to be such a jolly family reunion. Hugs and backslapping all around. Nothing awkward or uncomfortable whatsoever.”

“So the fact that you were once engaged to your brother’s wife will not be a problem for you? Or the reality that you disappeared during your kingdom’s greatest crisis, and have yet to publicly acknowledge your mother’s death?”

For one deeply heartfelt moment, Vaniell silently consigned Kyrion to the depths of whatever hellish torment the night elves might believe in.

“It is more that those details pale in comparison to everything else that lies between myself and Danric,” he answered instead. “My brother is, to my dismay, an utterly and completely good man. Misguided in places, but almost depressingly good. Even if he decides it would be better for the world if he were to hang me by the neck from the nearest battlements, he won’t. Not until he is certain that I am irredeemable and unnecessary. And perhaps not even then.”

“And are you?” Kyrion asked mildly.

“Am I what?”

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