Page 17 of An Honored Vow

“What better chance do we have?” I turned to Feron. “Even if we trained every hour, it would take me months to be able to find someone across an entire continent. If it’s even possible.”

Riven crossed his arms. “There’s no guarantee that we could get Kairn to talk even if we captured him.”

“I could get the man to talk.” Myrrah cracked her knuckles. “Don’t worry about that.”

I stood. “We don’t need to get him to tell us anything at all.” I looked at Feron. “Do we?”

Feron leaned back in his chair. His shoulders rose as he realized what I was asking of him. He could pluck every memory Kairn had of Nikolai from his mind without a bead of sweat wetting his brow. But I knew Feron didn’t like to tamper with minds that had not let him in.

Eventually he met my gaze and nodded. “I will get you what you need.”

“And thewaateyshir?” Vrail asked. “It could attack throughout the night.”

“We will set our schedules just as the Elves used to.” Darythir nodded with me as Feron interpreted for her. “We sleep through the day in both cities. We have scouts through the Faeland and along the borders to keep watch on its location. Vrail, you work with Gerarda and Elaran to prep the scouts with whatever they will need. Myrrah and the Shades will help break the news as gently as we can to the rest of the Elverin.”

Elaran lifted her head. “Why don’t we just hunt the beast and end this now?”

Riven answered for me. “Because it might not attack us.” There was an unmistakable edge of hope in his words.

“Exactly.” I nodded. “If Damien was the heart of this problem, let him deal with it. At the very least it may end up being distractingenough that we escape Cereliath unscathed, with all the Halflings and Kairn in tow.”

“And what about the Halflings still in the kingdom?” Myrrah’s voice was hard. “What if they are attacked in the middle of the night?”

My throat burned but I swallowed it down. “We always knew we wouldn’t save everyone. Splitting our focus will only get more of us killed.” I walked toward the door. “We’ll meet tomorrow to discuss specifics. Today we need to secure the cities.”

Riven followed me like a shadow and grabbed my arm. “We need to talk.”

I pulled myself free and shook my head. “We needed to talk three weeks ago.”

CHAPTERSEVEN

IFLEW TOMYRELINTH. My chest ached with relief when I landed at my burl and saw that Riven was not there waiting for me. I needed a shower. To wash away the swirling thoughts of him and focus on the two enemies we now faced.

I stepped under the branch and let the thoughts run down the drain.

My stomach twisted with guilt for fleeing from him just as he had done to me. But I was home. I was present. And I had been waiting for weeks. Riven could stand to wait a few hours until I knew exactly what I wanted to say to him. Until I knew I could do it without maiming him.

There was someone more important I needed to talk to.

I dressed and plaited my hair into a wet braid. I jumped from the burl, wearing nothing but a pair of training pants and a loose tunic.I wasn’t allowed to bring my weapons into the crypt, and with a couple hours left of sunlight I wouldn’t need them.

Fyrel was standing at the base of the tree. Gwyn stood in front of her whispering something into her ear, so close her lips brushed against Fyrel’s skin.

I cleared my throat.

Fyrel gasped and shoved Gwyn away. Her stare became permanently fixed on my boots. “We were discussing rooming options for the new Halflings, Mistr—I mean, Keera.” Her voice shook with such panic I was surprised the ground wasn’t quaking.

I had wondered if those long looks Fyrel gave Gwyn were more than admiration. Though Gwyn’s smug smirk hid it better, I could tell she cared for her too.

My stomach lurched. They were both so young, so full of life and hope. I couldn’t help but be reminded of Brenna. Of the short time we’d spent whispering into each other’s ears and hiding in the shadowed halls of the Order.

At least here they didn’t have to hide if they didn’t want to. But Fyrel’s nervous shaking made it clear that was not a conversation she wanted to have. She picked at the corner of the book she was holding. I recognized it as one of the tomes Vrail had brought to the council.

Gwyn saw how I was dressed, and her face turned serious. “You’re visiting the crypt?”

I nodded.

Gwyn’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at my burl for the briefest moment before pointing to the closest winding branch of the Myram tree. “There’s fresh food in the kitchen from lunch. I doubt she’s eaten since yesterday.”

---