Page 3 of An Honored Vow

“There’s five of us.” Fyrel pointed to each of us, tallying it up on her fingers.

Elaran smirked. She looked as alluring as a fire lion, and just as dangerous. “I’m counting you and your sweetness”—she eyed Gwyn—“as only one. Untested halves, if you will.”

Fyrel’s cheeks flushed red and she had the sudden urge to reorganize her saddlebags. Her braid swayed behind her back as her leg bounced underneath her.

Gwyn’s blue eyes narrowed. “Haven’t we trained enough to be seen as individuals?”

“If that were true then you wouldn’t be serving the same role on this mission.” Elaran’s horse bucked, his ears flicking to something in the forest. She patted its jaw, and it nipped at the grassy trail.

“Keera, what does she mean?” Gwyn crossed her arms, her red strands almost setting themselves aflame with the rage behind her eyes. “Gerarda said that I would play a crucial role.”

Of course Gerarda had said that. I snapped a look at her, but Gerarda just shrugged, leaving me to answer Gwyn’s questions.

“And so you shall.” I lobbed another piece of meat into my mouth. “As lookouts.”

Gwyn groaned. “So you don’t mean for me to do anything at all.”

I stood up from the base of the tree. “This is not some training drill, Gwyn.” My magic flared behind me, and I could sense plant life sprouting from where I had been sitting. I didn’t turn to look; I needed Gwyn to understand this. “These are real people. RealHalflings we are going to save. I would never put their lives in the hands of someone I couldn’tcompletelytrust to do their job.”

I stepped close enough to Gwyn that I could feel her swallow.

“Are you telling me that I shouldn’t trust you with this?” I tucked my hands behind my back and stared down at her just as Hildegard had done to me countless times as an initiate. “If you are not ready for a real mission, say so now.”

Gwyn straightened to her full height. “I am ready.” Her nostrils flared as she spoke.

“Good.”

Gwyn didn’t relax her stance. “Am I meant to be a sentry forever then?”

Elaran stepped around Gwyn and placed her hands on her shoulders. “Patience is the sharpest weapon a warrior can have.”

“And the largest shield one can carry,” I added.

Gwyn turned to Gerarda, as if she couldn’t trust what Elaran and I had said without her approval. I gritted my teeth. Gerarda was an excellent warrior, one of the greatest I had ever seen, but only one of us had been named Blade.

Gerarda nodded. “If we save Victoria and her Halflings, it will be in no small part because you and Fyrel were keeping the path clear.”

“Who is Victoria anyway?” Fyrel said, still next to her horse, her cheeks less red now.

“One of the Halflings in hiding that helped others find refuge,” Elaran said. “She is one of the founding members of the Rose Road.”

My chest tightened with the urge to correct Elaran’s mistake. Victoria was Mortal, not a Halfling. Though I could understand the assumption in a world where so few Mortals were willing to risk their lives to ferry Halflings into safety. But something in her gaze told me that correction was best left until the Halflings were safe and not under threat of siege from Damien’s sellswords.

“Doesn’t explain why we’re rushing to Silstra the moment she sends word.” Gerarda crossed her arms. “Wouldn’t it be safer with more of a plan? I never sent in Shades without at least a week of surveillance.”

I tugged on the new fastener at my neck. The gleaming gemstones and the white stone of the Order that we had reclaimed for ourselves. “We aren’t Shades any longer.”

Gerarda crossed her arms, refusing to move until she had her answer.

I sighed. I had been evading Gerarda’s questions since Dynara sent word of Victoria’s message two days prior. And anyone willing to put their lives on the line for one of my plans deserved an answer.

“Damien’s soldiers are dealing with the chaos that the return of magic unleashed.” There had been reports of new plants destroying dwellings and the waters of the Three Sisters rising up and washing livestock away. “That chaos is a distraction we can use to our advantage.” I swallowed the lump building in my throat. “Giving Damien time to plot is too dangerous. It’s better to move quickly before he has every village under watch.”

If he didn’t already.

Gerarda’s lips were nothing but a thin line across her face. She held my gaze for a long moment then nodded.

Elaran tugged at her partner’s bun. “Glad that’s settled.” She twirled a long, thin blade with two sharpened ends between her fingers. “We should be on our way if we want to make the last portal by dusk.”

---