Page 105 of Grave Situation

“Whoa!” He steadies me. “What happened? Maybe we should camp so you can get some sleep.”

I glare at my horse, whose moods apparently change with the wind. “No, I’m fine. Sorry about that. I stepped on a rock and lost my balance.”

We both look down at the rock-free ground, but he politely pretends I didn’t just tell an outright lie. Instead, he steps closer to me and lowers his voice. “While we have a moment… are you okay?”

The question is simple, even ordinary, but his face and the intensity of his gaze are not. It feels as though he can see inside me, see all the hurt and confusion and anger I’m gripping tight to. I don’t have time to let it go. I can’t. I have a mission.

“I’m—”Finesticks in my throat. I can’t say it. Not to him. Not when I’ve hidden so much from him all these weeks, and yet he stepped in to protect me, no hesitation, no questions, when I needed him. I can’t forget his face in the moment he realized Leicht and I had bonded, the fierce way he shielded me from scrutiny.

He holds my secrets now, and I have no regrets. I won’t lie to him, not even about something this small.

“I can’t think about it,” I confess. “I need to keep going. I need to see this through.” I’m not even sure what “it” I’m referring to. Tia’s death? The bond with Leicht? The potential war with the temples? How did my life turn into this?

“Don’t think about it, then,” he says softly. “But if you want to talk, about anything, I’m here. I’ll always be here.”

I nod. “Would you be offended if I said I think your purpose on this mission is to keep me sane?” It’s supposed to be a joke, but my delivery is flat, and he doesn’t laugh.

“Nothing would bring me greater honor.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

It’s wellinto the next afternoon before Master reaches out to me. I’ve been waiting for an update from him all day, and between that, not having slept well, and having to listen to Arimen’s chatter—because as long as I’m not looking at him, he has plenty of confidence—I’m in a rotten mood.

“What?”

Master pauses.“I beg your pardon?”

In a different part of my head, Leicht snorts. I asked him yesterday if he could hear when I communicate with Master, and he said not the words, unless I let him. Just the tone. It’s an interesting little fact that I’m sure I’ll want to think about in greater detail one day, when I’ve processed being bonded to a dragon. Since that’s a task I haven’t even added to my list yet, I don’t anticipate it being anytime soon.

“It’s been a long day, Master. I apologize.”

The sense of his understanding and compassion makes me wish Sweetie would try to unseat me or something. The last thing I want right now is to cry.“I think I can forgive a sharp tone, Talon, considering everything you’re going through. There’s no need to apologize.”He hesitates.“I’ve been asked to convey sympathies by a great many people.”

Yeah.“Everyone liked Tia.”

“They did. Emotions have been running very high amongst the riders, and the feeling has spread to the other two academies. Especially after we got back and gave our reports.”

My stomach sinks. I have no fondness for the temples—as anyone who ever talks to me would know—but now isn’t the time for war with them. I want vengeance for Tia, yes, but not only do we need to be united as a continent now that the zombies are actively wreaking havoc, I also don’t want to be dodging priests in our search for the champion.“War, then?”

“We’ll see. The riders will send their demands within the hour, and the mages and healers agree to support them. The wording agreed upon for the statement was that it’s intolerable and abhorrent that a mage, a healer, and a dragon rider on sanctioned business of the City of Knowledge would be waylaid in any way, much less attacked. Further, that the business is that of the utmost holiness and that a rider was murdered?—”

“Murdered?”I interrupt.“That’s the word they chose?”Not that I dispute it, but I know the temples will.

“Yes. The temples will argue that she was killed in battle, but in order for them to do so, they’d be?—”

“Admitting that the battle occurred and conceding the point that we were attacked. What’s the expected outcome?”

“The riders have demanded reparations, of course, for your family and for Leicht. The healers and mages demand an apology and assurances of your safe conduct for the remainder of your journey, plus any food and lodging you might request along the way. Don’t expect them to agree to that part,”he adds.“But the council was outraged enough that nobody even commented when I suggested it.”

“Good.”Though part of me thinks some of the councilors see it as a way to minimize the expense of my journey. Leicht mustagree, because his amusement echoes through my mind.“So now we await a response.”

“Yes. Be very careful, Talon. For the time being, at least, you’ll need to watch for the temples as well as zombies. It might be wise to avoid any of the larger towns that have more than one priest in residence.”

“Noted.”If we continue on the highway as we have been, the next big town is still nearly a week away. I hope there’s a positive resolution before then, because if the stone needs us to go there, I’m not sure how we can hide ourselves. It’s not like we all packed disguises.“Any further updates on the zombies?”I managed to find time to update Jaimin last night, and he said he’d talk to Coryn. We agreed that it might be a little soon to tell Arimen, given his youth, but Coryn needs to know. There’s not much any of us can do, unless we come across zombies—our focus has to be on finding the champion.

Master’s sigh echoes across the miles to me.“Yes. When we reached out to others, we started getting similar reports. Villages seemingly attacked but with no bodies—the soldiers assumed the inhabitants were frightened off by bandits or that their bodies were burned.”

I clamp down on my instinctive urge to ask if those soldiers are stupid. Why would bandits burn the dead of villages they’ve pillaged?

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