Page 114 of Grave Situation

“Just think about it,” Jaimin says into the silence. “When this is over and it’s revealed that the bond is permanent, you and Leicht need to be a united front. Solid. Powerful enough that nobody would dare try to separate you—and you need to be prepared for whatever the councils will ask of you. The outcome otherwise isn’t going to be good for anyone except your enemies.”

“I cannot lose another bonded,”Leicht murmurs, almost too softly for me to “hear.” I’m not even sure if he’s talking to me. It doesn’t matter. However we came to be bonded, Leicht is one of my last remaining ties to Tia. She would want us to look after each other, and she would definitelynotwant us dead.

“I need to think about this.” It’s all I’m willing to commit to right now, even though I know what I have to do.

“That’s fine, but don’t think too long. We don’t know what’s waiting for us, and this idle time while we travel through sparsely populated areas would be ideal for flying lessons.”

My stomach takes a nosedive at the thought. “I said I’d think about it,” I snap. Me? Fly? Up high in the air?

“Yes, but I only mean?—”

“Leave me be, Jaimin. I’ll think about it. That’s the end of the conversation.”

He presses his lips together and looks forward. His face doesn’t otherwise change, but I get the distinct impression he’s upset. Good. I’m not exactly happy right now either.

Flying. Lessons.

On a dragon.

Where it’s cold and windy.

Oh, and let’s not forget the maybe-falling part. Tia spent weeks being taught what to do in case she fell from her dragon before she was allowed to start flying, and then a whole semester actuallyfallingbefore she got the hang of it. First-year riders die even more than first-year mages, mostly from falling off a dragon.

And here I am, untrained, with nobody to teach me, expected to learn to ride a dragon who still mostly hates me.

“That may be,”Leicht agrees,“but I wouldn’t let you die.”

I suppress my instinctive response, but I’m pretty sure he guessed what it was, because his presence in my mind dims, as though he’s screened himself off. I can’t blame him—even if I never said it, thinking of Tia’s death in that moment was hurtful. To both of us.

It seems like I’m just pissing people off all over the place this afternoon.

As though on cue, Master chooses that moment to reach out to me.“Talon?”

Holding back a sigh, and trying not to sound impatient, I reply,“Yes?”

“The temples have responded at last.”

I straighten in my saddle. We’ve been waiting for this—do the high priests intend to tear the continent apart, or will they concede their wrongdoing?

“And?”

“They apologize most profusely for the accidental death of a dragon rider and will pay reparations. They further apologize for inadvertently endangering Master Kahwyn, for whom they have the greatest respect.”

“Let me guess, they’re not going to offer us lodging and supplies,”I say sardonically. We didn’t really expect that, and it’s not like there’s a temple out here that we can stop in at, but still. It would have been nice.

“Let me finish, Talon.”Master pauses.“However, despite their deep regret over Tia’s death and the danger to Jaimin, they maintain that they had every right to attempt to take the stone into safekeeping, and that in knowingly preventing them from doing so, you thwarted the will of the gods. Talon, they’ve declared you outcast and a fugitive from the temples.”

Well, fuck.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

I’m still fumingwhen we reach the cabin, and not even the fact that it’s very comfortable can shake my mood. I’m not sure which part annoys me more, and that in itself is a surprise. If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be upset about the temples declaring me outcast, I would have laughed it off. It’s not like I have a particularly high opinion of the temples, after all.

But to be declared outcast—no longer a son of the gods, unrecognized by them and therefore essentially less than every other being in the world—is a major thing. The temples reserve it for the worst of the worst, crimes so heinous that any decent person is sickened by them. Raising zombies, for instance. To castmeout, simply because I refuse to give them the stone… that’s infuriating. Offensive.

It completely reinforces my opinion that the gods need to do something about their priests.

Sweetie gives me a shove, though it’s without her usual vim, and I glare at her. “Not tonight, you demon. I’m not in the mood.”

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