Page 129 of Grave Situation

“Why?”

“The floor’s dirty, and the stone’s a holy object,” he frets.

Jaimin looks away, his mouth quirking in a smile, and I hold tight to my patience.

“It’s a rock, Arimen. It was found in the dirt by a farmer. I don’t think it cares all that much about the floor being a little dusty.” I’m seriously understating the condition of the floor, but if I think too much about how disgusting it is, I won’t be able to sleep on it. The same way I don’t wonder about how many animals have urinated on the ground where I sleep when we camp. Ignorance is bliss, after all.

Arimen doesn’t look happy, but he nods. It might make him feel better if I’m nice to the stone, so I try not to sound too grumpy when I say, “So, stone, is this where you wanted us to be?”

~Yes~

Finally, a straight answer. “And is the champion here?”

~Yes/No~

So much for that.

“Is the champion on their way here now?”

~No~

I exchange a glance with Jaimin. “The champion is both here and not here?”

~Yes~

“I give up,” I mutter, and Jaimin puts his arm around my shoulders, letting me lean into him.

“Let’s try a different tack. Are we supposed to meet the champion here?”

~No~

The answer is accompanied by a sense of anticipation, as though…

“Are we not supposed to find the champion yet?” The question bursts from me a lot more loudly than I expected, and Arimen jumps.

~No~

I suck in a deep breath and clench my fists. I will not yell at the creation stone. I won’t.

“I don’t understand,” Arimen says, sounding lost. “Why are we here?”

“It can’t answer that.” There’s a slightly strained edge to Jaimin’s calm that only someone who knows him really well would be able to hear. He’s probably just as annoyed and frustrated as I am to learn that we’ve come all this way for no?—

Wait. Arimen’s right. Whyarewe here if it’s not time for us to meet the champion? Surely the stone doesn’t mean for us to wait days, weeks, or longer in an abandoned city that was unable to sustain itself without supplies from elsewhere?

“Are we supposed to meet someone here?” Jaimin asks, and I squeeze his thigh. I love that our logic is so similar, even though we think so differently.

~Yes~

“Will they be joining us on our journey?”

~Yes~

“Another companion,” I say, and it’s not a question. Frankly, I’m still not sure why we’ve gathered who we have. At first it made sense—a mage, a dragon rider, and a healer. The triumvirate of the academies was fully represented, even if we were at different stages of our careers. Coryn, too, seemed logical after the attack. But Arimen? And now this new person? I’m not sure any of it makes sense.

“That’s exciting!” Arimen’s smile is bright. “The more, the merrier.”

He and I donotthink alike.

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