Page 78 of Grave Situation

Her exasperation rings through my mind like a bell.“He’s helping to destroy us all, Talon.”

True, but…“Maybe. He might also have been hired without knowing all the details. He literally can’t tell us—his shield won’t let him talk about it. Since I can’t be sure, let me do this. It will haunt me otherwise.”

“It’s going to haunt you regardless.”Her mental voice is grim, but in the next second, she floods me with comfort, a telepathic hug.

And nods to Coryn.

His sword flashes, the prisoner cries out, and it’s over.

But it will haunt me for the rest of my life.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

It’sanother day and a half before we reach Josanin, but oddly, I don’t consider stopping for a few days in the capital city. My mood’s been low since the last attack, and I know I haven’t been great company, but I just want to get this godsdamned mission finished so I can go back to the City of Knowledge and help prepare for whatever happens next. I feel helpless and useless trekking across the continent in the winter, searching blindly for the person who can help, and yet, what we’re doing right now is more important than any of the other preparations could be.

I just wish it felt that way.

At least the farther south we go, the milder the weather becomes. The snow and sleet have stopped entirely, though I know it does still sometimes snow in this region. But it’s definitely been warmer, and I won’t complain about that.

It’s late afternoon our first day out of Josanin, and Tia’s just promised me there’s a village about an hour’s ride ahead. It’s small, but even if it doesn’t have an inn, it will be a better place to stop and camp than anywhere else. I may be leaning into paranoia at this point, but I have a strong feeling of impending doom. It’s looming over me like a shadow, making me twitchy aswell as moody. I haven’t missed the way Jaimin keeps giving me sidelong looks, and Coryn’s dropped back a fair distance.

The road winds through the Queen’s Forest, and the density of the trees makes me very uncomfortable. We should break clear soon—Tia says—but it’s hard to see what’s ahead or what’s coming up behind us, and I don’t like it.

Soon, though, the trees begin to thin, and I breathe a little easier. Another forty minutes or so and we’ll be with other people again. Maybe tonight’s the night the stone will finally give us some different news.

Tia tugs urgently, and I go on high alert, reaching out immediately.“What’s wrong?”

“There are some people coming toward you. I’m not completely certain, but I think they’re from a temple—Leicht says they’re wearing white robes with blue sashes.”

Priests of Wasianth, then. He’s a mellow kind of god, as far as they can be mellow, but oddly, his priests in the last few generations have leaned toward fanatical. Even if they aren’t looking for us, we don’t want to clash with them.

“Anything else? Where even would they have come from?”I rack my brain, trying to remember if there’s a temple in this area. Josanin has one, of course, but if they’d come from there, they’d be behind us, not ahead.

“I don’t know. When we scouted over the village, Leicht saw a cluster of buildings over by the coast. We assumed it was a fishing village, but it could be a temple compound?”

All the way out here? Away from cities and politics and worshipers? Unlike some of the religions of the Baswich Empire, none of ours have monasteries or convents. The priesthood is expected to mingle with people and guide them in their faith.

“Okay. Thanks for the warning. I’ll be ready, but it’s not like I can say anything to the others.”Not for the first time, I wonderif I should have shared our secret with Jaimin. The very idea terrifies me, but also… not.

It’s too late now, though—as much as I like Coryn, I’m not willing to let him know, and there isn’t a lot of privacy for chatting at the moment.

Sweetie must feel my rising tension as we continue down the winding road, because she starts to act up, dancing sideways and nearly colliding with Jaimin’s tall gray.

“Sorry,” I mutter, reining her back. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”

“Maybe she’s just—” He breaks off and frowns. “Do you hear that?”

I do—it’s hoofbeats, quite a lot of them, moving fast. Which, with the road in such a bad state, can’t be good for the horses. Coryn rides up to join us.

“They must be coming from ahead,” he says, frowning as though he’s concentrating. “They couldn’t be moving that fast along the bendy road behind us.”

“It’s soon for another attack,” Jaimin adds. “I hope. How do they always seem to know exactly where we are, anyway?”

“We’ve pretty much stuck to this same road the whole trip,” I remind him. I feel a lot calmer now that I know they’re almost on us. “But we can’t be sure they’re looking for us. Let’s get over to the side of the road and hope they’re just passing through.”

Wishful thinking? Maybe.

Jaimin looks at me as though I’m crazy, and Coryn shakes his head. “I’d rather we got around this next bend first so I can see them. But we can ride on the side of the road.”

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