Page 168 of The Last One
I feel like my skin has been peeled back and I’m cold. “You…recognize me?”
“I do, though I last saw you long ago,” Separi says, looking up at me. “You’ve changed in some ways, but I’d know your countenance and grace in the darkest night even more than Veril Bairnell the Sapient. He saw you only in your peaceful state, where order and light abounded. He saw the Eserime in you. But me? I saw you as I do right now—a weary Mera warrior with the wind at her back. It was my job as armorer to know you so well. How you moved. The way you favored your left hand for magic.” She bows again, lower this time. “I oarl ha’a’moc hua iya au rro farossoc rlo llalu lya’aum immosa.”
Stunned, I dip my head. “And I’m honored to be in your presence as well.” I introduce both Jadon and Philia.
Her joy dims as her attention shifts from my companions to my gloved hand—and the platinum fox amulet tied around my wrist. “Veril…?”
I remain silent, but sadness swells in my gut.
And, since she knows my countenance in the darkest night, she can read this loss on my face. Her lips quiver, and her eyebrows draw together.
“A lot’s happened,” Jadon says, breaking the silence. “It was Veril’s idea to come to you for help. Before we lost him.” Jadon’s voice cracks.
Separi stares at him, and then her eyes settle on Philia. “And why do you stand here, child?”
Philia’s cheeks color. “I’m not a child—I’m nineteen.”
“And I’m two hundred and six…child.” Separi lets that hang in the air for a moment, then says to me, “Welcome, Lady. Your companions are also welcome.”
“Thank you,” I say, “and I’ll tell you everything, once we’re refreshed, including the worst of things.”
We follow the Renrian into the inn. “We’ve come a long way,” I say. “I hope you’ll be willing to accommodate us for a night.”
Separi wags her finger. “Oh no, no, no. But youmuststay for more than one night. The Festival of Acorns—you’ve enjoyed that in the past.”
Really? No clue what the festival is nor when I’ve visited Caburh.
“We’re on a schedule, friend,” I say. “And I apologize for the brevity of our visit. I promise that we’ll stay longer upon our return.”
“Until then,” Separi says, her arms spread wide, “you will have the most restorative one night at the Broken Hammer.”
The inn smells of jasmine and toast, and a big fireplace spans nearly the entire wall. The room is hazy from pipe smoke and hot from twenty bodies sitting in high-backed chairs. A boy with curly hair plays a lute as a girl who looks just like him—but with a ponytail—sings about a beautiful maiden and a frog. The adults sip from mugs and clap their hands to the tune.
I pull the hood of my cloak over my head and keep my eyes on the floor. Despite Separi’s kindness, the loathing from some of the people of Caburh has sapped any strength I had. “I’m too tired to fight,” I whisper to Jadon and Philia. “I just wanna go to my room. That way, I can breathe normally. Simply exist.”
“Since when do you want simple and normal?” Philia asks, brightness in her voice.
Extraordinary, though, becomes exhausting. Honestly: I’m so tired—of swallowing my ire, of hesitating before I react. I’m tired of holding up my head. Words have weight. Sneers cause burns. This Gorga-Jundum-mudscraper-muckdweller-giant is bleeding on the inside and can’t express how she truly feels because she’s supposedly a goddess who must save the realm and doesn’t have time for feelings.
We follow Separi up to the third floor. At the landing, our host turns right at an intersecting corridor. The hallway smells of woodsmoke and the musk of crushed green ferns. Doors on either side of the corridor are marked by doorknobs of different colors.
“Sounds like you’ve been here before, too,” Jadon says, smirking. “Enjoying festivalsandnuts.”
I grin and whisper, “Shut up, Ealdrehrt.”
Separi turns right again, then stops at a door with a purple knob. She hands a key to Philia. “For you, young one.” To Jadon and me: “Veril’s favorite room. And…”
She hands Jadon a key and points to the door with a red knob. “You’re sleeping there, young knight.”
Jadon thanks her.
“And for you, Lady,” Separi says. “Come.”
I follow the innkeeper down the hall.
Jadon follows us down the corridor.
Separi turns a knob of pearl and gold.
