Page 114 of Silverbow
“Technically, it was the witch’s bed,” Aiden offered.
Colm wondered how it was he hadn’t been knocked off his horse again when Oryn spun out a ram of air that did just that. With a whoosh of breath and heavythud, Aiden landed in the dirt as Kez skittered to the side. He coughed from the blow to his chest, his eyes watering. Enya’s lip curled in disgust. She couldn’t see the wielding, but she had guessed.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll catch up!” Aiden wheezed.
Oryn’s jaw clenched and he drew a deep breath. “My bargain is regrettable, but it was a hundred years ago, Enya. I swore to take you to sanctuary and nothing Hylee showed you has changed that.”
Her head whipped to him. “Your are mad if you think that. Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Do you have any idea what Hylee did with the power you gave her?”
Colm sucked a breath through his teeth, bracing himself.
“Enya-”
“Do you know?”
“No,” Oryn admitted.
She laughed haughtily. “And you thinkIam the ignorant fool.“ She turned back to the road and let them all steep in the unknown.
When Aiden eventually caught up, Colm advised, “It’s faster to cut to the southeast. The road runs to Ilargia and then winds south.”
Without a word, Enya turned southeast, leaving the hard pack. Oryn glared at him over his shoulder, clearly opposed to hastening the journey to Misthol, but at least they were off the road.
Ruven and the Ashstrom twins had been silent since the encounter with the witch, undoubtedly repentant for their part in it and despite the swell in their party, it was a quiet camp they made when they finally stopped in a little bowl between the low hills. Oryn had again offered his healing and Enya reminded him of her threat. He might find that amusing if she didn’t need the healing, especially when she turned to him and asked for a dream ward. With Hylee Starseer lurking in Valdosonos, they should all be using dream wards.
With so many wielders nearby, they hadn’t risked a ward around their camp, so the demi-elves alternated watches, and Oryn spent most of his pacing. When he did finally take to his blanket roll, Colm knew he hadn’t slept, and the shadows under Enya’s eyes indicated she hadn’t either. Despite a cloudless sky, the air around them felt thick with an impending storm, one Colm was doing his best to stay out of.
“Did you not sleep?” Oryn asked.
She directed her answer toward Colm. “The ward didn’t work.”
He looked up in surprise. “You were still dreaming?”
Enya raised a shoulder in a casual shrug. “I saw what Hylee showed me again.”
“That’s…unusual.”And unnerving.The ward should block her from accessing Valdosonos at all. Colm sat, mulling it over, as Oryn held out a cup of tea. She ignored it until he set it in the empty space between them. When he had retreated back to his seat, she reached forward to take the drink.
“If you would allow…”
“No.”
“...me to heal you-”
“I’m not interested in your tainted gifts.”
“They are not tainted. What Hylee siphons is her own.”
Colm cleared his throat in warning. Mention of the witch was likely to make him a lightning rod.
“My apologies, my lady,” Ruven cut in sharply, bowing his head. “For my part in Kolvar’s camp. Had I realized-”
“It’s fine,” Enya said sharply.
“It’s ridiculous,” Oryn snapped.
Colm noted the way white flared at his fingertips. They’d all been clutching their gifts since Midbury, holding them at the ready in case of an attack. He shook his head and glared as those sparks turned to a wielding of air, water, and spirit.Don’t push it, Oryn.
“Ridiculous,” she repeated coldly. “Ridiculous isyouon your high horse-”
