Page 113 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
“Try not to be too disappointed. I’m the reason you won’t have a hangover today.”
Warmth flooded his cheeks as he rubbed his face with his uninjured hand. “Thank you, Mrs. Walker.”
Zelda only raised a brow before snatching his wrapped hand. Kase hissed at the movement. She unwrapped the gauze with expert efficiency and inspected Kase’s angry, split knuckles. “Well, I’m still not convinced you didn’t fracture anything, but the lack of intense swelling backs up my husband’s diagnosis.”
She dipped her fingers into the pot of salve and rubbed it on the broken skin. Kase thought it looked a little better, and he sagged with relief as the medicine took effect. Zelda looked up, her eyes searching. “And what might have caused you to do something so foolish as brawling?”
Kase opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t know what answer would be best. Would it make her like him more if he admitted he was protecting her daughter’s honor? Or would it make her think less of him for associating with people who would insult it?
He cleared his throat. “Just a misunderstanding.”
That was safe enough. For now.
She gave him a deadpanned look so reminiscent of Hallie, his chest physically hurt. Kase shrugged. “Thank you for helping.”
Whether she believed him or not, she didn’t say so either way. She wrapped his hand in new gauze and put away the salve. “Stowe tells me you and my daughter are involved.”
Kase opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He didn’t know exactly what he and Hallie were, but he’d rather have thatconversation with her instead of her mother, who he was slowly realizing was much more intimidating than her father. It was probably a good thing she’d been on her way to Kyvena when Hallie had been kidnapped. She would’ve most definitely broken Kase’s ankle instead of fixing it.
Zelda crossed her arms. Kase ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know ifinvolvedis the right word, necessarily…”
“Did you or did you not kiss her before you left the Stoneset caverns?”
“I did.” He hesitated a little. “Look, Hallie is the—”
“You will address her as Miss Walker until you are betrothed—ifI allow that to occur.” Even though she was much shorter physically, she loomed miles above him. “I do not approve of my daughter running around with miscreants who involve themselves in drunken brawls.”
Kase held up both hands. “That’s not me, I swear…I just…Waylan just made a comment, and…”
The gauze wrapped around his injured hand made him a liar.
“So you have a short temper. Not a mark in your favor.”
Kase’s irritation rose with each word she said—which, honestly, might have proved her point. But he was not about to lose his temper at Hallie’s mother of all people.
He ran his uninjured hand down his face, pushing himself to his feet to give him a little time to think of a response. Zelda Walker held her ground, though now Kase was at least two heads taller.
“Hal—Miss Walker is the reason I’m standing in front of you right now, and for that, I will always be grateful.” Kase paused, and when he didn’t get a tongue lashing in return, he continued, “She’s the bravest, smartest, and most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. I love her, and there’s nothing on this stars-forsaken planet that could change that.”
The words hung in the air, and Kase’s breath came in huffs. He hadn’t meant to spill his feelings to Hallie’s mother, but there they were, awaiting her judgment. Zelda held his stare, her arms still crossed. The silence bore down on him, but Kase didn’t budge. Finally, Zelda pointed back to the bedroll Kase had used the previous night.
“Stowe says you’re to stay here until he’s happy with your healing.” She bent down and fetched a jar and some bread out of her pack. She handed it to him. “Sit and eat. My husband will check you when he gets back. If he bothers the hospital medics enough, they usually let him help.”
Kase took the food and sat. Somehow, he felt like he’d just passed some test. He twisted the lid on the jar off, the softpopechoing in the stillness, and tore a piece of the bread, dipping it into the dark red goo. If Kase hadn’t known it came from a simple glass jar and had been stashed in there for stars-knew how long, he would’ve guessed the berries had come straight from the bush. Flavor exploded on his tongue, just the right amount of tartness balanced by a caramel-like sweetness that had him dishing out more. The mazelberry jam tasted like heaven. “Thank you. Hallie was right. Your jam is truly the best.”
Zelda turned from where she had been about to leave the tent. “I may have allowed you some of my jam, but I will remind you yet again that you have yet to earn the right to use my daughter’s given name.”
Kase choked on his next bite. When he’d recovered, he said, “Yes, Mrs. Walker. I apologize.”
She stepped out of the tent only to pause and smile, though not at Kase. “Good morning, Mrs. Shackley.”
Kase’s organs leapt into his throat. He all but tossed the jar aside and lunged toward the tent flap. His mother. Somehow she was here, alive, not lost somewhere in the bombed-out capital buried under a heap of bodies and stone.
Zelda held the flap open, and instead of his mother, Clara appeared. Kase couldn’t help his shoulders drooping slightly. Clara smiled at him before doing a double take. “Kase? What are you doing…why aren’t you…?”
He opened his mouth and closed it again before saying, “I could ask you the same thing.”
“Fair enough,” Clara replied with a small laugh.
