Page 32 of Songs of Retribution

He didn't wait for a reply from Orman. He turned and walked out of the rippling lamp light until he faded into the dark. The shadow he'd swept into called for me. I doubted this cell could hold me. I hadn’t had time to practice the magic but something in me itched to try moving past a barrier with it. Orman remained still, staring out at the stone wall where Sigurdur had stood. Finally, he turned towards me and leaned on the bars, leaving his back exposed. He'd never taken an issue with leaving himself open to danger like that because of his second sight. He could see far beyond the building and through portions of the city.

"You all right?" I asked, unsure of what else to say.

"Ah. I'm fine. This is what I expected. They'll have to give me a trial, and I can speak to them then." His tone didn't match his words. He swiped his hands together like he tried to wipe the experience away.

Maybe I could shift the conversation. "What was the name he called you? It wasn't Orman."

He grinned. "Nah, Orman's a name I chose for myself. It ain't even elven. I've always had a bit of a rebel in me."

"I can respect that."

His smile washed away. "He didn't call me a name. He called me a title. Orpo means orphan. All children without parents who are chosen for the ylin academy but have no parents are called that." His eyes flashed. "Gets damn annoying being called the same name as half a dozen others all the damned time. Finally, one day I said to the others in my joukkue, ‘You're going to call me Orman.’"

I had never realized how similar Orman's past was to mine, and as much as I wanted to ask questions, I intended to stick with my commitment to lighten the mood. "And they listened?"

"Fuck no. You don't know shit about elven academies, but respect isn't earned with words." He cracked his knuckles. "The next time one of 'em called me Orpo, I beat the hell out of him."

There was something vicious in Orman's words, a darkness I'd never seen before. I understood too well what one would do to survive. "I'm guessing that didn't settle it?"

"Nah. But a few more times shut 'em all up. I've been Orman ever since."

"I think the name suits you."

His eyes sparkled, and he looked like he was ready to snap off a smart remark, but his body stilled and he turned towards the bars. I pushed off the wall waiting to see what had come into his realm of awareness, bracing for danger. They wouldn't execute him immediately, would they? Orman seemed calm. Then again, that wasn't helpful information. Orman was always unerringly tranquil.

Several minutes after Orman had grown still, a woman with high cheekbones and a sword slung across her back stepped into the light. She crossed her arms. "Orman."

"Kirsi," Orman whispered, his voice reverent.

"Did you not think I would get word that you'd returned?" She pulled a blade off her hip and slammed it over the cell’s bars so that they vibrated. "Did you not think I'd seek word of you?"

Orman seemed to snap out of reverie and straightened, his eyes meeting Kirsi's with a piercing intensity before he bowed deeply as he had to Sigurdur. "My apologies, Kirsi Kuninkaan."

She slammed the blade forward so fast I choked on a breath. It slipped through the bars, the edge touching the corner of Orman's neck just under his jaw. I took a step forward then froze. I was no wielder of weapons like Orman, and he should have seen that hit coming, which meant he'd allowed it. My arms trembled and the shadows in the corner whispered to me, beckoning me to drift into them. Perhaps I could slide out behind and disarm her.

"No," she said through her teeth, "do not use formalities with me, you bastard."

"Do it," he said evenly, his posture still loose. "I doubt you'd get in trouble."

She bared her teeth, her eyes flashing, then she snatched the sword back and holstered it at her hip. "Tell me one thing. Why?"

Orman tucked his hands behind his back and didn't break eye contact with her. "I am a coward, a no-name fool. A molopää. That is my only reasoning."

She strode forward and gripped a bar. "You're going to stand here and lie to me. After everything, you won't give me the honor of a straight answer?"

He grabbed the bar next to the one she held, their hands barely touching, and dropped his voice to a whisper. "You already know the answer, kulta."

Her nose flared, and she jerked her hand free. "Do not think I don't know what you're doing."

"What do you mean?"

"You know every one of the Kuninkaans will attend your trial and you plan to use that to get your message across. Is it truly so important as to spend your life for it?"

Orman still hadn't broken away from her, as if he longed to press her image into his mind forever. "I once told you I'd found something I'd spend my life trying to protect. Do you remember that?"

"An oath you didn't keep," she hissed.

"An oath I paid everything to keep," he replied, his voice a whisper that scarcely carried.

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