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Don’t answer if you haven’t verified who I am!
Aiz searched her mind for a fact only Cero would know; there were so many.
“Who’s the first person you fell in love with?”
Trick question. I’m too ice-hearted to ever be in love. Tell me everything.
Aiz swiftly caught him up on what had happened, impatient not to share her world but to know what was happening in his.
The clerics were released. Along with a group of Tohr inmates. But, Aiz—
“There were three children,” Aiz said. “Hani, Jak, and Finh—”
Noa and Olnas made it out. And Jak and Finh and Hani. But then Tiral visited the cloister and Hani—Tiral killed her.
“What?” Aiz cried, her hand at her mouth. She thought of Hani’s sweet face, of the way she never asked for stories even though she loved them, the way she tried to protect Jak and Finh.
Tiral knew it would hurt the clerics. He hoped they’d blame you, I think. He’s Tel Ilessi now. Everything happened as you said it would. Dovan backed him after he threatened the clerics. The rest of the clergy fell in line. The Triarchy had to accept him or risk losing their heads. Especially since his raids brought in a fresh supply of food.
“Tell the clerics and orphans that I will return, Cero,” Aiz said. “When I do, I won’t come alone. I will bring the spirit of Mother Div with me. I will kill Tiral.”
Cero was silent for a moment, and when he spoke again, he sounded tired.Tiral never hunted you, Aiz. He didn’t send pilots after you, didn’t hire any Jaduna. He said he didn’t need to, and while I can’t untangle his twisted brain, it does mean you’re free. Don’t come back. Make a life for yourself. These people you travel with—they sound like good people.
“They’re a means to an end.”
Even this prince you speak of?
Aiz found herself sputtering. “He— Cero, he’s a prince. And I’m me.”
Exactly. If he has any sense, he’s half in love already.
He was smiling. Aiz felt it. But the expression wouldn’t reach his eyes. He’d be looking at his hands or out at the Spires, jaw sharp as glass and just on the other side of clenched. Silence bloomed between them, heavy with what neither had gotten a chance to say.
Aiz took a deep breath. “Cero. I don’t want to make a life here,” she said. “I don’t want a life with anyone else. I—I want you. And—”
The aaj went cold.
He was gone. And the hurt she felt, the longing for him and for home that she’d tried desperately to quell, grabbed her heart and squeezed.
Later that night, as Ruh and Aiz finished the last of the dishes, Quil appeared. He’d cleaned up, shaved, and pulled his dark hair back into a knot.For her.
“Who is this child?” He looked at Ruh in mock confusion. “Not Ruh, surely.Ruhattacks me the second I get back from Antium, demanding offerings. You must be someone else.”
Ruh lifted his chin. “I’m mad at you. You were supposed to take me with you this time.”
Quil knelt in front of Ruh. “If I tell you that all I did was listen to old people argue about very boring things, would it help?”
Ruh tried not to smile and failed. His demeanor brightened at the puzzle box Quil drew from his pocket.
“Aunt Hel hid something in here for you,” he said. “Said it would take you two months to open. I said two weeks.”
“Two days,” Aiz said. She’d spent enough time with Ruh to know that his mind was unusually quick.
As Ruh disappeared with the box, Quil stood again. “Ready for watch?”
Aiz dried her hands and took off her apron. She’d dressed with care, her green dress flattering on her pale skin, the color bringing out the emerald flecks in her eyes. Quil breathed in as she joined him.
“That smell,” he said—
