Firebrand

The snow had stopped falling, and the moon backlit the receding clouds. Stars glittered in the clear patches of sky. She heard the horses shifting in the paddock, the thud of a hoof, a sigh. The trees rustled in the breeze like breaths taken and exhaled, and the rush of Eli Creek was a constant, faint conversation between water and stone in the background. The woods were otherwise serene.

“Enver,” she called, her own voice startling in the quiet. “What do you mean you’re witnessing me?”

Silence. The clouds parted from the moon and the brightening light unveiled the clearing around the cabin. She shivered with the cold and was about to give up when his voice came to her from behind.

“I am here.”

She whirled, heart thudding, and made out his form in the dark with the glint of moonlight in his eyes. “I wish you wouldn’t sneak up on me like that.”

“Apologies. For sneaking.”

“Hmm.” She took a deep breath and demanded, “What did you mean you are witnessing me?”

He did not answer immediately. Then, “Just as Lady Estral chronicles her observations in her journal, so do I also watch.”

She did not like where this was going. She did not like the Eletians prying into her life. “Why? Why do you watch?”

“It is my designated role.”

“What? Your role?” She perceived him nodding in affirmation more than saw it. “Why in the hells is this your—your role?”

He went silent again, and she thought he might not answer, but he said, “Those who are the wise among Eletians are, shall we say, baffled by you. You are unexpected for a mortal, and they wish to see what you will do next. That is all.”

Karigan didn’t even know what to say to this. She stood there gaping at him.

“I was not supposed to tell you,” he said, “for how it might affect your natural behavior, but I can see that it is unfair not to.”

Her natural behavior? “They want you to spy on me?” she demanded. Then she thought, bitterly, there had been Eletians who, in the past, had wanted to kill her. What was a little spying?

“‘Spy’ is perhaps too strong a word.”

“Then what in the hells do you call it?” When he didn’t answer, she continued, “So this whole journey to find the p’ehdrose is an excuse for you to watch me? You Eletians haven’t meddled enough in my life? What I do is not your business.”

He raised his hands in a placating gesture. “Galadheon—”

“And why in the name of the gods do you call me ‘Galadheon’? My name is Karigan, or Rider G’ladheon.” “Galadheon”, which meant “betrayer” in the imperial tongue, was the origin of her name, but it had not been used in centuries; not until recently when the Eletians had begun addressing her that way.

Moonlight limned his shoulders when he shrugged. “It is what we call you.”

“Eletians!” she sputtered. “I should have stayed in Sacor City.”

“Do you wish to return?” he asked quietly.

“I’d like nothing better, but you convinced my king that this journey needed to be made. So you can spy on me.”

“It was Lhean who did the convincing.”

“You’re all culpable.”

“Galadheon,” Enver said.

“What?”

“The journey was not devised just so we could spy on you. Our prince believes it important to seek the p’ehdrose, as does your king. To observe you was just a coincidental opportunity.”

“That makes me feel so much better.” She hoped her sarcasm was thick enough that even an Eletian could recognize it. If she ever saw Prince Jametari again, she would tell him a thing or two. “And why you? Why are you the one to watch me?”

“It was foreseen.”

“Oh, good gods. Did your prince foresee you annoying me to death?”

“Galadheon—”

“I have had it with Eletians interfering in my life.”

“I apologize,” Enver said. “I cannot seem to do or say the right thing. How may I make amends?”

“Stay out of my way.” She turned and headed for the cabin. Before she climbed the steps, she paused and told him, “And no spying.”

She entered the cabin, and before she closed the door, she thought she heard a forlorn “very well” from outside.

She sighed and crawled back beneath her blankets. Sometimes she thought that if her brooch left her at that very moment, it wouldn’t be too soon. Then she could go back to an ordinary life and never see another Eletian again.

• • •

Estral, Karigan noted the next morning, awoke cheerful and rested. Apparently she had slept peacefully through the night, oblivious to Karigan’s confrontation with Enver. Karigan, on the other hand, could only glare at the day. She had not slept well. She wasn’t surprised that Enver kept his distance.

When, over breakfast, Estral suggested they make way for the town of North, Karigan responded with a flat, “No.”

“Why not?”

“North isn’t safe.”

“I know it’s a rowdy backwater,” Estral said, “but remember, I lived in a lumber camp before Selium.”

“Well, I didn’t.”

Estral gave her a sideways glance. “My, my, someone rolled out of bed on the wrong side this morning.”

Enver seemed to disappear into the wall.