Its true that I killed our father, he said. Its what I went there to do, and I did it. Whatever you might have heard, I did not kill the crown prince, nor would I have. Nor the council, the bodyguards, the Silverswords, the bath attendants. All that blood. All of that was Jaels doing, and all of it his plan. No matter how it fell out that day, he was going to lay it to me, and use it as pretext to exterminate us all.
Throughout the telling, the silence continued to evolve, and Akiva felt in it a loosening, as of fists relaxing their grips on sword hilts.
Maybe it was news to them that their lives would have been forfeit no matter what Akiva did that day, and maybe it wasnt. Maybe that wasnt what mattered. These two namesHazael and Jaelcould have served as their poles of love and hatred, and together combined to make this real, all of it. The ascendancy of their uncle, their own exile, even the fact of their own freedom still so alien to them, a language theyd never had opportunity to learn.
They might do anything now. Even ally with beasts?
Jael wont expect it, said Akiva. It will anger him, to begin with. But more than that, it will unsettle him. He wont know what to expect next, in a world where chimaera and Misbegotten join forces.
And neither, I wager, will we. In Elyons voice, Akiva thought, there was a tone
of musing, as if the unknown beguiled as much as it alarmed him.
Theres something else, said Akiva. Its true that the chimaera have a new resurrectionist. And you should know, before you decide anything, that she was willing to save Hazael. His voice caught. But it was too late.
They digested this. What about Liraz? asked Elyon, and a murmur went around. Liraz. She would be their touchstone. Someone said, Surely she hasnt agreed to this.
And Akiva said a blessing for his sister, because he knew that he had them now. Shes with them, encamped and awaiting my word. And you can imagine He softened for the first time since arriving and calling them together; he allowed himself to smile. That she would rather be here with you. There isnt time to hash it over. Jael wont wait. He looked first to Elyon. Well?
The soldier blinked several times, rapidly, like he was waking up. Furrowed his brow. A détente, he said, in a tone of warning, can only be as strong as the least trustworthy on either side.
Then let it not be our side, said Akiva. Its the best we can do.
The look in Elyons eyes suggested he could think of better, and that it began and ended with swords, but he nodded.
He nodded. Akivas relief felt like the passage of stormhunters reshaping the air.
Elyon gave his promise, and the others did, too. It was simple, and slight, and as much as could be expected for now: that when the wind delivered up their enemies, they would not strike first. Thiago had made the same promise on behalf of his soldiers.
Soon they would all learn what promises were worth.
12
A WARM IDEA
You know what I might do? Zuzana asked, shivering.
What might you do? inquired Mik, who was seated behind her, his arms wrapped all the way around her and his face tucked into the crook of her neck. That was the warmest part of her body right now: the crook of her neck, where Miks breath was making its own microclimate, a few lovely square inches of tropical.
You know that scene in Star Wars , she said, where Han Solo slits open that tauntauns belly and shoves Luke inside so he wont freeze to death?
Aw, responded Mik, thats so sweet. Youre going to tuck me into a fresh, steaming carcass to warm me up?
Not you. Me.
Oh. Okay. Good. Because the thing I always think after that scene is that the guts are going to cool off fast, and personally, Id rather be cold and not covered in wet tauntaun guts than
Okay then, said Zuzana. No need to get graphic.
Its called a Skywalker sleeping bag, Mik continued. A woman in America tried it in a horse.
Zuzana made a choking noise. Stop now.
Naked.
Oh god . She pulled forward so she could swing her face around to look at him. Immediately the microclimate of her neck began to drop in temperature. Good-bye, tiny tropics. I did not need that in my mind.
Sorry, said Mik, contrite. I have a better idea, anyway.
A warm idea?
Yeah. I was just working up my nerve when you distracted me with Star Wars .
The chimaera army, plus themselves and LirazAkiva having flown on ahead to get the high sign from his army, fingers crossedwas encamped in a sheltered valley in the mountains. Sheltered being a relative term, and valley , too. One thought of meadows and wildflowers and mirror lakes, but this looked like a moon crater. They were out of the worst of the wind, anyway; it was calm enough to get fires going, though they didnt have a lot of fuel, and the wood that someoneRark? Aegir?had chopped with a battle-ax was a stingy burner, throwing off popping green sparks and smelling disagreeably like the decades of cabbage buildup in Zuzanas aunts Prague flat.
Seriously, that smell had no business existing in two worlds.