But that he could not do.
Karou looked back once from the slope, worry flashing across her lovely facestill distorted by whatever violence shed refused to divulge to himand then she moved away and it was just Thiago and Ten facing Akiva and Liraz, the sun hot and high, sky blue, earth drab.
So, said Thiago, we may speak without an audience.
I seem to recall that you like an audience, said Akiva, his memories of torture as vivid as they had ever been. Thiagos abuse of him had been performance: the White Wolf, star of his bloody show.
A crease of confusion flickered and vanished at Thiagos brow. Let us leave the past, shall we? The present gives us more than enough to talk about, and then, of course, there is the future.
The future will not have you in it , thought Akiva. It was too perverse to think that if this somehow came to pass, this impossible dream, the White Wolf should ride it through to its fulfillment and still be there, still white, still smug, and still the one standing at Karous door after everything was fought and won.
But no. That was wrong. Akivas jaw clenched and unclenched. Karou wasnt a prize to win; that wasnt why he was here. She was a woman and would choose her own life. He was here to do what he could, whatever he could, that she might have a life to choose, one day. Whoever and whatever that included was her own affair. So he gritted his teeth. He said, So lets talk of the present.
Youve put me in a difficult position, coming here, said the Wolf. My soldiers are waiting for me to kill you. What I need is a reason not to.
This riled Liraz. You think you could kill us? she demanded. Try it, Wolf.
Thiagos regard shifted to her, his calm unruffled. We havent been introduced.
You know who I am, and I know who you are, and that will serve.
Typical Liraz bluntness.
As you prefer, said Thiago.
You all look alike anyway, drawled Ten.
Well then, said Liraz. That might make our getting-acquainted game more difficult for your side.
What game is that? inquired Ten.
No, Lir , thought Akiva. In vain.
The one where we try to figure out which of us killed which of you in previous bodies. Im sure some of you must remember me . She held up her hands to show her kill tally, and Akiva caught the one nearest him, closed his own marked fist over it, and pushed it back down.
Dont flaunt those here, he said. Whats wrong with her? Did she truly want this to degenerate into a bloodbathwhatever this was, this tenuous and almost unthinkable pause in hostilities.
Ten growled a laugh as Akiva pushed his sisters hand back down to her side. Dont worry, Beasts Bane. Its not exactly a secret. I remember every angel whos ever killed me, and yet here I stand, speaking to you. Can the same be said of the very many angels Ive killed? Where are all the dead seraphim now? Wheres your brother?
Liraz flinched. Akiva felt the words like a punch to a woundthe specter of Hazael raised casually, viciouslyand when the heat around them surged, he knew it wasnt only his sisters temper but his own.
Here it was, then, a restoration to the natural order: hostility.
Or not.
But it wasnt a chimaera who slew your brother, said Thiago. It was Jael. Which brings us to the point. Akiva found himself the focus of his enemys pale eyes. There was no taunt in them, no subtle snarl, and none of the cold amusement with which he had regarded Akiva in the torture chamber, all those years ago. There was only a strange intensity. Ive no doubt were all accomplished killers, he said softly. It was my understanding we stood here for a different reason.
Akivas first feeling was shameto be schooled in cool-headedness by Thiago?and his next was anger. Yes. And it wasnt to argue for our lives. You need a reason not to kill us? How about this: Do you have somewhere better to go?
No. We dont. Simple. Honest. And so Im listening. This was, after all, your idea.
Yes, it was. His mad idea, to offer peace to the White Wolf. Now that he stood face-to-face with him, and Karou nowhere near, he saw the absurdity of it. He had been blinded by his desperation to stay near her, to not lose her to the vastness of Eretz, enemies forever. So he had made this offer, and it was only now, belatedly, that he saw how truly strange it was that the Wolf was considering it.
That the Wolf was looking for a reason not to kill him?
It had felt like aggression, that statement, like provocation. But was it, possibly, candor? Could it be the truth, that he wanted this peace but needed to justify it to his soldiers?
The Misbegotten have withdrawn to a safe location, Akiva said. In the eyes of the Empire, we are traitors. I am patricide and regicide, and my guilt stains us all. He considered his next words. If you seriously mean to consider this
This is no ruse on my part, Thiago broke in. I give you my word.
Your word. This from Liraz, served on a bare crust of a laugh. Youll have to do better than that, Wolf. Weve no reason to trust you.
I wouldnt go that far. Youre alive, arent you? I dont ask thanks for it, but I hope its perfectly clear that its no matter of chance. You came to us half-dead. If Id wanted to finish the job, I would have.