Dawnshard (The Stormlight Archive, #3.5)(59)

“I don’t hate you, Lopen,” Huio said. “Who could hate you? It would take a special kind of bitter soul.”

“That statement, like the Lopen himself, sounds like it comes with a quite spectacular butt attached.”

Huio smiled, then leaned forward. He was so often solemn, Lopen’s older-cousin. Built like a boulder and kind of resembling one, with that balding head. Everyone misunderstood Huio. Maybe even the Lopen himself.

“I don’t hate you,” Huio said. “But you can be a pain, younger-cousin. Me, Punio, Fleeta, even Mama Lond. The way you joke can sometimes hurt us.”

“I joke with the people I love. It’s how I am.”

“Yes, but does it have to be?” Huio asked. “Could you, sure, tease a little less?”

“I . . .”

Storms. Was it true? Was that how they thought of him? Lopen pasted a smile on and nodded to Huio, who seemed relieved that the conversation had gone so well.

They reached the ship, and Rua hovered about Lopen’s head as he laughed with the sailors he met—but he slowly made his way to the small cabin he shared with Huio. For now, Huio gave him space to go in. Sit down. And stare.

“Do . . . others complain about me?” Lopen asked Rua, who settled onto the table. “Do my jokes . . . actually hurt people?”

The little spren shrugged. Then nodded. Sometimes they did.

“Stormfather,” Lopen whispered. “I just want people to be happy. That’s what I try to do. Make them smile.”

Rua nodded again, solemn.

Lopen felt a sudden sharp pain in his breast, accompanied by shamespren sprinkling around him like red flower petals. It threatened to spread, to encompass him. It made him want to curl up and never say another word. Maybe they’d like that. A quiet Lopen.

Storm it, he thought. No. No, I gotta take this like Bridge Four. Arrow straight to the heart, but I can pull it out and heal. Huio could have held the truth back, laughed everything off. But he’d trusted Lopen with this wound.

“I’ll do it, then,” Lopen said, standing up. “I’ve got to protect people, you know? Even from myself. Gotta rededicate to being the best Lopen possible. A better, improved, extra-incredible Lopen.”

Rua lifted his hand into the air in a fist. Then the little spren toppled over to the side.

“Rua?” Lopen said, leaning down. “You playing a trick on me, naco?”

Rua vanished. Then a silvery little dagger appeared in his place. What on Roshar? Lopen picked it up. It was physical, not insubstantial. It was . . .

These Words are accepted.

A burst of frost and power exploded around Lopen.

“Storm me!” Lopen shouted, looking at the ceiling. “You did it again? I almost died out there, and you accept the Words now?”

It is the right time.

“Where’s the drama?” Lopen demanded at the sky. “The sense of timing? You’re terrible at this, penhito!”

I take offense at that. Be glad for what you have.

“I didn’t even know I’d said it!” Lopen muttered.

Storm it. Stupid oath. But he tried out the dagger, and it changed to a nice silvery sword, beautiful and ornate. He’d expected a little engraving of Rua making a rude gesture. And of course as he thought about it, that exact thing appeared on the blade. Huh.

This offered a ton of possibilities. . . .

No, no. He would be better. No pranks. Or, well, fewer pranks. He could do that. Protect people from himself. Who’d ever heard of an oath like that?

But, well, he was the Lopen. Things should be different for him. “Hey Huio!” he shouted, yanking open the door. “You’re never going to guess what just happened!”


Rysn didn’t let herself relax until the winds finally stopped blowing and calm sunlight streamed in through the porthole of her cabin. The ship was free of the storm around Akinah.

They had actually been allowed to leave.

Not that she was alone. A few hordelings accompanied her in secret. Representatives of the Sleepless, who would train with her and keep watch over her. Likely for the rest of her life.

But the arrangement had been made, the details hammered out. The lie was the best kind, as it required very little actual lying. Almost all of what they had to say was true, and of the crew, only Rysn and Cord knew the full secret.

Chiri-Chiri chirped nearby from a set of towels she’d arranged into a nest. She looked so content now, full of color. She’d spent the ride bouncing around and prancing through the room, then flying near the ceiling. As full of energy as Rysn had ever seen her.

Would Chiri-Chiri retain the ability to fly as she grew big as a chasmfiend? Nikli had implied she would. Stormwinds. How would Rysn deal with that? How long would it take?

Well, she’d handle it when the time came. She was less confident about the other burden, the one in her mind. She’d spent this entire voyage wondering if she belonged here, in this seat. And now she’d entered territory no babsk could ever have trained her to traverse.

But she’d certainly had lots of practice sitting up straight these last years. And in a way, she found that she felt comforted. If no one had traveled this path before, then she didn’t have to compare herself to anyone, did she? She didn’t have to be Vstim. Not in this task.

“Is that why you chose me?” Rysn asked Chiri-Chiri. “Did you know I could bear this?”