Raven's Strike (Raven #2)(12)

"Why don't you take him away from everyone," Lehr's calm voice soothed him, too. "You're not going to get any sense out of him with all these people around him."

Hennea must have agreed because Jes found himself following her through the trees. As soon as they were out of sight of the others, their feelings died down to a murmur, but Hennea led him farther.

"I need you to come with us," he told her.

She patted him on the arm - a motherly gesture - then crossed her arms in front of her chest and turned away. She found something interesting in the bark of a tree and traced patterns on the rough surface with a finger.

"You'll be fine," she told the tree, though Jes assumed she was really talking to him. "There's no need for me to come with you. I've repaid the debt I owed to your mother for tricking her into killing Volis the priest. We've seen to it that the Secret Path won't be killing any more Travelers and stealing their Orders."

Jes stared at her back. Did he mean nothing to her? Of course not. She'd been kind to him, rescued him, and in the process kissed him. Doubtless he wasn't the only man she'd ever kissed.

How could she care for him? Had he forgotten what he was? A madman who alternated between being a simpleton and a ravening beast. He should count himself lucky that she didn't run screaming.

<Let me talk to her.>

The Guardian had never asked him before, he'd just taken over if he could. Jes hesitated, remembering that first, possessive roar. But on the rare occasions when he was calm, the Guardian was better-spoken than Jes. Perhaps he could change her mind.

"We can't force her," he said. Perhaps he shouldn't have said it aloud because Hennea didn't look happy when she turned around to stare at him, but the Guardian wasn't as good at hearing Jes as he was at hearing the Guardian. Jes didn't want the Guardian to make matters worse.

<Please. She must come with us.>

With a sigh, Jes let the Guardian overwhelm him.

"You can't force me," said Hennea.

"No," he agreed, stepping away because he thought he might be frightening her - though her face was composed. He didn't want to frighten her. "What do you intend to do now that your debt to my mother is remitted and the Path is rendered harmless?"

"I will seek out the Shadowed," she said. "It may be that the man you chased through the tunnels of the Emperor's castle was just another solsenti wizard. But if not, it would be disastrous to allow him to run free."

The Guardian lowered his eyelids, trying to look unthreatening. It wasn't something he had a lot of practice at.

"My father told Benroln that the Shadowed is going to seek vengeance against us for the death of the Secret Path," he said. "If you want to find him, you are more likely to find him in our company."

"Or in Benroln's as he follows his call," she said.

But her voice wasn't as firm as it had been.

"There was no clue to the Shadowed's identity in the papers left by the Path," said the Guardian. "None of the servants knew anything, nor did any of the men the Emperor could have questioned. Only the wizards might have known who he was, and they were all killed the night the Path fell. There might still be records in the temples, but the Emperor could do nothing against either of the temples of the Five Gods in Taela because there was nothing that connected them to the Path. In Redern, though, there is a temple ready to be searched."

"We searched it already," Hennea said.

"Did you? I thought two tired Ravens went through and did their best to find all the Ordered gemstones and anything that might bring harm to villagers who might go exploring. Did you read all of Volis's correspondence? Did you search for journals? Were you looking for a new Shadowed One?" He knew the answers to those questions - she did, too, because she didn't say anything.

"Then there are the Path's gemstones, also," he murmured, trying hard to keep his triumph from showing. His relief. She was his to guard, as his family was his to guard. He could not have borne for them to be at risk and he not able to protect them all. He needed them to stay together. "Seraph will do her best to solve their secrets and free the Orders that are bound to the stones. She will not give them to you - I know her well enough to understand that she could never give that task to another, even if you do not. It matters too much to her." And to you, he thought.

She bowed her head shallowly. "You are right," she said serenely. "I will come. But I will not stay in Redern, Jes." She rubbed her hands over her face, and it seemed to Jes that the gesture rubbed away some of her composure. "I cannot be more to you than I am. You are so young. You will find someone else. I am - " She stopped. Took a deep breath. "I was Volis's leman, Jes." Her voice shook on the dead priest's name, though he could tell that she was doing her best to be impassive. It was fortunate for the priest that he was already dead.

She must have felt his reaction because she continued hurriedly. "I chose it because it seemed to be the best way to find out how to save my people. I would do it again. I am not your mother, who chooses her family over duty. I am a Raven first - and Ravens do not make good mates. Strong emotions are almost as dangerous to us as they are to Guardians. I chose not to love, Jes. Not ever. I can't afford it. You deserve someone who will love you."