Raven's Strike (Raven #2)(13)

The Guardian closed in on her, but she held her ground even when he put one hand on her neck and the other on her shoulder to hold her still. He bent his head and kissed her - gently at first, though that wasn't part of his nature. He let Jes return and take control of the kiss just as her shoulder softened under his hand and her lips parted.

Jes savored the touch, but withdrew before Hennea's snarl of emotions broke the spell of the kiss and made it something more complex.

He didn't look at her, didn't want to try and read her face. He didn't know what emotions she would decipher from his own since he wasn't certain what he felt.

His father would say that their conversation had resulted in a draw. He'd also say that sometimes, that was the best result you could hope for. Jes was pretty certain this was one of those times.

He didn't say anything, just stepped back so that she could lead the way back to where the clan waited. He followed her, making certain that she did not come to harm.

Tier fretted because they made slower time once they'd left Benroln and his people. Mostly that was due to Seraph's insistence on frequent rest stops to spare Tier's knees. Brewydd had not been so strict a caretaker. In the evenings, Seraph and Hennea continued to spend hours in the illusionary remains of one of the Colossae wizards' homes as they, and Brewydd, had done since they left Taela. They used Seraph's mermora, the house that had once belonged to Isolde the Silent.

Tier had known about the mermori for years, but Seraph had seldom done more than look through the graceful silver forms, which to him looked like small elaborate daggers. He'd seen Isolde's house once or twice, but that didn't make the sudden appearance of a house in the middle of the wilds any less fantastical.

They were looking for a way to free the Orders that the Path had bound to gemstones.

"It would have been easier," Seraph told him one night, "if the Path actually managed to do what they had intended. If they had managed to separate the Order completely from the Traveler they killed, the gemstones could probably just have been destroyed to free the Orders."

"But you can't do that now."

She shifted against his side to get more comfortable. He didn't tell her that her elbow was digging into his ribs where they were still a little tender because that would make her move away from him entirely. She'd wriggle around a bit more before she fell asleep anyway.

"No," she said, yawning. "Brewydd says there were only ever a few Orders in the world. When one Order Bearer dies, the Order is cleansed and passes to a new bearer. Because of the Path's interference, these Orders aren't cleansed."

"What do you mean?" he asked. He'd missed these late-night talks. When they'd first left Taela, he had been too tired by the time they stopped each night to do anything but sleep. He was tired tonight as well, but not with the kind of exhaustion that made him lose consciousness as soon as he quit moving.

"Most of the gems don't work quite right," Seraph said. "What was supposed to happen was when the gem was worn against a wizard's skin, that wizard could use the powers of the Order just as if he was the Order Bearer they had stolen it from. Brewydd thinks that they were stealing the Order too soon, before it was cleansed by the death of its previous bearer."

"So the gems are haunted?" Tier asked.

Seraph nodded. "Or so we surmise. Volis said that none of the Healer gems work right."

"If you break the stones, won't the Orders be freed?"

Seraph shrugged. "Probably. But they'll still have bits and pieces of their previous owners' experience - maybe even personality. Brewydd thought it might keep them from bonding at all - or, worse, make the Order act more like a shadow taint." She took a deep breath. "Like the Guardian Order, maybe."

"I see why you can't just destroy the gemstones," Tier said, smoothing her hair.

"It might come to that eventually," Seraph said. "But I'm not anywhere near willing to take that risk."

The mountains were a mixed blessing, thought Tier a few days later. It meant they were getting closer to home - but it also slowed their pace.

Jes and Lehr had taken to ranging in front of them with Gura, looking for chance game or wayside robbers - leaving the women to totter along with the cripple and his old warhorse, Tier thought sourly. Journeying with Benroln's clan, he had gotten used to riding while others walked, but it bothered him more when his only companions were a pair of women.

When they came to a fairly level stretch of road he threw one leg over Skew's rump and dropped to the ground with a groan.

"What are you doing?" Seraph put her hands on her hips and frowned at him.

"I'm going to walk a bit," he told her, and suited his actions to his words.

"Brewydd told you to keep off those knees." Seraph slipped an arm through his and walked beside him.

"That was a week ago," Tier said. "I'll only walk where the road is level. Skew needs a rest."

"He does not," she said stubbornly. "Tier - " She stopped herself. Her voice soft, she said, "I worry too much, I know. But I hate it. Hate that you were hurt. Hate it worse that I didn't get to immolate the men who did it until after they were dead."

He slipped the fingers of his left hand through her braids and ducked down to kiss her on the lips. "You're not responsible for everything that happens, my Raven. You can't prevent any of us from getting hurt or even dying. That is not your place. Best you accept that now, love."