“Why is the Seer so important to you?” I ask, trying to get him to open up to me.
“The Seer is important to all Bloodstone people.”
“Why?”
“She guides my people’s Fate.”
“You don’t decide for yourself?”
A smirk pulls at the upper corner of his mouth. “You’re naïve if you don’t think the high gods control yours.”
He was right.
The high godsarecontrolling my Fate. They have always controlled it.Back then, I didn’t want to accept it. I wanted to believeIalone carried out my mission to avenge Mother. Instead, they were leading me back to the Bloodstone, back to the people I had been stolen from.
And now…they are leading me to free those slaves.
ChapterEighteen
We wait until night settles over Lanvilla to put my plan into action. Earlier in the day, Tersah and I even bought clothes that would suit our disguise. Mostly to suit Tersah’s disguise. She’s the one the men will ogle.
As the three of us step outside and walk down the street, Everly glances over at me. “I cannot believe I allowed you to talk me into dressing like this.”
I smile and shrug. “It’s better than my old woman costume.”
“I like it.” Tersah grins and tugs her bodice lower.
Everly does the opposite, tugging her surcoat upward. “It’s degrading.”
“I think Cenric would love the way you’re dressed,” Tersah says with a wide grin.
A blush spreads across Everly’s cheeks as she grips the leather bracelet on her wrist.
A man calls out from a nearby shop. “Hello, ladies.”
Nerves twinge inside me as I turn, lifting a brow in surprise. He’s the same man who intervened in the fight outside the alehouse in Rock Mountain. His dark brown hair, tousled and slightly unkempt, falls over his forehead, and his green eyes flicker with an intensity that hints at mischief and depth.
He saunters over, a smirk teasing his lips. I resist the powerful urge to lower my head and veil my face from him. Not because of my stint in Rock Mountain, but because he’s a Kyanite warrior. He may have orders to kill me.
But he doesn’t seem interested in me, not when his stare is resting on Tersah, who stiffens and fastens her gaze over the man’s shoulder.
“Hello, Tersah,” he says, his tone pleasant.
She continues to stare straight ahead, as if he never spoke.
“Are you going to say hello back? Or are you still mad about the time Iborrowedyour horse?” he teases, his eyes glinting with amusement.
Tersah’s mouth thins, betraying her annoyance. “You mean when you left me stranded in the middle of nowhere? How could I forget?”
Shadows from the nearby building play across his angular features as he speaks. “And here I was, thinking you’d be happy to see an old friend.”
I frown, sensing an undercurrent to their banter that I can’t quite grasp.
Her bracelets jangle on her arm as she tosses her hair over her shoulder. “If byfriendyou mean the thorn in my side, then yes, absolutely thrilled.”
“Ah, Tersah, always so quick to remind me of my place.” When she scowls at him, he raises his hands, as if to assure her he means no harm. “I’m here on peaceful terms. No hidden daggers. I promise.”
“Hidden weapons were never your style. Too subtle for you.” Her attention drifts away from him again, settling in the distance, as if she cannot abide to look at him.
