Chapter 26 Karinna
Karinna
Cero emerged from the little shack with the same unreadable expression he’d had walking in, which only fanned the flames of Karinna’s impatience.
“Well?” she said. “Did you get anything out of her?”
“Access to their library,” Cero said through gritted teeth, glancing at Linh, who was speaking to U’qaya only a few yards away. “And the distinct feeling that she doesn’t want us here.”
“I could have bleeding told you that.” Karinna tried and failed to temper her exasperation. “But now we know where she stands. Her unwillingness to help you is telling, as is the absence of the other Raanis.”
Cero gave her a swift, opaque look. “It was clever what you did in there. Subtle. Wouldn’t have thought you capable of it.”
Karinna shoved him for the disrespect, but it was like shoving a cliff. Plant your feet next time, Veturia. He needs to know what you’re made of.
“We need a plan,” she said. “If there is a map, it won’t be in the library, otherwise she wouldn’t send you there. But she or her guards will be watching us now.”
U’qaya disappeared into the trees without looking back, and Linh approached, clearing his throat pointedly.
“I’m to escort you to the library,” he said. “Your weapons will be waiting at your guesthouse, but if you draw steel within the bounds of Kotama again, you will be immediately cast out.”
He gestured for them to follow him to the portal, remaining close enough that Karinna couldn’t continue her conversation with Cero without risking Linh overhearing. Their plan would have to wait.
At the entrance to the portal, Cero hesitated, even as Linh stepped through.
Karinna teetered ridiculously on the precipice before realizing she couldn’t leave Cero to stumble through alone.
She took his arm, trying not to breathe in too deeply.
Over the past two weeks, she’d caught his scent.
It reminded her of the spiced cider Zuriya made in the depths of a high-desert winter, and the smell was strangely heady.
The second they exited the portal, Karinna released Cero and waited for him to go ahead so she could trail. When he didn’t, she nudged him impatiently. “Go on,” she snapped. “Unless you need me to hold your hand to the library, too?”
Cero flinched and moved quickly away. Karinna closed her eyes, guilt momentarily flaring for snapping at him.
But it was his own fault, really. She didn’t like what happened when she touched the pilot. Especially after their conversation in the bathing pool, when she’d stupidly confided her own sadness to him for reasons she didn’t understand.
Or, perhaps, reasons she did. She’d been addled after seeing him nearly naked. He had a striking face and he knew it. Seeing his skin bare, beaded in water, left her embarrassed yet intrigued, which only embarrassed her further. It made her blabby. She wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Skies, she wished she could get the image out of her head. She’d always admired fellows with nice arms, and his were chiseled as if of stone, just like the rest of him. Probably because of the strength it took to manipulate a Sail. He flew with his whole body, she’d noticed.
Why had she noticed? She didn’t want to notice.
And yet she had. When she’d gone out to yell at him about bothering Abzi, she’d gawped at him instead. Abzi had laughed at her, and for once, Karinna wished she weren’t getting better at understanding the cat.
He considered you for a mate, Abzi had said at the time. Very briefly. But now I think he is considering drowning himself.
I wish he would, Karinna had responded. Her cheeks grew warm thinking about it now. Dratted cat. She saw too much.
Karinna looked around. Where was Abzi anyway? Karinna hoped nothing had happened to her. Wights couldn’t get into Kotama; she hadn’t seen one since they’d arrived. There must be some magic to block them. But Abzi moved about quite freely—
Two-legs. Abzi appeared out of the woods as if summoned, a few leaves snarled in her fur. I have— Karinna didn’t understand the next word.
Say it again please, Abzi. Slower?
I explore, Abzi said. Animals here smart. They share much. What have you been doing?
Trying not to kill the pilot, Karinna said.
You do not hate him, the cat observed. You are considering him for a mate? He is not ugly for your kind.
He’s not—I’m not—
Abzi seemed amused. You feel— Karinna couldn’t translate the next word. You should not, Abzi went on. He has tended your wounds and you have kept him from harm. His body is strong, his vision keen, and his scent clean. He would make a good mate.
He isn’t completely hideous, Karinna said. Even I can see that. And he does smell good. She shook herself. But I am not considering him for a mate.
At that moment, Cero chose to glance back at them. “What’s she saying to you?” he said.
“None of your business!” Karinna flushed and hoped he couldn’t see. “Listen, we won’t find anything in that library. But we might find something outside it. My bet is on U’qaya’s quarters. I can send Abzi to scout—then poke around myself. But I need you to keep him”—she nodded at Linh—“occupied.”
“I can help you. We can both look,” Cero offered. In the dappled light, his eyes seemed to reflect the shifting colors of the leaves above them. Karinna found herself staring before pinching herself viciously on the leg. The plan, Veturia!
“Too obvious,” Karinna said. Why did she have to bleeding explain everything? “Just—leave this to me, all right? Keep him occupied and I’ll figure out the rest.”
She didn’t wait for an answer, instead dropping back, wondering where someone like U’qaya might hide something valuable.
Karinna’s parents rarely hid things. Her mother had a secret compartment in her wagon, but it was mostly in case of bandits. Zuriya’s secrets were all in her head.
She considered the Empress, someone she’d always been fascinated with and a bit intimidated by. At the beginning of the war, when they’d all been together in Serra, Empress Helene kept her war plans in her own home. They were close at hand but well guarded.
Abzi, Karinna said. Did you see where the Raanis’ homes are while you were exploring?
No, Abzi said. But I have their scents. I can track one. I cannot follow them all.
U’qaya, Karinna said to Abzi. Follow U’qaya.
The cat disappeared, and Karinna was forced to spend the next few hours keeping Cero company, trying not to choke on book dust as he conducted a mock search for the map. All the while, Linh kept an annoyingly close watch on them, as if he knew exactly what Karinna was plotting.
When the bells outside tolled six, Linh returned them to their guest quarters, where the lamps had been lit against the approaching night.
They were both tired and cranky, but Karinna was relieved at the sight of a roaring fire and a hot meal.
Tureens of fragrant rice, cold sesame cucumbers, and diced spicy gourd awaited them on the table, along with fluffy rounds of bread.
Karinna was halfway through her plate before she finally slowed down enough to speak.
“I have a plan,” she said. “Your part is to stay the hells out of it and keep Linh distracted.”
Cero tilted his head as he observed her.
He looked exhausted, long strands of dark hair loose from his topknot, purple shadows hollowing out his cheeks.
His shirt was open, the pale V of his skin gold in the lamplight.
The way he held himself was otherworldly.
As if he was some trickster creature from one of her mother’s stories.
She frowned at the thought, staring at her food. He was just a pilot. A Kegari. And it was her job to keep an eye on him.
“Are you interested in what I might think or—”
“Not particularly,” Karinna said.
“I don’t know if this is a good idea. You sneaking around Kotama puts you at risk.”
“Do you have a better plan?” Even as he opened his mouth to respond, she cut him off. “You don’t,” she said. “Just stay busy in the library and let me slip my leash. Linh has kept an irritatingly close eye on me.”
“Maybe he’s enamored with your charming personality.”
“Not everyone needs the world to love them, Kegari.”
“There’s a difference between being a pleaser and having basic decency,” Cero said, and his tone was…strange. Almost gentle. “I think you—” He fell silent, unwilling to go on.
But now Karinna was curious. “You think I what?” she challenged him. “Am too abrasive? Too mean? You wish I was sweeter, Kegari?” She batted her lashes. “Softer and kinder?”
He cocked his head, his dark hair falling in his eyes. “No,” he said. “Though to be clear, you seem to view all those things as a weakness, and they’re not. From what I’ve heard, your mother is sweet and kind and honors the bonds of hospitality. You would not, I think, call her weak.”
Karinna looked away. She didn’t like to think about her mother and what she’d said about Karinna. She’s so unknowable.
“I met your brother Sufiyan,” Cero said. “Briefly, and he did shoot at me numerous times, but he wears his love for his friends so clearly. He’s proud of it. He is…soft with them.”
Karinna snorted. “Sounds like you have a bit of an infatuation.”
Cero smiled. “I don’t,” he said. “But if I did, would that be such a bad thing? I generally prefer women, but I’ve been with men before. Are you like the other Martials? So closed-minded that you cannot imagine such a thing?”
Karinna’s skin warmed so fast she thought she would overheat and shrivel into nothingness.
“Of—of course I’m not closed-minded,” she said. “Fewer Martials have those stupid old prejudices. My uncles Silvius and Dex have been together for ages—I was just—I was—”
She threw up her hands, too mortified to keep talking.
Because while she didn’t care if he thought she was hard and stubborn, she hated the fact that he might think she was prejudiced.
She’d dealt with Illustrians mocking her and her siblings for being mixed Scholar and Martial. She had no patience for such bigotry.
“I was making a joke,” she said finally. “A stupid one. Sorry.”
“Hark.” Cero’s grin was a flash of white in the dim light. A sudden warmth flared in Karinna’s chest and she found herself smiling a little too. “Is the rebel apologizing?”
“Absolutely not.” She stole a bread roll from his plate. “You must have misheard me. But I don’t think I misheard you when you said my big brother shot at you. And Sufiyan doesn’t miss. How did you survive?”
Cero’s smile faded. “I was with the Tel Ilessi. The Tel Ilessi is bloodsmither, windsmither, and mindsmither.”
Karinna nodded and kept her expression bland. “I’d heard,” she said. “So, she healed you? But I thought you said Aiz wasn’t the Tel Ilessi. And you don’t believe in the Tel Ilessi anyway. You called it a fabricated religious term.”
“I’m going to sleep.” Cero stood suddenly, as if the very thought of Aiz made him lose his appetite. “You take the bed again. I’ll sleep on the settee.” His green eyes looked almost black as he regarded her. “I’m worried your plan is half-baked and will fail—”
“You don’t have a better one!”
“—but,” he went on, “you’re right, I don’t have a better one.
I’m trusting you with this. Just please—don’t do anything impetuous.
In the morning, I’ll head to the library and keep Linh occupied.
I’ll tell him you’re ill—make sure you back it up.
Should buy you a fair bit of time if you’re convincing. ”
He turned away and Karinna seethed at his implication that she didn’t think before she acted. If not for her, they probably would have been kicked out of Kotama five minutes after landing.
She wanted to tell him as much, but at that moment, he stripped off his shirt and settled down to sleep.
Karinna did not wish to have a conversation with him whilst he was shirtless.
She might get…distracted. After a few minutes, she peeked over to find that Abzi had hopped up beside him and now lay curled against his back, paws in the air as if she had not a care in the world.
Karinna frowned, mildly annoyed that the cat had chosen to sleep near Cero. Further irritated at herself, for letting his lack of faith in her get under her skin.
The mission, Veturia, Karinna said to herself. Focus on the mission. She thought back to Musa’s orders, delivered in a whisper in the deep of the Resistance hideout.
Find out the truth about him, Karinna. Do what you must. But don’t confront him until you’re sure. And don’t dwell on it enough for him to guess. Keep your mind locked up.
Karinna considered Cero’s expression when she’d brought up his wounds. The way he didn’t want to talk about what happened to him. The way he’d said Tel Ilessi, like it was a filthy word. The way he never seemed to want to talk about his magic.
Soon, she thought to herself as she stared daggers at him, soon I’ll ferret out your truth, pilot. No matter how well you think you’ve hidden it.