Chapter 22
KALLIE
Beyond the trees, thick, ominous clouds rolled above them. A storm was coming, and the last thing Kallie wanted was to be caught in it.
Wrinkling her nose, she asked, "Are you sure we can’t stay at an inn?"
"We’ve already passed the Borganian border," Ellie said, untying her bag from the grommet on the saddle. "If word has spread that Domitius is looking for you and Rian, then we need to stay away from anyone who might recognize you."
Kallie snorted. "I am not that recognizable."
"Shall we recount the number of times you have been paraded around in the past year alone?
" Ellie threw her bag a few feet away from her and dug her fists into her hips.
"First at that ostentatious ceremony in Ardentol, then during the week-long wedding extravaganza. Nearly half of Vaneria was invited to your wedding. Next to Rian’s, your face is one of the most recognizable faces in the seven kingdoms."
Kallie squeezed the bridge of her nose and groaned.
She longed for a warm bed and a blazing hearth at her feet.
She scanned the terrain. Only dirt, decaying vegetation, and various unfamiliar trees surrounded them.
She eyed a small bush. That had to be more comfortable than lying on the ground. It was somewhat pillow-shaped.
A pillow likely crawling with spiders and other insects.
Gods, she was losing her mind.
"So, no inns?"
Ellie tossed her hands up with a frustrated humph. "How daft are—"
Kallie’s smile broke.
Ellie narrowed her eyes. "I hate you, you know."
Kallie chuckled. "So that’s the real reason you’re forcing me to sleep on the ground when a storm is coming." She grabbed her bag from Winter’s saddle. There had to have been something inside it she could use to shield herself once it started pouring.
"The trees will provide substantial coverage. And if your hair gets wet, so be it." Ellie flicked her ponytail behind her. "I don’t remember you being this annoying the last time we traveled together."
Kallie frowned. "I was unconscious almost the entire time."
Ellie snapped her fingers. "Ah, that’s right. You were much more tolerable that way. How long do you think it would take to send a messenger bird to Terin and see if he can join us? Or do you think he can work his magic through that dream state of his?"
The two women laughed. But when their gazes connected and reality returned, their joviality swiftly fell to the wind.
Ellie looked up at the sun and sighed. "I’ll get a fire going. We still have some daylight and some time before the rain comes in. Might as well use it."
The tiny remnants of their meager meal burned in the middle of the coals. Today’s pickings were slim, but they made do. A rumble of thunder shuddered through the trees. The storm had held off during dinner, but it seemed their luck was soon to dry up.
Kallie held her hands near the dying fire, soaking up as much warmth as she could before they would have to extinguish it. The nights were already cold as it was. The storm would only make it worse.
A bed of coals lay beneath the three logs that were leaning against one another. They glowed in the fire, steadily changing from red to yellow to white and back again. Soon, the coals would start crackling and embers would fly out, threatening to land on them.
"Will you at least—"
"No," Kallie interrupted before Ellie could ask her to use her ability again.
"You don’t even know what I was going to ask," Ellie argued.
Kallie peered across the white smoke twisting in the space between them.
The warrior sat on the other side of the fire in nearly the same position as Kallie. Ellie’s hands hovered over the small flames, her pale nose tipped pink. Although unlike Kallie, Ellie’s wide, black eyes reeked of false innocence.
Kallie cocked a brow. "You mean you weren’t going to ask me to manipulate you for the hundredth time?"
"Actually, no. I wasn’t." Tucking her legs closer to her body, Ellie wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her knees. "So I’ll take that apology now."
Kallie snorted. "As if I believe that."
"Aren’t you curious about what I was going to ask instead?"
"No, not really."
It couldn’t have been anything good. Whenever Ellie asked questions, it made Kallie think.
And right now, thinking was dangerous. Her mind kept wandering to the village.
Were the people all right? Had they reached the castle yet?
Had Domitius and Sebastian sent more of their cronies to Tetria?
And what of Pontia? Had Terin and the others made any progress gathering the army?
Kallie rubbed the heels of her palms against her eye sockets. "Fine, what is it?"
"Why won’t you manipulate me?"
Kallie’s lips parted, then closed, her tongue becoming heavy in her mouth. "I already told you," she mumbled.
"No, you didn’t. You’ve denied my request one hundred times, but you haven’t told me why once." Ellie stoked the fire with a long stick and shrugged. "While you don’t owe me an explanation, I am curious."
Beneath the thick cloak, Kallie rubbed her arms, her hands running across the scattering of goosebumps that poked through the fabric of her blouse.
Every time Ellie had asked Kallie to use her power, her power sang, beckoning her to pull its threads, to twist and tug at them.
A few times, Kallie had nearly relented to its call but had dropped the thread of golden honey before it was too late.
"Whenever I have manipulated people in the past, it always gave me a rush," Kallie admitted quietly.
"I felt unstoppable. I could make anyone do or say anything I wanted. I could bend someone’s very will to my own.
If I wanted them to jump, they would. If I wanted them to crawl on their knees before me, they would do so without hesitation.
If I told them to take their life…" Kallie swallowed, letting her words trail off. Ellie could figure out the rest.
She didn’t dare look at Ellie, afraid of what she would see.
Kallie had done many things she was ashamed of, many things she had never spoken aloud before.
All the memories, the assignments, and the punishments sat heavily on her chest. It was as if a brick sat on her ribcage, making it harder and harder to breathe as the regrets pressed against the bones.
"Who am I to take someone’s will away?" Kallie asked, voice raw. "I am no god."
"But the gods did grant you that power, did they not?" Ellie asked without an ounce of criticism tainting her voice. "It is because of them that any of you even have these abilities. Do you not believe that maybe they entrusted you with it for a reason?"
Kallie’s nails dug into her arms. "What reason could that be? All I have ever done is cause those I care about harm."
"Is that really true though?" Ellie asked.
Kallie didn’t bother to respond. They all knew what she did, the lives she had cost.
"Terin told me about the day your brother died," Ellie said after a moment.
Kallie bit her tongue, and tears sprang to her eyes.
The flames before her transformed, transporting her to the Pontian village set ablaze by Sebastian and his soldiers.
She could hear Dani’s cries as she knelt on the shore, hear the plunk of Fynn’s body as it hit the water.
How many months would have to pass for the memory to fade?
She wondered if it ever would.
"If I hadn’t been born with this ability, none of that would have happened," Kallie said, voice trembling.
"I can’t say whether that is true. However, what I do know is that more people would have died if you hadn’t used your gift. Terin told me what you did when you followed Sebastian to the safe room. He told me how you were the reason he, your mother, and so many others made it out alive."
Terin was only trying to see the silver lining. It wasn’t that simple. Nothing ever was.
"Sebastian and his men were searching for me," Kallie explained, her throat burning and her vision blurring.
"But when you revealed yourself, they didn’t leave right away. The guards were going to kill them, weren’t they?"
A tear slipped down Kallie’s cheek. She looked up, but the wilting foliage covered the dark sky. Not a single star slipped through the brown, dying leaves and the tenebrous clouds.
A raindrop smacked Kallie on the forehead. The storm had finally arrived.
Rain pelted the leaves above. The foliage was so thick that only a few droplets slipped through and fell to the ground.
Kallie wiped the raindrop away.
A hand gripped her knee. She didn’t know when Ellie had moved, but now Ellie was sitting beside her, and Kallie found herself leaning into the woman’s embrace.
"You manipulated Sebastian that night. You saved them."
"But I couldn’t save Fynn. Not when it mattered."
The patter of the storm was a soothing drum, loud enough to block out the sound of Kallie’s thumping heart. Loud enough to cover her soft cries.
Ellie held her tighter. "You may never forgive yourself for that night and many others, Kallie. You may even think that your gift is a curse. However, remember why we’re here today. You have the chance to stop this war, and that is a gift in itself. But if you don’t—"
A loud crack ripped through the trees, and Kallie jumped.
"What was that?" She sat up and wiped her cheeks with her palms.
"It was just thunder—"
Another sound cut Ellie off. The noise was almost feral, human yet not.
"That wasn’t thunder," Kallie mumbled. "Unless thunder now growls."
Ellie was already on her feet, a weapon in each hand. Kallie did the same and unsheathed her dagger. The warrior tilted her head and pointed in one direction, then another.
With a single nod, Kallie crept toward the trees on the right. She sank into the shadows, praying that her fears were for nothing while knowing that was wishful thinking.