Trevan would be the most likely suspects. Dave is obviously out, and Trevan would never kill that gryphon. It was a gift from Mave.” Alchan ran a hand through his hair as he handed the book to Rain. “Luykas knows my thoughts. It had to be another Andinna, but what’s the motivation? Shadra’s intentions are very clear—no Andinna will ever be more than a slave in her Empire.”
“Personal?” Mat said, shrugging.
Mave felt a pause in the camp.
“Rain,” Alchan whispered. “Tell Luykas to look at Learen closer.” Rain jumped up and went into their tent.
“No,” Zayden said, shaking his head. “He’s…It all happened centuries ago, and he has a wife to take care of.”
“We already looked at him, just like we looked at Kenav and all the others, but…I want a second look. Luykas will know how to dig deeper than any of us. He might already be thinking about it but didn’t trust himself to write it down. Learen isn’t the only good option, but he fits.”
“Which is why you already looked at him,” Mave said, nodding. “Makes sense.”
Lilliana got up as slowly as she could and checked the stew.
“It should be ready,” she told them in a small voice. “Just needed to heat it up.”
Mave looked around, wondering if anyone had much of an appetite. No one moved.
“Eat,” Alchan ordered in a growl. “She made you dinner, and it won’t go to waste.”
That had Mave on her feet. He wanted them to respect Lilliana, and Mave was okay with that, but there was a defensiveness Mave only heard in her husbands when someone tried to hurt her. Mave filed that away with other interesting things she had noticed on the road. It was easier to think about that than avenging a human friend who she was weeks away from.
I hadn’t been there for him, and I should have been. Stupid. I should have brought him, but the village needed him.
Mave knew she couldn’t be everywhere at once. She had to do this insane mission, facing Kristanya to ask for power to defeat the Empire. It was their only hope. She got to her feet, needing to move, bowl of soup in her hands.
“Mave?” Mat asked up at her, the worry very real.
“I’ll be okay. I just need a minute. I…wish I had been there for him and what happened to him…” She sighed, blinking to try to stop tears. They would freeze on her face if she let herself really cry. That was why Mat wiped them away.
“Eat,” Alchan ordered again. “Then we’ll rest. We have plenty of time on the road to dwell on the situation we left behind and regret our choices. We need to take care of our bodies while we can.”
She agreed. Everyone took their food and ate together around the fire. Mave realized Bryn was still sitting too far from her, but he was focused on his food, never looking up from it.
Mat and Zayden were done eating before her and went to lie down. Lilliana put away the pot after giving out seconds to most of them, then went into her section of Alchan’s tent. Rain and Alchan disappeared next. Emerian silently went away once he realized he was almost alone with Mave and knew that would be uncomfortable. It was a conversation they had already had once on the road.
Mave moved next to Bryn, where he sat holding his empty bowl. She took it away from him and put it down to be cleaned up in the morning.
“Come to bed,” she ordered softly, kissing his cheek.
“I don’t know how any of you can look at me,” he whispered. “I can’t even look at myself in the reflection of stew.”
“We love you, and people make mistakes,” she murmured as she stood, grabbing his elbow and making him stand as well. Slowly, she led him to their tent and forced him to lie down. They slept in their armor because of the danger and the cold. It stopped them from having intimate time, but she didn’t need to strip Bryn down to make him feel loved.
And he needed that.
She straddled him and kissed him, chuckling against his lips as Zayden groaned to the left.
“Bryn is feeling guilty,” she told them. “And we all know how much I don’t like when one of my males is feeling down.”
“Ah,” Mat said, moving closer. “Bryn, there’s no reason for you to feel like that. We’re mortal, and we get beat. We can only keep fighting.”