darkened blade_ A fallen blade novel - Kelly McCullough Page 0,95

I could respond, Jax held up a hand. “I’m not finished. I don’t want them to go all the way in with you. I want them to ride along as observers and to be there to provide an outside distraction if you need one unexpectedly—not to help directly. I damned well want to know exactly what happened if you don’t come back, and they’re my way of keeping an eye on you. Besides, they’ll keep Kumi company.”

“Who said Kumi was coming?” asked Triss.

Jax rolled her eyes. “Have you not noticed that Faran has a second shadow now? Or a third, if you count Ssithra. Faran will go because Aral is going, and no one is going to be able to change that. The same I think is true of Kumi and Faran.”

Now that she had pointed it out, I realized she might have a point. Kumi had stayed very close to Faran ever since the fight on the trail. “Huh, I wonder why that is.”

Jax shrugged. “If I understood how the young think, I might have done a better job at that age myself. All I know is what I have observed while trying to play den mother to this pack of wild young killers. One such pithy observation is that they form all sorts of deep attachments for no apparent rhyme or reason and without any recourse for talking sense into them. She might look up to Faran as an idol despite being the older of the pair. She might see her as the sister of her heart. Or she could be head over heels in love. Sometimes it’s very hard to sort out the one from the other even for them, I think.”

I thought back to my own mad crushes and inseparable friendships from those days and laughed. “Those were interesting years. I wonder if what has happened between Devin and me since then would have turned out differently if we’d been lovers instead of just friends?”

Now it was Jax’s turn to laugh. “It might have done his obsession with you a world of good. Sharing your bed for a couple of years certainly disabused me of any notion that you were perfect. Too bad he’s never gone for guys.”

I nodded. “I did offer once, but he’s much firmer in his preferences than most of the rest of us. Or, most mages in general, for that matter.”

“The familiar gift does seem to walk hand in hand with a more omnivorous sort of desire,” said Jax. “I wonder why that is?”

“Does this mean we’ve finished with your list?” I asked.

“Not even close. Besides, you haven’t yet said whether you’ll take Roric and Maryam.”

“I will. I think you’re right about Kumi, whatever her reasons, and having her added officially with the other pair will make that all less awkward. So, what’s up next?”

“Mostly sorting out the shadow council and the succession in case you and Siri are both killed. There were ten members in the old days. I think we’ll want to halve that unless and until there are a lot more of us than the current total.”

I sighed. Jax was right that all of this really needed dealing with before we left, but it wasn’t going to be much fun. “All right, you’re obviously stuck with First Blade if I end up as a stuffed trophy in the Son of Heaven’s hunting lodge. That probably makes Javan magus, and . . .”

* * *

“Kill them?” asked Kelos.

I looked down on the campsite below us and pondered the question. The risen that had attempted the goddess’s island had come from here. That was clear enough, given the evidence of the wicker cage chariots and the fact that we were barely more than a couple of bowshots from the shores of the sacred lake. The Caeni troops would certainly kill us if they got the chance. So would the dozen or so heavily armored types wearing the insignia of the Sword of Heaven. The lone member of the Hand that they were escorting might or might not depending on who was watching and whether she was aligned with Toragana’s faction or more of a mind with Chomarr.

Finally, I shook my head and gestured for us to move back over the crest before speaking. “It’s tempting,” I said once we were far enough away to talk quietly without worrying about being overheard, “but no. I don’t think killing them would serve justice. They’re not directly in our way and, once the Son