Sparrow interrupted, fidgeting with the hem of her tunic. The bluebird returned, fluttering onto the girl’s shoulder, and that seemed to settle her a bit. “Is that why you spun me, then?” she asked, brow furrowed. “To say thank you?”
Elliot got to his feet and dusted off the dirt and grass from his clothes. “I—well, no. I mean yes? I spun you because I was happy. You were right about showing them I still care. I spoke to the commander just now, and I think I really helped him.”
“Did you spin him, too?”
“Gods, no,” Elliot said, aghast. Then he burst out laughing. She seemed genuinely puzzled, but her expression lightened at the sound. He eventually sighed. “Sorry, Sparrow, I… I used to spin my sister like that.”
“Riella?” Sparrow prompted.
“Yeah. I haven’t felt like doing that in a long time. Since they told me I would be a Rider.”
Sparrow seemed to consider his words for a long time. “Did Riella like it?”
“She loved it,” Elliot said, his mood turning a bit melancholy again. “I guess…,” he began, suddenly self-conscious. “I guess you probably hated it.”
“No,” Sparrow said, shaking her head firmly. Then she smiled at him. “I loved it too.”
* * *
Though Elliot felt lighter than he had in months after helping Beryk and giving important information to Commander Cassian, he knew he had a long way to go to make up for his past.
And so he chipped away at it, one day at a time.
When Anders broke a string on his lyre at dinner, lamenting that he’d have to order replacements from Arboria because the instrument wasn’t commonly used in Pyra, Elliot spoke to one of the locals from Petratec. They had a popular troupe that often visited the Eyrie on festival days, including a band of minstrels, and with some digging Elliot was able to discover a harpist who could sell him extra strings. With Beryk’s approval, Elliot ordered the replacements Anders needed, and they arrived the next day.
Anders was so surprised by the gesture that he’d laughed and gripped Elliot by both shoulders, planting a kiss on each cheek—a popular greeting in Arboria, or so Elliot had been told. He suspected Anders was just affectionate, but Elliot was pleased all the same. Anders played twice as long and sang twice as loud that night… and Elliot worried he’d maybe gone backward in earning his fellow Riders’ affection. Luckily, no one seemed to blame him.
Elliot had managed to use the prospect of Petratec visitors to spread more goodwill—Ronyn’s older sister was one of the singers, and she accompanied the harpist to deliver the strings. Though Ronyn was technically on duty, when Elliot told him his sister would be visiting, he was able to get his patrol shift covered and eat lunch with her. Ronyn wasn’t as easily won over as Anders, but he’d offered Elliot an appraising sort of look when he’d told Ronyn the news, and after he said goodbye to his sister at the village gates, he’d given Elliot an appreciative slap on the back. A small thing, maybe, but Ronyn had reacted as badly as any of them at the news of Elliot’s betrayal, and Elliot knew it would take more than one simple gesture to earn his trust and affection. Still, it was like Sparrow had said: He couldn’t undo his mistakes or fix all the wrongs he’d done, but he could show them he was trying.
After that it was staying late to help Lysandro clean up the training yard and offering to unsaddle Fallon’s and Darius’s mounts when they returned late from a patrol and had to rush to a meeting.
Elliot even helped out the youngsters when he could, watching their lessons in bow or spear and offering an extra hand when needed. No task was beneath him, no job too petty or too insignificant. Before long he found joy not just in repaying his fellow Riders, but in being involved in everything again. He was an outsider, yes, but he wasn’t banished entirely. He was still a part of this world.
While finding ways to help most of his fellow Riders had been fairly easy, Elliot struggled with Latham. They had never been close, never joked and laughed or even sat in easy silence together. Latham had a brash and prickly nature, and when they had talked as apprentices, they’d often bickered. And things had only gotten worse between them since the attack.
Latham had been more distant and irritable than usual, and at first