ears ringing with the bells, irritated to feel her legs tremble as she made her way out of the seating area and onto the arena floor, heading for the entrance to the House of the Judged to dispatch the souls of the dead. Stormbreaker and Aron were already waiting to follow Lord Baldric and the rest of the Stone Brothers and apprentices through the small gate, no doubt on their way to pay respects to Marilia and witness the release of her essence.
Thank all of fate’s tricks that this is finished.
Dari glanced to her right, into the stands, expecting to see Lord Altar and his party leaving the steel and copper-colored box and heading back to the day like everyone else.
Instead, Lord Altar was standing before his bench, arms folded, staring directly at Dari.
She startled from the shock of it, but then cool dread uncoiled in her midsection. She traced the dynast lord’s gaze more directly to the small gate, and confirmed her suspicion.
Lord Altar wasn’t looking at her after all.
He was staring directly at Aron.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
ARON
Aron followed the small, bush-crowded byway out of the northern Cobb village, keeping his footfalls silent and gliding, as he had learned from many hours of training with the trackers at Triune. His gaze remained focused on Dari’s gray cloak, which was barely visible in the scant moonslight, and both hands remained close to scabbards holding swords he was strong enough to wield. Even now his shoulders ached from hours of carrying water buckets, bushels of grain, and pig iron for the forge—but such extra training was well worth its benefit. When he had proven his mettle to Stormbreaker with his journey to the Ruined Keep, and many more times on the mock battlefield, Stormbreaker had at last agreed to allow him to take his turns at assisting Dari in her systematic, village-by-village hunt for Kate.
It was already cold, even this far north, and the remnants of Dari’s breath flowed behind her like silver fog. Tonight, in her Stone apprentice disguise, she smelled like apples—but when she was upset, Aron always caught a hint of fire and something like talon oil, especially when his senses were still raw from going through the Veil.
Somehow, the fire scent seemed stronger than usual. And the oil smelled a little different. He struggled to keep up with her, then draw even with her, and he barely dared to glance at the taut line of her jaw. Sadness and fury seemed to flow just as silvery-real as her breath, making Aron ache to soothe her. He wanted to say something, desperately needed to find the right words.
“We’ll go to the next villages on our route,” he whispered as they covered the dark ground between the village and the woods where Blath waited in her gryphon form, prepared to bear them back to Triune.
Dari said nothing.
Aron’s head drooped. What a pathetic effort. Couldn’t he come up with something better? Of course they would go on to the next villages. Of course she knew that. There were hundreds of villages in Cobb alone, much less the aspects of Mab and Vagrat and Ross they hadn’t begun to search. Communications to outlying Stone guild-houses had proven fruitless, but for several rumors of dark-skinned foundlings, each of which they carefully traced—with no results.
The woods were still just black streaks on the horizon, a long way ahead. Dari walked that much faster. Part of Aron’s awareness realized she was hurrying because of dawn’s nearness, but it felt so much like she was running away from him, from his efforts to make her feel better.
She had been so concerned for him after the Judgment Day when Marilia died, worried almost half out of her own mind that Lord Altar would bring an army back to Triune and demand his head to end the siege. Nothing had come of that.
“If there’s some legacy skill that would help, I’ll learn it,” he called to her as she brushed past bushes on her way toward the distant shadows of trees. His clenched his fists against the knot in his belly. “I don’t care if it’s dangerous. I’ll do whatever it takes to find her, Dari.”
A fresh silver cloud flowed around Dari’s features as she finally slowed, then stopped and turned to face him. Even in the moons-kissed darkness, he could see each line and curve of her face, her neck, her shoulders. Just being this close to her when they were alone made his thoughts muddle.
“I know you’d