Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive #4) - Brandon Sanderson Page 0,223

us away regardless.”

“I wish that were not true, but it is,” Notum said.

Radiant joined her agents. Ishnah was speaking softly to Beryl, who sat on the ground nearby, picking through some of the loot. Beryl had thrown up several times upon first encountering the corpses, and she still seemed pallid from the sight, though her tan skin tone made that difficult to read.

“Make sure you check the insides of rings, the backs of necklaces,” Ishnah was saying. “Sometimes there are inscriptions with names.”

Beryl nodded. She kept glancing at the bloodied cloth they’d put over a dead Tukari man’s neck stump. She put her hand to her lips, pointedly turning away.

All right, Shallan admitted, if she’s the Ghostblood, she’s an incredible actor. I agree with Veil. We need to rethink our conclusion there.

Adolin stood up. “Let’s get moving,” he said to the others. “I want more space between us and the rest of those Tukari.”

It took a little time to get Notum up on one of the horses, during which Godeke—oddly—began moving among the fallen, inspecting their faces.

“Godeke?” Shallan asked.

“They’re going to be left out here to rot,” Godeke said quietly. “Those others won’t come back for them.”

“They tried to kill Notum,” Adolin said. “And me.”

“I realize this,” Godeke said. “But we don’t know their story. These could be soldiers following orders. They could be confused, mistaking the honorspren for enemies. They could have motives we can’t even guess. I want to remember them. In case no one else does.”

Edgedancers. Shallan shook her head, then checked on Adolin herself. She poked at his bloodied side. “That’s another uniform you’ve ruined.”

“Cold water and a soak in salt can get the blood out,” he said. “And I brought my sewing kit. Bet I can have it presentable with a little work.”

“Still,” she said, resting her head against his chest—careful not to touch the wound. “You need to be careful. We don’t have any Stormlight left to heal ourselves.”

“So … basically it’s how it’s been for most of my life?” Adolin said. He rested his hand on her back. “Maybe I did get carried away, Shallan. But it was good to find something I could do. Successfully, I mean. These days it’s not common that I find a place where I’m useful.”

“Adolin…” She pulled away and studied his face. He was smiling, but his tone wasn’t joking.

“Sorry,” he said. “That sounded a lot like self-pity, didn’t it? I’m just tired. Come on, we really should get going.”

That wasn’t the end of the discussion—she’d press him on it later—but for now it was probably best to do as he said. They left the corpses and trudged across the open field of obsidian toward their camp. About halfway back, they met the Cryptics—save Pattern—and the Stump with her spren, hiking slowly.

Arshqqam took in the sight, then nodded in satisfaction and turned to start hiking back. Fortunately, Notum did seem to be looking better already.

“Your deadeye,” he said, moving up beside Adolin. “How did you train her to fight for you like that?”

Shallan glanced at Maya, who was riding on Adolin’s Ryshadium. Shallan hadn’t seen it, but she’d heard. The dead spren had picked up a sword and fought beside Adolin.

“I didn’t train her, Notum,” Adolin said. “She chose to help me.”

“Deadeyes can’t make choices,” Notum said. “They don’t have the presence of mind for it. I know this personally. My own father is a deadeye, cared for in the fortress now.”

“Revise what you know, Notum,” Adolin said. “Maybe something changed once Radiants started returning. Or maybe some deadeyes are more responsive than others.”

“It simply … it doesn’t make sense…” Notum said, but abandoned the argument.

At their camp, a perky Pattern was happily waving to them. Shallan smiled at that. No matter what else happened, she could count on Pattern to be his same awkward—yet encouraging—self.

Adolin didn’t give them time to rest. He ordered the horses watered, but supplies packed up so they could march straight for Lasting Integrity. Radiant took over from Shallan again as he gave the commands, and she immediately recognized the wisdom in them. Despite Adolin’s brilliant show of swordplay, their group was quite exposed. Without Stormlight, most of the Radiants barely counted as warriors. Adolin was wounded, and Notum struggled to remain upright. If the Tukari regrouped and decided to charge them … Well, best to remove the option and push—difficult as it would be—to reach the honorspren stronghold before the day was done.

Veil checked with Vathah and Ishnah about the corpses