A Time of Blood (Of Blood and Bone #2) - John Gwynne Page 0,22

Kol snarled.

“Yes, but I am your abomination, the get of a sin that you have committed, for which the same Lore demands that you should be executed, too.”

Kol and Riv glared at one another, hatred leaking in waves from both of them, their malice towards one another almost a physical thing. Then he did something that took Riv by surprise. He leaned back and laughed.

“A fair point,” he said. “Fortunately for me,” Kol continued, “I am now as good as the Lord Protector of the Land of the Faithful, so I do not have to be so rigorous about maintaining a Lore that would see my head on a spike. You, however, are a problem. Lore or no Lore, there is no hiding your wings.” He took a moment to consider them. “You could never pass for a Ben-Elim, they are dapple grey, not white, and of course,” he added, “you’re a woman.”

Riv blinked at that; all of the Ben-Elim were male. She felt abruptly so alone, a half-breed, but also the only woman to have wings.

The joy of flight is a blessing, but in all other ways I am cursed.

Kol shook his head. “Even forgetting your wings, your gender and your… heritage, you have slain Ben-Elim, taken the lives of the Faithful—”

“As have you,” Riv interrupted.

“Ah, all this one does is keep pointing out my shortcomings. I am not perfect, true,” Kol said, shaking his head and spreading his arms wide.

Is he enjoying this?

“But you have slain my followers, out there in the glade,” Kol continued. “There must be a price for that. And you are a problem that I can only see is best solved by taking your head and burying you in a ditch.”

“There are other options,” Aphra said.

“Yes. I could bury you in a ditch,” Riv said bitterly to Kol.

Aphra slammed a fist on the table. “Shut up, Riv,” she said. “You’re not helping.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I am trying to save you.”

“Don’t bother, liar,” Riv retorted.

“Life is not as clear as you see it,” Aphra said. “You would be hard-pressed to find someone who has not lied, at some point in their life. All lie, it is the why that is important.”

“Israfil never lied,” Riv said.

“And look where that got him,” Kol said.

Riv turned her glower upon him.

“It has been a dark, confusing time. Sometimes there is no easy or obvious path.” Aphra sighed, rubbing a hand across her forehead, squeezing her temples.

“Seems simple enough to me,” Riv said. “Israfil was the Lord Protector, Kol schemed and murdered him. And my mother.” Her lips twisted. “Grandmother.”

“The impetuosity of youth,” Kol observed, “when all is so clear, so easy to judge.”

“Riv, please see, please think. I have lived sixteen years with you, a path of joy as I have watched you grow, and sadness that I could not hold you, as I yearned to, always stepping aside, to be the sister, not the mother. But that was better than not having you at all, always so much better.”

“But you’ve lied to me.”

“Yes, I have,” Aphra said, “to keep you alive. You would do the same, too, for someone you loved.”

Riv felt something shift in her then, the words crashing into her like a battering ram at the doors of her heart. A swell of emotion that for a change was not rage. The doors held fast, but something in them had cracked, a hairline fracture through her rage and resolve. She ground her teeth, angry with herself for feeling even a moment of weakness in her hatred, for the lies Aphra had told, the terrible damage she had wrought. Yet part of her understood, knew that there was a logic to Aphra’s actions.

But it has all led to Mother’s, to Dalmae’s death. To Israfil’s death. To changing everything.

“I hate you,” Riv said to Aphra. Then looked slow and cold at Kol. “And I want to kill you.”

Kol threw his head back and belly-laughed.

“Tell me something I don’t already know,” he said when his laughter eased enough that he could speak.

“The way forward,” Aphra said doggedly.

“Aye,” Kol nodded. “As much as this is all very entertaining, I have a realm to rule, and it is not simple, believe me. You think this is complicated? You should try ruling the Banished Lands for a day.” He pinched the top of his nose between finger and thumb. “Technically, I am not even ruler yet. I have not been officially named Lord Protector.” He smiled at them.