Yet now it was Leesil tipping on the edge of reason, panting in anger. And Wynn couldn’t blame him, for there was a part of her beneath reason that wanted to just go away and hide where no one could find her.
Leesil wrenched his arm out of Magiere’s grip and settled back against the alley wall.
“Stay out of my head!” he snapped, though he didn’t look at anyone.
He didn’t have to. Chap sighed and turned from Leesil to Magiere.
“We gather nothing,” Magiere said, “until we know what’s happening out there ... in the east, in the desert.”
A voice in every language Wynn understood filled her head.
She is right in one part. More answers are needed.
At these words, Wynn kept quiet, fearing any hint of a silent exchange might set Leesil off again.
But I will gather the other orbs, Chap went on, and you will go with Leesil and Magiere. As for the others ...
Chap’s head tilted upward, and Wynn followed his gaze up the back wall of the tenement. All she saw was a dark hint of that one disturbing window frame. He continued to speak to her, and occasionally, she couldn’t help nodding.
Magiere managed to remain sitting there in the alley, though inside she’d felt she might rip apart. Chap and Wynn were clearly plotting and planning, though there was little to hear other than Wynn’s occasional acknowledgments.
Leesil ignored everyone.
Magiere couldn’t stand the thought of disappointing him again.
They’d been on the verge of being done and going home. How much farther could she push him before she lost him entirely? When she glanced over at him, there was Wynn still sitting beside him, but entirely fixed on Chap.
What were those two up to?
Leesil finally turned his head, but his eyes narrowed at Wynn.
“Look at you,” he said. “Look at what you’ve done, though it’s bad enough with him,” and he cocked his head toward Chap. “I’m getting tired of the mistakes, blind leaps, and—”
“You think you know everything I’ve been through?” Wynn cut in. “Just because I told you the short version?”
“I know you took up with that thing up there,” Leesil shot back. “Chane’s no better than whatever is out in that desert.”
“You don’t know that either!” she countered.” I don’t make assumptions on what little you’ve told me, so don’t you ever talk to me like some—”
“Enough, both of you,” Magiere ordered.
Everyone fell silent again.
Whatever cracks Magiere felt in her resolve, she saw the same widening among all of them.
The rest ... should be ... said ... to everyone.
Magiere looked into Chap’s eyes, though in the dark she barely saw their crystalline, sky blue color.
I do not ... wish ... to explain ... more than once. Do ... you ... still ... trust me ... in this?
And what if she said no? She didn’t know whether losing Leesil or letting the world burn in another war would be worse right now. She couldn’t make the choice herself.
“Yes,” Magiere answered weakly.
Back in the sanctuary with everyone gathered, Chap braced himself as Wynn laid out the plan as he had instructed. As he expected, Leesil was the first to slip into an outrage.
“Did messing with the orbs make you stupid?” Leesil panted, turning from Wynn to Chap. “You’re taking him”—he jutted his chin at Chane—“to get the orbs you hid up north in the wastes?”
Chane appeared shocked as well. Magiere fixed Chap with a glare, her breath visibly quickening. Wayfarer and Osha were equally stunned, though Osha’s rapid blinks betrayed doubt that he had heard correctly. Brot’an stood by the rear window and expressed no reaction at all.
Ghassan put one hand thoughtfully to his mouth. “Why Chane and the elder majay-hì?”
To Wynn’s credit, in speaking for Chap, her voice barely wavered.
“Because Chap is the one who hid the orbs of Water and Fire. He won’t divulge their location to anyone. No one can force that information from him. Chane gave the orb of Earth to the stonewalkers for safekeeping through one of their own, Ore-Locks.” She turned to Chane. “Neither Ore-Locks nor his sect will relinquish it to anyone but you ... and maybe not even you without some convincing.”
Chane’s shock passed, replaced by suspicion. “And where will you be while ... if I take this lengthy journey?”
Chap tensed, ready to act.
“With Leesil and Magiere, and Ghassan and Brot’an,” Wynn answered, “scouting in the east.”
Osha went rigid, but it was Chane who stepped in on her. “Out in the desert, with possible packs of undead? I will not leave you to that!”
Chap snarled, clacked his jaws, and drew everyone’s attention. The idea of traveling alone with that undead repulsed him, but he was equally disgusted by the vampire’s belief that no one else could protect Wynn. None of them could afford to be so overprotective anymore.
“This has to be done!” Wynn insisted, not backing away from Chane. “You and Chap are the only ones who can gather the three hidden orbs. Once you reach the wastes up north and are back on land, you’ll travel by night. The two of you can move faster on your own.”
She paused and addressed everyone in the main room.
“The rest of us will take the orbs of Spirit and Air across the desert. We’ll head east along the base of the Sky-Cutter Range. Once we get far enough, we’ll start scouting for any sign to verify that these reports are true.” She faced Chane once more. “Please, do this for us, for the world. Ore-Locks won’t give the orb to anyone but you ... not even me.”
Chane stared at her but said nothing more.
Chap grew uncomfortable at the clear connection between those two. His stomach rolled every time Wynn said “please” to that monster. Still, there were larger issues at stake, and he studied the others.
Leesil had withdrawn, settled in a chair at the table, and turned his back on everyone. Magiere was visibly tense—no, taut and stiff—as if holding herself in. Wayfarer looked uncertainly from Osha to Magiere, then to Leesil, and finally back to Osha again. Shade pressed in against Wynn as if fearing someone would suggest they be separated.
Brot’an had still not reacted at all, and as to Ghassan ...
The fallen domin watched Wynn expectantly. With a brief glance at the others, he finished on Magiere, and his gaze lingered too long for Chap’s comfort. The one person Ghassan did not look at was Chap himself.
“There will be a lot to prepare,” Magiere half voiced, turning to Chap. “You’re going to need chests for the three orbs. Plus gear and supplies for traveling up north. Same but different for the rest of us heading into the desert.”
She appeared no more enthused than anyone, but at least the discussion had turned to something useful.
“We’ll need to gather any coins we have,” Wynn added, “and separate local currency from the rest to use for important things, like passage for Chap and Chane. The logical order would be for the two of them to retrieve Chap’s orbs first and then stop at Dhredze Seatt for Ore-Locks’s orb on the way back. It’s going to be a very long journey ... and the same for the rest of us.”
“How will they find us upon their return?” Wayfarer asked.
Chap was surprised she’d spoken at all, and at “us,” he winced. She turned to him with open worry on her young face. She was as attached to him as to Magiere or Leesil, but her question was based on an assumption that had been put off until now.
“There is a better path than traveling all the way back to here,” Wynn answered, and then once again addressed Chane. “On your way back, disembark at Soráno, travel inland to the Lhoin’na lands and down to the way we took into Bäalâle Seatt ... on the north side of the Sky-Cutter Range. Once through the seatt, you can meet up with us on the range’s south side.”