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Throughout the telling, the silence continued to evolve, and Akiva felt in it a loosening, as of fists relaxing their grips on sword hilts

Maybe it was news to them that their lives would have been forfeit no matter what Akiva did that day, and maybe it wasn’t Maybe that wasn’t what mattered These two names--Hazael and Jael--could have served as their poles of love and hatred, and together combined to make this real, all of it The ascendancy of their uncle, their own exile, even the fact of their own freedoe they’d never had opportunity to learn

Theynow Even… ally with beasts?

"Jael won’t expect it," said Akiva "It will anger hiin with But more than that, it will unsettle him He won’t knohat to expect next, in a world where chier, e" In Elyon’s voice, Akiva thought, there was a tone of uiled aselse," said Akiva "It’s true that the chimaera have a new resurrectionist And you should know, before you decide anything, that she illing to save Hazael" His voice caught "But it was too late"

They digested this "What about Liraz?" asked Elyon, and a murmur went around Liraz She would be their touchstone Soreed to this"

And Akiva said a blessing for his sister, because he knew that he had the ine--" He softened for the first tiether; he allowed himself to smile "That she would rather be here with you There isn’t time to hash it over Jael won’t wait" He looked first to Elyon "Well?"

The soldier blinked several ti up Furrowed his brow "A détente," he said, in a tone of warning, "can only be as strong as the least trustworthy on either side"

"Then let it not be our side," said Akiva "It’s the best we can do"

The look in Elyon’s eyes suggested he could think of better, and that it began and ended with swords, but he nodded

He nodded Akiva’s relief felt like the passage of storave his proht, and as much as could be expected for now: that when the wind delivered up their eneo had made the same promise on behalf of his soldiers

Soon they would all learn what proht do?" Zuzana asked, shivering

"What ht you do?" inquired Mik, as seated behind her, his arms wrapped all the way around her and his face tucked into the crook of her neck That was the warht now: the crook of her neck, where Mik’s breath wasits own microclimate, a few lovely square inches of tropical

"You know that scene in Star Wars," she said, "where Han Solo slits open that tauntaun’s belly and shoves Luke inside so he won’t freeze to death?"

"Aw," responded Mik, "that’s so sweet You’re going to tuckcarcass to warmI always think after that scene is that the guts are going to cool off fast, and personally, I’d rather be cold and not covered in wet tauntaun guts than--"

"Okay then," said Zuzana "No need to get graphic"

"It’s called a Skywalker sleeping bag," Mik continued "A wo noise "Stop now"

"Naked"

"Oh god" She pulled forward so she could swing her face around to look at hian to drop in temperature Good-bye, tiny tropics "I did not need that in my mind"

"Sorry," said Mik, contrite "I have a better idea, anyway"

"A war up my nerve when you distracted me with Star Wars"

The chi flown on ahead to get the high sign froers crossed--was enca a relative terht of meadows and wildflowers and mirror lakes, but this looked like a moon crater They were out of the worst of the wind, anyway; it was calh they didn’t have a lot of fuel, and the wood that soy burner, throwing off popping green sparks and se buildup in Zuzana’s aunt’s Prague flat

Seriously, that s in torlds

Zuzana wondered what idea Mik ht have that called for nerve "Will it impress me?" she asked

"If it works? Yes If it doesn’t, and I co stabbed, don’tstabbed? "I would never mock you," Zuzana said, and sherisk There’s not really, is there?"

"I don’t think so Huo" And then his body was gone fro her fully exposed to the elements, and Zuzana realized that she hadn’t actually been cold before, but now she was Like clih

"What’s Mik doing?" Karou asked, hopping down from the stone buttress that shielded the up there, watching out for Akiva under the pretext of standing guard The sun was going down, and Zuzana didn’t think they expected the seraph back for a while yet, but she hadn’t bothered pointing this out to her friend

"I don’t know," she replied "So to death" Iretted the complaint

Karou winced "I’m sorry we’re not better prepared, Zuze," she said "You should have stayed It was so stupid of me to let you co to death or I’d climb into the blanket pile with Issa"