Page 100 of Sword & Shadow
Auden’s eyes flashed with surprise, then narrowed in suspicion. “Just like that?”
Deckard didn’t hesitate. “Do you doubt me? I will do whatever is best for my wife, no matter the cost.”
“This is a cost she’ll have to pay as well,” Auden warned.
Knowing that wasn’t the truth, Deckard lied. “She trusts me. If I tell her this is the right choice, she’ll listen.”
He could tell Auden was skeptical, but he accepted his victory. And now, he was taking Evylin to Dunneshead with him.
Deckard surveyed the rest of the troop. Ethenn and Rafferty were preparing to go hunting while waiting for Evylin and Auden’s return. At the far end of the camp, Ilain sat sketching in her book and talking with Thom conspiratorially. Their relationship, if not romantic, had certainly grown friendly. Ethenn cast a dismayed glance at the pair, then hefted his quiver of freshly repaired arrows.
As the hunter and Rafferty disappeared into the trees, Deckard moved toward the horses. He checked his saddlebags, pretending to repack them. He angled himself so that he faced away from Thom and Ilain. Then he willed Hewitt to appear.
The ghost’s bushy eyebrows hung low. “You aren’t afraid that they’ll see me?” he whispered with a jut of his chin toward the couple.
“After all this time of you lurking in the trees, Iknowthey can’t,” Deckard said quietly. “You’ve heard what’s happened?”
Hewitt snarled. “Are you referring to your magic or your stupidity in letting Evylin go to that village?”
“You nodded in approval.”
“I nodded to tell you to trust your instincts. I didn’t realize they were idiotic.”
Deckard sighed. “You’re the one who said I should let her take care of herself.”
“I didn’t mean you should let her risk her life because she’s bored.”
“You were there,” Deckard said with a frown. “She isn’t bored. She’s devastated.”
Hewitt ignored his argument. “You should have talked with me first.”
“Even if we hadn’t agreed never to go out alone, I now have Auden constantly at my side, teaching me.” Deckard grimaced at the thought. Ilain hadn’t exaggerated when she said her brother’s tutelage would be monotonous. “The man takes a cruel amount of pleasure in chronicling the antiquity of Mages.”
“I’ve heard,” Hewitt growled.
Without the ability to talk with Hewitt, Deckard had taken to keeping him around as of late. He needed the ghost apprised of their situation, even if they couldn’t discuss it quite yet. And while Auden’s absence freed Deckard from his lessons, it didn’t make slipping out of camp any easier.
However, it did allow him to gather more information from Ilain.
Deckard tied off his saddlebag and met Hewitt’s steely gaze. “Keep listening,” he charged, then joined Thom and Ilain at the heart of the camp. He took a seat across from them, watching thoughtfully as Thom leaned over her shoulder.
“That’s all wrong,” Thom said, reaching over to tap the page. “I’m far taller than Raff.”
Ilain whacked his hand to keep him from touching the paper, but his finger came away with a smudge of charcoal on it anyway. She sighed as though dealing with a child. “You are no more than half a head taller,” she said. “AndI’mthe artist.”
“So that means you can lie in your artwork?”
Ilain lifted her eyes to the Heavens, then turned to Deckard. “Did you need something, Jonn?” she asked, almost hopefully.
Hewitt hovered near the trio, shadowed in the trees. As Ilain showed no signs of noticing the ghost’s presence, Deckard’s confidence rose. “I had a question,” he began. “And with Auden away...”
Ilain grinned knowingly. “Mm-hm. What is it he won’t tell you?”
Deckard returned her smile. “It isn’t that hewon’t. It’s that he’s too busy elucidating for me to ask in the first place.”
“Shocking,” Ilain murmured. “What is it you’d like to know?”
“I’m interested in learning more about the resources,” Deckard said, keeping his inquiry broad. “And how they impact a Mage’s abilities.”
