Where Peace Is Lost by Valerie Valdes

Author:Valerie Valdes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-08-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Morning found Kel seated in front of the door, a square of sunlight against the far wall sliding down toward the floor. The deep purple bruise of sky lightened to lavender, and the songs of night birds and bugs fell silent as their crepuscular counterparts appeared, then gave way to the denizens of day. The air was cooler than the swamp, but still carried the heat of summer, thick with the promise of rain. No new travelers had appeared overnight, no bandits nor any more deadly machines, for which Kel found herself exceedingly grateful.

And yet, the tranquility unsettled her. Kel’s internal landscape had shifted, as if struck by a mudslide or earthquake, but Loth was the same as it had always been.

No, that wasn’t true; the demolisher still moved inexorably through the wilds. Now that she knew Dare was the one who could stop it, her mission was to protect him and get him where he needed to be. That at least was familiar, after so many years of guarding others with her life. She had simply never expected to be doing it for a person like this, under such circumstances.

Being left to her own thoughts for half the night hadn’t helped. The vast stewpot of her brain filled with a muddled mess of ingredients, different ones floating to the top every time she stirred. Some were sweet, some bitter; some pickled her tongue with salt, and some burned like fire. Only time would tell how the final meal would taste.

It all boiled down to trust. Did she trust Savvy and Dare? She had to, or the mission was doomed. They each had their own secrets and truths written like scars on their skins and souls. Perhaps they would share more of them with each other; perhaps they would continue to hide them underneath sleeves and gloves and hats. Truth was a gem with many facets, and not all of them caught the light at once.

Dare might have been feigning sleep, but Kel didn’t think so. His breath came evenly, his lips parted slightly. His face sometimes twitched as he dreamed. If he had nightmares, they didn’t force him into motion like the other one had. He looked younger, and she wondered how old he was, how long he had been a soldier, how long he had been something else beforehand.

Kel smiled as she remembered her first day of training to become a Shield. She’d been fourteen years old, from a town on a world not unlike Loth, raised in a family home with four parents and a half dozen siblings. By comparison, the Academy on Amorleth had felt huge and empty, her every footstep echoing beneath the high ceilings of the main hall. Her uniform had been slightly big, and her assigned Knight-Trainer had told her she’d grow into it. They’d been right. She hadn’t gotten much taller, but her muscles had filled out the sleeves and pants within a year.

Nearly twenty years ago. And a quarter of that spent on Loth.

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