Mask of Redemption (Mask of Illumination Book 5) by JMD Reid

Author:JMD Reid [Reid, JMD]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fallbrandt Press
Published: 2021-09-07T16:00:00+00:00

23

“He really helped me to understand about my brother,” Spinel was saying to Foonauri a few hours after sunrise. The Onderian thief held a soother jewelchine to her forehead. “I don’t think I slept more than an hour after, but it was true rest.”

Foonauri nodded. “I’m glad.”

“I felt guilty that I mourned him,” Spinel continued. “After what he did to you, I felt like I should hate him. That I wasn’t a good friend for missing my brother.”

“I felt guilty that I killed him,” Foonauri admitted, the pain aching in her. “That I stole something positive from your life.” She glanced at Spinel. “And it’s okay. I understand. He was your brother. It’s okay that you miss him. I don’t hate you for it.”

Spinel hugged her, the people on the street flowing past them. “I don’t hate you, either. I know I said that before, but I do mean it. It was all Utyin’s fault.”

Foonauri nodded her agreement. “I’m glad. I was afraid that you hated me. Deep inside, and you just weren’t saying it.”

“Me, too.” Spinel laughed. “It did linger in the back of my mind. I just couldn’t make it go away. I kept expecting you to turn on me.” She tightened her arms around Foonauri. “I’ve never had a friend I’ve been this close to, you know.”

“Not Citrine or Quartz?”

“I never knew the real Quartz,” Spinel said. “But I know the real you.”

“I’m not sure who the real me is,” admitted Foonauri, breaking the hug. “Am I Jade, Lady Foonauri, or even Naunee?”

“Yes,” Spinel said. “You’re all of them. People are too complicated to be just one thing. That’s why we drive each other insane. We want everything to be simple, but it’s not. The world’s this big ball of snarled yarn. We’re all tangled up and can’t get out. It drives us to do stupid things.” She paused. “Like climbing up the sides of castles in broad daylight and the full view of guards with bows.”

Foonauri sighed. “You are never going to forget I did that.”

“Nope!”

Foonauri smiled. “Good. You wouldn’t be Spinel if you weren’t making a joke out of everything.”

“Do I?” Spinel frowned. “Huh, I guess I do. When I’m not being a bitch.”

“Your word. I would have used a different one. Like when your slice of meat has a big hunk of gristle in it you have to chew and chew and chew. That’s you sometimes.”

Spinel snorted. “You say the nicest things.”

“I do. I’m glad you recognize that.” Foonauri glanced ahead at Gray Rock Castle. “Well, shall we be serious?”

The Onderian woman’s expression fell. She adjusted the blonde wig she wore and nodded, her face looking serious. Too serious.

Foonauri almost burst into laughter.

They strode forward in their dresses, borrowed from Heathi. Foonauri wore a sober gray one with a high neckline and a matching winter coat. It was feminine and had a bit of lace at the cuffs. She wore a wide-brimmed hat of a deep crimson pinned to her hair. It was a cold morning, but not nearly as frigid as the mountains.

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