Maria V. Snyder

“I didn’t want or expect this. But I couldn’t resist you.”

“An execution order hasn’t kept us apart before. There are ways to get around it. We will be together.” “Is that an order?” “No, a promise.”

“Sieges weathered, fight together, friends forever.”

“His movements were so graceful that I wondered if he had been a dancer, but his words betrayed to me that his fluid gestures were those of a trained killer.”

“Only Valek would consider an attempt on my life a fascinating diversion.”

“To Yelena, our newest food taster. May you last longer than your predecessor.”

“Your fear remains strong. You are not ready to face your story, preferring instead to surround yourself with knots. Someday, they will strangle you.”

“I peered deeper and found my soul. A little tattered and with some holes, but there all the same. It had always been there, I realized with shock.”

“You have slipped under my skin, invaded my blood, and seized my heart. You have poisoned me.”

“A full-out rebellion would take a major amount of luck and coordination. The Tech Nos and Domotor looked at me, waiting. No one else would be able to organize both sides. I drew in a deep breath. We had the technology, the intelligence and the people—put enough sheep together and you have a herd, a force to be reckoned with. We needed a leader.”

“As her newest apprentice, it had been my job to go to the market every morning. I had gotten all the jobs no one else wanted, but I had treated each task as if it had been essential to do well -- a trick I had learned from my father.”

“I didn't expect a knife, though. Is it the one missing from the kitchen?""Did Rand report it?" I felt betrayed. Why hadn't he just asked for it back?"No. It just makes sense to keep track of large kitchen knives, so when one goes missing you're not surprised when someone attacks you with it.”

“Back so soon?" he asked. "Too bad. I was just about to organize a search for your dead body. What happened when you knocked on the southerner magician's door to sacrifice yourself? Did they kick you out, thinking you too half-witted to waste their time on?”

“Pain jabbed Janco where the lower half of his right ear used to be. He rubbed the scar. “Now, I’m not a genius—”“Got that right,” Ari mumbled.”

“What the hel—”“Finally! I can talk!” Janco said.Ari turned. Janco held the Sandseed’s scimitar in his hand. The man lay on the ground, unconscious.“Care to explain?” Ari asked.“Didn’t you see my signals?”“Yeah. But they didn’t make sense. Five into one and it’s an intrusion.”“It’s an illusion! Five of them are an illusion.”“That’s not the signal for illusion. This is.” Ari demonstrated the proper signal.“That’s what I did.”“No, you didn’t. You did a weird twisty thing with your pinky.”“I had a scimitar at my throat. I’d like to see you try signaling under those conditions.”Ari opened his mouth to retort, but thought better of it. They could argue for weeks and not resolve a thing. He changed tactics. “You did very well. You knocked him unconscious and stopped his magic.”As expected, Janco preened.”

“We are searching for the same thing,” Stripey said.“How do you know?” Janco asked.“I read his mind.” The Sitian pointed to Ari. “Yours was too…chaotic. Too many useless thoughts to wade through.”A compliment or an insult? Janco guessed compliment and preened.”

“Valek's thoughts returned to Yelena. An icy finger of loneliness touched the emptiness inside him. She was in Sitia, where she needed to be to learn about her magical powers, but she had taken his heart with her.”

“You're easily distracted by the pattern of the cloth and can't see the quality of the threads.”

“In the end, only Leif believed that you were still alive. He thought you might be hiding somewhere, playing a game. As the rest of us grieved, Leif searched the jungle for you day after day.”“When did he finally stop?” I asked.“Yesterday.”

“Should haves lead to death”

“I gave him a bored look. I had been threatened many times before and had learned that the men who didn’t make verbal threats were the most dangerous.”

“Do you really want to know why you lost?” I asked.“Do you really have an answer?” he countered.“You need to get off your horse and run with your men. You don’t have the stamina for a long fight. And find a lighter sword.”“But it was my uncle’s.”“You’re not your uncle.”“But I’m the King, and this is the King’s sword,” Cahil said. His brows creased together. He seemed confused.“So wear it to your coronation,” I said. “If you use it in battle, you’ll be wearing it to your funeral,” I said.”

“I found Esau’s field guide at the bottom of my pack. Taking a candle into the bedroom, I read his book until my eyes grew heavy. From his vast notes, it seemed that almost every plant and tree in the jungle had a reason for existing. I caught myself wishing there was a page in his guide that had my picture on it with the reason for my existence written underneath in Esau’s neat hand.”

“Pretty stupid,” I called after his retreating form. “To give up before all possible solutions have been tried.”

“You look like hell,' he said to me in a low voice.'Gee, Dax, don’t coat it with honey. Tell me what you really think,' I said.”

“Your path is clear,” said Moon Man. “You need to find it.”And the best way to find something you had lost was to return to the last place you remembered having it. In my case, I needed to start at the very beginning.”

“Unfortunately, diplomacy was a dance I needed to learn.”

“I wanted to dissolve into the floor, mixing myself with the hard stone. A stone had a single purpose: to be. No complicated promises, no worries and no feelings.”

“A little present from my run-in with a sword. Or should I say from when the sword had a run-in with me?” His eyes lit up.“Want to see the scar? It’s cool.” He started pulling his shirt out of his pants.“Janco,” Ari warned. “We’re not supposed to be fraternizing with the Sitians.”“But she’s not Sitian. Right, Yelena? You haven’t gone south on us, have you?” Janco’s voice held mock horror.“Because if you have I can’t give you your present.”I took my switchblade out, showing the inscription to Janco. “What about ‘Sieges weathered, fight together, friends forever’? Does that change if I become an official southerner?”Janco rubbed the hair on his chin, considering. “No,” Ari said. “You could change into a goat and it would still apply.”

“How did you—”“Fool your guards? They’re not very good. They forgot to check the ceiling for spiders.” Valek grinned. His angular face softened. Startled, I realized he wasn’t in disguise. “This is dangerous.”“I knew falling for you was dangerous, love.”

“I shook my head at Janco. “I’ve got the situation under control. Go back to the Keep, I’ll meet you there.”Janco stared at me in astonished silence. Ari, though, trusted me. “Come on, she doesn’t need our help.” Ari sheathed his sword. Janco recovered. He flashed me one of his mischievous grins. “I’ll bet you a copper that she’ll be free in five minutes,” he said to Ari.Ari grunted in amusement. “A silver on ten minutes,” he countered.“I’ll bet you both a gold coin that she kills him,” Valek saidfrom behind them. They moved aside and he entered, still dressed in his Adviser Ilom disguise. “The only way to take care of your problem. Right, love?”

“Before Kiki and I headed toward the Keep, I thanked my friends.“For what? We didn’t do anything,” Janco grumbled.“For caring enough to follow my guards. And the next time, I might need the help.”“There better not be a next time,” Ari said, giving me a stern look.“How touching,” Janco said, pretending to wipe his eyes.“Get going, Yelena. I don’t want you to see me cry.” He faked a sniffle.“I’m sure your ego can handle it,” I said. “Or will you need to beat up some trainees to feel like a man again?”“Very funny,” he said.”

“If you don’t come back to the Keep, then I’ll be right. And every time you see me, I’ll be insufferably smug.”“And how’s that different from now?” He laughed and I could see the young carefree boy he had been in his eyes. “You’ve only had a small glimpse of how insufferable and annoying I can be. As the older brother, it’s my birthright.”

“Run,” he whispered. “Run.”“No, Rand,” I said, brushing the dirt from his face. “I’m tired of running.”“Forgive me, please.” He clutched my hand as his eyes beseeched me through tears of pain.“You’re forgiven.”He sighed once, then stopped breathing. The shine in his brown eyes dulled. I pulled his hood over his head.”

“I want you to have this.” He extended his hand. On his palm sat the beautiful butterfly he had carved. Silver spots on the wings glinted in the sunlight, and a silver chain hung from a small hole drilled into its body.Valek looped the necklace around my neck. “When I carved this statue, I was thinking about you. Delicate in appearance, but with a strength unnoticed at first glance.” His eyes met mine.”

“Yelena.” I halted in the doorway, looking back over my shoulder.“You once said I wasn’t ready to believe your reason for killing Reyad. I’ll believe you now.”“But I’m not ready to tell you,” I said and left the room.”

“Reviewing our fight, I asked Janco, “Why do you rhyme when you fight?”

“Rand rubbed his hands over his face. His anger had dissipated. “I’m sorry, Yelena. I was backed into a corner and I couldn’t get out without hurting someone.”

“Anything else you want to tell me?” I asked Valek as we stopped a few feet short of the castle’s south entrance. “Did Ari and Janco set me up for Nix’s attack? Do you have another test of loyalty for me up your sleeve? Maybe the next time, I’ll actually fail. A prospect that seems appealing!” I pushed away Valek’s supporting arm. “When you warned me that you would test me from time to time, I thought you meant spiking my food. But it seems there is more than one way to poison a person’s heart, and it doesn’t even require a meal.”

“I’d better get going or Valek will be wondering where I am.”“Yes, by all means go. I noticed you and Valek have become close. Tell him, for me, not to kill anybody, will you?” Sarcasm rendered Rand’s voice sharp.I lost control and slammed the oven door shut. It echoed in the quiet kitchen. “At least Valek has the decency to inform me when he’s poisoning me,”

“Valek leaned back in his chair and said to me, “I don’t think I would have made it past the audition,Yelena. I probably would have set my hair on fire by this point.”“What’s a singed head for the sake of art?” I teased. He laughed.”

“Trusting is hard. Knowing who to trust, even harder.”

“My mind’s screaming went unvoiced. Logic grabbed the panic and wrestled it to the ground.”

“Well, Valek, any new promotions?” the Commander asked“No. But Maren shows promise. Unfortunately she doesn’t want to be in my corps or even be my second.She just wants to beat me.” Valek grinned, delighted by the challenge.“And can she?” the Commander inquired. His eyebrows rose.“With time and the proper training. She’s deadly with her bow; it’s just her tactics that need work.”“Then what do we do with her?”“Promote her to General and retire some of those old wind-bags. We could use some fresh blood in the upper ranks.”“Valek, you never had a good grasp of military structure.”“Then promote her to First Lieutenant today, Captain tomorrow, Major the next day, Colonel the day after, and General the day after that.”“I’ll take it under advisement.”

“You’re better off fighting hand to hand than wielding a weapon you don’t know how to use. A skilled opponent would simply disarm you. Then your troubles would be doubled. Not only would you be under attack, but you’d have to counter your own weapon”

“Oh, you made an impression. Like a stone caught in my boot.”

“...my sanity threatened to take a holiday without me.”

“Suppressing his relief, Valek asked, “Can you please tell this Lieutenant who he has arrested?”“Can do,” Janco said with a smile. “Lieutenant Darren, let me be the first to congratulate you on capturing the elusive and legendary Kelav. He’s been wanted in Ixia for years on multiple counts of espionage.”

“Riley squinted. He ran his fingers along my neck. When he found the collar he explored the surface and tried to tug it. "No seams. It doesn't fell like metal. The colour is amazing". "Why?" (Trella) "It blends in. It matches your skin. Didn't you know?" (Riley) "No mirrors in my cell." (Trella) He gasped with mock horror. "So cruel! How did you ever survive?" (Riley)”

“Positive thoughts lead to positive results.”