Book One – Chapter 17

This conversation now must not break. Yu needed to uphold it. More, he needed to direct it.

“I just thought … I just wondered about the witch  … And because of her, I thought of the Shaira. And then of the settlement raids in general. I’m from the settlements, sorry, you know that. And then I thought of Fallem’s brother, who was also taken, and then all that about your plan just sort of came back to me.”

It was a sorry excuse for all his questions, a thin bridge over a flood of suspicion. Still, his stupid stuttering had given Yu more time. Because now, when he asked about all the things he should know, to learn of them a second time, it was not to hear the story again. Now, amidst all his dumb babbling, he really listened to Imbiad. He listened to the words that came from the voice, and he also listened to the body. Yu listened to hear where the body betrayed the voice. And Imbiad had noticed.

“Was the witch a Shaira?” Yu asked, following up with an honest question before the silence turned hostile. “They said she wasn’t. The ker said she wasn’t in a coven. Was that a lie? Is that why you were cautious? I mean … with the witch, when she came, and now?”

“Amongst other things. It is general caution. But I do not believe her to be a Shaira.”

“Oh. Right.”

Yu had no idea if Imbiad had bought his pathetic attempt at a distraction. He also did not know how to tell witches apart, or what those other things Imbiad had spoken of could be. But even now, with every word sparse and uninviting, Imbiad’s body still told him nothing but I am true, and I speak true. Yu wanted to trust him so badly it made him sick. It was in the wanting. The wanting was a weakness. He hesitated precisely because of it. He was too desperate to find someone safe.

He was also desperate for time. Imbiad would not stay much longer. Yu could tell. The witch was long gone. The others, as he overheard now, were nearly finished acclimatising. And most of all, Imbiad’s breathing had shifted. Subtle. Barely there, just underneath. Not hostile yet, but guarded. He had grown wary of Yu.