Chapter 034

The powerful always have a use for the powerless.

Together, he said.

Adhira ate her food. It was a bit too cold and unseasoned, but at least it was mushy. Her skills were many, but cooking wasn’t one of them—much to the chagrin of the governesses at the Hollow Hold. Still, she forced down the food. It was fuel for what would come later.

Travel. With him. Her eyes cut across the clearing to the boy. He was breathing deep and easy. Only feet away from someone who lied and used him…and he’s asleep already. He’s too trusting.

She had no intention of betraying Harker. In fact, she was relieved everything was out in the open now. Or so she told herself.

Will he resent me in the morning? I gave him an out and he didn’t take it. That means…something, right? Adhira stifled a groan and cleaned her pan out with a rush of Water. Sloppy remains blasted free, leaving only a pristine surface behind. Where are you Sejal? For once, I could use your advice.

No doubt the severe woman would have a great deal of commentary to add. Adhira would have sat through a thousand acidic diatribes if it meant her steward’s return—and not just for advice about a boy.

He just was so…calm. Even now, when he was clearly angry at her, he’d held himself apart as if the rage couldn’t touch him. What was that like? Wrath was close as kin to Adhira, part of her as surely as her skin clad her bones. Aberrants gave her an excuse to let it loose, but it was always there, simmering just out of sight.

Harker was almost cold. Not unkind, or ungracious. Despite a thousand differences in manner and resource, he reminded her of the overachievers in the Hollow Hold. He bore that same iron discipline Adhira could never master.

Yet underneath it all, there was a warmth to him. Perhaps she’d be lucky enough to see it on their way to Vodaten.

If she could keep from fouling things further.

With a disgusted sigh, she stomped out the fire and went to bed.

Harker lay in the dark.

Adhira had put out the fire minutes prior, but she’d proceeded to roll around on her blankets for entirely too long. Eventually, however, she’d found some measure of comfort and drifted off. Crickets called from the dark, a sharp counterpoint to her soft snoring.

Harker was awake. Even if it weren’t for the kaffa sprout boiling his veins, he was entirely too preoccupied. He glanced over his shoulder. What a strange girl.

She was frenetic and brutal in battle, but laid out on her bed roll with her mouth wide open…he couldn’t help but see the vulnerability. For all her violence, there was a disarming, disquieting kindness to Adhira. Now that her lies were revealed, however, Harker felt as if he stood on solid ground again. As much as he didn’t like being used, the fact that Adhira had followed Law 2 was only natural.

Law 2—Trust Others To Act In Their Own Best Interest.

It was the foundational Law upon which all the others balanced. It was also what had kept Harker alive for the past eighteen years. Avoiding attention and conflict was all well and good, but anticipating the reactions of others held it altogether. Traveling in such close proximity, however, was not the time to rely on anticipation alone. That was only useful when there was escape close to hand. The trail up the Gnarl gave him no such outlet.

He shifted slightly, moving his hip away from a sharp rock. Normally, Harker would adjust Adhira’s impression of him and seize control of their interactions as best he could—it was something he’d always tried in Vale, though their attitudes toward him were always tainted by familiarity. With Adhira he was a blank slate…and yet something about the girl made him stupid.

He kept getting angry, fumbling words, and speaking when he should stay silent. The shame of flouting his Laws burned at him, but he couldn’t seem to reign himself in.

Adhira was useful—he couldn’t deny that—and her kindness, as unnerving as he found it, was annoyingly genuine. Yet no matter how appealing her eyes might be, she was dangerous.

Her words could hide any manner of things, and getting distracted by her voice or the way her curls tumbled across the nape of her neck—

Ancestors wept! He shook himself. Don’t even think about it. She has an axe and a savage glee in using it.

He chased away his thoughts, burning them in the mental pyre where he sent all such things.

Law 1—Want Nothing.

Focus only on the rankings, Ordeals, and securing my foundations. If he wanted to live, everything else was secondary.

Harker nodded to himself, a plan already starting to congeal in his mind. The first step was to examine his options.

“Sovereign Sight,” he whispered.

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His awareness sank into his Chartermark. He spiraled through lines of light, criss-crossing the vast expanse that sank deep into his flesh. He sought his Ordeals, but what first came to mind was the rankings themselves. Every one of them was being tracked, and even if it was only when they checked into a Charterstone, Harker couldn’t stand the idea.

The Spires want to put a leash on us. He bared his teeth. To control anyone that took their Bargain.

Rankings, Ordeals, all of it was designed to bring the chosen Talents to the Travelspires where the magisters could extract value out of them. Such was the way of the powerful.

Adhira as much as admitted she was told the Nine Spires could track us through the Charterstones. If that was the case, then it was just as likely the Academy could do far more than they were admitting. True power didn’t need to lie, but that didn’t mean they were telling them everything.

Harker needed to figure away around the tracker, but he couldn’t avoid the Charterstones. They reinforced his Stature, and he couldn’t give that up if he tried—not if he intended to survive all the way to Vodaten. Somehow, he needed to find a way to block the mark and stone from giving away his location.