Chapter 148: DAYS
Aiden had packed half his bag for Caldran when the forager's punt came through the fog.
Cinder stayed in beast form while the woman stopped beside the camp. The forager looked at Aiden's bag, then at him.
"Don't leave yet."
"Why? Gonna miss me?"
"As much as any stranger." She planted her pole in the mud. "I got news. House Vane asked for a warrant. The City Lord has the request now."
Aiden's smile disappeared.
"How long?"
"Could be signed any day. Days, Aiden. Not a season."
"Seraphine."
"Once it's signed, she can cross your boundary."
Of course.
Percival had already put a price on Aiden's beasts and sent men into the fen to collect them. After what happened to the last group, nobody else had been stupid enough to try.
So Percival had stopped paying men.
Now he was trying to give Seraphine permission instead.
"And Percival is still behind it?"
"Yes."
The forager put her pole into the water.
"I knew Corwin. I already watched one fine young holder disappear in this place. I'd rather not see a second."
"Thank you."
"Do something with the warning if you're grateful."
"I was planning to enjoy passing my assessment."
"You still can."
"Good."
"Quickly."
Aiden sighed. "There it is."
She almost smiled before pushing off.
Aiden watched the punt disappear into the fog.
Then he looked at the bag.
Nyx is still close to evolving.
He had delayed taking her back to the Voidglass because he still had time. As long as the warrant wasn't signed, Seraphine couldn't cross the boundary and go after Nyx.
He could slip out to Caldran, speak with the proctor, read at the Academy, prepare properly, then come back before risking the evolution.
That plan was dead.
The Church had known about the Voidglass long before Aiden came to the fen. Nyx feeding from it had triggered the alarm that brought Seraphine here in the first place.
And once she got permission to enter the fen, Aiden might not get Nyx back to the Voidglass at all.
Worse, Seraphine would come straight for Nyx.
She had made her opinion clear the first time they met. Nyx was something dangerous that Aiden didn't understand. Seraphine expected her to turn on him eventually, and she intended to be there when it happened.
Once that protection was gone, Seraphine could come after Nyx directly. She could search the claim, question Aiden, and act if she decided Nyx was the threat she already believed her to be.
Aiden didn't know exactly what she would do once she crossed the fence.
That scared him more than he wanted to admit.
He had Cinder.
Cinder was Tier Three. Most tamers would reconsider a fight the moment they saw her.
Seraphine wasn't most tamers.
She was the youngest Grand Inquisitor in Church history. People across the continent knew her name. She had spent her career dealing with beasts and threats that ordinary tamers couldn't handle.
And Vigil was Tier Three too.
Aiden wasn't stupid enough to look at Cinder's tier and decide that made them equal.
If Seraphine came through the boundary ready for a fight, he didn't know if his pack could stop her.
I'd rather not find out by getting everyone killed.
Great. Percival found one of the very few people I'd rather not test Cinder against.
Aiden began to unpack his bag.
Cinder waited until the punt was completely gone before shifting.
Fire closed around her. A moment later, the red-haired woman stood beside him.
She looked at the tunic in his hand.
"We stay."
"Yes."
Aiden handed her his spare tunic. She pulled it on. It was too tight across the chest.
"Good."
Then she walked over, ducked under his arm and rubbed the side of her head against his chest.
Exactly like she did in beast form.
Aiden stopped moving.
"Cinder."
"What?"
"You're shaped like a person."
She looked at him, clearly missing the point.
"It's still me."
"Yes. That's what makes this difficult."
Cinder pushed her head under his hand.
"Scratch."
Aiden stared at her.
She waited.
"You really do the same things in this form?"
"Yes."
He put his hand in her hair and scratched lightly.
Cinder grinned.
Aiden immediately regretted rewarding this behavior.
"There. Happy?"
"More."
"Absolutely not."
She leaned harder into his side.
Aiden rubbed his forehead and kept scratching.
Excellent discipline. Other tamers make their beasts obey. Here I am obeying mine.
After a few seconds, Cinder finally straightened.
"Seraphine comes for Nyx?"
"If the Lord signs."
Cinder's smile disappeared.
"I burn her."
"No."
Her eyes narrowed.
Aiden didn't wait for the argument.
"You're Tier Three. Seraphine is a Grand Inquisitor people know across the continent, and I don't know everything she or Vigil can do. You're still recovering from the last fight. We don't test ourselves against her unless she gives us no choice."
Cinder folded her arms.
"She touches Nyx, I fight."
"I know."
That answer satisfied her more than the rest.
What? You two bicker all day. Doesn't mean you hate each other.
Aiden looked toward the workbench.
Nyx was underneath it, almost invisible in the shade, glaring at Cinder as if she'd just lost an argument Cinder didn't know they were having.
Miasma sat above her beside Corwin's notebook. She looked at Nyx, then at Aiden's half-packed bag, and stayed where she was.
Nyx wanted to return to the Voidglass after her last feeding.
He still didn't know what would happen if the evolution started while she was inside the crystal. That risk hadn't changed.
Now every day gave the warrant another chance to arrive first.
Cinder followed his gaze.
"You stopped her before."
"Because I thought we had time."
"We don't."
"No."
Cinder came closer again, but this time she didn't ask for scratches.
"Then let her."
Aiden looked at her.
"I still don't know what it'll cost."
Cinder's jaw tightened.
He knew that expression.
"Don't start."
"You say that every time."
"Because somehow we keep having this conversation."
"You spend years."
"And then I get glared at for days. Now you can yell at me too, I guess."
"And you'll deserve it."
"Probably."
Cinder caught the front of his coat and pulled him closer.
Aiden almost lost his balance.
"Whatever happens down there, you come back."
There was nothing funny in her face now.
Aiden nodded.
"That's the plan."
"I can't follow you."
He knew what she meant.
The fen stopped Cinder before the pocket. For her, that was worse than the danger.
"You guard the entrance," Aiden said. "Nobody gets past you."
"I know."
She still grimaced.
Aiden put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'd feel better with you covering my back."
Cinder looked at him for another moment.
Then she leaned forward and put her forehead against his. Her warm breath brushed his nose.
Aiden blinked.
This was much easier when she had fur.
Cinder stayed there.
He decided not to complain.
A small sound came from beneath the workbench.
Nyx.
Cinder lifted her head and looked over.
Nyx had emerged from the shade. She sat beside the half-empty travel bag and stared at Aiden.
"Don't start. I'm letting her because she doesn't know what she's doing. And this is your fault."
Her pale eyes curved.
"Yes, you look devastated."
Nyx put a paw inside the bag.
"Hey."
She dragged his only shirt out.
"Nyx!"
She backed away with it.
Cinder laughed and Aiden pointed at her.
"You're encouraging crime."
"Yes."
"Great..."
Miasma climbed down from the workbench and intercepted Nyx before the shirt reached the mud.
Nyx stopped.
Miasma stared at her.
A few seconds passed.
Nyx dropped the shirt.
Aiden took it back.
"Thank you, Miasma. Nice to know someone here respects private property."
Miasma looked from the bag to the clothes Aiden had just unpacked.
"Right. Fair."
He finished emptying it.
His trip to Caldran could wait.
The rank could wait.
Nyx's evolution couldn't.
He wasn't going to rush her into the crystal tonight just because the warrant could arrive any day. But he wasn't leaving the fen anymore.
That night, Nyx spoke to him in a dream for the second time.
There was only darkness and her voice.
Nyx's voice came from close by.
Close.
"The evolution?"
Yes.
"Still want it?"
Yes.
No pause. Aiden had expected that.
"The last time you went into the Voidglass, I stopped you from going back in because I was scared you'd get hurt."
I know.
"I still don't know what happens if the evolution starts while you're inside."
Nyx was quiet for a moment.
Neither do I.
"Very reassuring."
A soft sound came through the dark. Almost amusement.
Aiden smiled despite himself.
Aiden reached toward the dark until his hand found her.
"We're not waiting for the warrant."
Nyx pressed against his palm.
Aiden woke before dawn.
Nyx was curled against his chest.
Across the camp, his travel bag sat empty beside the workbench.
He wasn't going to Caldran.
Not yet.
First, Nyx evolved.