33 Betrayal

Brightise jumped up and looked down at her feet. They were indeed up in flames.

She had been sitting too close to the fire and laughing too violently, moving her shoulders and legs uncontrollably, until the tips of her boots had caught fire.

"How could you not feel that!" Rayvad yelled at her as he rushed towards the horses in panic and grabbed a flask of water.

Because it had felt too good. The fire had licked her feet like warm bathwater, but she had been too distracted to realize what was happening. She had chalked it all up to their carefree banter and her proximity to the flames. She hadn't realized they had actually been on her feet.

Brightise stomped her burned boots against the ground as Rayvad poured water over them. By the time the flames were out, Clober was awake and staring at them in fear.

"It's okay," Brightise tried to reassure her. "I'm okay."

"This is not okay!" Rayvad yelled. "Look at your feet!"

Her boots were burned to the ground, so her black toes were visible inside. Brightise knew that they were fine, that the residue on them was just ashes and the burned material of the boots, but Rayvad did not know that. And she did not want him to find out.

"They'll be fine," she murmured quickly. "I can still ride a horse. I'll just wrap them up real quick-"

"What are you talking about? You can't wrap them up like that! They need to be cleaned. Just stay where you are and I'll do it."

"No, no-"

"Just sit down already! You can't keep standing on burned feet!"

"No, please..."

"Just stay still!"

Brightise watched the inevitable happen. She couldn't do anything about it. She couldn't stop Rayvad, unless she started running on her supposedly burned feet, so she just stayed rooted to that spot and waited for him to discover the truth for himself.

It took him all of three seconds to push her burned boots aside, wipe her feet gently with a wet cloth and see the fair, perfectly healthy skin underneath.

Rayvad glanced at her feet for a while, trying to comprehend what was happening. Then he suddenly looked up at her silently, his stare as sharp as a dagger.

"Explain."

"I can. I will-"

"Can you?" Rayvad got to his feet so he towered over her. "Can you explain why you let my brother burn alive, when you could have walked into that fire unscathed?" he asked her, his voice rising in volume.

"I could not show that demon what I was. What we are!" Brightise pleaded with her eyes as she pointed at Clober, who stood a few feet away from them. "They would have taken her!"

Rayvad smiled humorlessly. "So you thought your sister was worth more than my brother?"

Brightise lowered her eyes to her burned boots. "My sisters."

"What?"

"My sisters. I have two sisters."

Rayvad looked at her coldly. "You said your other sister was dead."

"I lied. She is alive. She is still alive, but I have to save her. I have to get her back!"

Rayvad's face became a mask of rage. "You liar, you-"

"You don't understand! If I don't save her, they will turn her into one of them! They will turn all of us into one of them!"

"You are already one of them!" Rayvad roared. "You watched my brother die just like that demon! You are exactly like them!"

Brightise felt tears run down her face. "No, I..."

"You were laughing with me five minutes ago! Laughing!"

Brightise buried her face in her hands so she didn't have to look at him or Clober. As she sobbed into her fingers, she heard Rayvad walk away from her with purpose. When she looked up, she saw him hold the Lightning Sword. For one fleeting moment, she thought he was going to kill her.

Instead, Rayvad tied it to his horse's saddle and mounted Lyber. "You saved my life, so I have to spare yours," he told her expressionlessly. "My debt is paid now. You can find your own way from here on."

Brightise looked at him in disbelief. It somehow seemed unbelievable to her that he would abandon them, even though moments ago she had been sure he was about to kill her.

Before he turned away and left, Rayvad addressed her one last time. "Do not cross my path again. I will not be as merciful next time."