48

The Battlefrost finery was a thing alive, occupied by what must have been all of the metalsmiths in Flint. There were men stationed at every hearth, their faces slick and reflecting the light. Peter had called them together in preparation for the departure to Wulfstead, which, as far as Sei knew, was scheduled to happen in three days' time. The tono would have no part in it.

But that wasn't stopping Baroona from helping. Sei spotted him at a water drum and called out on approach. "You never change," he said. "Always keeping busy."

Baroona nodded. "It's my way."

"Where have you been?"

"The furnace, tending crucibles."

Sei knew his expression well. "Ethos is back."

"I know." Baroona dried his face on his shirtsleeve, slowly turning away as he did. "He'll call for us when he's ready," he said. "Be patient."

"He was fighting in the spicery."

"Yes, I know. He'll call when he needs us." Before Sei could argue, Baroona drew a flatbow from his shoulder and offered it out. "Here," he cut in. "For you. It reminded me of the ash one you bought from the old Gael bowyer."

Gael, before the plague. The charming bowyer and her shop had been forfeit. Sei thoughtfully turned the bow in his hands. "It's a composite," he noticed. "Birch?"

"Beech. They make their glue from codfish skin."

"Not rabbit?"

"Come look at what I'm working on."

Sei followed him through the forges, jumping at frequent hails of sparks. "You should join us back in the Hall," he said, over the noise. "They're asking about you."

"That doesn't mean they want me there."

"They understand what you're going through."

Baroona didn't respond for several seconds. "She and I knew she'd be targeted next," he finally said, without glancing back. "We talked it out on our first day asail."

That was news to Sei. He dodged the blade of a passing craftsman. "You should've told Ethos," he said, tripping. "He wouldn't have had to— "

"Stop calling him that," Baroona interjected. "We know who he is now, why he looks and acts like he does. You heard what he said about Enwyn and the Greentide clan."

"You still should've told him. He didn't deserve that."

Baroona turned. His expression was calm, but there was a shadow of hostility in his eyes. "Nobody would have had to suffer if we'd let Alma do what she wanted that day," he said. "It's our fault for stopping her. Hans and I both. We deserve whatever's coming to us."

A familiar presence stopped Sei from retorting. The strange little terran girl was right beside them, watching on while they bickered. Alyce, Sei remembered. "He doesn't want to alert the whole group," she told them. "Grab your stuff and follow me."

Baroona didn't ask questions, of course; he gathered up several viridium items and nodded at Sei to keep him sharp. "This is it," he said. "Are you ready?"

It wasn't like Sei could say no. "Yeah, I guess so."

The terran girl guided them out of the finery, into the daylight, into the cold. The Flint inhabitants stared, as usual. "We'll have to be quick," she said, glancing over her shoulder. "Peter and Una are in a meeting with Bagley and the Battlefrosts, but I don't know how long they'll be at it."

Baroona quickly matched her pace. "Peter didn't authorize this?"

"No," she replied, and she sneered a little. "They had a disagreement. We're taking off."

Behind them, Sei sighed. "What does this mean for the rest of our people?"

Alyce didn't slow. "Peter will do right by them."

"What makes you so sure?"

"It'll make him look bad if he doesn't."

Battlefrost Hall welcomed them back. There were several huntsmen standing by the entrance to the northwest corridor; they'd probably sensed that something was wrong. Softly, so as not to be overheard, Baroona asked, "Do we know what the disagreement was about?"

"Not exactly," Alyce replied. "I only caught bits and pieces."

Sei lightly touched Baroona's elbow, inviting his eyes. "We should check in with Pathos before we do anything," Sei said. "Surin, too."

Baroona scanned the room. "Hans has final say."

"But we could be endangering everyone. Our decisions affect them."

"Then go," he said. "They're at the table in the supply corner. Be quick and discreet."

Sei didn't ask twice, but it wasn't easy to be discreet when every survivor sensed something amiss. Pathos and Surin already had eyes on him; they were speaking to one another, too quiet to hear with the distance between them. They stopped when he was in earshot.

Pathos gestured to the empty seat. "Join us."

Sei quickly sat and leaned in, hands clasped on the table. "The fight was with Peter," he said. "The terran says they're through. We're being called on to deal with the Roheim nest."

"What did Baroona say?"

Sei scowled. "He's already calling him Hans."

Pathos whispered something to Surin, who then nodded and turned back to Sei. "This will have an impact on our accommodations," he said. "We'll deal with it. Stay with Baroona."

"Right," Sei replied. "What should I do if he tries anything?"

"Protecting Ethos is priority," Pathos inserted. "Baroona can do whatever he wants once Alma is dead, but his grudges don't come before our survival."

Surin pointed away. "Go on."

"Wait," Pathos said, and it looked like he'd spoken without intending to. "I'd like it if you could convey my gratitude." His gaze was reluctant to meet Sei's. "I have Kooma back," he explained. "It's thanks to him that I've put her to rest. I'm indebted."

Sei returned to his feet. "I'll tell him."

And that was that. Sei took his leave, sidestepping huntsmen, avoiding eyes. It was all he could do to keep moving forward, repelled by the instincts warning him not to. Because while Alma was vicious and violent and blinding, Ethos was dark and steady and calm; Sei couldn't tell which was worse.

The spicery was warm when he entered. In shambles, yes, but surprisingly temperate. "We can't take the chance," Ethos was saying. "Just look at what he did."

Baroona had joined him on the floor; they were sharing a small pile of nuts, chewing as they sorted things out. "You wanted a king," the huntsman replied, and he made a face when Ethos glowered. "Did you think you'd still get to call the shots? Be serious."

"I know. I just didn't expect it to go to his head so quickly."

Alyce took a break from her nervous pacing. "What if he comes after us?"

"He won't," Ethos said. "He knows how essential it is to spearhead the Bonesteel suppression. The Battlefrost campaign will be what puts his name out there."

"So what's next?" Baroona asked. "What are your orders?"

Ethos thought it over, fingers drumming. "He won't give up the nebule, especially now that it's under his skin," he mused. "I could probably get Una to compel him for me, but that's a dangerous road to go down. I don't want her thinking that it's okay to use her power within the group." To Alyce, he asked, "Are they still in their meeting?"

She crouched beside him. Those bright greens followed her. "I don't know how long we have," she said. "It's time to decide."

"And Anouk?"

"She's not far. Want me to get her?"

"Please." But she'd narrowed her eyes at him, so he sighed and rubbed at his face. "Stop looking at me like that," he said. "I'm fine, really. I promise."

"You're a big fat liar, Ethos," she seethed. "A big fat one."

Ethos glanced, imparting a smile as if she'd surprised him. "I'm not fat."

Alyce went to her feet and glared down at him. "Is Kacha going to be gone forever?"

The question made his smile dissolve. "Yeah," he said. "Sorry."

"You know it's not your fault, right?"

He returned to his pile of nuts, maybe in an effort to shrug it off. "Yeah," he replied, sounding less than convincing. "Yeah, I know."

She glared a while longer, but then mussed his hair and saw herself out. Baroona didn't speak until she'd closed the door behind her. "She's right," he said. "It's not your fault."

"We could jump him," Ethos evenly continued, and it took a slow second for Sei to realize who he was even talking about. "I can get him alone pretty easily. I'd just need you two to hold him down while I carve it out of his gut. He'd survive. It's shallow."

Baroona watched him carefully. "Is that what you want?"

Ethos must have seen something in his gaze. He looked away and said, "No."

"I know you're annoyed, but I would strongly advise against further acts of violence."

"It's not right," Ethos said. "He'll cause trouble down the road."

"Perhaps. But let's not burn any bridges."

Ethos didn't look satisfied. He winced as he worked his jaw. "I was counting on that thing to get us out of Roheim," he said. "Now we'll be trapped if things go sideways."

Baroona said, "Then we'll have to be smart."

"And quick." Ethos fell silent. There was dried mud on the side of his face, and it flaked when his expression changed. His eyes moved between them. "You both knew Syan, yeah?"

"We did," Baroona said. "She was a cautious woman."

Ethos studied him. "Cautious how?"

Baroona vacantly studied him back, as if to return the question. "You were the one who knew her best," he said. "She hated Enwyn as much as you did."

Ethos bristled, fingers curling in anger. "I am not Hans Redbeard." 

"You sounded like him. You and Alma butting heads— it was just like the old days."

Instead of retorting, Ethos glanced again at Sei. Maybe to see if he agreed. So Sei nodded once and closed his eyes, remembering back to darker times. Baroona had it right.

Ethos had calmed when he spoke again. "So she was cautious."

"In public," Baroona replied. "She had to be."

"Because of Eadric?"

"Our people would've come down on them like a flood if they'd known the truth."

"But you knew," Ethos guessed. "You kept their secret. Why?"

Baroona returned a nut to the pile. His eyes moved low, back and forth before rising. "Kacha and I were Alma's closest followers," he said. "We watched her fall in love with Hans, and we stood by her when she merged our people. By the time he killed her five years later, I considered him a friend." He smiled a little. "Your resemblance makes more sense now."

"So you were protecting him."

"Yes and no. The truth was dangerous." Baroona shared a look with Sei. "None of it mattered after she died," he said. "He and Syan would have raised the child."

"But they didn't know Alma's nature."

"None of us did."

Ethos was staring very seriously, gears moving behind his eyes. It was an expression that Hans had worn often. "Why would she have resurrected Syan?" he asked. "Just to torment him?"

Baroona grimly returned the stare. "Why exactly are you asking me about her?"

The door reopened. Anouk entered; she was dressed for the elements, lost in fur. She gave a smirk when she spotted Ethos on the floor. "Seabird," she greeted. "Glad you're alive." 

He smirked back. "I told you to stop calling me that."

"What'd you do to your duds?"

"I fell in a pond."

Alyce squeezed out from behind Anouk, hair more frazzled than before. She'd been running. "We should hurry," she said. "What's the plan?"

"Well, seeing as Peter's lost his mind, I guess we'll have to steal a cloudliner." Ethos employed an overturned chair as he carefully climbed to his feet, moving with the wariness of one nursing a recent injury. Once risen, he glanced at Anouk and asked, "What are our options?"

She was watching him, steady as the sea. "I have an old craft that no one'll miss. But we'd need a crew to run the system. Food. Water. Preparatory ballsch."

"Makes sense. How many men do we need?"

Anouk absently counted off fingers. "Two at a time to keep us airborne," she replied. "Ten in total to rotate out and man the sheets."

"Are they at hand?"

"They are, aye."

"Food and water?"

Her smile crept back. "They are."

"Is it possible to take off within the hour?"

"Are you asking me to run away with you, seabird?"

He matched her smile from across the room. "What, you don't want to?"

Anouk folded her arms. "She makes twenty knots at best in the air. The birds'll fly faster."

"I don't need it to be fast. I just need it to get us there." Ethos looked down at Baroona. "Help her with anything she might need, please," he said. "Preparatory ballsch."

Baroona gave a nod. "What are you going to do?"

"There were dry clothes in the room I woke in," Ethos replied. "I'll come find you as soon as I've changed." His eyes shifted to Alyce as Baroona followed instruction. "You, too," he said. "If anyone in that meeting moves, I want you to light a fire under the crew. Understand?"

She scowled, but she didn't argue. Sei anxiously watched them file out of the spicery, all too aware he'd be spoken to next. Mercifully, Anouk paused at the door. "If we're not in the finery, we'll be at the docks," she said. "Don't make us wait."

Ethos smiled. "You're saving my hide here. Thanks."

"That thing in Savage is mine. Forget and I'll fly your hide as my banner."

And then she was gone. Mercy over. Ethos was still wearing a smile when Sei met his eyes, but it subtly softened in sympathy. "I make you nervous," he knew, damn him. "Sorry."

Sei jerked his thumb at the door. "Should I go with them?"

"No," Ethos replied. "I need you to smooth things over with the elders. Peter will do right by them, but they should know the situation they're in."

"I already spoke with them."

Ethos blinked at him. "Oh," he said. "That's great."

"Yeah," Sei replied, inching out. "So, I mean— I'll just go help Baroo and the others."

But Ethos had a different plan. He guided Sei into the corridor. "You're more useful here," he said, and he was clearly favoring one leg over the other. "I know you don't like it. Sorry again."

"It's fine," Sei grumbled. "Don't you dare tell me to dress you."

Surprised laughter. "I won't, I won't."

"I'm serious." Terrifying, how Ethos could force him about with a word. "It's bad form," he said, more softly. "It might not seem like a big deal to you, but it's scary as hell for us."

Ethos was being quiet, and he glanced over at the same time as Sei. He forced another small smile, hand at his ribs. "I know what it's like, in my own way," he said. "It might not be a comfort, but I do try to be careful about how I speak when I'm around you guys."

The entrance to Battlefrost Hall was ahead. Sei glimpsed inside as they passed. "What do you need me for, anyway?" he asked. "To guard the door while you change?"

Ethos chuckled, out of Sei's periphery. "Something like that," he replied. "I'm not in any shape to protect myself, you see. You're here to do it for me."

"You trust me to protect you?"

"I trust you to protect your interests." Ethos was watching the floor when Sei turned back. His eyes didn't rise until the sounds of the Hall had gone. "I know you probably don't like me much," he said. "I wouldn't expect you to. But we're in this together, and I get it."

So he wasn't expecting to make any friends. Sei wished he could say that it wasn't personal. "Just do your part," he replied, instead. "Whatever it takes."

"I plan to." They rounded a corner, and Ethos ducked into a room on the left. It looked empty from the corridor. "Wait here, please," he said. "I won't be long." 

At the door, Sei asked, "How long do you think we'll be in Savage?"

"Hard to say," Ethos answered, voice muffled. "I'm hoping no more than a day or two."

Sei's heart sank. He hung on the doorframe and groaned. "It's that important?" 

Ethos was turned away at a bureau. He quietly stared down at the clothes in his hands. "It's my responsibility," he said. "That's all it is."

"Does it have to be?"

Ethos glanced up at him —slanted, through the bureau mirror— and caught his own reflection in doing so. He looked startled for the briefest of moments. He returned to his search for clothes. "Yeah," he said, quietly. "It does."

It seemed pretty final, so Sei let it go. He watched the corridor while Ethos changed. An occasional grunt of effort cut through the otherwise silent space. "We didn't know, by the way," Sei remarked. "We all really thought you were Ethos."

"Kids don't resemble their parents this much."

"I just didn't want you to think we were hiding it from you."

Ethos was pulling on a fresh shirt when he emerged. The fair fabric made his skin look darker than it actually was. "It's okay either way. You ready to go?"

"You look like shit. You need a pother."

"I don't have a pother," he said, flatly. "Thanks."

Sei followed after him. "You still have Princess Una."

"I can't go to her anymore," he muttered. "She's too unpredictable. And it's a miracle she hasn't heard about me and Anouk."

"So it's true you aligned with her back in Harken."

"She had what I needed. It was an easy agreement to make."

"You should've seen how she reacted when we cornered her for killing Leemai."

" 'Cornered' being the key word there. Nobody takes capture well."

"You did. Peter said you didn't even put up a fight."

Ethos opened the door to the Hall. "That was me taking it like a champ," he said. "It was also part of the plan. Let's not forget Eadric's dead now."

"Point taken." The tono watched them pass. Sei wished he were more like Ethos, who seemed to neither notice nor care. All he could do was glare at the floor. "There was a plan to get you back," he said, in spite of himself. "We knew where you were, after all. Peter was going to send out a party."

"Oh, good. He was doing exactly what I told him not to do."

"You're just mad that he beat you up."

"He's a crook. He robbed me. And he locked me in a spicery."

Sei shrugged and said, "He probably thought you'd run off if he didn't."

Ethos made a sound of derision. "You're defending him."

"I don't mean to. You can be flighty, is all."

"Obviously. I've been trying to shake him from the start." He noticed Sei staring and sent him a look. "The whole thing's destructive," he said. "I'm tired and I'm done."

Sei held the entrance open for him. A breeze dusted the floor with snow. "Everyone fights," he said, which stopped Ethos partway out. "Running isn't an answer."

"It is when fighting is all we do." He put up his hand to stop Sei from disagreeing. "I'm not getting into this," he said. "I'm done."

"You're just going to make it worse."

Ethos let his hand fall. He shook his head and stepped into the daylight. "I'm done."

And Sei could do nothing but follow after.