The old woman leaned close, getting in his face. “I’m never wearing these clothes again,” she hissed. “Either you switch me, or I’m burning them and going nude into the swamps.”
The chaos wielder sighed. “All right, fine. I thought the dress was quite flattering on me, personally.”
“Talk less and we’ll get along better.” Renna gestured at him impatiently. “Come on, then.”
He looked back up at her, surprised. “What, now?”
“Do you think you could possibly fit it into your busy schedule?” the lanky woman replied acidly. “I want these things off me.”
With a put-upon sigh, Guyrin climbed to his feet and doffed the dirty old dress, leaving him standing there in a breechcloth and ill-fitting boots. “Here. May it bring you joy.”
The Weaver woman took the garment with a grimace. “I’m going to have to wash it twice.” She turned and strode away, face pinched.
“Hey!” called the chaos wielder after her. “What about your clothes?”
Renna turned and sneered at him. “You’ll get my clothes once this is washed and on me. I’m not changing in front of you, pervert.” Indignant, the little man gestured to his own near-nudity, pointing out the injustice of it all. “Listen, you mop-head whoreson, we had to stare at your naked ass draped over a zephyr for days. A few more minutes in your skin won’t kill you.”
Mouth agape, Guyrin looked around and, seeing Kest, gestured inarticulately in the woman’s general direction. Kest could find no response other than to shrug. Exasperated, the chaos wielder strode off to find a seat that would be kinder to his bare cheeks. At least the painful lesions he’d developed when they first met had finally healed.
A twig snapped behind Kest, and he knew who it was without turning. A light step, a clean scent, and a warmth of body he could almost feel without his heat vision. “Hey,” said Nira.
He kept himself turned away from her. “Hello.” Did she see my face? Don’t be stupid, she’s already seen it. What does it matter? A helpless anger rose within him at the unfairness of it all. He couldn’t think of anything to say. “Are you all right?” he finally thought to ask. “You were so angry.”
She made a farting noise with her mouth. “I don’t know. No. Does it even matter? I’m going to come along anyway. Being mad about it won’t do much.”
It matters to me, he thought, but he didn’t have the courage to say it.
“Can I sit?” she ventured, still standing behind him.
He didn’t want to talk. What was there to say? Hey, I know we were getting along pretty well and all, but now I’m hideous, so how about you come stare at this nasty thing on my face? Sound good? No, there was nothing to say. Why didn’t she realize it? Still, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her to go away, so he inched over on his fallen log, making sure to move so that she’d have to sit on his good side.
“Thanks,” she said. They sat in silence, tension building. “So… you flew.”
A chuckle slipped out. “Yeah, I guess I kind of did.”
“How was that?”
“Terrifying. I loved it.” He took a deep breath. “It’s something I’ve been needing for a while.”
She nodded, and they lapsed back into silence. Dusk was falling. Finally, Nira cleared her throat. “I, uh... wanted to tell you I’m sorry.”
He tilted his head toward her, surprised. “For what?”
She hesitated. “Well, I thought... you’ve hardly said two words to me lately, so maybe – I don’t know, I thought maybe I’d offended you. Somehow.” She picked at her fingernails, not looking at him.
“You haven’t offended me.” How could he be offended? Responding honestly to something horrible didn’t qualify as offensive.
“Oh. Good.” Another interminable silence overtook them as they stared at their own feet. “Well... good, then.” With a sigh, she got up, moving away. Suddenly he didn’t want her to go, but he didn’t know how to stop her.
A few steps away she halted. Not looking back, she said, “When I first saw you. When you came back to camp after Renna gave you the… the thing.” She took a deep breath. “I offended you – no, shut up, I know I did – because when I saw you, I nearly screamed. You came to me first after this horrible thing, and I might as well have put a knife in you with how I acted.” She sagged in the shoulders, grasping a branch for support. “I saw your face. I mean… I saw how you took it.”
His guts twisted. Hearing her say it was even worse than remembering the moment. “I know how I look,” he responded, trying to make it sound offhand, unimportant. “I woke you up, and… it was a shock.”
“No,” she said adamantly. “I mean, yes, it was a shock, but that’s not the point.” She came back to him, crouching in front of his seat to peer into his face. “You’re my friend, Kest. You watch out for me better than anyone ever has. Back at the mansion when Guyrin blew everything up, you could have run, but you came back. You protected me. And then when General Garrett found us, you fought for me, you made sure I was all right, and I – I pulled away.”
“It was nothing,” he whispered, holding back tears.
“It was not,” she insisted, taking his hand in both of hers. “You needed me to watch out for you like you do for me, and – I’m sorry. I’m so sorry! I don’t have much practice at being a good friend.” The words hitched as strong emotion caught up with her, and she bowed her head for a second.
Feeling guilty as he watched her struggle with
