The Sharpest Blade by Sandy Williams Read Free Book Online

says.
    “And I know you didn’t have a choice,” I tell him. “I know it was the only thing you could do, and that it shouldn’t have worked, and if you were really thinking you would have—”
    “It’s okay, McKenzie,” he interrupts again, more firmly this time. It’s his way of telling me I don’t have to say anything.
    I feel like I have to say everything. The life-bond isn’t easy for me, but it has to be worse for him. My emotions are too open. I don’t have as much practice as he does at pretending to be hard and cold.
    Because I know he’s hurting, I change the subject. “Is this false-blood really different from the others?”
    I’m almost certain the answer to that question is no, but he doesn’t respond. My stomach tightens uncomfortably as we walk. I’m about to ask my question again when he draws in a breath to speak.
    “Derrdyn Province has declared its support for the false-blood.”
    I stop walking. “The whole province?”
    He looks back, gives me a single, solemn nod.
    Lena’s right. This false-blood
is
different. Sethan didn’t even have a whole province declare support for him, and he was a true Descendant. Of course, Aren and the rebels kept his identity secret for as long as they could. Did this false-blood do the same thing?
    “Who is he?” I ask. “Three weeks ago, he didn’t exist.”
    “Three weeks ago, we were focused on Caelar and the remnants,” Kyol says. He starts walking again, and I fall into step beside him. Caelar wasn’t a false-blood. He was one of the king’s swordsmen, and after Kyol killed Atroth, he organized the soldiers who opposed Lena taking the throne.
    “We don’t know the false-blood’s name,” Kyol says after a moment. “His
elari
call him the
Taelith
. It’s an old word that means
anointed one
.”
    “Haven’t they all thought they were anointed?”
    “An entire province has never believed it before,” he says, his gaze focused on the river. His emotions are locked down tight, but I feel an echo of sadness in him. Kyol loves the Realm. That’s why he always put its needs before mine. It’s always been a violent world—for my whole lifetime and for his—yet that hasn’t discouraged him. He’s devoted his life to protecting it, and in his quiet, steadfast way, he’s always been optimistic about its future. He’s clung to the hope that the bloodshed could end.
    That optimism seems diminished now.
    The urge to wrap my arms around him, or at least to take his hand in mine, is almost overwhelming. Instead, I pull my cloak tighter around my body.
    We’re almost to the river. I can make out the blur on its bank that marks the location of the gate. The guards aren’t watching our approach anymore. They’re focused to our right. I look that way and see Kynlee. She’s walking toward us with two escorts. Trev is one of them. That almost makes me laugh. If I weren’t protected by the fae he’s pledged his loyalty to, I’m certain he’d be the first in line to collect the bounty on my head. He really ought to direct his anger elsewhere, though. I’m not the one giving him shitty assignments like babysitting
tor’um
.
    Kyol doesn’t say anything when he sees her, but an echo of the shock he felt when Lena mentioned a
tor’um
fissured me to the Realm leaks through our life-bond.
    He looks at me.
    “I know,” I tell him, because what else can I say? I was completely out of my mind when I came here.
    His emotions soften for an instant, but his hard, neutral expression doesn’t change.
    “They’ll fissure you both back to Earth,” he says, indicating Trev and the other fae with Kynlee. “If you happen to need me . . .”
    He’ll feel it if I do.
    “I’ll be fine,” I say out loud.
    He nods. When Kynlee and her escorts reach us, he says, “Good-bye, McKenzie.”
    I watch him walk away. One step. Two steps. Three. It feels like a gulf opens between us.
    “Hey, Kyol,” I call out.
    He turns. The Realm’s cold night air