Lux [h.s]

thirty-nine

Cora lifted the dagger, studying its sharp blade in the light. A few days before, she'd told Harry she could protect herself with it if it came to it—she'd gone as far as to point it against someone's throat—but it had been a lie. She couldn't use a dagger against someone else, even if it was just to protect herself. She wasn't that kind of person—she'd been raised to aid people, not hurt them. She'd never thought she'd find herself in a similar situation, but she held little control over the directions life threw her in now.

The tip of her finger rested on the point of the dagger, pressing down experimentally. She shouldn't have lied, but she'd wanted to prove so badly she could do something, that she wasn't just a useless weight the Fair had inexplicably taken on. It'd worked, but now she was regretting it, partly. She wasn't brave enough to use it. She wasn't scared enough.

"Are you planning to kill someone?"

Her thumb slipped and a drop of blood slid down her hand. She gasped and looked up—Aster was standing in front of her, body tilted towards her as if he were studying her blade. His white-blond hair was tied behind his head in a half ponytail, nearly matching the white of his cloak.

She sent him a sharp glare. "Maybe."

An amused look passed through his eyes. The slight yet constant irony he took on the world with put her on edge. She somehow ended up feeling like the butt of an unsaid joke every time she talked to him. "Like that?" There was half a laugh in his voice. His hand closed around hers quicker than she could expect. She stepped back, hitting the wagon behind her. He rolled his eyes. "Your grip is all wrong, you'll lose it in a moment in a fight." He moved her fingers around the grip. "There."

She pulled her hand away as soon as he let her go, nearly stabbing herself with the dagger. Even though she would've never admitted it, the weapon did feel steadier in her hand, now. Inexplicably, she found it incredibly annoying. "I don't need your help."

"But Harry's not here right now, is he?" Aster bit back. He blew away a strand of hair that had escaped his ponytail and kept getting in his eyes and nodded at the blade. "Really can't picture you using that, if you ask me."

His words stung, though Cora wasn't sure why. The realisation that he thought her helpless just like everyone else around them put her on edge. She didn't want to think that was all she amounted to. "I'm not asking you."

Aster flashed his teeth in a grin. "How short-tempered. Someone would think I've cursed the Mother right in front of you or something." He cocked his head. "Humans don't like that, do they?"

Cora put the dagger back in its sheath at her hip and crossed her arms. "I'm not discussing the Orders with you."

"Why not? It could be interesting."

"Not to me." It was a lie—but a well-spoken one. Just sharp enough for an outer observer to believe in it.

An unreadable look glinted through Aster's lilac eyes, too quick for her to even wonder at. "Well, what a shame. You seemed so lost I thought I'd help you, but if you want to deal with this on your own..."

Cora's head snapped to him. "What do you mean?"

His finger traced over the silver clasp of his white cloak. "What do I mean, indeed?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but a strong wind blew through the skirt of her grey dress abruptly, making it cling to her leg. She jolted and glanced around, and spotted Oden running towards them. He reached them in a matter of seconds, a bird on wings of wind, and nearly face-planted into the wagon next to them. He looked up at Aster and crossed his arms. "Harry doesn't like it when you talk to her."