The Boon of Alon

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Chama catches me outside the monastery on my way in.

"Hey," she says. "Bearing in mind everything you said yesterday, I need you to keep an eye on you-know-who."

"I meant to tell you, he was really normal yesterday," I say, hushed. We're alone at the moment, but the riders at the gate aren't far off, and there are still recruits coming up from the lake.

"Sure—it was 'will', not 'has'. But let me know if anything changes. Clearly, I have to keep my distance."

"Not so much that it's weird," I warn.

She sighs. "Yeah. Yeah, I know. Look—Corren was supposed to check in with us yesterday. One day late doesn't necessarily mean anything, but..." A recruit shows up at the gate so she finishes her sentence with a meaningful look. I nod.

"Keep it to yourself," Chama adds before she heads in. I follow her through the door and head off to the archive as usual.

Gred, again, acts normally. If there really is something that's going to make him turn against us, I don't think it's happened yet. After, on the way to lunch, I fall into step beside Lemi.

"Hey," I start. "I've been meaning to ask—have you heard from Corren?" Chama told me not to tell, but I really was planning to ask anyway.

Lemi sighs. "No. It's been weeks."

"That sucks," Rev says behind us.

"Yes... It hasn't been a problem," Lemi adds. "There are plenty of riders around to ask about things...but I want him to see me bonded."

"I get that." I pat her shoulder sympathetically. It would feel weird if I'd agreed to be Yrite's eventual rider—I can't fool myself that I'm ready now—and Chama wasn't around to tell. I think she'd be proud of me. Probably not very proud that I turned him down, though.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon," Rev says awkwardly, and Lemi gives us both small smiles at our feeble attempts to comfort her. Knowing what Chama told me, I wonder if he'll ever be back. Was he betrayed, or corrupted? Or has he really just been delayed?

Chama's on kitchen duty when we go in to get lunch. She catches my eye and I shake my head. Nothing yet.

Gred never comes to training in the afternoon, but I keep an eye out for him in case that changes as we gather outside. It's honestly much colder than is comfortable out here now, though I know I'll be glad for it once we start sweating.

"What do you do in the winter, for training?" I ask Rev as we wait to get equipment. Happily, I'm finally able to lift the lightest weight available; I can even do real push-ups now, though not many.

"Oh, we still come out here," she says flatly. "You don't stop being a rider just 'cause there's snow on the ground—just like when it's raining. It has to be a real blizzard for them to let us stay inside."

"I heard they'll make us clear all the snow out," says Lemi.

"Yeah. If there's enough, we do that instead of training. It's a good workout." Rev stretches her arms and grimaces. "Still better than the summer. Gods, fuck the sun."

"I like the sun," Lemi protests.

"The sun does not like me," Rev says. Pale as she is, I can imagine.

When we regroup later in the afternoon for the weapons part of training, Tack waves their hands to get our attention.

"Hey," they say. "We've had you spar with each other sporadically before, but we're gonna make it a regular thing now. There just aren't enough of us to train you one-on-one all the time. We're still gonna come around and give you pointers, but drills aren't enough to help you in a real fight."