Aria Blackwing's Arc

Chapter 19 of 24

After the fire was banked and the birds were fed, Aria pulled her cloak from the peg and stepped out onto the porch. Derek followed with the bundle of tools. The morning was cold and bright. The trees stood still at the edge of the clearing. She did not look at them yet. "Here," Derek said. He set the saw and hammer on the boards. He unrolled the coil of rope and the small stack of bricks they had carried back from the village. "We mark the corners first." Aria walked to the north wall of the cabin. The logs were warm-brown in the light. She placed her hand flat against them. "Out to here," she said. She stepped away from the wall and set her heel in the dirt. "Wide enough for two more perches. A shelf for the linens." Derek paced the length she gave him. He drove a stake at the first corner. She held the rope while he pulled it tight to the second. The line was straight. He drove another stake. She fed the rope along the ground. They worked without much talking. The saw bit into a plank. The hammer struck. The raven called once from inside the cabin. Aria smiled at the sound. Then she felt it. A weight on the back of her neck. She kept her hands on the rope and did not turn. "Derek." "I know," he said. He was already lowering the hammer. She made herself look. The trees at the north edge held their shadows. Between two trunks, a shape stood. A man. Same height as before. Same still way of watching. He did not move when her eyes found him. Derek stepped in front of her. His hand went to the knife at his belt. "Go inside." "No." She caught his sleeve. "Not this time." She walked forward. Two steps. Three. Her voice came out level. "You've watched us long enough. Say what you want or go." The man did not answer. He looked at her, then at Derek, then at the staked ground and the fresh cut wood. Something in his face changed. He raised one hand, palm open. Then he turned and walked back into the trees. The brush closed behind him. Aria stood in the cold with her heart knocking. Derek came up beside her. "He saw what we're building," she said. "He saw you tell him to leave." She looked at the stakes in the dirt. The rope. The bricks stacked square. The room was only lines on the ground. It was already more than that. "We finish today," she said. "The frame goes up before dark." Derek picked up the hammer. She bent for the saw. The trees stayed empty. She did not trust the quiet. But she trusted the work in her hands, and the man beside her, and that was enough to keep going.