Maren Goldweaver's Arc

Chapter 26 of 42

The rebels cut them down one by one. Kato dropped into two men's arms, limp, blood streaking his jaw. Gisela hit the ground running and shoved past a crossbow to reach him. Maren landed hard on her knees. The cub squirmed inside her coat and dug small claws into her ribs to stay hidden. Miller landed beside her and put a hand under her elbow without a word. Topper stayed on the ground where he fell, cursing quietly. The scarred woman watched Gisela cross the clearing. Gisela stopped three paces from her and her face broke. "Vera," she said. "It's me." Vera's mouth opened, then closed. The old scars on her jaw pulled tight. She lowered her crossbow the rest of the way. "You shouldn't have come back," Vera said. Gisela started to answer. Vera cut her off with a look and jerked her chin at her men. They marched the group through the ferns to a grassy opening ringed with tents. Kato was carried between two rebels. Gisela walked at his hip and would not let go of his sleeve. They were pulled into the largest tent. A woman with rolled sleeves knelt beside Kato and opened her kit. Gisela dropped down next to her and pressed her hand to Kato's chest. Maren watched her sister's knuckles go white. Vera sat on a crate across the tent. She set the crossbow across her knees and looked at Maren. "Open the coat," Vera said. Maren's throat closed. She thought of Topper's hands reaching for the cub in his kitchen. She thought of Kazuki's needle. She had refused every trade until now. The cub was the only thing left in her hands that anyone wanted. Kato's breath rattled. Gisela made a small sound. Maren opened her coat. The cub climbed out on its own. Its wings unfolded, bright in the lamplight. It stepped onto the packed dirt and walked to Kato without being asked. It laid its small head against his sternum. Kato's rattle eased. Color moved back into his face. The cub's flanks trembled, then steadied. It did not collapse this time. It sat up on the blanket beside him, alert, tail curled. Gisela pressed her forehead to Kato's shoulder and cried without sound. Vera watched all of it. She did not smile. "That animal stays with us," Vera said. "You brought it here. That was the price of walking in." Maren's hands were shaking. "She isn't a coin." "No," Vera said. "She's better. And I have fourteen names I owe." Miller shifted at Maren's shoulder. Maren caught his wrist before he could speak. She had no rifle. No file. No ledger. Nothing to set against a camp of armed rebels and a leader who had already decided. "Feed my people," Maren said. "Tend the boy. We stay the night." Vera nodded once. The cub did not look at Maren. It stayed pressed to Kato's ribs, breathing with him, already someone else's.