She had smoke in her eyes and death at her back.
It hadn’t taken long. A few minutes at most.
She didn’t turn around or cover her mouth. Enah wanted them
to see her confident as she walked away from the carnage.
But even as she did it, that little worm of doubt nibbled at
her insides. Was this the path she truly wanted for herself? Or was it just the
easy one?
Miviam and Canessa stood at the top of the next rise, their
stances casual. As if a lone woman killing an entire gang of armed bandits was
everyday stuff.
Miviam had her arms crossed under her chest, the tight
leather bodice she wore showing off a disgusting amount of cleavage. Enah had
never understood the desire to show off your body to attract men, but Miviam
seemed steeped in it.
Canessa wore her conjuring cloak, even though it had to be
sweltering under there in this heat. Enah had never seen her without it, which
made her extremely glad she hadn’t chosen to apprentice to a conjurer last
year.
The two of them waited until Enah reached the trough in
front of them before turning around and heading to the silver maple that grew
near the bend in the river. Neither of them congratulated her on completing her
assignment. Neither gave correction either, so Enah knew she did well.
When the ground evened out, she took a cloth out of the bag
strapped over her leggings and began wiping down her daggers, careful not to
nick herself in the process.
Each swipe brought a different man’s face to mind. A man who deserved to die, she told herself with a grimace.
The blades clean, she holstered them behind her hips and
stuffed the cloth back into the bag. Her fingers brushed something there and
she pulled it out.
The drawing she’d found as she’d walked out of the camp. A
drawing of a little girl with long, dark braids and a smile on her lips as she
danced.
A man with a family.
“What’s that?” Miviam had reached the tree and turned
around. Her words startled Enah.
Folding it up, she shoved it back into the bag with the
cloth. “Nothing. Just some scrap paper I found. Thought it would come in handy
to practice my scribing.”
Miviam didn’t look pleased, but she didn’t protest. Instead
she grabbed Canessa’s hand with her left and held her right out to Enah. “Let’s
go.”
A moment later, they were back in their own camp next to the
ancient silver maple that grew at its center.