“ Enfriator remembers the sign she saw the morning of the battle, the silver apparition that soared out of the sky in the shape of a great bird. The skin-changers had interpreted it as a symbol of their impending victory, that Ragnavark would be guiding them throughout the fight. She wonders now if perhaps Ragnavark was speaking to her directly, if he was alluding to her encounter with Victory. The half-Gelkin boy is one of his people as well, she realizes. Is that why she did not slay him when he lay defenseless on the ground? Was it the will of their prima that stayed her hand?
He is no less of a mystery to her after the scant conversation with her ma’maan. All Enfriator has attained is an even murkier perspective, muddied by whatever Vera felt so obviously upset about. She can pry no further into past secrets, not without eliciting unwanted attention. It doesn’t matter ultimately; any answer she could possibly have found about Victory would have no effect on her. It is better to let such curiosities alone.
There is no strength behind the sentiment, however, and Enfriator exasperatedly balls the whole matter away, crumpled tissue pushed into some abandoned recess. In exchange, the soft timbre of Victory’s voice echoes back, a sweetened wind rushing up through a tunnel. She feels the ghost of their kiss, hears him hurt and calling to her with the tug of a lure set in her chest, and Enfriator shivers as walks away. ”
Bloodlines, Chapter Ten: Faith
Thank you to the amazing @raviollies for breathing life into my warrior daughter, Enfriator Red’mireh. Bloodlines is a high fantasy novel about the bloody feud between two proud races, and the unexpected love that emerges unbidden between them.
