Kinthek Korelli took the razor to his face, hating the scraping sensation of metal against light scales. Fortunately, his childhood dream of being capable of a full beard had been fulfilled. The only downside was that it looked like a shaggy mop strapped to his face.

  Most people didn’t forget to do this until mid-afternoon when the sandpaper-like texture of new hairs finally got to be too much, But Kinthek had never claimed to be like most people. Kinthek shook his head at the reflection, and then tilted his chin upward before cutting away a few stray hairs. He might have stayed there longer, but Kinthek had a job to do.

  He hopped off the wagon once he was done, tucking the razor away and pocketing the small piece of mirror. People sure loved sitting on top of the wagons as opposed to outside of them. It probably came with having roofs to keep goods dry and out of the sun. Even now, Teizen sat perched up there, contemplating the sky.

  He hummed to himself as he walked through camp, waving to a few people here and there before making his way to Flame. The bloodbinder who Kinthek was pretty sure was not-so-secretly a dragon in disguise regarded him with annoyance as he approached. So it would be one of those days then. Kinthek could count the number of good days Flame had had in the last two months on one hand. Sometimes it felt like those days were getting farther between, but Flame didn’t seem to think so.

  “If you want me to teach you to stab things properly, you need to show up when you say you will.” he almost growled the words, and even though he seemed relatively in control at the moment, Kinthek was too tired of being tackled out of nowhere to trust that.

  “Right, sorry.”

  “You really should have tried harder with that bartering the other day. Then I wouldn’t have to beat up a kid instead of sleeping in.”

  Kinthek cringed slightly, “Uh… yeah.”

  “Stars above, don’t use the word ‘uh’ it makes you sound like an idiot. Warriors don’t say ‘uh.’ Now draw your squalling sword and go find Talfaxin. Beat him up for an hour or two, I’m going back to sleep.”

  If he kept on offloading this onto Talf, then why in the world had he insisted on being the one to train Kinthek? Was it because he didn’t want Teizen to do it? Flame was really really weird about women and not inconveniencing them, and not making them do things they shouldn’t have to or want to do. It had somehow taken Kinthek until Alafaya joined the Leftbites to even notice it, but it was present in everything that Flame did. It also explained why he’d seemed so horrified after meeting Fora, at how he’d tried to tackle her out of the sky.

  That thought just reminded Kinthek of Eliax again. He… still hadn’t contacted her. He felt horrible about it, but he kept assuming that she would start to hate him now that he wasn’t actually there. Wasn’t it better if she hated him? He knew better how to act around people who hated him.

  Kinthek shook his head, remembering her confidence, even if sometimes it felt like a thin facade. He missed that. He missed the way she would look at problems, as if they would bend to her will if she watched them long enough. He missed how they actually had.

  He walked back to the cookfire, knowing that Talf wouldn’t be in the mood for beating him up today. Alafaya and Branix were cooking today, which meant it would at least be edible.

  Kinthek sighed as he looked up at the sky. He was probably just thinking about stuff like this because it was his birthday. He hardly even remembered the way his mother used to celebrate it anymore, but he remembered hugs. A lot of hugs. He’d never told Priest Vespin when his birthday was, so despite trying, the man had never given him anything. Kinthek felt like that was easier.

  His gaze tracked back to the fire, watching it dance as Teizen appeared beside him. “What’s got you down today? Is it Branix? Branix always gets on my nerves. He hasn’t poisoned me yet though so there’s no way he’ll slip something extra in your bowl.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Kinthek smiled, “but how can you be sure that he hasn’t been poisoning you this whole time and you’ve just become immune to it?”

  “Stars Kinthek, he’d be doing me a favor in that case! He has to know that a non-lethal dose would do that!”

  “But what would he even be poisoning you with?”

  Teizen shook her head, looking to the north, “Well, have you heard of the thundermine? I know your people hate going underground since you’re got so many aremolots here, but one would assume that you’d stop abandoning those mines of yours once you make one.”

  Kinthek tilted his head, “they keep getting attacked. What do you expect us to do?”

  Teizen snorted, “fight them off or something?”

  Like what Fora had tried to do? That other version of Eliax? “I don’t think you can kill them, Teizen. Maybe we could drive one off, but it would just come back and it would be angry. It’s hard to find areas to mine that are protected by a thundercrystal.”

  “Stars above Kinthek, you sound like you think that’s working. I’ve hardly seen any metal anywhere. Just wood and cloth, and you hardly have any forests or quarries. Challenge yourself Kinthek! You need to argue better!”

  He thought about that for a second, really thought about the scarcity of iron and bronze. “And you sound like you already have a solution all lined up? Who are you to criticize how things are without something to change it?” Teizen would berate him for that flimsy answer. After she’d figured out she could argue with him, she’d never quite gone back to her jovial mask around him. And yes, it was a mask, there was a certain intensity lurking beneath her that Kinthek could hardly even grasp most of the time.

  As predicted, she raised an eyebrow at him, “Criticizing an imperfect system is the best way to find a solution to it. Besides, even if there isn’t one to be found in my head doesn’t mean that pointing out the flaws won’t inspire someone—say you—to find the solutions I cannot. That’s just a bad argument to say that my lack of a solution prevents me from bringing up problems.” She smiled sweetly.

  Kinthek shuddered a bit. “And yet the system itself is working. Who’s to say that there won’t be a genius somewhere with evidence to say that it’s better for the world for the Larborak to be held back by this?”

  “Wow, you are really off today. Stars Kinthek I can’t even begin to start pointing out the problems with that argument. Do you need a drink or something?”

  Kinthek remembered the time she’d gotten him drunk after some words like that. He was ashamed to admit that he hadn’t hated it. Atharian should strike him down for enjoying a vice like that. It was the nature of sacrifice that one should never need something as such. “No, I’m fine, just out of sorts today.” It was hard to properly talk sense when his mind kept wandering back to Eliax.

  Teizen jabbed him in the ribs, “Seriously kid, that’s the face I give worms. What in the world is wrong?”

  Kinthek gave her a blank look, “Just thinking about things, you know, my friend.”

  Understanding dawned on her face before Teizen was elbowing him again, “Oh, oh? The kid who’s older than she looks? The one who made Flame crap himself? Stars Kinthek! I didn’t know she invaded your thoughts like that!”

  “Teizen…”

  “Oh, stars, I need to convince Ash to take us back in that direction soon then! I’ve got to meet her this time!”

  “Teizen you squalling madwoman….”

  “It doesn’t matter if you don’t want me to, I’ve got to see if this kid is good enough for the kid in front of me! Children must be shipped together properly, you see?”

  “You’re barely thirty…”

  “And so are you! But unlike you I actually look thirty! No one’s going to stand above me and do shipping like that!” She lowered her voice noticeably, “but Kinthek, if you see any interdimensional beings from beyond our time and space who can read minds, they might be worthy of such a thing.”

  “What kind of qualification is—”

  “So what’s her name?”

  Kinthek groaned, burying his face in his hands as the mortification finally took hold. “Eliax. Her name is Eliax.”

  Teizen seemed to smirk, “Oh my, what a willing kid you are today. It only took two minutes to whittle you down to your core. That’s got to be a record or something.”