The Heirs of Death

33. Gods-Reached

GODS-REACHED
 

Luthian had been adamant on sealing the oath by blood. So we did, twin scars running along our fingers—scars that would remain once the veil melted. Scars that had Luthian shaken to the bones when I'd cut my own flesh, binding that oath to myself as much as to him. He hadn't commented, but there'd been a new sort of light in his eyes.

A light that lingered as we talked, and talked, and talked, sprawled on the snow right where Carter and I had been. Minutes of conversation bled into hours, and we found ourselves talking about the past, about how I lived with Martha all those years, about the poor house, the after-school work, the lonely nights with a book as sole comfort. And he'd listened to that uninteresting life, listened and understood it. All of it—feeling like I didn't belong, like I was a bystander in a life I didn't own. Perhaps he did, because it was one not forged in a castle with glimmering golds, but in a house with fissured walls and a groaning bed.

I rested my head against the rough, frozen rock, feeling the cold seeping into my skull, bringing with it a steady clarity. As for Veidor, he was sprawled on the snow, head resting next to my plied left leg, eyes on the sky.

"How haven't you frozen to death yet?" I asked, tracing the smoke coming out of my mouth with my eyes before it vanished. Luthian shifted slightly, thin clothes silent against the snow, rested his hands over his abdomen, and made to stare at me for a passing second.

''I've always been immune in a way to the cold, since birth actually. The capability grew with time from withstanding rains and winds to plunging into frozen waters unbothered.''

His words had me turning to him, bending slightly to meet his eyes still staring up. To meet the teasing light in them."It took you long enough to notice, sister.''

It truly did, as images of our journey together came back one after one. Images of a Luthian unattained by the deadly coldness, covered in the thinnest cloak and wools, utterly unflinching when the mountain winds seemed to slaughter my lungs.

''This is a capability I have yet never heard of,'' I admitted, fingers curling in the snow as I tried straightening my position. Pain shot in my muscles, but I swallowed it, each time becoming easier.

''There had been no record prior to my birth. And limited are those who know of it now.'' He stared at my face for a lingering heartbeat, weighing his words. "But there is someone new displaying its early phases.''

My raised eyebrows were enough of a silent question.

"You.''

"And what makes you think this way?"

Veidor pushed himself up, putting one ankle over the other as his back rested on the rock, his hand falling close to mine, a movement away from brushing it.

"You didn't seem truly bothered when you found me after your fight with the centaur, body frozen from waist and below.'' My eyebrows arched even higher. ''Your face didn't dry the way the others did, your lips not too chapped and cracked, their colors still somewhat vibrant. You fared even better than the Nevorian Lord who has enough fire in him to warm cities.''