Thordin caught up with him three steps away from the door and fell in with him, walking shoulder-to-shoulder in silence for a few moments before Thordin said, “Fireworks this morning.”
“Eh?” Cameron blinked at him. “Fireworks?”
“Yeah, fireworks. Things happening. Not sure what, but it seems like something from the looks on folks’ faces that I’m seeing.”
Cameron frowned slightly. So much for cornering Phelan and grilling him about my sword. “Do you know what’s going on?”
“Nah, I was coming to get you before I went and found out for myself. We’ll probably find out in a few minutes, though.”
The smell of breakfast reached Cameron as they emerged into the chill of the tent beyond the heated makeshift dormitory they lived in. It must have been later than he’d anticipated.
“How long past dawn is it?”
“Less than an hour,” Thordin said. “Not many people are up and moving right now.”
My chances just went up. Cameron nodded slightly and headed for the fire, where he could see Phelan clustered with Tala, Thom, Matt, and Marin. “G’morning.”
Tala gave him a warm smile. “Morning, Cameron. Coffee or tea?”
“Coffee would be fantastic if you’ve got some made,” he said as he and Thordin joined them by the fire. “And the news. What’s going on?”
Marin and Thom exchanged a look, then she answered.
“We have a chance at peace with Cariocecus.”
“The jackass that attacked us? That one?”
She nodded. “He approached Phelan this morning.”
Thordin blinked at Phelan. “And you didn’t gut him where he stood? You’re slipping.”
Phelan snorted and shook his head. “I’m significantly less violent than I used to be.”
Thom choked on his coffee, coughing and sputtering. “This from the man who knocked Vammatar over the edge of the ravine and probably drowned her.”
“That was different,” Phelan said evenly. “There was zero hope for any kind of truce with that bitch. And she attacked me first.”
“Cariocecus attacked us first,” Tala pointed out as she handed Cameron a mug of coffee, then started to get a cup of tea for Thordin. “I’m still not sure what’s different.”
Phelan shook his head again. “He knows when to quit and there’s no real grudge there that I’m aware of. Vammatar was a grudge older than bloody history—and her family’s going to keep coming, too.”
“I’m shocked they’re not here yet,” Thordin mused as he settled on the ground near the fire. Tala handed him his mug of tea, then a bag of potatoes and two bowls. Without voicing a question, he produced a knife and started skinning the potatoes for her. “Those bitches of the underworld aren’t usually the ones to leave off so easily or quickly.”
“They’ve been temporarily diverted, I think,” Phelan said, nose wrinkling momentarily. “They’re chasing older scents and there’s some friendly shifters running some interference for me.”
“That’s not going to work forever,” Thordin observed.
Cameron frowned, fingers tightening around his mug. And this is the world that Neve and I are going to be bringing a child into—raising a child in. Frightening, that.
A child that’ll be heir to a blade whose legacy I don’t understand, only the mythology—and I barely understand that.
“Phelan,” Cameron said slowly. “Not…just now, right this second, but soon, I need to speak with you.”
Phelan blinked. “About what?”
“About the sword,” Cameron said simply.
Phelan smiled weakly. “I wondered when you’d ask.”
Marin glanced between them, one brow arching slightly. “You haven’t talked to him about that yet?”
Phelan shook his head. “There hasn’t really been time to discuss it in any depth. Not yet.” He met Cameron’s gaze. “But soon. After we figure out what we’re going to do about Cariocecus, we’ll have that talk.”
Cameron nodded slowly. “All right.” I just have to hope that nothing goes sideways between then and now.
The way his luck was running lately, he figured it’d be at least three more days before he got any answers—if he got any at all.
