“You want to go to an apothecary?” Vertiline drove the wagon, reins loose in easy hands. “What’s this got to do with a kiss?”
“You love Israel,” blurted Geneve.
Vertiline snorted. “You’re fifteen. You know nothing of love.”
“Fourteen.”
“Exactly my point.” The Chevalier’s pale cheeks held no hint of flush. “Out of curiosity, and merely to pass the long, wearying journey, why would you say that?”
“Israel and Kytto don’t like each other.” Geneve counted on her fingers. “But they work together to help me.”
“So?”
“Because you need them to.” Geneve looked at the floorboards beneath her feet.
“Oh, wise fourteen-year-old, why would I love Israel if I tried to kiss Kytto?”
“It was twenty years ago.”
“Are you going to make my points for me the whole journey?”
Geneve smirked. “You wanted Israel’s attention. The Smith is exactly his opposite. You tried to pull him into it.”
Vertiline looked carved from marble. “There’s no chance that’s true.”
“There’s a small chance,” Geneve argued. “It’s okay. I’ll never tell.”
“Good, because spreading lies is likely to get you murdered in your sleep.” Vertiline offered a small smile, like a peace offering for words without intent. “There would never be time for me and Iz, anyway. The Tresward needs us to stand against the dark.” Her words were bitter.
“Why do you stay?” Geneve swiveled to face the Chevalier. “You don’t like it here. You don’t agree with how it works.”
“Fourteen-year-olds should learn to keep their opinions to themselves.”
“Fourteen-year-olds might be dead in a month,” Geneve countered. “My dying wish is to know the truth of the heart.” Vertiline muttered something like, if-you-don’t-die-at-Trial-I’ll-kill-you-myself. “What was that?”
“More wishing.” Vertiline sighed. “Things are … complicated, Geneve. There are questions the Tresward have no answers to. They don’t tell you why a good man won’t look at you, or why a bad man won’t either.”
“Kytto’s not bad.” Geneve shook red hair. “He just seems that way.”
“The wisdom of youth.”
“Wisdom is wisdom.”
“That sounds like something Iz might say.” Vertiline’s tone was wistful. “It’s a shame I can’t leave you in the wilds to die of hunger.”
Geneve grinned, facing forward. The wagon rocked beneath her. One less secret to have over her as she went to her grave.
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