The Path of Giants by B.T. Narro (year 7 reading list .TXT) 📗

direction, but I can’t say that it is their destination.”

Nykal shared a look with his councilman. The king motioned for Barrett to leave the circle with him so they could share words out of earshot of the rest of us.

Eslenda seemed insulted by the act, but I had a question to distract her. “Did you happen to see the mage of ordia who spotted you?”

“I did see just before I ran.” She gasped and muttered something in Elvish. “I recognized her. Now I know from where. She was with all of you when you came to the forest arguing about the traitor.”

That was what I had feared. “When was this exactly?” I asked.

“Yesterday.”

Eden and Valinox attacked me today. So Eden hadn’t allowed Eslenda to spy on the army, but she couldn’t bring herself to kill me.

“Eden?” Hadley asked me.

I nodded.

“You told her about Eden?” Kataleya seemed upset with me. I didn’t understand why.

“It’s better that she knows,” I said.

“You’re really starting to piss me off,” Reuben told me. “You act like this witch is more important than the rest of us. Don’t you care about honor?”

“That depends on what kind of honor,” I told him honestly. “Look, Reuben. I don’t want to get into an argument. You know that I only care about winning this war against Rohaer, Valinox, and dteria. That’s it. Hadley is not more important than anyone else here, but I’m not going to push her away just because she took Whitley’s essence…”

I stopped myself as I noticed Kataleya’s furious expression. “What she did was not right,” I hastened to say. “But it’s not enough reason to send her away.”

“It is enough to punish her!” Reuben argued.

“You all will stop bickering about this,” the king said as he and Barrett returned. “There isn’t time for any of my sorcerers to be questioning each other’s loyalty. I will address your concerns with Hadley, and then we will put it behind us. Do you understand, Reuben and Kataleya?”

“If you address my concerns properly,” Kataleya replied snidely.

I had never heard her speak back to the king in such a manner. Even his majesty seemed surprised at first, though his face soon softened.

“Kataleya—”

“I’m sorry,” she said, interrupting him.

“I was going to say that I understand this must be very difficult for you, having just lost your father. However, there is a right way to go about this. Your defiance will only make it worse.”

“Yes, I understand,” she said with a bowed head.

“I don’t!” Reuben said. “The witch defiled a noble’s corpse! Yet she stands here as if she’s as good as the rest of us.”

“She defiled nothing,” Barrett said. “I believe Eslenda is a powerful mage of ordia, like I am. Perhaps she can confirm this with me to better ease your conscience, Kataleya and Reuben.”

“Aren’t there more important things to do than argue?” Eslenda asked.

“This is important,” the king said with a deep tenor. “And it will only take a moment.”

Eslenda gave a sigh. “What can I do?”

Hadley spoke up. “I took the essence of Kataleya’s father without her permission. I knew she wouldn’t let me, but it was a rare essence. I knew it would prove valuable.”

Eslenda was shaking her head. “I do not want to get involved with witches. None of you should. I recommend you take this one out and end her life. You will be better off for it.”

“What? No!” Hadley looked around frantically.

“Sounds good to me,” Reuben said and grabbed her.

Hadley didn’t struggle. “You can’t be serious. I only came to help.” She looked at me. But I trusted the king to handle this. Me intervening would only make it worse.

“Release her, Reuben,” the king said. “Whether she will make herself useful or not is still to be decided, but she has not defiled any corpses or dishonored any nobles.”

Reuben let go of Hadley. “How can you say that, sire?”

“There’s no such thing as a good witch,” Eslenda said. “Because there’s no such thing as a good curse.”

“That’s not true at all,” Hadley said. “A curse is just like any other spell. It is neither good nor bad. It does not demand anything from me. It does not change who I am, like dteria spells that require more force to cast. It is a tool, like a sword, or a bow. In the wrong hands, these weapons can do great damage. But in the right hands, in my hands, they can be used for good. What I’m sure the councilman is going to ask you, if you wouldn’t keep interrupting,” she told the elf, “is whether a witch, even a powerful one, has the ability to alter a person’s soul. These nobles believe that I have harmed the soul of Kataleya’s father in some way. As a mage of order, we’re assuming you know the answer to this.”

“Great, another noble.” Aliana muttered to herself as she rolled her eyes.

Yes, Hadley’s manner of speaking had made that quite clear. But what Aliana didn’t know was what this noble had been through before she’d escaped Rohaer. I thought that if Aliana did know, she would realize how different Hadley was from Reuben and Kataleya, who had been given just about everything in their lives.

“Yes, that is true,” Eslenda said. “No one can alter or harm another person’s soul. So that is your concern, noble girl?” she asked Kataleya. “You think she harmed your father’s soul when she took his essence?”

Kataleya nodded.

Eslenda scoffed as she gave the king a look. “Aren’t these your students?”

“Careful, elf,” the king scolded.

“I will not be careful. There is no time to worry about pride and the honor of nobles. I am frustrated that I am used to settle these matters. I have come here for support against Rohaer!”

“As have I,” Hadley said. “So don’t pretend you are above all of this when you recommend my death without even knowing me!”

I didn’t imagine the earlier comment had hurt Hadley that much, but her face was red with rage now.

“You are a witch! I