Llew returned to the homestead to find Jonas standing, leaning against a wall, the prosthetic leg strapped to his thigh. He eased his weight into it and shuffled his other foot along the floor with a hiss between his teeth.

‘It’ll take some getting used to,’ Rowan said. ‘Your thigh’s never taken your weight like that before, and the skin hasn’t toughened up. It will.’

Anya looked up from her rearranging of pans and skillets. She had yet to have food to cook in them. Alvaro and Karlani hadn’t returned, yet.

‘How are the cows?’ she asked.

‘They have something called mast—’ Llew looked to Elka for help.

‘Mastitis,’ Elka supplied. ‘We will f— fix that in a f— few days.’

‘And that’s the problem,’ Llew said. ‘We can’t stay here forever. What do we do about the farm?’

‘We can’t go anywhere until we come up with a plan to keep Jonas well on the road anyway, right?’ Anya asked.

‘No,’ Llew conceded.

‘I’ll need a day or two to design what you’re after,’ Rowan said. ‘And a few wanders around the farm checking on things won’t do my creative juices any harm.’ He smiled. ‘It’s nice to be away from the confines of town. And this project of yours . . . I’ve got a few flickers of how it could work already. Tomorrow, after breakfast, I’ll get my notebook from the carriage, and you can tell me as much as you know about this Braph’s work.’

A shiver ran down Llew’s spine at the mention of the magician’s name. Would he ever cease to affect her like that?

Jonas turned from the wall, took the few hobbling steps required to get to the table and slid into a seat. ‘I guess it’s gonna take me some time to get used to this thing.’ He quirked a self-deprecating smile at Llew. He wasn’t the confident Syakaran she’d met, but she was just as happy to see him sitting upright. For now, they would need to repeat their earlier dance of blood and syringes, possibly daily, possibly twice a day. She didn’t know. Braph had spent years inventing his system for harnessing Aenuk magic. It was just as likely she might have to prop Jonas up for years before they could come up with a more permanent solution. She hoped not since she doubted Turhmos was about to leave them be. At least they had the advantage of having seen Braph’s final design.

Thumps sounded outside, putting Llew on alert before Alvaro swung the door wide.

‘We’ve got a problem. Come. There’s a— thing you have to see.’

‘A thing?’

Alvaro shook his head. ‘Just come.’

Llew looked to Rowan, inviting him to join them, and gave Jonas a grimace. Alvaro sounded more urgent than Jonas’s hobble could manage.

The first thing Llew noticed when she stepped outside was Karlani almost naked by the well, and becoming more so, peeling the leg of her trousers over her heel, her large, unbound breasts in full view. Ard had spoken of the well being a draw to the farm. If anyone happened by now, it wouldn’t be thirst pulling them in. Not for water, anyway.

Rowan made a choking sound.

Water dripped from Karlani’s hair. Trousers thrown clear, she rubbed at her forearm then reached for the bucket and doused her entire body, dropped the bucket, and scrubbed her palms around her ribs, shoulders, chest. Llew wasn’t sure from their distance, but it looked like Karlani may have been crying. She looked sharply at Alvaro.

‘Not that.’ Alvaro scowled at Rowan, then beckoned Llew. ‘Come.’

He led them behind the house and across the yards to the chicken coup. By the door sat the bowl of bacon, discarded hurriedly, a couple of rashers in the straw, flies lingering. A few eggs sat in a shallow bucket just inside the door. And beside that . . .

Llew had to step closer to resolve what she was seeing. Thin, curved pieces of glass that if fitted together might have made a sphere.

‘It came straight for Karlani, like she was what it was looking for,’ Alvaro said.

Llew found herself glaring at him again. ‘What do you mean “came for”?’

Rowan bent down and fished something out from amongst the straw. ‘What’s this?’ He held up a fine piece of metal. ‘I’ve never seen such delicate work. This must be made by an absolute master.’

Llew felt sick and her body tingled with the desire to put as much distance between herself and the metal . . . leg – for that was all she could think of it as – as possible. ‘Braph,’ she pushed the name out. ‘Braph made that.’

Rowan collected another prize from the straw, another leg, this one jointed and still attached to a couple of tiny cogs.

Llew took another step back.

‘It flew around her—’ Alvaro started.

‘Flew?!’ Llew looked everywhere, up, down, spinning around. There would be others. She turned and backed up to the coup’s outer wall so nothing could come at her from behind. Was it really there for Karlani? Or could Braph have sent it – and others – for Llew’s blood? He had her mother, and his son. Could his appetite be so insatiable?

‘The – I don’t know, bauble? – was filled with some sort of jelly.’ Alvaro pulled his knife and crouched to scoop a clump of straw up with it. The straw was loosely held together by a viscous liquid. ‘Karlani swatted it, but the bauble broke, and she got some on her arm. She’s afraid it could be what Jonas has.’

Llew’s stomach dropped, her personal worry lessening, only to shift to their group as a whole. ‘You said it targeted Karlani?’

‘Hm hmm.’ Alvaro nodded.

‘It might not have been after Karlani specifically . . . It flew?’ Llew could barely cope with that idea. The crawling bloodsuckers had been bad enough. Her skin tingled and her leg muscles itched to move her somewhere, anywhere, away. But there was no away if those things could fly. ‘Maybe it was trained to hunt Kara.’

‘Do you think this could be what Jonas has?’ Alvaro lifted the knife slightly.

‘I don’t know. It was on the tip of a crossbow bolt, so it would make sense it might be sticky like that.’

‘But Braph is Karan. Why would he send these things out to inject Kara with something that would weaken them?’

‘Braph’s also a magician. He can probably just tell them to leave him be.’ Llew snared, her hatred of the man almost eclipsing her fear of the flying metal creatures.

‘Bastard,’ Alvaro said at the same time Rowan murmured, ‘Genius.’

Rowan looked up, perhaps sensing Llew’s horror. ‘Sorry. I know how you feel about him.’

No. Llew didn’t think he would ever understand.

‘But,’ Rowan continued, ‘the man is a genius.’

‘And he uses that genius to hurt people. If that’s not his intention, at the very least he doesn’t try to avoid it. But this . . .’ Llew waved her hand at the sticky gel Alvaro still balanced on his knife. ‘That’s got to be intentional. He must be sending them out to target Kara. It’ll devastate the Quaven army.’

‘What does it do to non-Kara?’ Alvaro asked. He stepped back, straightening his arm to distance his core from the gel.

Llew shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I’m sorry.’

Rowan, too, took a step back from the knife, and took a second look at the pieces of metal in his palm. There were too many ‘ifs’. And if non-Kara could be infected, and if contact were enough, Rowan was already in trouble.

‘If I can cure Jonas, we’ll know a lot more about how to beat this bug.’ She nibbled her lip. ‘I suppose we need to study this thing to know what we’re up against. Perhaps if we boil the parts and burn any straw it landed on. And try not to get it on your skin. But let’s eat first.’ She glanced up at the darkening sky. ‘Sleep, too. We’re going to need our own genius.’ A part of Llew wondered if she should be the one to tidy up the goop, but she had no idea if Aenuks could be infected or not, and if she had to risk death to fight it – as she suspected Jonas might have to – they would all be at risk if she failed. While Llew still lived and had her powers, and the Ajnai trees, she could heal almost anyone else. Almost. She looked in the direction of the well, though the homestead blocked her view. Karlani was right to fear getting infected. Llew had no idea if she could help the Syakaran woman.

‘Contain it as best you can and come and eat,’ Llew said. ‘We wouldn’t want the chickens spreading it. I’ll talk to Karlani.’

Llew returned to the homestead – already having noted the absence of Karlani by the well – to find the Syakaran woman in the back corner of the kitchen, still naked and vigorously rubbing at herself with a towel. And sobbing.

Anya stood by her, pleading with Karlani to let them help her. She turned a helpless look Llew’s way.

‘Al and Rowan will bring in the eggs and bacon soon,’ Llew said.

Karlani stopped her scrubbing and turned a dark scowl on Llew. ‘Food? You need me whole, and I may have caught what he has, and all you can do is talk about food? What about curing me. You’ve got it all planned how you’ll cure Jonas; much good it’ll do you. He’s broken. You need me.’

Llew splayed her hands, then moved behind Jonas and placed them on his shoulders. ‘I wish I had all the answers, but I don’t. We don’t know if skin-contact means you’re infected. We won’t know if you’re infected for a few days—’

‘One,’ Jonas said. ‘I knew somethin’ wasn’t right after a day. She’ll know.’

By the time Jonas had admitted his weakness to her, he’d been suffering in silence for days? Llew wished he’d felt he could have told her.

‘Well, I suppose that’s a good thing. The sooner we know, the sooner we can change our plans to suit.’

‘A “good thing”. Pah!’ Karlani wrapped the towel around her and rolled it to secure it. She looked Elka up and down, noting her twisted hands, then glared at Anya. ‘Somebody wash my clothes. And find me something else to wear in the meantime.’ With a huff, she sat on the seat across the table from Jonas, not looking at anyone.

Llew looked to Anya, whose eyebrows were raised in question, and nodded. Might as well meet Karlani’s demands. Sympathizing with the Syakaran woman wasn’t hard. Underneath every action Llew was taking, every decision she was making, the fact that Jonas might weaken to the point of dying under her watch kept a certain anxiety buzzing at the edge of her conscience. The only thing keeping her going was the shred of hope she could heal him, returning him to full strength. But that belief relied on his connection to the Taither Ajnai. Karlani didn’t have that.

The door opened. Alvaro entered, holding the handle of a cast iron pot at arm’s length, which he placed on the range before rounding the table to get to Karlani.

‘Are you alright?’ he murmured.

‘No.’ Karlani clipped the word, anger protecting her, but for a waiver in her tone. Karlani was scared, and Llew couldn’t blame her. She was scared, too. With Jonas disabled and powerless, they needed Karlani the Syakaran.

‘Bacon and eggs. ‘Rowan placed the bowl on the bench and looked around the room, seeking Anya who emerged from the main bedroom with a selection of garments.

‘Thanks,’ she said, placing the clothing in Karlani’s lap. ‘Before we do anything else, I think we all need a good feed.’

She was right.

But Llew was still reeling from the discovery of the flying automaton. It wouldn’t be the only one. Braph held no love for Quaver, she was sure. Such devices would ravish the Quaven forces. If the device that had attacked Karlani was one of several, the others could be ahead already. They couldn’t be stopped.

Llew was uncertain of her own loyalty to Quaver. She owed the nation nothing for incarcerating her, though she would forever have a connection now through the Taither Ajnai with her baby’s soul entwined.

Jonas: weak and broken. Braph: able to jump into their heads. Merrid and Ard: dead. Karlani, Rowan, Alvaro: status unknown. And every plan she made seemed to come up against a new challenge.

Llew felt crowded in that space, everyone looking to her for guidance and solutions she didn’t have. The wrong string of words could tip Karlani into despair or violent rage. Or she might find herself unable to maintain her veneer of strength and she might admit how little faith she had in her own plans.

Overwhelmed, she managed to say, ‘Thanks, Anya. I’ll be back, I promise,’ before words failed her. She stepped outside into blessed darkness and silence. Relative, of course, with sheep baaing in the distance, and the constant chatter of the chickens closer. Away from people and their expectations. But those flying critters were out there, somewhere. She let the shudder rock her body this time, then stretched out her hearing, glossing over the warbles and chirps of birds, darting her eyes to follow the buzzing bees or flies. But that was all they were. Perfectly natural. She’d never forget the clackety tapping of the metal legs on the stone floor. Likely, the critters would have a distinct sound when they flew, too.

She sucked in and blew out a few deep breaths, trying to center herself in calm. They weren’t after her, she was sure.

She had to convince herself it was safe out here. She hadn’t had a moment alone in days. She needed a moment with her feelings without having to manage anyone else’s.

She crossed the carriageway to the Ajnai trees, sat beneath one and breathed. She wished she had Merrid and Ard’s calm wisdom to turn to instead of their loss to mourn. And Jonas broken and weak. And Karlani possibly weakened, too. And Braph . . . Braph with his mind-control and flying machines. Would he ever leave them in peace? She was starting to think she might never find peace again while that man still lived.

The homestead door opened, and Jonas maneuvered his way out with both crutches. Llew sat watching him, figuring it more likely he’d want to make his way alone. Anya stayed at the door, also watching. Jonas wasn’t fast, but he managed to keep himself balanced enough to hop off the edge of the front porch then swing his right leg hard enough to bring the prosthetic foot forward to step on. The prosthetic had a cuff cushioned with rags for his thigh to sit in, a hinged knee and a sculpted lower leg and foot connected by a second, less mobile joint. Jonas had to concentrate for each step he made on it.

Once he was on the carriageway itself, Anya closed the door.

Llew watched Jonas’s approach, her heart aching at his struggle.

Finally, he stood over her. ‘I hope you weren’t wantin’ to be, uh, alone alone.’

Llew gave a short laugh. ‘Depends how much talking you want me to do.’

Jonas shrugged. ‘You don’t gotta talk. Don’t even have to listen, if you don’t want to. I don’t have much to say. Just thought . . . Well, maybe you wanted to be alone . . . in company.’

Llew smiled. ‘That’d be nice.’

‘Give me a hand to get up, if I get down?’

‘Of course.’

Jonas let his crutches drop, leaned on the tree, and eased himself down on his good leg, letting the prosthetic slide out in front. As he eased down to sit beside her, he nudged her with a shoulder and grinned at her. ‘That feels right strange, but at least it don’t hurt, thanks to you and your blood.’ He grimaced at the last. He didn’t like using her blood like that. Or, maybe he did, but didn’t like how much he liked it. Llew really didn’t mind and shrugged her shoulder gently against his.

They sat in silence for several minutes, Llew’s nerves steadily settling.

She sighed. ‘Thank you.’

Jonas leaned forward, his elbow resting on his knee, his hand to his mouth, watching her. It looked like he might have wanted to say, or ask, something, but either hadn’t fully formed the words, or didn’t know if she was ready to hear them. Llew was struck by how beautiful his eyes were and found herself smiling. He smiled back. And Llew had to look away. It would be so easy to lose herself in the moment, pretend they were wrapped in a bubble, separate from the rest of the world. But they weren’t. And it wasn’t all about to stop while they took a few minutes just to be Llew and Jonas: young lovers.

As always, that glimmer of Braph lingered, too. If Jonas had beautiful eyes, then so did Braph, and that thought filled her with revulsion. There was no beauty in that man.

Damn it. Would she ever be able to openly admire Jonas without also feeling repulsed? They were brothers, perhaps, but they were vastly different men.

‘You know,’ Jonas drew Llew’s attention back as he sat up straighter. He tapped his shortened thigh. ‘This might not work quite right anymore. But this—’ He tapped his head. ‘—and this—’ He tapped his chest with his open palm. ‘—still do. I know I ain’t been much help to you the last few weeks, but you’re not alone. You don’t have to fix this alone.’

‘I do know.’

‘I know it’s hard. I need you. And Karlani’s gonna need you . . .’

‘I hope not. If she loses her powers, what will we do if the fight comes to us before you’re ready?’

Jonas nodded. ‘We have an advantage. We can build defenses, and traps. You’ve got hands and tools waitin’ for you to put them to use. We never built them much for the border scuffles.’ He scoffed at his diminishing of what must have been some fierce battles between Karan and Aenuk soldiers over the years. ‘But back in the days of Immortals . . . Well, there’s quite a record of inventions from back then. I remember some. I don’t s’pose Anya read about those sorts of things, but maybe she’s seen some in passin’; might have ideas.’

Llew’s despair lifted as he spoke. Back in Cheer, she’d never had to defend a base – no trouble had come for her that she couldn’t run from – and while she couldn’t clearly picture any particular invention that would help, Jonas’s words sparked her imagination. Between Jonas and Rowan’s creative mind she was certain they could come up with something.

Jonas must’ve seen a change in her, as his own expression brightened.

‘And you’d make a good captain,’ he said.

This time, Llew was certain her skepticism would be clear.

‘No matter how any of that lot feels about me, they like you better,’ Jonas continued. ‘They’ll all follow you. And, while I can stand, I’ve got your back. I’ve been a lieutenant a long time.’

‘My guess is that a captain isn’t meant to . . . snuggle with a lieutenant, though, huh?’

Jonas opened his mouth, shut it, shuddered.

How could he shudder at the thought of cuddling? Oh. The only captain he’d known had been Aris. She threw her head back and laughed. It had been a long time since she’d done so whole-heartedly and she felt a shift inside, the stresses of recent days falling away, if just for a moment. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, kissed his cheek, then dropped her head against his shoulder and hugged him tight.

‘If it’s my army, I suppose I set the rules. Lucky for me you’re so snugglable.’

Jonas’s arm came up behind her, hugging her at the waist. ‘Ain’t been accused of that before.’

‘Being snuggly?’

‘Hmm. I like it.’

Llew liked it, too; having someone to snuggle, but, as always, she couldn’t sit here enjoying it. They had work to do.

She released him and stood, collected up his crutches, leaned them against the tree trunk and held out her hands. Jonas grasped them and pulled himself to stand. Llew set her feet and bent her knees to anchor herself in place, giving Jonas sturdy support. Once he was up, she handed him his crutches and steadied him as he arranged them under his armpits.

‘You’re the strongest man I’ve ever known.’ After a moment of watching the top of his head while he finished adjusting his crutches for comfort, Llew held his gaze while he processed her use of the present tense. He gave a small nod and a reluctant smile. And Llew’s chest ached to see his vulnerability – an everlasting chasm between Jonas and Braph. ‘And I love you.’

Again, Jonas held her gaze before replying, ‘Love you, too.’

His smile was subtle, and Llew didn’t look away. Nor was she repulsed. Not this time. She gave a satisfied smile in return.

‘There’s a whole world of trouble waiting for us. I suppose we should start with dinner. And then . . . bed.’ She had to bite her lip on all the thoughts the combination of that word and the man before her spawned.

Llew turned, placing herself shoulder-to-shoulder with Jonas and they made their way back to the homestead together.