how can you rise
if you have not burned?
”Yes, fine. Sometimes. I will not be a fool. But nor will I remain as Warden very long if I am a coward.” The people would not follow her if she did not, at least on occasion, stand with them. So stand with them she would.She nods, understanding. ”That is about all I can hope for, easier than Zariah. I am vaguely tempted to just give her a sentence and be done with it, though I suppose I should hear her out. And I am aware of her ability to compel by touch, so you don’t need to warn me.” She’s gotten plenty of warnings about Zariah from the Grounders when the only threat was her as Archmage. What would they say now, if they knew Zariah’s fate hung in Weaver’s hands? They’d probably tell Weaver to hang her and be done with it.
He scoops her up, and she just stares at him. ”You don’t even know where you are going,” she points out, squirming out of his arms even if she doesn’t actually want to. But it is clear that, despite his title, she would be taking care of him tonight. Though her mind still races with all that has happened, she can think, at least, unlike when she’d walked into this room. Though she can still smell the burned flesh of the cultists, she can breathe past it. Her brother had been more right in his joke of title than he realized. She was nothing more than the double-edged blade she wields.
Still, she cares about the people of Halo, and she cares about the man in front of her. So she leads him to the bath. ”You can handle the water?” she asks, finding some tiny bit of magic left in her and managing to get the fire started beneath the tub so it could warm. With that, she leaves him, disappearing for a moment and coming back with clothes in her arms. She tosses them his way. ”Should fit well enough for now.”
WEAVER
