“But the burning,” I say.
“Only houses with no one in them.”
“But why?”
Buff cringes, closes his eyes—opens them. Says, “I don’t know.”
“Aren’t the people angry?” I ask.
“At King Goff mostly,” he says. “Now that the truth is out, people are saying he brought a curse on our country.”
“I meant, aren’t they angry at the Stormers?”
Buff chews his lip. “Yes and no, but mostly no,” he says. “Sure they’re angry that they have to rebuild, but mostly at Goff for bringing the curse on our people. Already the Stormers are falling back into myth and legend. There are rumors that they rose out of the ground, formed from clay, and returned to it, like inhuman shadows.”
“I saw them. They’re as real as you or I. They’re evil,” I repeat. “Child stealers. Don’t you get it?”
Buff nods. “I do, but the rest of the villagers won’t be so easily convinced. At least they didn’t get your sister.”
“Thank the Mountain Heart,” I say.
“Do you want to know what’s been going on at the castle?” Buff asks, changing the subject.
I raise my eyebrows. I’ve been so set on watching Jolie and praying for her to wake up, I’ve almost forgotten there’s a whole world out there, one that’s broken into a thousand pieces. “The king?” I say.
Buff nods. “You gave him quite a beating, but he survived it. The truth is out though, and already the people are calling for his head on a platter. A consortium’s been created with an equal number of representatives from each of the Districts, which the White District folks aren’t too happy about, but given the situation they haven’t fought it too hard.”
“Who’s included from the Brown District?”
There’s a twinkle in Buff’s eye. “Yo, for one,” he says, and I smile. I couldn’t think of a better choice. He’s always had more wisdom and kindness than most.
“Good,” I say. “What’ll this consortium do?”
“Decide on what’s to become of the king, and then what’s to become of the Icers. Yo says they’ll be announcing the king’s execution any day now.”
I feel like I should smile, but I can’t, not with Jolie the way she is.
“And then what?”
He shrugs. “Not even Yo can predict, but he expects things’ll get better.”
“They could hardly get worse,” I say.
Buff leaves after that.
~~~
Skye comes shortly after Buff leaves. She’s wearing thick snow pants and a heavy coat, borrowed from Looza, so they hang from her like extra skin, way too much material for her lean frame. But at least she’s warm. And she still looks beautiful, breathtakingly so.
“She’ll heal soon,” she announces when she sees the frustration on my face. “Feve’s a searin’ good healer.” She flips Buff’s chair around, straddles it backwards, her leg close to mine.
Her words give me hope, which surprises me.
With her leg tapping on the floor, always moving, I feel the warm sensation I get inside me whenever she’s around. “Skye?” I say.
“Yeah?” She tilts her head to look at me.
“Why’re you doing all this?” It’s a question I’ve been holding for a while, but with everything happening, I haven’t had the chance to ask it.
She shrugs, keeps on tapping her foot. “Why not,” she says. “We were ’ere. The village needed help.” You needed help. The rest hangs unspoken on her pink tongue.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help you get your sister back from the Stormers. Jade.”
“You’ll stay ’ere with yer sister,” she says. “We’ll take care of it.”
“I need to know the truth. Who wanted my sister. And why.”
“You want revenge,” Skye says, right on point as usual.
“Wouldn’t you?” I ask.
“Yes,” she admits. “But we can give you that. You need to stay with her.” She motions to Jolie.
“When are you leaving?” We haven’t talked about what comes next, but I know it’s got to be coming soon. Skye’s not the type to wait around for heroes to rescue her. She is the hero.
One side of her lip turns up. “I know what yer thinkin’ in that pretty little Icy Dazz head of yers,” she says. “You’ll follow us, you’ll find a way to stay with us till we realize you ain’t takin’ no fer an answer. Am I right?” Before I can answer, she adds, “Yer not comin’.” She’s got that locked-jaw look that says it’s the end of the conversation. Only for me it isn’t. She was exactly right. I’m going with her if I have to follow like a shadow from a distance.