Raizel napped for a while, only to wake to very quiet conversation circling around her. Her head was on the Raven’s shoulder, and his was resting on her head. It felt cozy, the way she’d only ever felt with – she felt a stab of guilt. It had been days since she last thought of… Continue reading Twenty-Nine: Overheard
Raizel shared a look with the Raven. He looked at her, then at the two attendant, at the woman, and back at her. She cleared her throat. “Your husband is a sword?” “My husband is The Blessed Sword. It was given to him by the gods. To become the sword so that he not die!… Continue reading Twenty-Six: The Price
Raizel sat down. She wasn’t sure she had another option. The Diamond Raven stood behind her, his hands on her chair. She wondered at that, but she could ask him later. “I have to get to the capital,” she told the Judge. “That has to be what I have to do first. If I miss… Continue reading Twenty-Four: The Judge
They made it to the bathhouse without further incident. Raizel had never been inside a place like this, but she’d heard the stories and descriptions from people in the town that went down into the flatter lands: There were rainfall devices where you soaped off, and then big drinking-trough tubs to soak in and bathhouse… Continue reading Twenty-Three: Cleaner
“Why her?” The Diamond Raven shifted so he was standing almost between Raizel and the Left Hand. “Why this stranger on the street?” “Because she’s not a stranger, is she? She’s the one that everyone’s been muttering about. She’s got you, which is interesting in and of itself. She’s made it through some pretty strange… Continue reading Twenty-Two: Lost and Found
“I don’t think she really wants the kitten gone,” the Diamond Raven commented, when they were out the gate and on another road. “And I don’t blame her.” “It’s pretty cute, isn’t it?” She looked down at it, and it looked up at her and mewled. “I bet it’s terrified. All this being moved around… Continue reading Twenty-One: Psst
The gardener in front of them cut a strange figure, her pockets wriggling. Raizel bowed politely anyway. If she had learned anything so far on this trip it was that she might find the god-touch or even stranger things in places she was expecting nothing of the sort. “I, uh. I offer apology? We… Continue reading Twenty: The Kitten
“For people who know about this thing—” the Diamond Raven warned. “For people to know about it is truth! Is all of us who rotted for the Tzar laid to rest! Is everything that went wrong put better!” The deserter was foaming at the mouth. Raizel took a step back. He only spoke louder. “This… Continue reading Nineteen: Evil and Escape
“No!!” The deserter shook his head, more as if to clear a bug from his ear than to negate a thought. “Not for me. ‘No aid for deserters,’ I know so well. Do it for the nation, then.” He pulled a tattered old piece of paper from an inner pocket. No, she realized, vellum. “Do… Continue reading Eighteen: Treason and Heresy
The man who might or might not b the Diamond Raven struggled, but he couldn’t seem to do anything about the cord around his neck and, rather than have Raizel tug it tighter, he followed her. “I have things I should get-” he protested, but she didn’t listen, and then “I shouldn’t leave a candle… Continue reading Twelve: Watch What You Say