Foundation of Smoke and Steel

Chapter 177

DanielEthan said.

The carriages lifted off in silence.

Caleb had secured the boarding clips himself, efficient and unsentimental about it, and now the group rode in the particular quiet that settles over people who have too much to say and no agreement yet on where to start. Daniel, Vivian, Sophie, Anmei, and the Li brothers had joined Caleb and Claire in the main carriage. The Li household retainers and the Serans, who preferred their own company, made the walk back to Crescent Hyr on foot.

The silence inside held.

Daniel sat with his eyes closed and tried to organize his thoughts, which was not going well. Seeing Caleb and Claire again after this much time carried a specific awkwardness that he had not fully anticipated. He knew Caleb's history, knew Ethan's history with Claire, had lived adjacent to both threads long enough to understand their weight, and still had no clear sense of how to hold himself in the same enclosed space as either of them. During the Home Return there had been proximity without real contact. This was different. This was a shared carriage and the knowledge that several people in it were watching him without appearing to watch him.

Caleb had also arrived with news.

In the first few minutes after boarding he had told them about the mercenary group that had escorted the women from Moher, the ones who had taken a contingent south along the river and not returned. Only one man had made it back to the Zhou estate. When Caleb said it, Vivian, Sophie, and Anmei had each reacted in their own way, none of them loudly, all of them visibly, and then a heavier silence had moved in over the one that was already there.

Ethan asked.

Daniel replied.

Ethan made a sound that was the internal equivalent of a laugh.

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Daniel said.

Ethan said.

Daniel shifted slightly in his seat, still keeping his eyes closed, still aware of the others around him.

Ethan was quiet long enough that Daniel felt the deliberateness of it.

he said finally.

Daniel said.

A pause.

Daniel said.

Ethan said.

Daniel opened one eye and then closed it again.

Another pause.

Daniel ran the description through his head. Big metal warriors. Lances. Massive swords. Four-legged beasts with tusks.

he said slowly.

Daniel sighed internally.