Everything registered from a great distance. The words, the blood… Ethos had gone too far to properly react. There was dread in his gut, steeped in confusion, but at best he was relearning to breathe, tub water buzzing with his gasps for air.
Someone was trying to loosen the restraint. Peter. His mind couldn't make sense of it. The belt had been keeping him under. "Wait," Ethos muttered. "It's not done."
"I believe gratitude is the appropriate response."
Una appeared like a beautiful storm, hair wild, eyes ablaze. Ethos watched in sluggish awe as she wrenched Peter away with a curse, making demands just like she used to and snarling on about her mistreatment. They only made it partway to the door.
A fight ensued, but Ethos didn't catch any of it. He was looking at Kacha. He thought he might have spoken her name, to see if she'd stir or say something back, and what with her face turned away like it was, he found that it was all too easy to make up excuses for why she didn't.
Something crashed, and Ethos slowly rolled his head the other way. It was Eadric, not Peter, he realized then, shoving Una hard enough to make her trip forward onto the floor. Before she could rise, he stepped on her hand. "I'm extremely irritated," he mused. "My timing was off. I had to rush it."
Kacha. Ethos felt a terrible rage form in the pit of his stomach.
Eadric glanced, like he'd heard his name. He approached, instantly sidetracked, allowing Una to cradle her hand. He crouched by the tub and stared hard at Ethos. "People like you don't pick fights with people like me," he charged, eyes searching. "Is that understood?"
Ethos glared. "People like me?"
Eadric's mouth formed a hard line. Peter usually made the same expression when he was growing impatient with something. Or someone. "Stop making this harder than it has to be," he said. "You forced my hand here. She'd still be alive if you'd behaved."
Miraculously, Kacha appeared directly behind him. She leapt on his back, tiny and wrinkly and spitting out oaths, hooking his nostrils with two gnarly fingers. His efforts to shake her freed a rain of dust and soot from the ceiling. "Kill me off, will you!" she cawed. "A fool if there was one!"
Eadric flipped her onto the floor. She somersaulted away. "How bad," he said, albeit with a smile, righting his disheveled clothes. "Now I get to take my time."
Kacha stayed low, hackles up like an angry old cat. Her lips peeled back. "Una," she snapped, her all too familiar barking order. "Stop playing coy and just do it already."
Eadric glanced. Immediately he was airborne, thrown from his feet with enough brute force to send him flying across the room. Una stood the farthest away, breathing heavy, looking as if she'd pitched him herself. Her honey-colored eyes were stunning, glossy and wide with unshed tears. Silver bangles danced at her wrists.
Kacha knelt by Ethos while Eadric recovered, one hand healing the wound in her gut. "Move," she commanded, keeping a cautionary eye on their foe. "Go sit with Alyce."
Ethos was too slow for her; she dragged him herself and called him a fool, but the look on her face said she didn't mean it. He happily watched her run off, half-smiling and leaning on Alyce.
"Una's remembered her gift," Alyce noted. "That's good."
In part, he agreed, "Yeah."
"She had a point earlier."
Ethos glanced over. "What point?"
Alyce calmly appraised the three-person brawl they'd been excluded from. "That thing about the tono," she said. "Seventy-two isn't much in the long run."
"Have you ever killed a person?"
Her eyes met his. "No."
"Then don't say things like that."
Alyce flushed. Her gaze slid low. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I just wish you two would reach an agreement. Una feels the pressure, too. You heard."
Ethos frowned in surprise. "You want us to get along that badly?"
"It's Eadric," she said simply, shrugging. "He's tragic and he's never boring."
He looked at her and then at the scene. Eadric was gradually being overtaken, describing what he'd do to their corpses. With a scoff, Ethos asked, "How exactly is that tragic?"
"He's been alone for too long. All he has is the island."
Ethos studied her, sidelong. "What island?"
"This island. Karna."
"You call this an island?"
"I guess. That's what he always calls it."
Muddy water spattered over the floor. The women had Eadric submerged in the tub, Una twisting his arm behind him, Kacha humming and holding his head. "Poor Peter," Ethos said, though he smiled a little regardless. "Eadric really had me with that one. I honestly didn't think he was marked."
"You got lucky this time," Eadric said, suddenly beside him. "I was sloppy."
Ethos kept his eyes ahead. "I'll take what I can get."
"You sound angry. Are you angry?"
"What you're doing with Una is completely out of line."
"I wouldn't turn her against you unless it was necessary. Though I can't really see myself passing up on an excuse to bully you. So maybe I would."
Ethos glanced. "Pardon?"
"It can't be helped. I feel very close to you and I'm not a particularly nice individual." Like Alyce, he was calmly watching the scene. Like Alyce, their eyes met. "Think about it," he said. "I've been with you every step of the way. I know you better than anyone."
"Do you call this place an island because of your homeland?"
Eadric flatly frowned at him, reminiscent of the marten. "My homeland?"
"Karna must be small, comparatively."
"You're changing the topic."
"I'm interested."
"You're uncomfortable."
"You're off-putting and you know it."
"So are you. Peter's drowning and you're not even worried." Eadric split into a sudden smile. "Tell Kacha to bite off her tongue," he said. "Do it for me. I'd do it for you."
Ethos smiled with him. "Pass."
"Figures." He sulked. "I'm so dissatisfied."
"About which part?" Ethos asked. "The crushing defeat?"
Eadric's mouth became a hard line again. After a moment, he sighed. He hung his head. "Oldden's uninhabitable," he mused. "Alma's loose. Wolfgang's dying. I'd kill myself if only I could."
"I'd kill you, too, if I could." They quietly laughed for a moment together, but Eadric didn't raise his head. Ethos asked, "Could it be you're stuck here because of the curse?"
He snorted derisively. "You wouldn't understand it."
"How about you try me?"
Eadric smirked at the floor. "Hate's a funny thing, you know," he said. "The greatest hatred I've ever encountered was shaped from a harmless seed of love." He wryly looked over. "Sometimes it's more rewarding to force someone to suffer with you, rather than give them the easy way out. I'm sure that must sound strange to you."
"Have you ever felt that way about anyone?"
His smile spread. "No," he said. "No, I don't think I have."
Ethos couldn't feel his arms anymore. He flexed his hands, made sure they were working. "What are the odds that the Bonesteels will invade Oldden while it's defenseless?"
"I'm curious as to why you care," Eadric replied. "But odds are high. They're consolidating their resources. I'd give it a fortnight before they set out."
"Set out from where? Wulfstead?"
"Good memory."
"How many are they?"
"I'd guess ten thousand. Maybe more."
"So five days march, give or take. Supply lines. Leaguers."
Another smile was creeping across Eadric's face. "What are you thinking?"
Ethos tried not to smile back. He had to remind himself that Alyce was present. "Nervous?"
As expected, Eadric's mood soured. "Loathsome whelp. Be more afraid of me."
"I almost just died. Forgive me for being a little less reactive than usual."
Someone gasped. It was Peter; he'd been moved to the floor and returned to them from beyond the edge. Kacha pushed him down, scowling and calling him fond little bean names. A glow filled the room as she forced him asleep. "He's shortsighted," Eadric said of him, watching. "He sees all the checkpoints but not the conclusion. I imagine he thinks you'll be satisfied as a farmhand."
"I don't talk about the future. He's too suspicious of me."
"That's a strange word to use."
Ethos sighed. "He's gotten quiet since we left Oldden," he said. "He's paying more attention, like he's waiting for me to slip up. I can't relax."
"Oho. Tension. What exactly do you think he suspects?"
Ethos didn't rise to the bait. He studied Una from across the room and nodded his head in her direction. "She smells of death," he said. "You shouldn't have told her that you could reverse it."
Innocently, Eadric suggested, "Maybe I can."
"Maybe. You're too shady to trust."
"Shady? Me? How rude."
"What became of the last person this happened to?"
Eadric gradually grew serious. Alyce became a part of the background. "Her name was Syan," he said. "She was one of us, Hans and his Council Five. Sharp as a meat hook." His gaze drifted to Una and stayed there. "I try to forget what she became."
"But this is how it started?"
His eyes fell, as if he'd remembered something important. "I think she enjoys bringing them back broken," he said. "She was always smiling, having fun while the rest of us suffered."
"Is that why it's personal for you? She killed the woman you loved?"
"I never said anything about loving her." But Eadric was scowling now, almost pouting. "She was the worst. She would deliberately spread mayo with a spoon because she knew how much it pissed me off. And she always kicked off her socks in the bed. Like an animal."
Ethos couldn't help it. Laughter spilled out of his throat. "You love things," he teased. "You're all evil and taller than me but you love things."
"Stop that. I'll beat you."
"What's mayo?"
"A delightfully criminal pastime."
A shadow fell— Kacha, towering despite her stature, haloed by the cloud of her hair. "Fools," she grumbled, clutching her wound. "Are the two of you enjoying yourselves?"
Ethos squinted up at her. "You're finished with Peter?"
She glared back at him, countenance blackening. "You're a fool that puts all others to shame," she thundered. "The fools of the world bow down to you. They call you the Foolish King and spout niceties at your foolish commanders and generals."
"A king, am I. Will you be my queen, then?"
Kacha jerked her chin. A teacup quickly launched itself at him and shattered against the wall when he ducked. "You don't feed the wolf at the door," she said. "It's how one's eaten alive."
Stooped, he smiled and asked, "What if I'm the hungry one?"
She flung another. "Wily, arrogant, contrary— "
Ethos tried once more to duck, but he'd run out of space to move. The teacup deflected off of his shoulder. He glowered, patience thinning. "Watch it, Kacha," he warned. "I'd rather not tell you what to do, but I will if you throw a third."
" —sarcastic, impulsive, indignant— "
Ethos countered, "Tired, injured, annoyed— "
"You're as big a fool as a fool can be. Strike me down if this is untrue."
He searched her eyes as she went into a low, practiced crouch. "I would never strike you."
"Then call me out. Call me out on my falsehoods." But all he did was continue to stare, so she heaved a sigh and gathered him into her arms. "Fool," she repeated. "Listen only to me."
She was warm from the fire. "You smell nice. It's good you're not dead."
She cackled and said, "Such a strange constitution."
Una stood by; she was nervously raking herself with her nails, making an effort to look at Eadric without him taking notice. Ethos feared how she might change, if this was truly just the beginning. He said her name to catch her eyes, and he thought he might have asked how she was. Whatever the case, she forced her restless hands to be still and managed an odd sort of smile for him.
Eadric was glaring, but not at anything in particular. He glanced when Ethos asked, "Why did you let us out of Oldden if you knew all along that I'd lead us to Kacha?"
"It's like I said. Oldden's uninhabitable. I had to make a decision when Wyndemere fell from the sky, and it's probably what kept you alive." Eadric's expression shifted. "I'll have you return when the tono are gone," he said. "We'll draw out Alma like a fish to a lure."
Ethos winced as Kacha helped him up from the floor. He paused, on his feet. "Small talk's over," he said. "I wish I could say it's been fun."
But Eadric didn't express a desire to leave. He went so far as to smirk. "Your mother's died over forty times," he said. "Did you think I'd miss your debut?"
Ethos didn't know how to respond to that, but Kacha was there to spare him the need. Hushing his silent protest, she pushed him forward.