From Ashes and Snow

Tea and the Hard Heel.

"Yes...Mahon?"

"We mean you."

"No." My muscles locked in surprise, denial crying from every fibre of my being.

"And why not?" Hard steel lined his voice.

"I am a Half-Blood." Panic clogged my throat, mangling the words. "People would sooner spit on me, then..."

"Than what exactly?" His words were soft, lethal. "You pit yourself against those who think you are inferior and yet, you do the same. Being a Half-Blood is no excuse for hiding in the shadows."

"I am a nobody." Bracing against the table, I stared him down with as much lethality. "No one will see me as a symbol. They will laugh."

"Perhaps in the beginning they will." He said harshly. In the flicker of candle-light, his eyes seemed to pitch and glow, though they were as cold as Dratlan's winter and just as ruthless. "But in Abeth, they were not laughing at the end. They saw the Half-Blood who should hate them stand in front of them to kill the creatures stealing their children. They saw the silver coming from your body and think, what if she is something different. Something delivered to us, to protect us?"

"That is not what happened!"

"It does not matter. It is what they believe." I stared down at the scars speckling his tanned hands. "You will not be leading, we will but you will be our face."

My throat closed over, but denial surged through me with every pump of my heart. The slightest scrape of wood caught my attention as Kohen rose, smooth and swift. His eyes were like molten-gold, fixed on me with unnerving intensity.

"You will be someone worth following." Confidence lined every word. "There is no one the people will look to more. Word will spread of what happened at Dratlan and they will hear of the slaughter of the Elves and Paladins. All fearsome warriors who were cut down, except for you. You bear the marks of survival and sacrifice and hold magic from an ancient relic. You will become a symbol whether you like to or not, but you can define whether it is a good one or bad one."

The room hung on Kohen's soft words. He mentioned before that he could not easily look into the minds of mortals, but I felt exposed to him.

"Your need for vengeance will only carry you so far, alone. It is strong and unyielding, but you could have a movement behind you, souls just as determined to help you fight what is coming. People will see beyond the shape of your ears, they will see your good heart and they will follow."

"You believe that?" I asked suspiciously.

"I know people. I know their minds." Kohen said. "I know this."

How often had I heard those words from Kendon's lips? I know this – you know this. Always so confident in his knowledge, a steady and unmoveable force. A spirit that could never be matched. Now, Kohen seemed to match that easy, quiet confidence – a soul who only sought to help.

A whisper of a breath left me, grief and guilt standing so heavily on my shoulders. I wanted to tell them that I could not be the symbol that these people wanted. I could not be their 'saviour' when I had already failed so badly. There was always an internal compass leading to Dratlan, leading to home and now that compass spun madly inside of me, settling nowhere, leading me to nothing.

"I will help you source out this Nirani threat and end it. These marks on my hands are foreign magic, and people will look twice at me because of it. However, I am no hero."

Save them.

My throat closed over. Mentor Lhokin had asked me to promise something I had failed before I even uttered the words. Kohen's expression softened as he looked at me, and Fyr looked utterly torn but the Captain met my gaze solidly, as if I had not spoken. "We are going to do this together. We all have people to avenge."