"Shameless." My nose crinkled in disgust at how Nash did not even try to deny being a spy. "You excused away fighting for the Prophet, but you've spent years doing his bidding in the worst way possible."

"How is spying worse than whatever you thought I did?"

"You truly have no honor if you don't know." My eyes narrowed. "Unknown."

"My daughter is my honor. I have no shame in that."

"What behavior can't you excuse, then? You gain people's trust and use it against them. Wielding your charisma like a sword. Attacking unarmed, unsuspecting people from behind."

Nash shook his head. "Do you care to know what I actually do or will nothing stop your self-righteous ranting?"

Tears burned in my eyes. “It was you, wasn't it? You helped him take my people.” I would slit his throat here and now if it was true. I would. Heat burned my palms. "You're the reason the Prophet got to Leif's son." I'd betrayed Rune, allowing this man to get twisted up in my heart enough that I even considered trusting him. I could never forgive myself.

His lips straightened. “No. Max, I swear. I would never spy on innocent people.”

“You targeted me. Tried to get to me. That's why you treated me like this."

His voice softened. "That's not what I was–"

“As if I'd believe a spy." I spit on the ground at his feet. “I hate spies.”

He spit as well. “I won’t take your shit. I already took a fist to the face. Not to mention you headbutted me in the throat. I spy on Prophets and their disciples, not the innocent. Not even warriors. You're the one who targeted me anyway. I know you started talking to me because you wanted something."

"I don't trust you." I wanted to scream. “Flare knows I'm going to the Mountain of the Gods. She told me to take you with me because she trusts you. You're both spies. You're both working for the Prophet and double-crossing him. Now she wants you to spy on me."

The fight had fled Nash. I was so blinded by my anger that I didn't notice his shoulders had gone slack, that his face had paled, that for the first time since I had met him fear shone in his eyes. "Flare said that?"

The look on his face stole away my own fight. My voice came out small. "She didn't use the word spy."

He ran his hand through his hair. "Tell me exactly what she said."

"I don't have to tell you anything."

"You know what, don't trust me. That's fine." He bit off each word. “I’m not ready to trust you either, Max. I was willing to put my life in your hands and journey with you. I’m not ready to put my kid’s life in your hands. You don't get to know everything.”

I couldn't stop myself from softening at the conviction in his eyes. "I want to believe you. That's why I can't let myself. How could I possibly trust you?"

He moved closer to me and lifted my hand, prying open my fist. I’d crushed the berries and didn’t even realize it. Black oozed from between my fingers.

“We need to decide now," he said. "Either we fight the Prophet together, or we don't."

His touch was a distraction and he must have known that. If he was a spy, he knew how to manipulate people. There were so many signs that he'd done that to me. He'd never had any real interest in me. I could hear Rune's voice in my mind, begging us to save him. I had to get the truth from Nash and there was only one way I knew how to get anything in this world.

So, I smeared the berries across his eyes and ripped a sword from his hip. He jammed his forearm between his neck and the blade. Caught my wrist while my fingertips, sticky with berries, grazed his other sword.

"Damn it, Max." His face scrunched as he shook his head, flinging hunks of berries.

I pressed the blade into his forearm hard enough to bite, to let him know this wasn't for show. I'd carve through flesh and bone to his throat if I had to. “If you didn't spy on my people, then who?"

"My homeland." He managed to wipe an eye against his arm and peeked at me through it. "I was born in the Flatlands, not the valley. You could have asked without the sword."

"Not when you've already lied to me."

"I didn't lie. Just didn't tell you the truth either."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

I scowled and pivoted, slinging the blade down to touch the one still sheathed so I could free my wrist from his grasp. He would have to lose his fingers if he wanted to draw it. "You told me you were off looking for a body when the Flatlanders attacked. That isn't true." Warning filled my eyes when he opened his mouth to speak. "Don't lie again. Flare has put stock in you. She wouldn't have left you to be killed."

"Fine, I lied." Nash wiped his eyes and groaned. "That shit stings."

Rage flushed through my veins, the pent up horror of leaving Leif behind strangling all thoughts except for one. Nash had known. I swung for his chest. He dodged backward, and though I'd followed through to block him from his blade, he grabbed his empty sheath instead. Had the audacity to slam it onto the stolen sword I held.

The embarrassment of it distracted me for the fraction of an instant it took Nash to get his second blade in his hand.

"One of us is going to get hurt," he chided.

"Good."

I let my sword respond in a swift arc for his midsection that threw the sheath off to the side. He deflected, something I'd expected. With a skilled swordsman like Nash, my best defense was an offense. Giving him the opportunity to strike would mean death.

He was faster than I'd expected. Much faster than when we sparred. He deflected a second strike. Quickly snapped his blade against mine in the center so the steel wobbled, vibrating through my hand. A reprimand, and evidence that he knew every inch of these blades. "Max." He narrowed the eyes I'd blackened with berries. "Stop it."

He'd lied. He'd known. He'd held back in a match. Fresh anger bloomed hot in my cheeks. I slashed through a branch overhead so it crashed against Nash in a flurry of leaves, but his blade crisscrossed through the debris in rapid swipes, so he never lost sight of me. Saw my every move as I kicked off the tree and barreled for his knees.

Without the advantage of surprise, he sidestepped, and I changed course, sliding across the ground as I slashed for his ankles. Nash's heel slammed the blade against the ground, almost ripping it from my grasp. Worse, the sword he wielded snapped for my neck. But I threw myself to the side and ripped the blade free.

I barely had time to get my knees beneath me before I was forced to block a strike head-on. The power of his blow shook me down to my bones. It broke my guard and left me open for a killing swipe. I'd known it only took one offensive attack from him to end a match. But I'd never been good at admitting when something was over. So, instead of letting him press the tip of his blade to my throat in a sign of defeat, I snapped my sword up perpendicular to the ground and strengthened it with my arm against it. A dangerous attempt to block his next hit, but a block nonetheless.

Nash twisted on his heel at the last moment so his sword swung away from me. He skidded to a stop and raised his voice. "Are you trying to lose an arm or just break my sword?"

I breathed hard. "Leif could be dead. You knew about the attack."

"I didn't know about the attack. Flare took me away before it started. I raced back to the camp."

"How can I trust a man who spies on his own homeland?"

"The Flatlanders banished me to the desert to die when I was a child." He shook his head. "My sister was sick and I stole from the offering to the gods so I would have something to trade for medicine. That land is not home. I won't let them take over the valley when the Prophet dies."

I studied his amber eyes, searching for truth or lies. The unfairness of Skia Hellig throbbed in my chest and made me want to comfort him as his words turned in my mind. I'd been exiled before. What if he was telling the truth? Once again, I was left with two options. Either he was an incredible ally or a terrible enemy. I wasn't sure whether I could afford to pass up the chance to have his help, or whether I could afford the risk of having him around.

"You want to prove you mean it? Help me save Leif and Wren and the rest of the warriors."

"Will you try to slit my throat on the way?"

"Not if you don't give me reason to."

He scoffed. "So you really won't apologize?"

I picked up the sheath for his sword and passed his weapon back to him. "The invitation is as close as you'll get to an apology."

He checked his sword for damage and shook his head. "I'm angry with you."

"Great, because I'm angry with you too."

He paused staring at me, with hints of intrigue clouding the anger. "Just keep your temper in check around my family. We'll stop there for supplies on the way to the outpost. That's where the Flatlanders will take everyone."

“By family you meant your daughter and her mother, right? Won’t it put them in danger?”

“They live in the country on a farm. No one will know we came. We should make it by nightfall."

If I couldn't decide what to do with him, then it was better to keep an eye on him. I needed to get all my weapons back. If I'd had my bow, the fight would have been over much sooner.

"No more lies," I said, very aware of how hypocritical it was when I hid so much from him.

"Then don't you lie either."

I walked forward and he joined. What else could I do but see where our paths led, as I had in battle, as my instincts told me to do. I hoped that if I couldn't trust Nash, I could at least trust myself.

That had never been easy to do.