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woman had been around me or one of the kids more often than not. I thought all her attempts at small talk were just a way to deal with the mess we had all gone through.
    Molak-be-damned, what would Lasha have said if she even thought someone was showing an interest in me?
    “Ty, you look as pale as death,” said Ira.
    Ava touched my arm. “Calm down and take a breath. Talking to her isn’t turning your back on Lasha.”
    My sister knew me well.
    “No one said you have to marry the woman, or even like her,” added Ira. “Just go find out what’s going on. Then maybe later I’ll swoop in—”
    Dekar cuffed Ira on the back of the head.
    Damaris had stopped staring after her father, instead gazing in our direction as if she knew we were talking about her.
    “Well, I can’t ignore her now, can I?” I muttered. I started walking and called over my shoulder. “Go find my kids. I don’t need them getting caught up in that crowd.”
    “We’ll handle it,” Ava said.
    I approached Damaris while trying to appear calm. Inside, my stomach did flips. Thankfully, I was already sweating from standing so close to the pyre. Otherwise, my nervousness would have been more apparent.
    It was stupid to be so worked up over talking to a woman who just a few moments before wouldn’t have made me uncomfortable. But after what Dekar and Ava said, dozens of thoughts surrounding the last few days clouded my mind. Light touches on my arm that I had thought were insignificant before made me wonder if they held different meanings.
    Guilt worked its way around the inside of my head. Lasha might have died over a year ago, but to me the loss was only days old. I was not yet ready to think about another woman.
    I wasn’t sure I ever would be.
    Damaris managed a smile as I approached.
    I did my best to return it. “Is everything all right?”
    “Father went scouting for the mayor.” She did a poor job of masking the distress in her voice.
    “Scouting?”
    “The family in the wagon said there were raiders harassing some of the surrounding towns.”
    “He told us the same.”
    “Everyone is in a panic. Mayor Rezub said we should all stay calm until we know what’s really going on. It could be an exaggerated story.”
    “Sound thinking. About time Rezub did his job.”
    “Except the only way we’d know if the stories were true is if the bandits attack us . . .”
    “Or someone goes to find them,” I said, finishing her thought.
    She nodded.
    I raised an eyebrow. “And Rezub chose your father?”
    “He volunteered. He was a scout during the Byzan Wars. And he still has remarkable hearing and sight for his age.”
    “Knows his way around a horse too,” I added, thinking of Ira’s earlier comment.
    “But he’s also in his fifties. He could get himself killed.”
    “Then why did he go?”
    “In some ways because of you.”
    I blinked. “I don’t understand.”
    “He said that a good man thinks unselfishly and does the work that needs doing, regardless of the risks to himself. He already had a soft spot for you because of your military background. But after all that you’ve done for the town, despite how they first treated you, well he talks about you like he once did about Zev.”
    I didn’t know that name. “Who’s Zev?”
    “He was my older brother. The one who died in the early years of the Geneshan War.”
    Molak’s sweaty balls. The man was comparing me to his dead son. No pressure there.
    “I don’t know what to say to that,” I finally managed.
    “Say you promise my father won’t get himself killed despite acting like a young fool.”
    “You know I can’t do that.”
    “All right, then say you know a way to stop those raiders from coming our way.”
    I clicked my tongue, frustrated. “Can’t do that either.”
    She put her hands on her hips. “Well, what good are you?”
    That aggravated me. After all I’d been through and all the things I’d done not only for the town, but specifically for her and