74. Maren
74
Maren
“ A re you going to wear this black dress the rest of your life?”
“Maybe.” I turned in front of the full-length mirror, avoiding my face’s reflection. But I liked how the black silk caught the light, slippery and sweeping. How the layer that dropped from my waist shifted and rippled as I walked, how the slits came to my thighs and freed my legs without ever growing too hot or too cool. How I could run or jump or ride Kolibri. How it wasn’t skintight, but it wasn’t loose either, and my frame was visible underneath it, sheer but yet not.
Even if I covered it with a corset and a wider skirt.
Kye strapped a silver-tipped black fur over my shoulders. “When we arrive in Winterlight, I’m finding you some real armor.”
“You just want to see me in leather pants.”
Walking ahead of me, he tossed a quick grin over his shoulder. My gaze drifted down his back to his buttocks, and I couldn’t say I disagreed with the sentiment.
We found Aren readying the horses outside. Selena and Aitne already huddled against the stable wall, their breath fogging in the cold. Aitne’s cheeks pinched ruby red, and though Selena sported thick suede gloves, she rubbed her hands together as she watched us near.
We shuffled around haggard good mornings , most of us still fighting to wake up, though the frosted wind endeavored to help us if the instant clench in my teeth was any indication.
“Just waiting on Leal,” Aren said, handing Kye his reins.
Kye frowned. “Where’s Dimas?”
“After you two left, one of the miners stopped in at the tavern last night and said the army was preparing to leave, so he rode into town to check on things.”
“He rode through the night? In this weather?” Kye glanced out at the sparkling world of beauty and bone-chilling white.
“He should be back any minute now.”
“Why didn’t he find me before he left?”
Aren’s eyes darted at me and away. “I think he tried knocking on your door and you were occupied.”
The effects of the shield weed had worn off hours before, but my stomach gave a small wiggle, the tips of my cheeks warm even in the bite of the cold. I turned away from them as Kye flashed a particularly annoying smile, joining Aitne and Selena instead.
“A family came through early this morning,” Selena murmured as I approached. “Winterlight is being evacuated, and the army already entered the mountains to fight.”
“What?” Inside my head, I felt Kye’s thoughts quiet as he paused to pay attention. “What about my Naiads? Is Nori with them?”
Selena’s brows tightened. “She is your Oculos , isn’t she? Ask her.”
I hadn’t attempted to speak with Nori across a distance yet. Drumming my fingers against Kolibri’s saddle, I turned away from them just enough to calm my own thoughts, mentally reaching in the direction I knew Nori to be. Somewhere north, into the bitter mountains that had almost claimed Kye.
Nori , I called, quelling the chill that entered my veins at Selena’s words. Are you with the Calderian army?
Silence. Just long enough to have me fidgeting with the pommel of my saddle, running my fingers along the ornamental embroidery in the leather. Then she answered, soft and near-silent, as though the distance between us had delayed our messages across.
No. We wait for you. The town is empty.
I flicked my eyes to Kye, who had stilled beside Aren under the open stable roof, watching me as he listened.
Where did they go? I asked her.
West, most of them. Toward Merriam. A few have gone south in your direction. Scouts reported Rivea preparing to attack, hidden among the slopes.
Behind me, Leal tromped into the stable and Aren gave a groan. “Aalto, Leal. I’m not saying your odor is too strong, but the crickets were alive before you came outside.”
“No crickets in winter, you cretin. And that would be the horses, anyway.”
Where is Rivea now? Kye’s voice murmured in my head. Ignoring Leal and Aren, I sent the question to Nori.
The last of them left thirty minutes ago, Nori replied.
I glanced at Kye. How far are we from Winterlight?
“No horse smells that bad,” Aren’s voice buzzed in the background as he leaned to scratch Fox’s ears.
“Is your bottom ever jealous of the crap that comes from your mouth?”
I sent my hands into my hair, leaning over Kolibri to concentrate.
“Shut it, you two,” Kye snapped. Four hours, if we hurry.
I nodded. We’ll be there soon, I sent to Nori. She sent back a small nod. Forehead in my hand, I found Selena’s gaze through my curtain of hair. “They’re waiting for us.”
“Let’s go.” Kye hoisted himself into his saddle. “We’ll meet Dimas on the way.” The rest of us mounted, a sickening knot twisting in my stomach.
Last chance to stay here , Kye murmured at me, taking the lead out from under the shelter.
A flutter of nerves warped my stomach at his words, and I wondered if our rings could carry emotion across the way they did simple thoughts.
Winterlight sat at our feet, a ghost town compared to the fortress I’d passed through only weeks ago. Tendrils of gray fog whispered between the cobbled streets as we rode. The trees stood tall and naked, ash-white and spindly, and even the birds had fled the town in preparation for a conflict that wouldn’t even take place here.
Kolibri’s ears flattened. I rubbed her neck with a gloved hand, watching a tavern sign above my head swing against the cold wind on rusted chains.
In the center of the town square, under the heavy shadow of dark clouds, a hundred women stood in perfect lines. Garbed in black silk, their hair braided behind their backs, they watched us descend the street on our horses, their faces somber and lovely. Nori stood in front, hands clasped. As we neared, I pulled ahead to meet her.
We hadn’t made any attempt to explain the Naiads to the Calderians. I’m sure that they’d caused quite a stir, a hundred women materializing through trees and snow, flooding in as the army worked hard to drain the town of its people. Soft male gasps followed me as I left my little caravan behind, and Selena’s horse trailed me across the town square. Kolibri’s horseshoes clacking against the stone street, the sound somehow hollow and bare.
Do not bow, I ordered Nori. These men would find it even more odd than they already do. Her brows rose, and she lifted a hand to the side, a motion that signified the instruction to hold their position. My thoughts stretched to meet Kye. Can you take your friends somewhere else?
We’ll gear up and meet you in the fortress, he sent back. Hooves thundered behind me, the group splitting from the square.
“Did everyone make the journey safely?” I asked when I couldn’t hear the horses anymore.
Nori gave a stout nod. “Everyone is here.”
I glanced around them. “You have no weapons.”
“We are Naiad, My Queen,” a dark-haired beauty from the second row called with a sharp smile. “We are our weapons.”
“Very well.” I scanned their faces, asking the group at large. “You are alright revealing yourselves to human men?”
Olinne tilted her head. “We reveal nothing. We can fight standing exactly as we are now, without lifting a finger.”
I exhaled, my breath a phantom in the air. I knew well enough how to fight without appearing to. How to boil blood or freeze organs. How to trap air or drown a body on dry land. Backing Kolibri up enough to see them all, I projected my voice across the square. “Most of you have never seen snow. It takes a considerable amount of energy to melt it and wield the water. There isn’t moisture in this air. Conserve what you can and try to avoid relying on your environment to supply your attacks. Focus on bodies instead.
“The enemy likely keeps a diet of shield weed. Incant the enemy if you can, but have a back-up plan in case you cannot. Do not wear yourself beyond the point of exhaustion. We are two weeks from a full moon, and tonight the skies will be dark. How many healers are among you?” I asked Nori.
Her eyes flicked to Aitne. “Five.”
“Form groups of twenty and meet us at the gate leading to the pass.”