Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Thea
“Ihad thought winter was ending.” My teeth were chattering so violently I was sure they would shatter.
I was so incredibly, unbearably cold.
Nessira tugged her cloak closer around her, and her boots squished in the accumulating snow. “It appears one last storm is in order.”
“Lucky us,” I muttered, my dark mood clear in my tone.
We’d been walking for what felt like an eternity, both mostly silent.
There was nothing to say. No words would bring back Dimitri now.
He had died, and we were here, so now all of our focus had to remain on conserving enough heat to stay alive.
I would not allow him to die just so that I could freeze to death in the woods.
Part of my mind still lingered on the fact that I had used my powers.
It had been a tiny amount, in truth. A small spark compared to what I used to conjure. I’d continued to tug for it as we walked, but I didn’t seem to be able to bring it back to my fingertips.
But it was there.
The little magic that I had used was enough to prove that my powers weren’t gone completely.
And that was something.
Something to hang on to and hope for.
Nessira had severely depleted her own magic.
She had spent too much of it burning down the castle to bring either of us very much warmth as we walked.
It might have been a smarter decision to conserve her magic for our travels but watching that damned castle light up in brilliant plumes of smoke and flame had been worth it.
Even now I could smell the scent of ash in the air.
Nessira cleared her throat, glancing at me as snowflakes lingered on her dark lashes. “Where are we going?”
My footsteps slowed.
Eagirton. To Clay.
Only, that was a multiple-day trek, and it was already well into the night. I was exhausted, as was she. My broken wrist was still screaming in agony. And the temperature was still dropping.
We needed to rest and find shelter.
“How well do you know your geography?” I asked her.
A look of unease settled across her features, and she sighed, pointing ahead of us with slumped shoulders. “Nearest town is that way.”
Then that’s where we would be going.
I turned to resume walking, stopping only when her icy fingers wrapped around my forearm.
She sucked on her gums, releasing my arm. “Another eight miles that way.”
I muttered an expletive under my breath that had her head jerking towards me in surprise.
Eight miles would take us hours, if not an entire day.
We didn’t have that kind of time.
I should have thought of this. I should have planned to steal horses. I should have accounted for the weather and the distance to the next town.
But I hadn’t.
I’d been impulsive. Again.
Dimitri had died, and Nessira and I were going to freeze, all because I hadn’t thought the plan through enough.
Desperately I spun in a circle, searching for some kind of idea, but my thoughts were too muddled. I was too cold to think clearly. My head throbbed from the icy gusts of air as the snow came down harder around us.
Nessira looked to me, waiting for my orders, as she hugged herself, crouched over and shivering.
I didn’t know what to do.
Clay would if he were here.
Yes, I needed him.
I had to keep moving towards him no matter what.
“We keep going,” I told her under my breath, forcing myself to keep walking even as it felt like my body was going to fall apart.
We didn’t have another choice.
Nessira remained still for a moment, before she pushed her shoulders back and nodded. “We keep going.”
Somehow, in this impossibly cold night air, her smile radiated warmth—such warmth that it nearly brought me to tears as I forced my frozen fingers to unfurl so I could take her hand in mine.
“Thank you for coming with me,” I whispered.
She inclined her head at me, squeezing my hand. “There was never any chance of me staying in that castle without you, Thea. You're my Lady, the true ruler of this land, and my friend. I will follow you to the ends of this realm.”
Briefly, I envisioned that first day together when her words had been the only thing that had seemed to steady me amidst all my fear. Nessira had been by my side through all of this chaos, right from the very start. Gods, how lucky was I that she had been assigned to my service.
“We can do this,” she told me, tucking my arm through hers.
I nodded. “Yes, we can. We can do it together.”
Wind tore against me like a thousand icy pinpricks against my flesh, but I continued marching on, thinking of my king, imagining his warmth and love, and pretending that I was somewhere far away under the sun.
By the time the sun rose, sending rays of orange against our numb skin, and our boots stepped down on the cobblestone path that led towards the town, I was hardly aware of who I was anymore.
I just knew that I was cold.
So. Cold.
I hadn’t realized it was possible to freeze so thoroughly—so much so that it felt like my heart itself had turned into a solid chunk of ice.
“Just a little further,” Nessira encouraged, taking my hands in hers and sending a quick burst of warmth to the skin.
My fingers had long ago curled in on themselves and then gone entirely numb. Her fire magic had restored itself enough to keep her warm, but when she had tried to extend it to me, I had refused. We’d fought briefly about it, but then had gone quiet to preserve our strength.
There was no need for both of us to die if her power ran out again.
Still, she had kept a watchful eye on me as we walked, reaching over every so often to send a burst of warmth through me.
At first, it had stung when that fiery air touched down on my shivering body. Then I had stopped feeling it at all.
Now, I leaned on Nessira, unable to stay standing straight when my body trembled so uncontrollably that it was as if the earth itself shook with me. My eyelids were heavy, too heavy; it was too much of a battle to keep them open.
I wasn’t sure I could keep going.
My steps faltered, my head falling heavily onto Nessira’s shoulder.
“Thea!” Nessira patted my cheek, my eyes fluttering closed as she did.
She adjusted me, pulling my arm over her shoulder so that she could better support my weight.
“Help! Someone, I need help!”
Her face contorted in concentration as another rush of heat washed over me, sparking at my arms and radiating throughout my body. I didn't quite feel it.
I didn’t feel much of anything at all.
Not even my wrist hurt anymore. And that was kind of nice.
If this was death, it wasn’t so bad. Surely there were worse fates?
“Sssokay,” I slurred, somehow registering the silhouettes coming towards us in the distance. Shapes that resembled bodies. We’d gotten to the town.
That was good.
Nessira could find someone to help her get food and shelter. At least she would be safe.
With her arm tight against my waist, she pulled me further, my legs growing heavier and heavier with each step. Unceremoniously, my strength gave out all at once. My knees crashed down hard onto the path while Nessira desperately tried to hold on to me.
“Help!” she screamed again.
“Ssso cold,” I mumbled, the words just a whisper against the ferocious wind.
Darkness lingered at the edge of my vision like shadows.
No. I didn’t like the shadows.
I was afraid of the shadows.
I shook my head, trying to chase the darkness away, but it pressed in relentlessly. As someone crouched next to me, his voice a meaningless jumble, the darkness took over completely.
Iawoke with a lurch, my fingers stinging. Gasping, I reared up trying to flee from the hands that reached for me and tugged me back down.
“Oh, calm down, dearie. Everything’s alright.”
It took me a moment to connect the voice with the elderly woman sitting in front of me.
I sat outstretched on a tiny, almost child-sized bed, blankets bundled around me. The woman in front of me sat on a small wooden stool, a bucket of steaming water to her side and a rag clutched in her hands. Across from us, a fire blazed in the dusty hearth.
“Just relax now,” she said soothingly, placing a hand on my shoulder and urging me to relax back against the pillows once more. “We just have to warm you up.”
Yes. That awful numbness seemed to have faded away, but in its absence, I was painfully aware of the chill that lingered in my bones.
“W-w-who are you?” My teeth chattered so violently that the words were almost impossible to make out.
The woman gave me a sympathetic grin, clearly not understanding me. She dipped the rag into the water and pressed it against my fingers once more; the heat causing a near-blinding pain. I ripped at my hand, but she held it tight.
“There, there.” She sighed, examining my fingertips.
There was a scuffle outside the tiny room, and I stiffened once more, relaxing only when Nessira rushed in and bolted to my side. She wore fresh clothes, dry of snow and clean of any mud. Her damp hair was freshly combed.
“Oh, thank the Gods you’re awake.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to thank the Gods for anything right now.
My gaze bounced between her and the woman. “W-w-where are w-we?”
“My name is Eloise, dear,” the woman told me, dipping the rag into the bucket and pressing it against my fingertips once more. I hissed once more against the pain, and she frowned. “Sorry about that, but we do have to warm up these fingers of yours.”
“Eloise,” Nessira’s voice was urgent, her gaze locked on the ugly purple bruises splattering my wrist. “Do you know whether the town has a healer? My friend fell during our journey.”
Eloise took my hand gingerly in her own, turning it over with a gentle touch as she examined the wound. Her lips pursed, and she shook her head. “I’m afraid not. Will you girls be staying long? We can try to send for one from the next town over.”
“No!”
Eloise jumped at my urgent protest.
“I only mean,” I swallowed, trying to paint a bashful grin on my face. “We won’t be staying long.”
Nessira met my frantic gaze and nodded, falling easily into a lie. “Yes, you see, my sister-in-law and I were separated from my husband during the storm, but we must get back home urgently.”
Eloise frowned, her eyes flashing first to my wrist and then to the fine fabric of my gown.
Even covered in mud, with the bottom of my skirt sliced apart, I looked too nice for a young married woman simply passing from one town to the next.
After a moment, she inclined her head in a nod.
If she doubted our story, she didn’t seem inclined to make an issue of it.
“There are some fresh clothes set out by the hearth,” she told me, patting my knee. “Why don’t you change and I can warm some hot tea for you? That’ll get your blood flowing again!”
She stood slowly, groaning as she did before laughing and joking about the burdens of old age. A cane waited for her pressed against the wall, and she grasped hold of it, using it to support her weight as she hobbled out of the bedroom and closed the door tightly behind her.
The second she was gone, I was on my feet, pushing towards the bundle of plain clothes.
“What happened?” I asked as Nessira began working to help me undo my corset.
She spoke softly. “You fainted from the cold the second we reached the town. Eloise’s son was the first to find us and insisted that his mother would know how to help. He carried you here. Everyone was so concerned with getting you warm; no one asked too many questions.”
“Yet,” I finished the thought for her, pulling the cotton long-sleeved shirt over my shoulders. “And we have no way of knowing if their loyalties lie with Clay or Hyrax.”
She held out the skirt, allowing me to rest an arm on her shoulder as I stepped into it and pulled it to my navel, tucking the ends of the shirt inside.
“Who would be loyal to Hyrax?” She scoffed, hatred burning on her face.
I sighed, reaching for the woolen socks next. “I imagine a great many people if only because he is a God.”
The fabric was rougher against my skin than the fine silks that I was used to, but it was also heavier and thicker. It was far better suited to the winter climate. That awful cold still felt embedded in my bones, but the shivering had thankfully slowed.
“Has anyone said anything about…” I paused, unsure how to phrase the millions of questions in my head. “Well, about anything?”
Nessira’s brows rose as she considered. “No. Not yet, at least.”
Eloise’s voice rang out, calling to us that the tea was ready in the kitchen. I met Nessira’s burning eyes, and she seemed to have sensed my thoughts, resolve settling on her face as she stood up straight and nodded in agreement.
“Well, let’s go find out if we are in the home of a friend or foe.”