Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Riding a horse with open wounds would not be Alvara’s first recommendation to anyone who asked.
Each jolt and bump pulled at her skin, shooting burning spasms down her back.
But if she showed her pain, Boden would no doubt slow or even stop their journey, and she would rather give up sweets for a year—well, maybe a few months—than let that happen.
They clung to the woods, avoiding popular paths as often as they could.
Boden’s short hair and Alvara’s gray locks didn’t exactly help them blend into their surroundings, so they did what they could to cover themselves with hoods his friends had generously gifted them, along with bags of provisions.
Boden suddenly pulled his horse to a stop, dismounted, and handed his reins to Alvara. “Wait here.”
Here? They weren’t anywhere at all. There wasn’t a soul in sight, only forest as far as the eye could see. It didn’t seem to bother Boden in the slightest as he marched through the thinning snow and stopped in front of a tree.
He rapped an overly complicated rhythm on the trunk, a convincing display of pure madness. What was he trying to summon, a chipmunk?
After a short silence in which she contemplated voicing her concern for his mental well-being, an elf materialized out of thin air. Alvara squawked, and the horses snorted and pawed at the ground.
The female looked Alvara up and down and smirked. “I think it might rain today.”
“Why do you say that?” Boden asked.
“The clouds are coming quickly, and no one can stop them.”
Alvara looked up at the clear sky. How many hampa leaves had these two smoked?
“Good,” Boden said. “Let them come. Rain is what helps the right plants grow.” He waved Alvara forward, and she gave him an odd look before leading their horses straight into what she was sure would turn out to be a real tree. When the impact didn’t ring through her bones, she gasped.
An entire village. Homes and shops, large and small, built from a mix of wood and stone, people going about their daily business like they would anywhere else. And no one passing by seemed the slightest bit concerned that Alvara and Boden had appeared out of nowhere.
“Valonian illusions,” Boden said as she dismounted and tied their horses to a nearby post. “They use their magic day and night to keep it hidden. It’s a small enough settlement that it’s possible.”
Alvara opened her mouth to respond when a shriek rang out, and a small blur slammed into Boden. “You’re alive,” Lilja said, her voice quavering. She pulled back, and her red-rimmed eyes settled on Alvara. “Thank you.” Lilja pressed Alvara’s dagger and coins into her hands.
“Thank you for what?” Boden looked to Alvara, who shrugged. “Lilja…”
Her cheeks reddened, and she twisted her hands behind her back. “I may have left the farm. And I may have tried to help in the battle. And Alvara may have saved me.”
“WHAT?” Boden shouted. The dirt shifted under Alvara’s feet, and she quickly grabbed his shoulders to steer him past his sister, who averted her gaze and flitted off the way she came.
“She’s fine. That’s all that matters.” She did her best to soothe him with her words, something that didn’t exactly come naturally. Comforting others had never been one of her strengths.
Boden looked like he had seen the rotting, reanimated corpse of an araug. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”
“With the escape from King Einar, my back…it slipped my mind.”
“Thank you. Elamara knows what I would have done if…” His words trailed off as a group of elves, or more likely demi-elves, approached them from the village with Aurilena in tow. She appeared unscathed, and one more knot in Alvara’s chest relaxed.
Boden slowed to a stop in front of a female who appeared to be their leader, if the high angle at which she held her chin was any indication. “Bryn. How have your people fared since the barrier fell?”
“The refugees from Malva have been pouring in,” Bryn said, shaking her auburn head, “and we’re not equipped to handle them.
Not for long. We also need to send a messenger to the humans, not only to warn them, but to ask for shelter.
With the king moving in on the human realm, we’re not safe here anymore. ”
Aurilena joined Bryn, looking Alvara up and down. The hard edge in her golden eyes softened. “Good to see you’re both safe.” She turned her attention to Boden. “I know you just arrived, but I told them you would be the best representative to send to the human town.”
What was Boden not in charge of?
“I will head out first thing in the morning. We need rest.” He tipped his head in Alvara’s direction. “She needs a healer.”
Alvara was about to protest that she was perfectly fine, despite her back barking at her, but Bryn spoke.
“With the elves coming in from Malva, the healers have been busy treating injuries for days. If it’s not life threatening, we can’t spare it.
Aurilena and I have much to discuss. Liv will take you to your accommodations. ”
Her curt tone didn’t sit well with Alvara, who wanted to scream that Boden had done nothing but sacrifice for them, and she should be damn grateful. But Alvara doubted that would leave her with somewhere to sleep, so she held her tongue and followed their escort into the village.
“Kat and Rav?” Boden’s gaze scoured the faces of each person they passed. He glanced back at Alvara. “And Pyry?” He grumbled the name like it tasted foul on his tongue.
“All alive. I can take you to them, if you’d like.” The way the demi-elf said alive pricked at Alvara. She hadn’t said they were safe or healthy.
Boden seemed not to notice. “Once I’m able to get Alvara settled—”
Alvara ignored him and hurried forward. “That would be great. Thank you.” She would rest easier seeing them all for herself.
“This way.”
They wove through bands of elves and demi-elves, some identifiable by their rounded ears, and others like Boden, with features almost indistinguishable from full-blooded elves.
Sobs and raised voices littered the air, and many of them—too many—were still covered in blood and dirt, their clothes soiled and their faces weary.
If the humans didn’t let them in, she wasn’t sure what they would do.
“Boden, you bastard. You’re alive.” Ravanel rushed forward from the crowd and wrapped an arm around Boden.
One arm.
Oh gods.
Boden stiffened. Kat peered over Ravanel’s shoulder and lifted a finger to her lips.
She wanted them not to mention that he was missing an entire limb? That was beyond Alvara’s skillset, so she skirted around the two males to speak to her friend.
“I’m glad you’re all right. I’m sorry about…” Alvara nodded to Ravanel, and Kat bit her lip. “And Pyry’s here?” Honestly, he was about the last thing on Alvara’s mind, but she was the only one here to ask after him.
“Helping the refugees, strangely enough. I’ll take you.” Kat slung her arm through Alvara’s and led her deeper into the village. “It’ll give Boden and Rav some time to talk.”
“How did it happen?”
“A shifter.” Kat’s voice wavered. “They tore it right off. I’m so glad he’s still alive, we all are, but it’s going to be difficult for him.”
“A shifter? That won’t sit well with Boden.”
“Well, I’m first in line if I ever find the prick who did it.”
A flimsy wooden structure waited for them at the end of the road, overrun with ragged elves and demi-elves.
Alvara spotted a familiar set of blue eyes atop a body that seemed to be in one piece.
“He’s helping them?” In the time she had known Pyry, he had never offered help to anyone he didn’t intimately know, especially not someone who was half-human.
And yet, there he was, handing out clothes and blankets with a warm smile, out of place on his usually stoic face. “I guess losing his home made him want to help others who have lost just as much as him.” Kat nudged Alvara forward with a playful shove.
“Pyry.” She had to step over bedrolls and wedge herself between bodies to reach him. The blanket he held thudded into the dirt, and Alvara received the second hug she had experienced in just the past few days. This was really getting out of hand.
But Pyry’s embrace felt different, colder than Boden’s.
It held none of the meaning and comfort it had all those years ago.
Alvara fought the urge to squirm free, instead counting to five in her head before extricating herself.
“I’m glad you’re safe. And you’re doing all of this?
” She gestured to the refugees roaming around them.
Pyry dusted off the blanket he had dropped. “They took me in when I lost everything. It felt right to do the same in return. It’s…what my father would have done.”
It was. His father had been a kind, generous elf, always caring for others and softening his seluri’s and son’s tougher exteriors.
After he faded at the hands of a thief during a delivery, Pyry hadn’t been the same.
He had lost that part of his father and part of himself. Maybe he was finding it again.
“He would be proud, Pyry.”
“Have you eaten? We could—” Pyry’s words halted as footsteps sounded behind them. Thank Vitharen for whoever it was, because she didn’t have the energy to manage stumbling through a meal alone with him, not after the last few days.
“Pleased to see you’re safe. And thank you for helping.” Boden clapped his hand on Pyry’s shoulder, who frowned.
And the old Pyry was back.
“Thank you, Pyry, but I really need to rest,” Alvara said. “Maybe once we’re all settled.” She elbowed Boden, and he understood immediately, steering her deeper into the town. “Rav?”
“If I had been there, I could have stopped it. I should have—”
“You can’t save everyone, Boden. You did what you could. He’ll learn to live with it. We’ll help him.”
He cleared his throat. “Hungry?”
“Starving.”
“I’m coming with you.” Alvara crossed her arms, immediately regretting the decision when it tweaked her bandages.
She had decided last night as soon as Boden had agreed to approach the humans for sanctuary on behalf of the elves and demi-elves.
Spewing some nonsense about going alone to keep others safe, as if his life was worth less than anyone else’s.
Did she speak the human tongue? Had she ever been to their realm? Both were a resounding no, but that wasn’t going to stop her. She hadn’t come all this way and sacrificed so much just to sit around while others did the important work against King Einar.
Boden settled a saddle and pad on his horse. “They know me, Alvara. It makes more sense for me to go alone.”
“If something goes wrong, you’ll need help. And how would we even know if something did go wrong if you’re alone? Besides, I’m famous for my charm.”
“That has never once been true.”
“Fine. I want to help, I need to.” She scratched his horse’s neck and lowered her voice. “I won’t make any trouble, I promise.”
He gave her a long look. “You always make trouble.”
“Not always! And how boring would life be without a little trouble mixed in?”
“How boring indeed.” Boden’s mouth quirked up as he cinched the saddle strap.
“If you come with me—if—you need to do what I tell you. Elamara knows what has happened since the barrier fell, and they are bound to be suspicious of us.” His hands paused in their task as he glanced at her.
“And for Vitharen’s sake, please don’t try that disturbing smile that you think is endearing.
You’ll scare the living moonlight out of them. ”
“Yes, commander.”
She wouldn’t do the smile. After everything she’d been through, Alvara could face anything with a calm demeanor.