6. Focus #2
She looked up to see Felix already mounted on Ranger. He didn’t look at her, adjusting his stirrups instead, but there was a faint flicker of amusement on his face. Without another word, he nudged his horse forward, leaving her to stare after him in confusion.
Had he been rude to her again, or was that an attempt at lightening the mood? If so, he wasn’t very good at it.
***
They followed a well-worn track into the woods at first, but an hour into their journey, Luella guided her horse onto a narrow game trail.
Ferns unfurled along the path like fans; tangled vines drooped from low-hanging branches.
The air was thick with the scent of moss and earth, and birdsong and the buzz of insects sounded all around them.
Isolde’s stomach clenched as realisation dawned.
She couldn’t be near people, because she was a danger to anyone with even a small amount of magic…
They would avoid all towns, all roads. Any civilization at all.
They would stay far from the populated coastal areas to the east; the wealthy Triad States that Azuill was a part of, and the High Holds in the north.
Instead, they would likely travel inland, th rough unclaimed wilderness.
It would be just the four of them for weeks and weeks.
They rode in silence until the sun reached its zenith. When they came across a small stream, Garren signalled for a stop to water the horses. Isolde dismounted and stood by Shadow while the others stretched their legs.
“So far, I’m less than impressed,” Luella said dryly. Isolde looked up, startled, but the other woman was looking at Felix, not at her.
Felix turned to her, raising an eyebrow. “Oh no,” he deadpanned, “and here I was thinking I’d already swept you off your feet. I’m sure I can impress you later, if you’d like.” His grin was almost a leer.
Luella huffed, rolling her eyes. Isolde stifled a gasp at his boldness.
“Mind your manners,” Garren grumbled. “You’re in the presence of a lady.”
Felix shrugged, brushing his hands on his trousers. “So, what is the plan? Are we just going to ride dead north and see what happens?”
“We know where we’re going,” Garren said flatly.
Felix raised an eyebrow. “That's not what I asked. I’d like to know if the next month of my life is going to be endless plodding through the forest after you two, or if we’ve got an actual plan.
I don’t think that’s a lot to ask.” As he spoke, he rolled his shoulders, loosening up after a morning of riding.
The motion was casual, but Isolde found it rather hard to look away from the slight glint of sweat on his collarbone, beneath the open neck of his shirt.
Stop it. You’re a lady, act like one.
“We’ll cross through mostly unclaimed lands,” Luella said, her tone cool. “I know them well enough. The route is safe. I’ll guide us.”
“Mostly?” Felix’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes, mostly.”
Isolde looked curiously between them.
“You’re saying we’ll be passing through Crovan lands,” Felix said, crossing his arms.
Isolde tried her best to ignore her acute observation that he looked… menacing, but in a nice way, standing there in the dappled sunlight .
Luella sighed. “Yes. They are perfectly friendly; there’s no risk. Besides, we’re a small group. They might not notice us at all.”
“They might not notice us; how comforting.” Felix said sarcastically. “And what about supplies? What we have with us will last two weeks, three maybe. You might enjoy living on air and river water, but I’m less inclined toward chewing bark. Are we stopping in towns? Outposts?”
“No towns,” Garren said. “With Lady Isolde’s condition, we cannot risk it.”
Isolde felt a small stab of irritation, and her jaw tightened. She was standing right here . Why did Garren talk about her like she wasn’t?
Luella nodded. “We’re staying inland. It’s summer, we can hunt and forage if needed.”
“Bark it is,” Felix muttered. “Though I suspect the lady won’t enjoy that very much either.”
“The lady ,” Isolde blurted out, “can speak for herself!”
As one, the others turned their heads to her. Felix had the decency to look sheepish; Luella grimaced. Garren merely frowned.
The magic swirled inside her once more, reacting to her feelings. Perhaps it was because it had all burst out of her at the unfortunate lantern earlier, but this time it was not as strong. Isolde closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, steadying and grounding herself.
When she opened them again, both Garren and Luella were eyeing her anxiously. Felix’s expression, though, was harder to read. It was something between curiosity and appraisal, like he was trying to figure her out. But when she caught his eye, he looked away and busied himself with his pack.
***
The first days of their journey passed without incident. They followed trails that were narrow and uneven but manageable enough, and although it was the height of summer, the thick canopy above kept the temperature cool .
Luella was polite to Isolde, but no more than that.
Isolde had hoped, perhaps naively, that she would forge a friendship with the only other woman in their group on their long and isolated days of travel, but Luella did not seem inclined to let her in to that extent, and remained focused on their journey and her tasks instead.
Garren, of course, was a reliable presence.
He had known her for most of her life, and she considered him practically family.
Despite their history though, she could tell he saw her as his charge, as a child, not as his equal.
He was pleasant to her, and supportive, but he was also her father’s man through and through.
Luella and Garren were loyal and kind, and she was so grateful to have them.
But what she wanted, what she needed , was a friend.
Not that she’d had a lot of friends back home, but there had been Otto, and Leni, and she supposed some of the ladies she attended balls and gatherings with were friends, in a sense.
And she’d had her books, her writing, her projects.
Now, she had nothing and no one. That left Felix. He rarely spoke to her, though.
She was quite used to that – most people spoke at her rather than to her. But there was something about Felix’s silence that made her feel like he was staying away from her on purpose. So she decided she’d have to make an active effort to change that.
The fact that her breath caught every time she spied him changing his shirt, or stretching out after dismounting his horse, or smirking at some barb Luella threw his way, had nothing to do with that decision, she told herself.