Chapter 32
Mirielle finally warmed through.
For hours she had shivered beneath mountains of furs trapped between two bodies. Even with her pulled against his chest and Dane settled on the other side, the cold wouldn't release its grip.
Reis and Dane had to make her stay awake the entire time.
Eventually the cold began to retreat. The shaking eased. Her breathing deepened and the pink returned to her cheeks. Then the remaining exhaustion claimed her quickly, pulling her into a heavy dreamless sleep.
Dane fell asleep shortly after but Reis refused sleep.
He wouldn't risk it. Too many times, soldiers had returned to camp after battling the cold, warmed themselves by the fire, eaten hot broth and fallen asleep only for the cold to steal the last of their strength.
Their hearts stopped beating. They never woke.
He lay awake, his chest pressed against her back, listening to the cadence of her heart, gauging for weaknesses.
They were only two days from King's Pass, two days from safety.
Most people thought that the Sleeping Kings could only be crossed through the main trade routes. Routes that closed every winter, buried beneath deep drifts of snow.
They were wrong.
King's Pass was a well-guarded secret. Beneath the towering cliffs, a ribbon of forest wound through a valley behind Rosthein Keep, the dark trees cutting through the white landscape like a scar ending in an entrance concealed by stone walls.
Mirielle shifted next to him. His attention immediately went to her.
Her eyes opened half-lidded, heavy with exhaustion, caught somewhere between sleep and waking. "Reis?" She looked up at him. "I'm sorry." The words were scraped raw from exhaustion.
Reis looked down at her with an unbearably gentle expression.
Silver eyes blinked slowly. "I was trying to help."
"I know."
His answer came immediately. He brushed a loose strand of hair from her face before he bent down and kissed her forehead. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Now quit breaking rules and go back to sleep."
*
They only traveled for a few hours the next day.
Reis was afraid of exhausting Mirielle despite her sleeping till the afternoon.
They traveled without issue. The weather had loosened its grip—the sun shone in a clear blue sky.
Malvek's vicious winds were behind them, left somewhere booming over the jagged rocks.
They had spent the day hiking the snowy slopes, finally finding a copse of trees.
A small high forest that hid the entrance to King's Pass.
Ancient pines crowded the mountainside, heavy-laden with snow, bent like old men carrying heavy burdens. The trees split and muffled the wind threatening them.
For the first time in days, the mountain felt peaceful.
A fire burned at the center of camp, dinner had been eaten, watches assigned.
Reis, exhausted from the previous day and sure Mirielle was strong enough to be out of danger, finally slept. It was a deep sleep, one that pulled a man low below the surface of consciousness.
When he woke, something felt wrong. His eyes opened instantly—he sharply drew breath as all his senses sharpened at once. The bedroll in front of him lay empty.
A familiar panic hit his chest. He surged upright and his gaze darted around the tent. No Mirielle. His heart lurched violently.
He reached for his gift instinctively. Heartbeats bloomed into his awareness, the last irregular, just outside the tent.
Relief crashed into him.
Outside. Gods, she was just outside.
He released a slow breath through his nose. Then he moved quietly out of the tent. The cold night air greeted him. The forest lay quiet below the expanse of sky.
He found Mirielle sitting on the ground in front of the entrance, wrapped in enough furs to resemble a small mountain, knees tucked beneath her chin.
Her silver eyes reflected the stars overhead, brighter somehow.
She looked over as he appeared.
"Did I wake you?" she asked in a whisper, being careful not to wake those sleeping inside.
Reis stared at her for a long moment. His pulse was still recovering. "I'd prefer it if you stayed in the tent when I'm sleeping." The words escaped him flatter than he intended.
She blinked and then her expression shifted. Realization dawned on her that she had frightened him. "Oh." A pause. "I'm..."
"Don't."
She pinched her lips together. Reis sighed and sat down next to her, pulling her into his warmth. "You didn't do anything wrong," he said, his voice still rough from sleep. "It's just what I'd prefer."
Mirielle nodded slowly. She curled into him and returned to watching the open sky.
For several minutes neither spoke. Reis settled into the comfortable silence.
"There are more stars up here." Mirielle broke the quiet.
"Mm."
"They're beautiful."
Reis looked down at her. The starlight illuminated her eyes into a shining silver. The dark painted her skin in soft pinks. For a moment he had completely forgotten what she'd said.
"Yes."
Mirielle glanced at him. Then her eyes widened.
He wasn't looking at the sky. Heat flooded her cheeks.
Reis immediately looked back at the sky, as if he could undo the last five seconds. His jaw tightened.
Caught.
Finally, after an awkward silence, Reis muttered under his breath. "That was unfortunate."
Mirielle blinked. "What was?"
He rubbed a hand over his face. "The part where you noticed."
And somehow that made her blush even harder. Reis looked down at her. A small, crooked smirk appeared. "Usually," he said, sounding deeply dissatisfied with himself, "people have the decency to pretend they didn't notice."
A small laugh escaped her as she covered her face with her hands and groaned. A deep rolling laugh escaped him. "I'll try to remember that next time." Her voice was muffled by her palms.
He pulled her in closer as they watched the stars slowly disappear behind Malvek's peak.
*
Steel rang through the snowy clearing, followed by a grunt and a thump.
"Again."
Dane was already panting heavily. Sweat beaded down the side of his face. He grabbed his sword and rose to his feet. He took a low stance, digging his heels into the snow. Then he lunged at Reis.
Dane hit harder than most men, moved faster than most men. But Reis was something else entirely. There was no lost movement, no unnecessary flourishes—every movement was precise, efficient and brutal.
Reis parried the blow and then rammed into Dane's chest with his shoulder, knocking him flat on his back.
"Again."
Mirielle was sitting on a jutting rock watching their sparring with rapt fascination.
Dane heaved a sigh as he climbed to his feet.
"This is becoming humiliatin'."
Kellan laughed.
"Becoming?"
Dane lifted his pointer finger.
"I dislike you."
"Many do."
Dane took a stance and ran at Reis, but he left his midguard down. Reis punished him for it, stepping into his guard and hitting him across his armor with the blunt edge of his sword.
Dane landed on his back in a burst of snow.
Dane looked at the king, standing casually with his sword resting against his shoulder, looking entirely too pleased with himself.
Dane rose to his feet. "You know, one day he's going to get old."
Reis raised an eyebrow. Kellan choked on a laugh.
"Careful."
"What?"
"You just challenged the most competitive man in Lorien."
"I didn't—"
A knowing smile appeared on Reis's face. Dane immediately regretted being the owner of his own big dumb stupid mouth and groaned.
Mirielle hid a smile behind her tea. Dane saw. "Traitor," he mumbled.
She promptly buried her face in her furs and Reis suddenly looked like he'd won every fighting competition in Kaldyr.
Dane lunged again. This time Reis didn't hold back. He knocked the wind out of Dane and left him skirting across the snow like a doll.
Dane stared at the sky... again. Then he had an idea. A truly terribly horrible idea. A slow smile spread across his face.
Kellan noticed. "Oh no."
"What?"
"That face."
"What face?"
"The face you make when you're about to do something absurdly stupid."
Dane ignored him. He looked at Mirielle sitting with her tea, then he looked at Reis. "I was thinking I'd take tomorrow off."
Reis frowned. "Why?"
Dane inclined his head towards Mirielle. "I was thinking I'd teach her how to ride Maisey properly."
Mirielle's expression immediately brightened, which seemed a stark contrast to Reis's rapidly darkening one.
Dane was immensely pleased with himself.
Kellan looked like it was the best thing he'd heard all week and his jaw dropped into a gaping smile.
Mirielle looked at him. "What?"
Kellan wiped his hand down his face and his smile miraculously disappeared. "Nothing."
Reis stared at Dane with an expression that promised violence. "You want to teach my wife how to ride?"
Dane suddenly felt like he had built himself a trap.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
"Well...yes."
Reis nodded slowly. "I see."
Kellan immediately stood. "I'm going to move."
"Why?" Mirielle asked.
"Instinct." He picked up his apple and relocated several feet away.
Reis angled his gaze. "And if she falls?"
"I'll catch her."
Reis looked murderous. Dane looked confused. Kellan pointed at Dane. "You absolute fool."
Mirielle also looked confused. She looked between them questioningly. Then realization dawned and her cheeks turned pink and she retreated into her tea.
"Oh."
Reis's stare promised violence.
Dane finally caught up and looked at Reis in horror. "I didn't mean—"
"I know." Reis looked at Mirielle. "You don't need to learn how to ride."
Dane tilted his head at Reis. "She needs to know how to ride if she ever gets separated."
Reis hated how much that was a perfectly reasonable argument.
Mirielle looked at Reis in confusion. "I thought I'd learn to ride Maisey."
Reis opened his mouth. Then closed it. Kellan couldn't hide his grin anymore.
"What?" Mirielle asked again.
Kellan pointed at Reis. "Because if you learn properly..." He hid a smile behind his fingers. "…You'll start riding your own horse."
Silence.
Mirielle blinked and looked at Reis.
The king suddenly found the snow-covered trees intensely fascinating.
A slow smile spread across Mirielle's face.
"Reis."
He refused to look at her.
"Reis."
"No."
"Reis."
Reis sighed. Then, because lying was becoming increasingly impossible, he muttered, "It's efficient."
Kellan doubled over. Mirielle laughed, a bright clear thing. Dane was astonished by his newfound accomplishment. "You hold her hand half the time. You can't even hold the reins properly."
"That's also efficient."
Mirielle's laughter grew into an incandescent smile. The sound bloomed warmth deep in Reis's chest. He looked at her and smiled despite himself, small and crooked. A certain smile he reserved just for her.
Then it vanished. He pointed his sword at Dane. "Pick up your sword."
"But I—"
"Pick."
"Up."
"Your."
"Sword."
Dane sighed a weary thing and then obeyed.
For the next hour Reis hit him even harder than usual.
*
The mountains rose around them until they swallowed the sky. Dark stone climbed hundreds of feet overhead, snow clinging stubbornly to ledges where the sun never reached. Everywhere they looked there appeared to be nothing but solid wall.
Then Reis turned Hank toward what looked like little more than a fissure in the mountainside.
The entrance was no wider than two horses. Two walls of black stone pressed so close together that from a distance the passage disappeared entirely into shadow. Pine branches hung low across its mouth, concealing it from all but those who knew where to look.
King's Pass.
There was no road or man-made gate, just a narrow wound cut through the mountain. Now only a small forest trapped between two cliffs stood between them and Rosthein.
One by one, the company disappeared inside.
The walls swallowed the winter wind. Hoofbeats echoed softly against icy stone.
Mirielle had been growing steadily quieter throughout the day. Whenever anyone talked to her, she would only give one-word answers as if her mind was stuck on a dark thought.
Reis looked down at her, concern etched on his face as worry writhed in his chest. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap beneath his cloak. Her shoulders had drawn inward.
They were nearing Rosthein. They would be there within the next day and a half.
She wasn't looking at the cliffs or the snow above her. She was staring straight ahead like she was waiting for a grim future. There was something sorrowful about her expression, the way someone looked when they knew they had just said goodbye to a very old friend for the last time.
A knot tightened beneath his ribs. He knew what this must look like—a hidden passage, a fortress buried inside a mountain, a king leading her somewhere no one else could reach her—a prison, and one even more cut off from the world than the last. The winter around Rosthein was dangerous during its darkest nights of the year.
She and everybody else in Rosthein would be bound within its walls until the winter relented.
Reis had spent his entire life seeing Rosthein as sanctuary. The one place his enemies could never reach. It was the safest place in the kingdom, especially in winter.
But Mirielle had spent hers locked behind walls and Rosthein's walls were impassable, the mountains around them even more so.
"Mirielle."
She startled from being pulled from her thoughts and looked up at him.
"It's built to keep people out, not to keep anyone in." He looked down at her solemnly. "I promised, no cages."
The words hung between them. He wasn't sure she believed him. He wasn't sure he believed himself. Because they had crossed the threshold, the open lands disappearing behind them. And Reis feared that no matter how gently he treated her, she would only see another set of walls.