Chapter 26
As promised, once the sun sank behind the mountains, Sullie directed me to gallop my horse, and he followed. I squinted at the horizon in the fading light, hoping there would be signs of other travelers on the road ahead of us, but there was nothing besides the empty hard-packed dirt.
Our punishing pace continued until there wasn’t enough light to proceed safely, then Sullie gestured for me to slow my horse, and dismounted in the shadow of the trees. I followed suit, scouring the underbrush for whatever I could forage for dinner.
Sullie must’ve noticed my scrutiny, “Sorry we didn’t meet the person you are searching for, but if we rise early tomorrow and gallop before the heat of the day, you should be able to catch them.”
I nodded, knowing I probably shouldn’t reveal any more details of my life to this man, but something in my gut told me I could trust him. “I’m not even sure he’s with a group. I didn’t want those men to know I was only meeting a single man—my brother.”
“Ah.” A smile flickered to his lips. “That was smart. Though you’re probably right. Most men who travel this way do so in a group, it’s safer.”
That caused my eyebrows to arch. He’d danced around the topic earlier, but I’d thought it was because I was a woman. “It’s dangerous for everyone?” I peered back toward the road.
“Not inherently, but if you are traveling with a lot of possessions, theft is the biggest concern. It’s the same when I travel as a merchant.
I’ve learned to sleep on top of my goods.
” He used a rope to loop his horse’s bridle to a tree.
“Though in my case, it’s usually other merchants wanting to cause me trouble. ”
Sullie pulled a bedroll from his horse, rolling it out on the ground. I grimaced as I took in the few items I had with me. I really hadn’t planned to spend the night on my own.
“No bedroll?” He arched one of his red eyebrows.
I shook my head. “This journey was spur of the moment. But I can sleep against a tree; I’ve done it before.” I left out the part where I’d leaned against Ena for warmth then. My heart clenched at the reminder that I’d left my friend behind. But in the same breath, I knew she would be okay.
Ena carried a strength I didn’t possess.
“Well, I don’t want to overstep, but you can share mine.”
I held up my hand, showing him my palm. “I’m bonded to another.”
“What does that mean?” he asked, reaching for my hand to bring it closer to his face in the low light. “And why is there a line across your hand?”
“It’s a scar from where our blood mixed. A bonding is like a marriage, I think?” I honestly had never considered how I would explain a Seid bonding to someone. I’d never even planned to be married in the first place, ever.
“Oh that’s . . . strange,” he said, but then his eyes flickered to my face and he added a quick, “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. It’s a practice of the Seid. Do you have those in Frieran?”
He shook his head, digging around in his pack. “No, but I’ve heard of them. Frieran is very small, and very cold. Many don’t choose to live there, so I’m not surprised the Seid chose elsewhere to live.”
I carefully removed the saddle from the horse, wishing I had a brush to comb the sweat from her coat.
As it was, I set the saddle on the ground, giving her a night without it at least. Then I turned to my pack, which I knew held nothing useful beyond several vials of poison and my change of clothes.
“I can build a fire if you need to cook,” Sullie offered, pulling a loaf of bread from his bag.
“No, I didn’t pack anything. I was planning to forage or fish but . . .” I trailed off as I gazed around the dark forest.
“Here.” He divided his loaf into two large pieces, holding the rest out to me. “Tomorrow we will pass an outpost where I can buy more.”
I knew it wasn’t polite to take his food, but the rumble in my stomach wouldn’t allow me to refuse, not after the meager breakfast I’d been fed before my life fell to pieces for the second time in a year. We chewed in silence.
“Do you want first or second watch?” he asked when both of our hands were empty.
I took inventory of my meager belongings.
“Wouldn’t want someone to make off with your horse,” Sullie explained with a knowing gleam in his eyes.
“Alright, I’ll take first watch.” It sounded like the safer choice, considering the circumstances.
“Fair enough.” He climbed into his bedroll, turning to face away from me. “Good night Runa. Wake me up when you find yourself tired.”
“I will,” I promised, waiting until his breath evened out to walk toward the edge of the trees, stepping out into the road to gaze at the night sky.
The moons were separated, a smattering of stars twinkling between them.
I don’t know if it was only because I hadn’t seen the sky in an age, or because I was in a different location than normal, but the moons appeared dimmer, and further away than before.
And I remembered what my mother had once promised me.
“Everyone has to go through changes, even the twin moons. It is the way of life. The only thing you can do, is control how you greet those changes.”
I hadn’t thought of my parents in an age. Not since that fateful night by the campfire with Otho.
The night when he’d lied about his father.
Right after the Purge, it had been impossible for me to move forward with my life.
Everything had felt frozen, or fake, like a dream gone sour that I couldn’t wake myself from.
But Collum pushed us to keep up with routines, and when most of the other kids at school were also struggling, we’d grown to accept the loss together.
Now, almost eleven years later, I rarely thought of my parents, and soon I will have existed without them for far longer than I’d had with them.
But in moments like these, I wished they were here, just so I could feel less alone.
I didn’t know if there was a life beyond this one, and if there was, that my parents were there.
No one in Ralheim had expected their parents to die so soon—before they had a chance to explain what came next.
I decided to ask the old gods. Even if my parents weren’t there, maybe someone else who could listen was.
“I don’t know if you’re still here . . .” The words were a whisper. “But I don’t know where to go from here. Or if I should even go on . . .” I trailed off, out of things to ask for.
Why would gods care about this world anyway?
I had no problem staying up to wake Sullie, but it was a struggle to sleep during the few hours I’d allotted myself before dawn.
I wasn’t sure if that was because I still didn’t trust him, or if I was that desperate to avoid Otho in my sleep, but when I eventually drifted off, Sullie shook me awake what felt like only moments later.
My eyelids shot open to find Sullie leaning over me, a finger pressed to his lips.
Any remaining sleepiness immediately drained from my body, and I tilted my head to match his, hearing the sound of hoofbeats in the distance.
The sky was barely pink with the early light of dawn, but we wasted no time grabbing our packs and horses and ducking into the brush.
It was a struggle to continue breathing as we ducked behind a bush, my first instinct to hold my breath.
The hoofbeats came to a stop and the sounds of rustling reached my ears. I wanted to close my eyes, as I had the night blood spread across the floor in my childhood home, but I knew I also needed to be ready to run.
There were voices, deep ones, but I couldn’t tell if they were the men from the day before. I bit my lip, turning to Sullie, who shook his head.
I don’t know how long we hid there, waiting for them to remount and gallop away, but, finally, they did. I stood and moved to step out of hiding, to return to our camp, but Sullie’s arm blocked me.
He shook his head again, his mouth forming a single, silent word. “Wait.”
I shifted my weight from foot to foot, anxious to start what was sure to be a long day.
It wasn’t until the silence morphed into birds chirping and the sky transformed from pink to light blue that Sullie gave the okay for us to emerge from hiding.
We returned to camp, taking in the boot prints that revealed everywhere the men had walked.
Neither of us said it, but we both knew—they’d been searching, likely for me.
I drained the last of my waterskin and tossed back the belladonna, ensuring I upped my dose from the day before.
“What’s that?” Sullie asked, his eyes narrowed on the vial in my hands as he sorted through the items he’d hastily grabbed, packing them securely to this horse, as they had been arranged the day before.
“Poison. Belladonna, to be specific.”
His eyes widened, and he glanced both ways down the road. “Um . . . I guess it was nice knowing you?” His voice was filled with worry and something else I couldn’t identify—a blast of nervousness tickling my gift.
I smiled. “It’s okay; I’ve developed a tolerance.” I picked up my empty waterskin, wishing I’d left a little to wash it down with. “Is there a river nearby?”
“I don’t know; I don’t work this route.” There was a bead of sweat forming on his forehead, and he hastily wiped it away.
I tried peering through the trees. While our horses had feasted on grass the night before, I knew they wouldn’t make it far without water.
Grabbing my horse’s bridle, I guided her over the dirt road and into the grass on the other side.
There were trees here too, but I knew the river we’d rested by yesterday had to be there somewhere. Rivers didn’t merely disappear.
It took far more time than I wanted to waste to find it, but Sullie didn’t complain, allowing his horse to drink as well while we filled our waterskins. I dipped my face into the water, trying to scrub the stress of the past day from my skin.
“Is that part of the bond too?”
I followed his glance to where it rested on the mess of brands on my forearm. I’d pushed up my sleeves to wash my face without thinking. “No, Sullie. This is thanks to war, and scared, weak men.”
He gulped but said nothing.