Chapter 2
I fought the urge to run as he approached. I watched him carefully as he strode confidently toward me.
Shit, did I know him? Had I stolen from him?
When winter was colder than the heart of the Frozen Mountains, alleviating a merchant or a soldier of their coin purse was sometimes what I referred to as an occupational hazard.
Merchants might be conmen. But soldiers? Soldiers were worse.
A girl needed to eat, and they had more than they needed.
And more importantly, I was gone long before they knew their purse was gone too.
The soldier stopped in front of me. He looked normal. Average. I had no recollection of seeing him before, but he was so bland that nothing about him screamed memorable.
“What’s your name?” he demanded as he opened his cloak to show his golden armor beneath.
“What’s yours?”
I didn’t see which one of them swiped my legs out from under me, but as I looked up at the three men above me, I knew each of them would feel my wrath soon enough.
I pushed myself to my feet, but one of the other newcomers placed his foot against my chest and slowly pressed me back into the snow.
“You stay down there until we’re done,” he sneered.
“Is this the only way you can get a woman on her back?” I taunted, holding his gaze, noticing the scar above his left eye, knowing I’d need to fight my own desire to give him a matching one over his right.
“You address me as Captain Marson,” the blue-eyed one spoke.
“I’m not in your army,” I snapped. “Also, you want me to find you a trail. I suggest you be nicer to the woman who can either lead you to your destination or your death.”
The captain looked at me in surprise, then his eyes flicked to his comrades. “You just threatened me in front of my men.”
I still didn’t look away even though the boot pressed firmer than before.
“The warning wasn’t just for you.” I turned my head to look at the one with his boot on me. “It includes all of you.”
After a long, tense silence, a low chuckle came from the left. I didn’t want to look away from the threat in front of me, but everyone else did.
He sat on a wagon, his cloak pulled tight around his shoulders, and his hood pulled low over his eyes. He didn’t look up from where he was sitting, focusing instead on the wooden figurine he was whittling.
“In a land of snow and ice, I’d not piss off the maiden.”
“Who the fuck asked you?” Boot Presser snapped.
“Nobody, but someone needs to warn you.” His head lifted slightly, and even though I couldn’t see him from under the shadow of his hood, I knew he was looking straight at me.
“She’ll roast your balls over a fire far from here and wish it was a bigger portion.
” He spat to the side, his head still low, shoulders hunched, the cloak draped over his lean frame.
“Best let her up before she takes your cock too.”
I used the opportunity to grab the soldier’s foot, twist, and push him away from me.
He collapsed into a heap in the snow as I watched. The sound of metal clanking echoed hollowly through the air.
“You can’t assault a soldier of the King’s Guard!” one of his companions shouted.
“Why? He assaulted me. Where was your protest then?” I got to my feet and brushed the snow off my cloak. It felt noticeably damp. I turned back to the captain. “I’m not the one to find a trail for you. He volunteered.” I pointed to my left. “Pick him.”
“I want you.”
I snorted. “Well, you have a funny way of asking, Captain Marson.” I gave a slight nod of my head. “I’m humbled you asked, but I have a bargain made.”
As I turned away, he caught my shoulder, his touch light, but still offensive.
“Whoever your merchant is, we’ll pay double.”
Double? I almost, almost, hesitated. But then I remembered I had no merchant, and double of nothing was still nothing.
“As I said, I have a bargain made. I do not break a bargain.”
He looked confused and furious at the same time. “Then why are you here?”
“He made me come.” I pointed at the soldier who woke me up. “Had he asked, I’d have told him.”
Captain Marson glared at his man. “You were to ask if they were free.”
I didn’t bother listening to the debate. I walked away from them, forcing myself to pass by the wagon of the shadowed man, who was concentrating on his figurine, his knife moving swiftly and with skill.
“My thanks for the words,” I mumbled as I passed.
“Don’t thank me yet,” he replied softly. He stood, the knife and the figurine disappearing into the pockets of his cloak.
“Marson, she’s the one you need.”
“What are you doing?” I hissed at him.
He turned, his hood slipping back slightly, revealing a broad, clean-shaven face and dark hair cut short and messy. Blue eyes held a hint of regret as he met my wide-eyed gaze.
“This trailfinder is the best of the bunch. I hear she’s one of the best in the region. You need her.”
“I take back my thanks,” I spat at him as I felt a hand wrap around my upper arm, turning me back to face the one who knocked me down. “I told you I made a—”
“She’s lying,” the man who was no longer an ally said with boredom. “I checked all the merchants. None has entered into a bargain as yet.”
By the mother, how was I supposed to get out of this now?
“You’re the first one I’m leading off a cliff,” I muttered over my shoulder as I was accompanied back to the captain.
His low laugh, which followed me, only fueled my anger.
Once again, I was face-to-face with Captain Marson. My flat, insolent stare made him consider me more carefully.
“Three silver to lead myself and my company to our destination.”
“No.”
He took a deep inhale. “Yes. Three silver.”
“No.” I showed him my teeth. No one would call it a smile.
The captain looked at me and shook his head. He stepped closer to me and lowered his voice. “Three silver, or I report you for the coin purse you took from the silk merchant in Claswik. What’ll it be?”
I held his stare. “One gold, one silver.”
He almost smiled. “One gold, one silver.” He didn’t let go of my arm. “No harm comes to my men or me.”
I sniffed loudly, quickly casting my eye over the soldiers gathered. “I won’t make a promise I know I won’t keep.”
The grip on my arm tightened. “Girl, you swear it now, or—”
“What?” I mocked him. “Let me go? Oh no, what a disaster that would be.”
This time, he did smile. “No harm comes to my men or me. Agreed?”
I shook my head. “Your men are wearing metal shells. Depending on where your desired trail may end, they’re going to freeze before the first nightfall. I’m not taking the blame for that.”
He looked insulted at my assumption. “We’re going to change before we head out.”
“In that case, make sure some of them change their attitude as well as their clothing.” I pulled my arm free. “One gold. One silver. No one touches me. You do what I tell you when I tell you.”
“I am the leading officer.”
“Well then, you can lead. You won’t be needing me.” I walked a few paces before my arm was caught again.
“You are difficult.”
“I am. I’m also going to keep your sorry asses alive, so when I say run, run. When I say do not move, I suggest you don’t. And when I say no one touches me, I mean it. Touch me again, and you’ll lose a hand.”
He dropped his hand.
“We leave in the morning.”
“Uh-huh, and we are going where?” I waited. He didn’t answer. I widened my eyes. “You need to tell me, so I can plan the trail.”
“North.”
I waited again. Nothing.
“North? Just north.”
“You’ll know more later.”
“Well, I can’t wait.” He ignored my sarcasm, and with one last look of disgust at the guy with the wooden figurine, I stomped back to the inn.
No one stopped me, but two soldiers followed. When Sayla saw me, and then who followed me, she gave me the coldest look of disappointment I’d ever seen.
I slipped onto a bench and held her stare. “I said no. Many times.”
Her harrumph was loud in the quiet of the inn.
“Yup, pretty much. I need ale for this,” I muttered.
I drank the ale she placed in front of me. “Any beds in the barn tonight?” I murmured, dropping my voice so only she could hear.
“Single bed in the attic for you.”
I didn’t argue, but once more, her generosity surprised me. Maybe she’d already heard my pay for this job.
Bad news always traveled fast.
The rest of the soldiers arrived, and soon, the inn was crowded. No one noticed me as I took my second mug of ale and slipped quietly up the stairs.
I wasn’t expecting to come face-to-face with the guy who sold me out.
“How are you already here?” I demanded.
“Back door.” He pushed his hood back, and I took the opportunity to study him closely.
His sharp, severe face was all hard angles and watchful eyes, and his gaze was steady as he watched me, watching him. His look was deliberate, assessing, and saw far too much, as though he already knew I’d be trouble.
I’d been wrong about his build. He wasn’t lean at all.
In fact, he was anything but lean. Thick broad shoulders, wide chest, strength lay coiled under that cloak.
A fact that I’d missed when he was hunched over.
Tall, far taller than me, his blue eyes danced with humor as I cataloged every detail about him.
“Why did you tell them I had no bargain made?”
“Because you don’t.” He smiled at me, looking genuinely amused by my question.
“I don’t want to lead a bunch of sniveling summer soldiers north,” I whisper-hissed at him.
He shrugged. “I don’t want to be whispering in the hall like lovers having a spat, but here we are.”
I drew back so quickly that I felt a muscle tense in protest at the sudden movement.
“What?”
He nodded. “Making my point, exactly.” He moved around me, forcing me back a step, careful not to touch me. “Sleep well, I think you’re going to need it.”
I watched him walk down the short hall to the stairs I’d just climbed, and it took a lot of self-control not to throw my ale at him.
Instead, I made a crude gesture at his back and hurried up the old staircase at the far corner of the hall that led to the attic.
With the door closed tight behind me, I set my mug down and stuck my fingers through the mug’s opening to fish inside. I hadn’t been sure, but when Sayla placed a fresh cup in front of me without asking, I’d had a feeling there was more than I expected to find at the bottom of my mug.
With a small cry of triumph, I pulled out the iron key and settled in to wait. As darkness fell over the inn, I hurried over to the attic window.
It wasn’t too far out of reach, and if I stretched my entire length, I just managed to get the key in the lock of the skylight.
I needed to move a piece of furniture quietly. Stealthily, I pushed a chair over, and then, with great difficulty but strong determination, I unlocked the skylight enough to wiggle through onto the roof.
I owed Sayla more than a few copper pieces the next time I saw her.
With effort, I leaned back through the window, made a few futile attempts to grab my pack, and when I finally snagged it, I had to wrestle it through the small opening.
Lying on my back on the inn’s roof, I tried to calm my heavy breathing. I was very aware that not everyone downstairs would already be asleep.
Darkness in Crystallese could be intimidating. The kingdom was the northernmost on the continent, and its people lived in a constant gray gloom or the darkness of night. The warmer months were still a long way off, and we were firmly in the grip of the coldest part of the year.
Crystallese, the land of endless winter. In this part of the continent, snow was always present, whether it was on the ground or falling.
Using a skill I learned long ago, I half slid, half crawled along the roof of the inn. It sloped gently toward an extension Sayla had insisted on building a few years earlier. It expanded her kitchen, and now the inn didn’t smell so bad of rotten vegetables.
It also made a very nice descent onto the packed snow beneath it, and with the skill of a cat, I landed on my feet.
I shouldered my pack, pulled the hood of my traveling cloak over my head, letting it hang lower than normal, and pulled the neck warmer from around my neck up and over my mouth to guard against the cold, then headed straight for the village wall.
With the soldiers settled in the inn, the Town Watch had resorted to its usual lazy ways, and the entry points had the bare minimum in terms of presence.
I dared not try the gate. Instead, I scaled the wall nimbly and soon was on the other side. After a short burst of speed, I was in the dense woodland.
I didn’t look back as I slipped through the thick, barren trees of the forest. The tall trunks of black rose high above me, and in my dark cloak, I blended into my surroundings, putting as much distance as possible between Eirhollow and me.
Take them north? For one gold and one silver? No. Not a task for me.
I hadn’t asked why Darysian soldiers wanted to travel north, and I didn’t care. I only cared that I wasn’t traveling with them.
No good would come of that. No good at all. I was a trailfinder, not an adventurer.
I walked through the forest late into the night. Clouds obscured the moon, and the snow fell softly around me, a steady companion in this frozen land.
To most, it was bleak and empty.
To me, it was freedom.
I did not take that freedom lightly, and I did not lie down and accept it when it was threatened.
When I stumbled too many times in the dark, I looked for shelter among the trees.
Some of them grew so close together that they formed a kind of barrier, and finding a tree with a low enough branch, I was able to climb out of the snow.
With care and years of practice, I curled into the trunk of the tree and closed my eyes for the night.
Morning would come too early, and I still had many leagues to cover before the distance between those soldiers and me was enough.
Enough to feel safe.