Chapter 16 #2
“How many are likely?” Nicco asked me, coming closer.
“More than you.”
He gave me an unimpressed look, and I returned it with one of my own.
“You’re being difficult.”
“I’m protecting you.”
His look was scathing. “I don’t need protection.”
“Then you’re an idiot.”
He smirked, and I wondered if I could really outrun this group, or if they’d hold me accountable for killing him.
“What do you propose, Amarya?” Captain Marson asked me.
“Avoid them at all costs.” I pointed away from the smoke. “We go this way, we don’t bother them, and they, hopefully, will not see us.”
“Too late.” They rose from the snow around us like the land itself had decided to stand.
I counted twelve before I stopped. They were dressed for it, in white furs, their faces wrapped, blending into the landscape so completely that I couldn't tell where they'd come from or how long they'd been there.
They moved with the ease of people who owned this cold, who'd been born into it and never once considered leaving.
Like me but more because here, they thrived.
With my grip firm on my quarterstaff, my other hand went to the strap of my pack. The familiar weight of the pack against my back, the thing I reached for when I needed to think.
“Nobody draw,” I said quietly to the soldiers around me. “Nobody.”
I saw Nicco go still, which was either compliance or calculation. With him, the difference was academic.
The man who stepped forward was broad-shouldered and younger than I expected. His face wrappings were pulled down to his chin, revealing a jaw that hadn't seen a blade in weeks, and eyes that did the same thing Nicco's eyes always did — counting, measuring, deciding.
He looked at me. Not the soldiers, and not the mercenaries.
Me.
“Trailfinder,” he said. Not a greeting but a statement of fact.
“Aye.” I kept my voice even. “We're passing through. Northbound. We have no interest in your camp, your stores, or your people.”
“North to Iskaeld.” Not a question.
I didn’t even try to lie. “We are.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nicco stiffen. He was definitely pissed off.
The stranger looked past me toward the soldiers, at the Darysian colors they'd stopped trying to hide two days ago when the storm took everything that wasn't strapped down. His jaw tightened.
“Darysia sends soldiers north to Iskaeld.”
“Darysia sends soldiers everywhere,” I replied easily. “It's what they do. These ones mean you no harm.”
“You speak for them?”
“I speak for the trail,” I said calmly. “And the trail says we pass through, and you let us. Nobody wins a fight in this cold.”
He looked at me for a long moment. The kind of look that was doing serious work behind very still eyes.
“You're Amarya,” he said, almost softly.
That surprised me so much I almost showed it. Almost. “You know my name.”
“You found the Cryarek Pass in the storm three winters ago. Brought eleven merchants through alive.” He tilted his head slightly. “Lost one horse.”
“The horse was already lame,” I said, feeling uncomfortable under his scrutiny. “It wasn't going to make it regardless.”
Something shifted in his expression. Not warmth exactly, but recognition. “Vorn,” he said, touching his chest briefly.
“Amarya.” I returned the gesture. “We just want to pass.”
Vorn looked past me again, longer this time. His eyes settled on Nicco and held there with the look of a man who recognized something he didn't like. I didn't know what look Nicco was returning, and I didn't dare look.
“One night,” Vorn finally said. “You will shelter with us, eat, leave at first light, and don't come back this way.”
I felt the collective exhale of the soldiers behind me, knowing they wouldn’t have to fight.
“One night,” I agreed. “And your people stay away from ours.”
His eyes moved to mine again. “Same goes.”
He turned, and his people turned with him, and just like that, the threat became an escort as we followed them through the snow toward the curl of smoke that had given them away.
I fell back slightly, letting the soldiers move ahead of me. Nicco appeared at my shoulder without a sound.
“You've been here before,” he said.
“No.”
“Then how did he know your name?”
“Crystallese is a small kingdom,” I said. “And as you already said, I'm very good at my job.”
He was quiet for a moment. “That reputation could get you killed.”
“So could a lot of things.” I glanced at him sideways. “Try to look less like you're planning it at this very moment in time.”
His lips twitched. “I'm always planning something.”
“I know,” I said. “That's why I said it.”
He didn’t smile, and he didn’t relax, but with Nicco, that was enough.
We trekked through the snow, and soon, we came upon their small settlement. The word “settlement” was wrong. It wasn’t even a camp. Not really.
They had tents that were built low, dark, and integrated into the landscape rather than on top of it. They were made of animal hide and appeared to be lodged in place with packed snow, blending into the terrain until you got close enough to smell or see the smoke.
There were no signs of paths worn into the snow. People moved in different directions each time, so the trail couldn't be followed or mapped.
I counted about thirty people, maybe more.
It was hard to tell because they kept moving, not in urgency but with the constant, restless efficiency of those who knew that standing still in this cold was a death sentence.
There were children too, smaller than they should have been, doing things children their age shouldn't have to know. A girl was skinning something over a low fire without looking at it, her eyes on us instead. If she had seen seven summers, I’d have been surprised but she handled the knife with the skill of someone much older.
Nobody came forward to greet us. Nobody ran either. They simply watched, like animals, unafraid, unwelcoming, just gauging the distance to the nearest weapon.
These were people the kingdom of Crystallese had forgotten, or chosen not to see, and in turn they’d returned the favor.
“We’ll give shelter and water, food you can find for yourselves,” Vorn announced as he led us to two tents. “The girl stays with me.”
“I don’t fucking think so.” Nicco’s voice was as cold as the temperature.
Shit. I’d been afraid of this.
I looked at him, my eyes wide, trying to tell him to shut the fuck up. “I’ve got this,” I murmured. “Shut up.” I turned to Vorn. “The girl will stay with her company. It’s better this way.” I kept my voice steady. “I’ll ensure no one wanders in the night.”
Vorn sniffed, but his gaze was unwavering. “I mean you. You stay with me.”
Oh. I hadn’t expected that. I thought he meant Larana.
I clucked my tongue. “Fine. But your hands wander, you’ll lose them.” I stepped forward, but a pull at my pack had me stumbling back a step.
“I said, I don’t fucking think so.” Nicco’s voice was as hard as steel. “The girl stays with us.”
Vorn’s head cocked to the side slightly. “You the reason she has a blade nick at her neck?”
Shades. I thought I’d covered it.
“I am.”
He didn’t even sound apologetic. Asshole.
Vorn held his hand out. “As I said, your woman stays with me.”
“Not his woman,” I told him, forcing myself free of Nicco’s hold. “It’s fine,” I assured Captain Marson as I walked past him. “We are welcome. They won’t harm us.”
I didn’t have time to explain and hoped to the gods that it was enough.
“Amarya.” Nicco’s voice held a warning note, and I turned back to look at him, surprised to see Baxley’s hand on his arm.
“Relax, I’ve got this.”
His eyes glittered as they held mine. “I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to like it.” Vorn smiled beside me. “Come, bunny, let’s get you warm.”
Shit, how long had they been following us?