Page 80 of Melos

Now, Fadon shook his head at the darkness the memories were taking him. He looked around him, gathering his wits. He and Lucius were at the head of the line, now at the fork. They turned their cervos to face the group.

“The Basilica is a three-day ride,” Lucius called out in a strong, clear voice that could reach the farthest Ongahri in the back. “Since it is growing late, we’ll ride as far as we can on the Journeymen’s Path, then find a place in the woods at least a half-mile out to camp.”

A few acknowledgments were heard, but mostly the riders were content to just listen and wait for the signal to keep riding. Each rider was bundled up, sitting astride their wooly cervos, looking like giant toddlers on the Longest Night, readying for a sleigh ride. Fadon glanced to the front, where Sierra rode with Demos. Both shared a thick blanket. Fadon could only make out Sierra’s teal eyes, as the rest of her was covered up. When she gave him a wink, he couldn’t help the grin that lifted the corners of his mouth.

Soon, he would have her in his arms. Tonight was his night to have her again, and it couldn’t come soon enough.

Like a reoccurring dream where the landscape never changed, they rode for several more hours. At least here the path had been marginally clear, being flat and well-trodden enough for snow to have moved on, packing into a thin icy path. Yet it was still work for the cervos, and every few paces chunks of dirty snow and ice would hit the riders from the sides and the front as they rode onward.

They trekked through the woods and found a clearing, but it was too thick with pine to erect both canopies side-by-side, instead they were separated by a good walk between. No one cared, however, not when the fires burned, food was passed around, and saddle bags were unpacked.

It wasn’t long before Fadon had Sierra in his arms, kissing her, making her warm. Their joining was fast and heated, and in no time they were asleep.

Sometime, hours later, Ander was at his side, and Fadon jerked awake.

“What is it?”

“Mari’s here, Fadon.”

Fadon sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Here?”

Ander pointed a thumb. “A scout found us. Jeris. They are camping a mile out. Jeris just went to tell her the news.”

If his sister was here, that meant she’d brought her army. Maybe things weren’t so bleak after all.

Ongar be thanked.

Chapter Thirty-One

Sierra

It was so surreal seeing Jon, Lady Lordes, and most of all Mari Trajan, the Alpha Queen, after so long apart. So much—and yet so little—had changed in the time I’d last seen them. I had never seen Ander so happy, nor Fadon. I’d woken up this morning in Demos’ arms, and he had told me that Fadon and Ander had gone to meet up with their sister. It was the first bit of joy I’d experienced since my visit to Providence two weeks ago.

Now, as my mates and I sat on lush cushions around a low-lying table in the queen’s fancy tent, where braziers hung in corners warming the opulent space, gratitude flowed through me.

Mari had brought three-quarters of her army from Goth Mor Helle and had been camping here—tucked in a hidden ravine in the woods—for the past few weeks, knowing that we’d be arriving at some point. It was in thanks to Lady Lordes who had seen it in a vision. Apparently, she had just recovered from a long bout of visions that had her bedridden for the better part of a month.

“We knew you’d need us, Fadon,” Mari was saying. “We just hoped we would make it in time. Without Lordes’ Sight, there would have been no way off Great Mountain.”

“How much do you know?” Demos asked the queen, not beating around the bush.

She set her tea down and looked at him seriously. “Everything that matters.”

Aside from my mates, it was only Mari in the tent, so I knew that she could have been more specific if she chose to. Did Lady Lordes know about Lucius being the true heir to the throne? By the way Mari only eyed Lucius with the same indifference she’d shown him last time they were together, at Goth Mor Helle, I could only assume that that knowledge was still kept only between us.

“Elementals,” she said, shaking her head. Her ebony hair was down, and she looked like a fancy porcelain doll, young and fresh and deceptively dangerous. Then she looked at her older brother. “All those reminders from Caziel, from Zion, about us having short memories, ignoring the Old Ways. I can’t help but think we’ve been naive, Fadon.”

I wasn’t sure what she meant by that, other than the obvious. It seemed that all of us had forgotten the Old Ways, and now we were victims of our own growth in society, relying on things we could only sense with our eyes, our ears, our pride. Was it that “forgetting” that had made the elementals so vulnerable? Was it possible our belief was what held them up?

“It’s more proof,” Fadon said, agreeing with his sister, “that the Owl’s influence has grown.”

“Speaking of, we found the culprit, the one who had aided Servant Sarbo,” she said. A fierceness shone in her eyes. The true queen revealing herself. “She has been dealt with.”

Fadon pounced on it. “Name?”

“Tina. Little bitch maid who came with the last caravan from the Aires. They picked her up somewhere along the road. Jon got the information from one of the servants.”

“Good. At least that’s solved.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com