“What will you do once we reach Winterlight?” I finally asked, when my voice felt strong enough it wouldn’t break.
Kye worked his chin free of my hair, laying it over the top of my head. “What do you mean?”
“You’re a commander. War’s been declared. Wouldn’t you need to stay there?”
From the way he took his time choosing his words, I knew he’d been thinking over the answer for the past few days. He nodded slowly. “I’ll rejoin my unit and send you back to Calder.”
“You won’t take me yourself?”
He swept his thumb over the corner of my jaw. “Do you want me to?”
InMihauna’sname, the beautiful, intolerable man. Of course,he would pin me down with the request of his company.
“Yes,” I hissed, forcing myself to look at him. “Will you?”
He sighed, the back of his head leaning into the wall, and closed his eyes. “Alright.”
“All the way?”
“The entire way.”
“And up to your tower?”
Kye exhaled, his chest relaxing slowly against my shoulder blades. “Yes, Leihani. To our tower. If you ask it of me, I’ll walk you to Calder City, or wherever else you ask to go. To the palace, to the islands. To the end of fucking time. Until we are the last two people standing before the Gates of Perpetuum, with nothing save crossing the Sea of Stars ahead of us. And whenyou’re finally finished walking, I’ll hold the gate open for you and take your hand, so that you won’t need to step through alone.”
His tone was light and teasing, but I knew he meant every word. I stared at him, listening to the harsh wind. Until his smile dropped away and his heart slowed. He smoothed a thumbprint over the shell of my ear.
Then I nodded, as though his words were anything but serious. “Laurier Palace will do fine.”
Kye planted a small kiss in my hair. “Alright, then. To the City of Towers.”
43
Maren
We found the trail under a sparkling blanket of white early the next morning.
A single set of tracks marked its existence. Fresh holes in the powder left by hooves. We stopped to search the ground, our eyes meeting over the ears of our mounts.
“If whoever traveled through didn’t stop where we did,” I said, my voice lingering on a question. “If they were close enough to their camp to keep going...”
Eyes calculative, Kye brought Sero to a stop and slid off the saddle. “Can you chirp like a bird?” he asked.
I whistled quietly in answer, mimicking the warble of the little brownelepaiosfound in the island mountains.
“Make that sound if you hear or see anything.”
Reins loose in my hand, my fingers itched to weave baskets. I shoved them between my legs to keep them still, where the wool of Kye’s pants offered a bit of warmth. I’d forgone my skirts after the storm, knowing there would come a point when I’d be walking Kolibri through heavy snow instead of riding.
“What happens if we come across anyone on a trail we’re not supposed to be traveling?”
Kye tilted his head, his ear meeting his shoulder as though the answer was obvious, his hand drifting to the pommel of his sword behind his head.
He took the lead, the fur lines of his coat firm between his shoulder blades. Strict. Rigid. A single hand on the reins, his back became a straight line as he held his other arm horizontally, signaling with a silent fist whenever we needed to stop.
Laden with gear, Kolibri and Sero cut through the tracks of mud running down the slopes. Wherever the muffled crunch of snow wasn’t underfoot, thin rivers of meltwater hid the sound of our progress with a chorus of wet voices. But the savage air current had mostly died away, leaving the world deathly pale and silent.
There wouldn’t be any cabins to sleep in. We couldn’t risk a fire.
