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She put the bottle and snacks away but didn’t get up to start moving again.
I gave her another minute.
Then she started to cry. “I’m so sorry—”
“We don’t have time for this.” I knew she needed to absolve herself of the guilt, but I wasn’t ready to give it to her. I loved her with my whole heart, but all of this happened because of her stupidity, and I just wasn’t ready to forgive her. I might never be ready to forgive her.
“Raven…” She wiped her tears away with her gloved hands. “I just—”
I got to my feet. “We’ve got to keep moving.” I extended my hand to hers to help her rise.
She didn’t take it. “You’re never going to forgive me, are you?”
I stared down at her, my hand lingering. “Melanie—”
“We’re probably going to die out here. I need you to know how sorry I am.”
“I do know you’re sorry.”
With her arms crossed over her chest, she looked up at me, her eyes always dried from the wind. “I need you to forgive me…”
My hand shook as it remained extended to her, and not because of the cold. Then I pulled it away entirely and got moving, stepping into the open on the snow that was piling higher and higher by the minute. I’d been beaten. I’d been hanged. I’d been starved. I’d had to watch an innocent woman on the guillotine like this was 1789. No…I wasn’t ready to give it to her.
The trees had given us cover.
Now, we had none of that.
I stayed in the lead, making a line in the snow that made it easier for Melanie to traverse. But we were walking against the wind, which made this so much harder. But it would also make it harder for them.
Freedom pumped in my veins, and that kept me pressing on.
I was fighting for so much, and I wasn’t going to stop.
That gave me the strength to go on, to move despite the pain in my legs, to strive for the life I’d never really said goodbye to.
Melanie’s voice came from behind me. “We have to go back!”
I turned around and looked at her, the hood of my jacket smacking into the back of my head. I stared at her on the ground where she’d fallen onto her hands and knees, the snow a wall on either side of her. “We’re halfway there.”
“We aren’t going to make it! We have to go a different way.”
I marched back to her and grabbed her by both arms until she was on her feet. “There is no other way. We need to cross this plain. Now, come on. You’re better than this, Melanie.”
“I’m so tired…”
I shook her. “Then stop being tired. You can do this.” I turned and kept walking, and then a rush of wind hit me so hard that I fell backward.
“Are you okay?” Melanie came to me, her hand moving to my shoulder.
The collision with the ground immediately made my back sore, but I got up again.
The wind hit me again, and I fell.
Melanie was beside me, on her knees. “We have to go back.”
I didn’t want to admit that Magnus was right…but he might be. Sheer will and determination weren’t enough to fight the unconquerable. I didn’t want this storm to defeat me.
But it had.
Ring.
I instantly sat up, knowing I heard it, knowing I heard that church bell ring.
Ring.
“Do you hear that?” I shouted.
Melanie turned into the snow, like she heard it too.
Ring.
I got back to my feet, my boots planted firmly in the snow, keeping me upright even when a gust of wind hit me harder than all the others before. All the muscles in my body tightened and fought against the ferocity of the wind and snow.
Ring.
“Come on, keep going!” I took one step forward.
When Melanie didn’t argue, I knew she heard it too.
This storm wouldn’t defeat me.
Because I would be the eye of the storm.
We crossed the plain and entered another forest of trees. Once we were under cover, the wind wasn’t so harsh. The storm seemed to be abating too. When I looked back the way we’d come, I couldn’t see to the other side. I wasn’t sure if the wind had covered our tracks, but with the amount of snowfall, it must have. And what would the dogs smell? The wind was taking our scent away, the snow piling on and hiding it.
I had a good feeling about this
There was less snow in the forest, so it was easier to move.
Melanie needed another break, so she took a seat. “I need to sleep.”
“No sleep.”
“What?” she asked incredulously.
“The guards have slept all night, so they’re rested. If we stop, they’ll catch up to us.”
“I meant just an hour—”
“No.”
She opened her water and took a drink.
“I couldn’t sleep in these conditions anyway.” I pulled out my water and took a drink before tucking it back into my pocket. Melanie had granola bars, so I ate a few of those.
