The thought made his face warm, a stark contrast to the cold still making him shiver. It seemed silly to think of settling down with Kade in the wolf kingdom—after all, he was king of the Winter Court now—and he’d known Kade for barely three months. Whatever happened after allthiswas entirely up in the air, but it seemed most likely Florian would go back to the Winter Court. Wherever Kade went would be up to him, if they made it that far.
“Ready?” Kade asked, shaking him from his thoughts, and Florian gave a quick nod. With just the two of them, he would have to be the one to set the shroud. Since this Arrow was so close, there would be no need for the quickening spell, which was lucky since concentrating on both at the same time would be difficult, if not impossible.
“Darkness hides us. Darkness protects us,” he murmured, magic swelling between his hands. “The Blight cannot touch us. The Blight cannot harm us.” With his words, he pushed the shadow out to cover himself, then he reached out to Kade, cloaking both of them.
The shroud in place, he pulled his sun goggles down over his eyes and looked toward Kade, who nodded. Nervously, he reached his hand out once more, and with a slight smile Kade took it; after a beat of consideration, Florian stepped through into the Blight.
Its resemblance to the Blight closer to the Winter Court was uncanny, though he supposed most of the landscape would probably start to look pretty similar after two hundred years of the Nova Blight burning down on it. The terrain was rocky and dusty, with no hint of the cold and snow that they had just left; as his eyes adjusted, though, Florian thought the stone seemed darker, the distant horizon more craggy and broken up with hills and valleys.
“We’re heading due south,” Kade said, glancing down at him. “Keep the map up.”
“Okay,” Florian agreed, and he followed Kade’s lead. The map was loosely folded in one hand with Kade’s hand clasped in the other.
It was slow going, and just as boring and monotonous as the last trip into the Blight had been. Nervous as he was, the lack of tension between them made it feel a little more bearable, like Kade had said. They walked hand in hand for a long time.
Eventually, though, it became too difficult to look at the map with one hand, so gingerly Florian released Kade’s fingers and let his own slide away. Kade gave him a sidelong glance, his eyes mostly hidden beneath the sun goggles, but he didn’t protest. With his longer stride he stepped a bit ahead of Florian to lead, his head turning back and forth every so often, as he scanned the area for danger. Florian stifled a grin as he looked up toward him. He could trust that Kade would keep him safe.
But this part of the world seemed remote enough that there were no signs of any kind of living thing that might threaten them. When they had been in the Blight last time, it seemed that they encountered some sort of strange Blighted creature nearly every day they traveled. Here, the landscape was still and silent, and Florian wondered if the creatures that had once lived here in what must have been a cold arctic biome had no chance of adapting to such heat.
How many creatures had gone extinct all at once? How many plants would never grow again? The thought unsettled him; even if they did eventually end the Blight on the world, what would come to take its place? Was there any hope some place like this could eventually recover? The lack of biodiversity seemed far too great; but he supposed that would be a problem for their future selves. He couldn’tnottry now.
He thought of the first Golden Arrow, safely back at the Winter Court. Eventually, he would have to bring the Arrow with him—all of them, if they got them all. He’d need some kind of carrying case for them. Maybe Tatiana could help him with it.
The thought of Tatiana panged him briefly with guilt. Meriwa’s admonishment had weighed heavily on him since their first day in the wolf kingdom. Florian had tried not to dwell on it, since there was nothing he could do about it now; but part of him wondered if Tatiana truly wanted to be the one running the Winter Court, or if she secretly resented him for dropping everything in her lap—if maybe she had even resented Jerah for doing the same.
He could certainly see it being the case: how could it not irritate her that the men in her life continually left to have adventures, dangerous as they were, leaving her behind to house-sit a giant castle all by herself and keep the dying Winter Court running? Much as he balked at it, it was his responsibility now. He would have to talk with her more when they got back to the Winter Court.
And to think that two months ago his biggest problem had been running into Cameron too often, and being frustrated that his uncle didn’t want him to move out. It felt like a lifetime ago, like it had been someone else entirely.
“You okay?” Kade asked after they had been walking for a while, noticing his silence.
“Yeah,” Florian stammered, nodding. “Just... thinking about everything.”
Kade hesitated, as if wanting to say something, but instead simply nodded and looked back out toward the distance.
“I understand,” he said. “I’m... here if you want to talk about it.”
Florian grinned. “I think that’s one of the sweetest things you’ve said to me,” he teased. Kade didn’t respond, but the way his mouth pressed into a tight line betrayed how Florian’s words flustered him.
They had walked for what felt like several hours, maybe most of the day—the lack of change in the light was disorienting enough that Florian was unsure exactly how long it had been. Last time it had taken him a few days to readjust his sense of time in the Blight, so he expected that he would have no idea what time it was until they got back from their hopefully shorter trip.
“Should we look for a place to set up camp?” he asked. Kade glanced back at him, then looked around, seeming to take stock of their surroundings.
“I’ll keep an eye out,” he said, but they kept walking.
When they did find a suitable spot—Florian was unsure what exactly made it suitable, but Kade picked it out, and he trusted the other man’s judgment more than his own—setting up their little shelter was just as slow going. As they worked, he sorely missed having a third person to help.
“How often did my dad come to the wolf kingdom?” he asked as they worked. Kade looked over at him, his expression unreadable from the sun goggles still covering his eyes, but he seemed to think about it for a moment before answering.
“Maybe once a year or so,” he said. “Sometimes more. I think he... Well, my dad liked seeing him, of course. But I think Jerah had a hard time seeing him so sick. He started coming less when my dad got worse.”
“Oh,” Florian said. “That’s... sad.”
Kade shrugged, turning his attention back to the part of the tent that he was setting up.
Finally, when they were inside, Florian dropped the shroud. The relief and exhaustion hit him all at once, though he knew to expect it now. He panted for breath, doubling over—it ached like a muscle that he couldn’t stretch.
“Sit down,” Kade prompted him, and he all but fell to the ground. “Here.” A water jug was placed in his hands, and gratefully he started to drink.
