Koji scowled. “I’m sure that’s what he thinks.”
There was obviously more to Koji’s frustration, but Florian had no intention of inserting himself into some sort of family drama that he ultimately had no stake in. They walked silently for a moment longer, then he added with a slight chuckle,
“Well, I’m happier to be hanging out with you than him, so I guess it worked out alright in the end.”
Koji’s dark expression broke as he, too, laughed. “I suppose that’s true. I can’t imagine him hiking through the Blight like this. Even thirty years ago. I bet he complained the whole way.”
“My father always said the dragon king was too busy navel-gazing to do anything else,” Kade added dryly, making Florian burst into laughter. “No offense. I see what he meant now, though.”
Koji chuckled. “My father didn’t exactly paint a flattering picture of the wolf king, either. Well, whatever. We’re not them. I like you both well enough so far. I’m glad you came here, Florian. I don’t think I’ll ever feel bored again after all this.”
Florian smiled, relieved to move on to a lighter topic. “Is the dragon kingdom that boring?”
“Yes,” Koji groaned. “Every day is the same. Drink tea, look out in the garden, read whatever book seems the most interesting that day, go for a walk, maybe do some training if you’re lucky. I wish I could have gone to Earth like the guards who rotate in and out of the kingdom. I went there once, you know—all dragon shifters do, to get Earth paperwork and a passport and all that, just in case. Other citizens could visit for longer, but not us. The royal family had to stay in the kingdom unless... Well, unless we were basically evacuating, which has never happened.”
Kade glanced back at him, frowning. “For what purpose?”
Koji shrugged. “Because my father said so. Sometimes I think he cares more about being obeyed than actually making rules that make sense. Supposedly it’s good for morale, but the other citizens of the dragon kingdom don’t care what we do. They’re worried about their own lives. Is the thought that the king’s children are up in their stupid castle really that comforting to everyone else?”
Florian considered it for a moment, even though Koji was certainly just venting. He thought of the dinners his aunt Tatiana had set up for him with various citizens of the Winter Court, now that he was king, so that they knew him and could speak to him. She saw value in that, and he could too, even if it was annoying at the time.
“If they really are strangers, then yeah, they wouldn’t care,” Florian replied slowly. “But if they know you... Maybe it helps a little bit.”
“Hmm,” Koji sighed, sounding unconvinced. “Maybe.”
For a moment, the only sounds between them were their three sets of footsteps crunching through the dry, dusty earth—the sound arrhythmic with how long their magically enhanced strides were. Finally, it was Kade who spoke again.
“This is why I’m glad to be part of a pack,” he said softly, and despite the bleakness of it all, Koji smiled, and Florian laughed.
Miserable as it was, their first day out in the Blight was uneventful. Kade had kept careful watch through it all, but no Blight monsters had come anywhere near them, though there were a few times they had to pause so Kade could scan the horizon more closely. Occasionally, Florian thought he’d seen flashes of movement far away, too, but whatever was out there with them was luckily giving them a wide berth so far.
“What sort of things are even out here?” Koji had asked dubiously, so Florian had described the creatures they had seen with as much detail as he could conjure up—the giant beetles, the strange armored pigs, the spike-covered canine creatures. He left out the disturbing, half-shifted cats; those were still too painful to think about for long. Koji seemed appropriately disgusted by the rest, though, and he kept a close eye on the horizon as well, when he wasn’t studying the map.
He had kept the quickening magic up for just a few hours, but extending it to three people tired him out even faster. The shroud was essential, so the moment he started to feel strained by the quickening, he told the other two that he would be dropping it and let the magic fizzle out. Keeping the shroud on three people would be harder, too, so he had to make sure not to over-exert himself.
“Let’s stop here for the night,” Kade announced when they had been walking at a normal pace for several hours—it might have been late in the afternoon, or it might have been midnight for all Florian could tell. The unending light completely desynchronized his sense of time. Koji seemed unsure of the time as well, frowning at Kade’s words, but he didn’t argue.
They showed Koji how to construct their shelter, so it took longer than usual to get everything set up. Finally, once they were within its thick canvas walls, Florian dropped the shroud with a sigh of relief. He felt sore, like he’d spent the day flexing a muscle that he hadn’t used in a long time—Kade seemed used to it, as he started setting up both of their sleeping bags and getting food out, but Koji looked at him with obvious worry.
“I’m alright,” Florian said quickly, even as he sat down with his legs shaking underneath him. “Just tired. It’s a long time to hold the shroud.”
Koji still frowned, worrying his bottom lip. “I guess I don’t understand how fae magic works.”
Florian hesitated, looking away. He didn’t think that he’d been using old magic, then, but he still wasn’t sure if he could tell the difference most of the time. How much did he want to explain to Koji? Nice as he was, the man was practically a stranger still; and if Kade’s reaction had been anything to go by, the thought of using old magic was frightening to just about everyone in the Veil.
No, the details were best saved for later, Florian decided.
“It kind of feels like having a sore muscle after you’ve worked out, but in your head, I guess?” He tried to keep his tone light, and Koji winced with sympathy, but set to work unpacking his belongings.
Florian sat with his eyes closed for a while, listening to the other two getting things set up around him, until he felt Kade sit down next to him.
“Here,” Kade said softly, handing a plate over to him. It had a few pieces of jerky, cheese, and hard bread set out on it—the bulk of their meals while they traveled in the Blight. Florian smiled gratefully at Kade, then started to eat.
Koji sat across from them, eating his own plate of the same food with a curious expression on his face. He was only just realizing that he and Kade were together, Florian realized. He looked down at his plate with an embarrassed flush rising in his cheeks. They hadn’t really been hiding it, though, so maybe Kade was right, and Koji really was just oblivious.
But to his credit, Koji didn’t say anything. They ate in silence, a stark contrast to how chatty he had been for most of the day so far. When they were done, Koji handed his empty plate to Kade, who stashed the supplies back away in his own backpack.
“So, uh,” Koji started, and Florian felt his face rush with heat again, anticipating any number of awkward questions. “Probably isn’t worth it to try to clean my clothes off, right?”
