Searchingfor it.
The slight compression of the earth where the weight had passed. The way cold air moved differently over disturbed ground than over untouched snow. The quality of silence that signaled a path had been used recently, rather than one that had been abandoned.
My brothers taught me everything I knew about tracking. If they knew I’d let myself be kidnapped from helping Darysian soldiers, they’d kick my ass from here to Iskaeld themselves.
We walked forward, moving through the dark, skirting around Iskaeld in a wide arc. We weren’t heading for there, we were going north of there… on purpose. My hands were finally free, but with Vorn's people around me, I knew I was still a prisoner. I pressed my boot into the snow and felt for the compression beneath.
I am going to be fine. I know how to do this.
My self-assurance helped. A little.
In the dark, I could see the snow rise in front of us as the mountains appeared more clearly.
They wanted me to find the pass through the mountains. I’d been through one before, and it was a harrowing experience I never wanted to repeat. Every step was a hope that we wouldn’t end up buried under an avalanche.
“They’re closer than you think,” Vorn murmured from beside me.
Because distance in Crystallese was misleading.
“The mountains?” I asked stupidly.
I heard his low chuckle. “You think he’s coming for you, Amarya?”
Yes. But not for why Vorn thought.
“No. I really don’t.” I didn’t look at him, and I was proud of how final my voice sounded.
“Keep dreaming.” He scoffed. “You have value for him, and it’s more than what’s between your legs.”
I stopped walking. Vorn looked back at me, his moonstone casting light over us.
“Why do you have to make it sound so ugly?” I demanded. “That’s just… nasty.”
Vorn looked confused. “What’d I say?”
I started walking again. “You said you’re a dick with no manners.”
“Manners?” He bellowed with laughter, and I was glad my face wrappings covered my cheeks. They hid my blush.
“Shut up,” I muttered irritably as I marched through the snow.
Ahead, I could see the faint curve of a trail, the snow slightly higher on either side of a short width, no more than a few feet across. A dip in the terrain told me there was a trail of some sort.
I followed the trail with the aid of Vorn’s moonlight and pretended I needed to focus so the brute wouldn’t have to speak to me.
A while later, the mountains looked no closer, but Vorn seemed happy with the progress.
“We stop here,” he announced.
I looked around. There was nothing wrong with the flat spot in the middle of a whole lot of flat spots. I chose not to argue with him. Gathering my cloak around me, I prepared to lie down. I was in a half-crouch when his words froze me.
“With me, Amarya.”
“Wh-what?” My voice sounded dry.
“You lie with me.”
“No, I don’t.”
