I opened my eyes to see the captain sitting at the front, turned toward me.
“Mm-hmm?”
“When do you take over?” he asked me almost softly.
“We head straight north,” I told him, shifting my pack to a better position. “If we have good weather today,” I told him, ignoring the gentle fall of the snow. “Then we’ll be near the fork before Eirhollow, before true nightfall. I’ll tell you where to camp for the night.”
Sergeant Gralen sat beside his captain up front. “It’ll take us a whole day to get back to where we were when you made a run for it?” he asked, disgust heavy in his voice.
“No one asked you to follow me.” I closed my eyes again, ending the conversation.
Was it my fault that they all packed up to follow me? No. Was it my fault they made their own journey longer? Maybe.
Did I care?
Not at all.
Chapter 6
The weatherin Crystallese didn’t disappoint.
By midmorning, the wind was whipping against the sides of the wagons, threatening to topple us over. The snow felt like ice, and it was colder than the sea in the Frozen Waste.
Soldiers were no fun to travel with. They might be good in a fight, but in a snowstorm? Useless.
Worse than useless, because they still managed to find the energy to complain.
I was still tucked into my corner of the wagon, not enjoying the rocking with each gust the gods sent our way. I was trying to convince myself it was better than walking through it.
In the wagon, I could conserve my energy for when I really needed it. But as the temperature dropped even more, I knew I’d soon have to leave the corner I was currently inhabiting. Staying still was its own kind of risk.
“Why do people live in this?” one of the soldiers muttered, and it took me a moment to realize he was talking to me.
I couldn’t see much of him, heavily wrapped to protect against the weather, but the skin around his eyes had few to no lines, so I assumed he was young.
“It’s not always so bad,” I shouted over the wind.
He didn’t seem convinced as the wagon rocked again. I heard someone shout over the wind, and when our wagon lurched, I knew the horses were fighting hard.
It was time to move.
Sliding my pack and tightening the strap so it dug uncomfortably into my chest, I placed my hand on the wagon’s rim, grabbed my staff, and with one move, I vaulted over the side.
My boots hit the ground, sinking immediately into the fresh snow before meeting the firmer snow beneath.
A gust nearly knocked me off my feet. With my head down and shoulders hunched, I moved as fast as I could to reach the horses, using my staff for support. I pulled on the reins, slowing them down, ignoring Gralen's shouts behind me. I wasn’t sure who it was, but I just knew it would be him.
I rubbed the horse's nose, then turned him around and led the poor creature to the nearby shelter of the trees. Not that the trees offered much shelter, since their black trunks were thin at the woodland's edge. It was too dense for the horse to move through, but if we stayed close to the edge, some cover was available.
It wasn’t an actual path. A horse could easily lose its footing out here, so with the warm breath of my new friend on my shoulder, I guided the horse along the edge, keeping the wagon steady behind us.
I didn’t look back to check on the other wagon. I figured at least one of them would have some sense, even if they brought along three mercenaries.
There were fourteen soldiers, including the captain. That should have been enough. So why the extra blades? And why mercenaries? Darysian soldiers would probably have been cheaper. Were the other two getting ten gold pieces like Baxley?
Adding three mercenaries made no sense to me. It also made them stand out.
That nagged at me all during the wagon ride, and I was eager to ask, but not so eager I would actually do it. Maybe it was for the woman?
