“Multiple heirs that kill each other for a throne,” Aramal pointed out, then bit off a piece of dried meat with more energy than necessary.
Ritathan snorted.“End up with some street urchin, and then where are you?”
“No worse and no better than some of the Blood, that is certain,” Aramal spat.
Well, at least they were talking.Halithe opened her mouth to change the subject, but Bright Fang came out of the darkness, scrambling over the rocky ground.He came to a stop and focused his attention, and movements, on Aramal.
“The scents are still there,” Aramal said.“Both Dust and the marcus.There is another as well, a female human.They did not travel the path at the same time.”He paused, watching the vore.“He has an idea that one is hunter, one is prey, but can’t tell which is which.”
“No other scents?”Ritathan demanded.
“None,” Aramal said.“Bright also says the path gets steeper from here on.He says you should double up your socks and avoid blisters.”
“Someone might have mentioned that before we left,” Ritathan sniped.
“Anyone with any trail sense knows that already,” Aramal growled.“You can’t even start a fire without magic.”
Bright Fang flattened his ears, shared a look of disgust with Halithe, then heaved a sigh and curled into a ball, clearly giving up on the lot of them.
Halithe smiled to herself, drained her cup, and started to curl her own self up in her bedroll.She ignored Aramal and Ritathan’s low grumbles at each other as she got comfortable.
Her eyes started to drift closed as she stared at the stars overhead, bright and sparkling in the darkness.She was clean and full and warm.Even the ground beneath her didn’t seem that hard.None of it was perfect, mind, but maybe being off on an adventure wasn’t so bad after all.
She shifted to lie on her side and imagined her Father’s anger if he could see her like this, his face boiled up in rage.He’d stomp around, sure enough, spitting fire and curse words at her.
It hurt, that he’d never forgive this.Even worse if he knew that she’d lost her heart in the process.
She closed her eyes and deliberately brought a different image to mind, of auburn hair and sweet brown eyes, and with that comfort, let herself fade to sleep.
Halithe changed hermind about adventures once again by mid-afternoon the next day.“You can’t be serious,” she said as she stared up at the cliffside.Steep, switch-back trails cris-crossed the side of the mountain.Surely only a goat could manage that path.
“If it’s any consolation,” Aramal said as he pulled a length of rope from his pack.“We are almost at the top.”
Halithe jerked around to look at Ritathan, who was standing further down the trail and breathing hard.“You’re a powerful mage, right?Radiating authority and majesty—”
“I do, don’t I,” Ritathan smirked, but it didn’t have the same effect when he was all breathless and sweaty.
“Cast a portal,” Halithe glared.
“It’s not that simple,” Ritathan said.“Besides, I promised—”
“Are we even in Athelbryght?”Halithe demanded.“Does the barony go all the way to the top?I don’t see guards, or a border crossing, or a line anywhere.”
Bright Fang barked.
Aramal frowned.“I don’t understand him.It’s something that means a fake argument, one that is used to deceive—”
“Sophistry,” Halithe and Ritathan chorused.
Ritathan chuckled, but Halithe plunged on.“It’s not fake when it saves our necks.”She looked up the sheer expanse.“You really think we won’t fall?”
“If we are roped together, and go slow—”
“You really thinkwehave the skill needed?Or the time to waste?”Halithe said.“What if the weather doesn’t hold?”
Aramal sputtered, indignant.Bright Fang made a strangled noise.Halithe pointed at both of them.“You know I am right, you just don’t want to admit it.”She jabbed her finger at Ritathan in triumph.“Portal.”
“I won’t,” Ritathan said.
