Page 84 of The Unseen Hour

“A valiant attempt at rescue,” I told it with a smile, trying to hide from Orion how much the slip had shaken me.

“Do you need to rest?” Orion was already digging through his pack for food.

“No. I’m all right. At least I’m dressed for a walk.” I gestured to my attire—yet another set of his borrowed clothes—with a grin.

“Do you plan to go back to dresses?” Orion asked when we made our next turn on the route.

I scoffed.

“Not if I can help it. I’ll just be known as a wild woman.”

He chortled.

“And I will defend you from any naysayers. You and your army of birds.” He pointed, and I saw the treehoppers were still swooping above us.

When we reached an outcropping that was flat and wide, we sat for a rest.

Orion grimaced and rubbed his knee. The birds landed with us, and one poked at his injured leg.

“I’ll be all right,” he assured the bird, tossing them all another piece of fruit. “We’ve got a plan.”

I pulled a waterskin from my own satchel. Thank both gods, and I suppose whichever others weren’t awful, that Orion had bothered learning enough when hunting to figure out how to make the things. I’d have been desperately lost on my own. I tilted the skin, taking a long drink and then passing it to Orion.

In exchange he handed me a strip of dried meat and some berries.

I chewed furiously, trying to take my mind off our precarious height, intermittently tossing a stray berry to the birds, who swooped and dove to catch them in the air.

The largest landed and began preening his feathers.

“Bravo!” I applauded him.

“I like seeing you happy. Death will find your father, I have every confidence. And if he’s in danger in Emrys, or anywhere else, we’ll go after him as soon as we’ve returned home.”

I reached over and placed a hand on his arm, reveling, as always, in the warmth.

“My valiant knight,” I teased.

After our short break we hiked for a few more hours, then stopped on another ledge to sleep.

We began moving again when the orange and purple lights danced above our heads once more. The birds had slept in a leafy branch that grew from the cliff wall.

“Do you think they’re just following us for the food?” I asked, somewhat disconcerted. The tree hoppers were more intelligent than any birds I’d ever seen. Perhaps even more intelligent than Pellix, not that I would tell the stallion so. I imagined they had ulterior motives. They visited often, but they’d never stuck close for so long before.

“It’s possible they want to know what we’re after. They’re very observant, and they’ve probably noticed that I’ve never come down here before.”

After another lengthy session of hiking, we reached the base of the canyon. It was covered in a gritty sand, with a stream running through its center. We were near the apex of the canyon on its northern edge. I could see the arc of the canyon wall where the cavern must be.

All the water came from the direction of the cavern entrance. As we approached, the water grew calmer. Farther downstream from the cavern’s entrance, it became deeper and more erratic, growing from a small creek to a raging river. In the distance I could hear rushing rapids.

No matter; we’d stick to the shores and the cavern and hike back up the canyon walls.

At the cavern’s entrance, the water was as smooth as glass. It was crystal clear and no deeper than our knees.

“How could it be so calm here, and grow so rapidly as it leaves the cavern?”

Orion glared at the water. “Charon. His realm. His rules. It will not move like any normal river, and we’ll want to be on our guard. Stick close to me while we’re inside.”

I kept my hand in his as we waded into the water and entered the cavern.