Page 246 of The Sun He Buried

“Too far.”

Branches strike my shoulders. The mare breaks through the first drift and nearly loses her footing. I keep her moving until the ground falls too steeply between the trees.

I dismount.

Snowpetal hits the snow and limps downhill.

Baldr swings down beside me. “Eirik.”

I turn east.

Solveih’s fear pulses through the bond.

Closer.

The relief beneath it is small, but it reaches me.

She knows I’m coming.

Baldr watches my face.

His eyes drop to the hand I’ve pressed below my ribs.

Salt touches my tongue again.

He looks toward the unmarked slope.

“You can find her.”

I start down.

“Yes.”

The trees open onto the road again two bends below.

Blood covers the snow.

One rogue lies against a pine with his throat open. Another has left a dark trail into the forest. A broken sword rests near a length of fine silver mesh.

White wool sits beside the body.

Snowpetal reaches it.

She sniffs the ruined puffball, then turns toward the trees on the opposite side.

Baldr kneels near two deep lines cut through the snow.

“They dragged her.”

“She was walking when they left the road.”

His head lifts.

“You know that too.”

“Yes.”

He stands and draws his sword.