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I looked at both the paths. The one leading to my cousins was indeed wider. It had hoofprints and the long lines of cartwheels all over it. The one to the right looked more like an overgrown trail for deer to cut through.
“How long will the right one take?” I asked Alrick.
He scratched his chin. “Around two weeks. It curves around a mountain. Close to my lands.”
“Two weeks?” I said. “We will be starved by then.”
Alrick looked back and forth between the two paths. “The small village I was guiding us to is also no longer an option. We’ve ended up too far west. It would take us six days from here to reach it.”
“So we have no choice but to take the shortcut,” I concluded.
Henrike stayed silent—a sign she reluctantly agreed.
“We could ride alongside the path,” Alrick said. “I might know someone who can help us. I’m not certain if he is still alive, but one of my former soldiers was from a small town less than two days from here.”
“Can we trust him?” Henrike asked.
“I sent him home, against Father’s wishes, when he was wounded in battle. It prevented an infection to his leg that would have taken his life.”
“So he is in your debt,” I concluded.
Alrick mounted his horse in an effortless motion. “I’d like to think so, but sometimes debt makes no difference in times like these.”
As if in response, my stomach growled. God, I was so hungry.
“I say let’s do it,” I said. “I don’t know how many more days I can go without food. If we shorten our rests and ride longer hours each day, we will be at my cousin’s soon.”
Alrick nodded, then looked over to Henrike, who nodded as well.
“It’s decided, then. There is a smaller path that runs along this road not far from here. We will ride in silence and hide from any people we encounter.”
