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“We’ll be there late morning.” He answered, and Brex sighed in relief causing me to chuckle.
“He means late morning tomorrow.” I reiterated, suppressing more laughter.
“Oh.” Brex said, looking back the way we’d come.
“Glad you insisted on coming along?” I asked her, smiling.
“Yes, I need to be here.” She said making a show of straightening her shoulders and picking up the pace.
Little John bounded over boulders like he was a nimble deer which was surprising due to his bulk. He made it look graceful while Brex and I stumbled after him looking like newborn horses, all legs with hardly any balance.
By the time dusk had fallen Brex and I were ready to drop from exhaustion. Little John stopped in a shallow valley with a stream running through it. The hills on either side acted as a windbreak as we settled down to rest. Little John helped us sweep the snow off the ground then collected brambles from the surrounding trees to lay our bedrolls on. We practically fell into our furs and were asleep before our heads hit our makeshift pillows.
Dawn lit up the sky when Little John roused Brex and me from our exhausted slumber. Brex groaned as her overworked muscles protested the movement. My limbs were sore, but it was a welcome feeling. I’d been in my foggy state for too long and needed to rebuild the muscle I had lost.
“We’ll need to tread carefully from here.” Little John instructed, taking a sip from his waterskin. “Rekker will have scouts and they’ll hear us coming long before we hear them.”
“If there were more trees, I’d suggest I go alone. Wolves don’t look up.”
“A weakness on their part.” Little John said, nodding his agreement. “If there is sufficient tree cover you can go but if I remember correctly there isn’t. Rekker knows what he’s doing.”
I grimaced at the almost compliment. He really did know what he was doing, but [VD38] I didn’t understand why Asena had sent him after us. She’d gotten what she wanted, both kingdoms under her thumb. What did she want from Einri and me? We were no threat to her but if the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t want a potential threat to exist. I’d stamp them out.
“Be sure to fill your water skins. I don’t know when we’ll find water again.” Little John advised, crouching to fill his from the stream.
Brex and I did the same, each taking a moment to wash our faces with the icy water. It shook the lingering sleepiness from us. We grabbed our packs and began walking, deciding to eat while we traveled.
The Eylendian’s had given us dried meat that was salty and smoky tasting. They also gave us a loaf of sorts that contained meat, fat, and grains. It lacked flavor but I found that it kept me full longer and gave me a boost of energy that I wasn’t expecting. I made a mental note to get the recipe from Mavka and have Epione put her spin on it.
The thought of the grandmotherly woman in Rekker’s clutches made my stomach roil with unease. She had come to mean a great deal to me. I had to get her back. I hadn’t been able to save my father, but I’d damn myself to Infernal Fires before I let Rekker keep her.
My mood grew sourer the closer we crept to the place Little John suspected Rekker had set up camp. It was in a wash between two rocky hills. There was no way you could sneak into camp without being seen since there was only one clear way into camp.
We crawled to the edge of a ridge opposite the camp and looked down at it. We were too far away to see if they had Epione. Tents dotted the wash while wolves and men milled about chopping firewood or eating. How were we going to sneak in and find if Epione was even here?
If she just got lost in the woods, I swear I’ll slap her.
“What now?” Brex whispered, looking at Little John who was studying the camp, eyes narrowed in concentration.
“We need to confirm that she’s here.” I answered, trying to come up with some way to do that.
A soft yip from behind has us all whipping around for sure we’d been caught by one of Rekker’s men. Ruby sat on his haunches not far from us, his brown eyes looking at us with so much intelligence it was hard to believe that he couldn’t access his human side.
“Ruby?” I was surprised and relieved to see him here.
He got down on his belly and crawled up to the edge of the ridge to join us. Brex gave me a wide-eyed look as she watched him mimic how we crawled earlier.
“Did you follow us?” I asked him, running my hand through his russet colored fur.
He huffed in response, squinting his eyes at the camp before looking at me and tilting his head in question.
“We’re looking for someone and we think she was taken by them.” I said, pointing to the camp over the ridge. “We aren’t sure how to go about infiltrating to confirm she’s there.”
Ruby growled before returning his eyes to the camp.
“He can’t understand you,” Brex said softly, sharing a worried look with Little John.
“Of course, he does.” I retorted, running my hand over his furred head. “He’s a rogue which means he was once human.”
