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After collecting her gold, I grab the knot of white fabric, shake the worst of the dirt and pine needles from it, and then frown at the strange design. The whole thing is barely the size of my hand, but the arms and collar are unmistakable. It’s some kind of tiny little sweater. Perhaps it’s for a doll, although why a magician would bring doll clothing to the Lands Below is utterly beyond me.
Well, it’s hardly the first time a woman has confused me. And at that thought, Shenarah’s beautiful face rises from somewhere deep in the recesses of my memory, her full lips and wide, bright eyes. The way she made me feel like everything she said was meant only for me.
I clear my throat like I’m trying to dislodge that image, then rub my knuckles across my chest. My brain and body both seem intent on humiliating me today. The tiny white sweater I plucked out of the trampled ground rubs against my illusion shirt, sending sparks of magic skittering across my scars. I scowl at it, shove it into Alindra’s bag, and then cast one final look back at the shadow-shrouded entrance to the mine. What Alindra was doing close enough to that mine shaft to pull a cave spider baffles me, but then again, she didn’t spend her childhood warning her younger brother away from places that were likely to hold spiders. Or worse. With a shiver, I tug Alindra’s bag over my shoulder and head to the river. Where my clothes are waiting.
To my surprise, Alindra and the horse are also waiting at the river. Alindra smiles at me, and something deep inside my chest pinches tight. Perhaps it’s the memory of the way the cave spider’s fangs glistened above the riot of Alindra’s dark curls, or perhaps the ghost of Shenarah’s memory is still tugging at me. Either way, I vanish into the woods with my clothes over my arm and take longer than strictly necessary to pull them on. When I return, Alindra pats the horse’s shoulder and gives me another one of those smiles that really has no business this far into the wilderness.
“I thought we’d walk today,” she says. “Give the horse a break.”
Give me a break, is probably what she means. I consider protesting, but the horse raises its massive head and flicks an ear toward me in what might well be a threatening manner.
“Sounds good,” I say.
I tap Skyfire’s hilt a few times as I stare right back at the horse, just in case it gets any ideas about who’s in charge here, and then Alindra and I set off, following the river’s chattering course up and into the mountains.
By late afternoon we’re both exhausted, caked with mud, and covered with scratches from the bushes that tumble over one another in a raucous crowd, constantly edging closer and closer to the water. We’re also very high in the mountains. The trees around us have grown shorter and stouter, the river has faded to a trickle, and the shadows carry a chill even under the burning gaze of this world’s merciless sun. Each new crest in the tortuous path only reveals another, farther summit, but still, I can’t help feeling that we’re getting close to the top of this pass.
Alindra and the horse step out of the water to wind their way around a series of massive boulders that create a treacherous little cascade. Above them, pale aspen trees bend together to cast trembling shadows over the dance and sparkle of the falling water. Under vastly different circumstances, it’s a spot that could be beautiful. I peer into the dark water beneath the boulders and spot a flash of silver.
“Hold on,” I say.
There’s a snorting sort of sigh, although I can’t tell if it comes from Alindra or the horse.
“There’s trout in here,” I tell Alindra. “And the trees are still thick enough to hide smoke from a fire.”
“You want to stop?” she asks.
Her voice sounds tired. I consider protesting, telling her I could go all day, but damn it, I am tired. My legs and back ache, and last night’s rest feels like a distant memory.
“Yes,” I declare. “I do want to stop.”
Alindra sighs, then runs her fingers through her hair. “Good,” she says. “Good. I’ll, uh—”
She looks around the sun-dappled forest with wide eyes, and for the first time, it occurs to me to wonder if she’s ever done this kind of thing before. She was living in the palace when I found her, and she was surrounded by what looked like half an army when she entered the canyon with the other magicians. Now she’s sneaking up a river deep in the wilderness with a stolen horse and a man from her enemy’s kingdom.
She seemed so confident when she told me how to find the Silver City, or how to steal a horse, or where to meet her when I snuck out of the trash chute in the royal stables. She’s been brave, resourceful, and calm in the face of danger.
But she must also be exhausted. I’m half tempted to tell her that she doesn’t have to do anything, that perhaps she should just sit down and rest, but somehow I don’t think she’ll take that well.
“Gather wood for the fire?” I suggest.
Alindra nods. I let her be, then turn my attention to the deep pool. A few glittering illusion lights bring the trout out of their hiding places. I grab the largest pair. My dagger makes short work of them, and by the time I join Alindra in the thickest part of the trembling aspen forest, I’m wishing I’d thought to bring a few spice packets from the World’s End.
Alindra sits on the grass. She’s arranged a nest of tinder and sticks beneath a neat square of dead wood. Magician or not, the woman does know how to set up a fire, and that’s something no one in the Lands Below takes for granted.
“Nice work,” I say.
Her cheeks darken as she looks away. “I can’t start it,” she mutters.
Of course. She’s a magician, and magicians don’t have magic of their own. Not even simple fire magic, the kind of thing everyone in the Lands Below has forced themselves to learn. I send a few sparks from my fingertips to nestle in the tinder and then arrange the fish on spits of green wood above the nascent flames.
“I think I got all of your gold,” I say, nodding toward her bag. “It’s, uh, quite a lot of coins for traveling.”
Alindra’s eyes narrow. “It’s stolen,” she says.
I swallow hard, then run my fingers through my hair. Stolen gold. Great. Now King Grathgore has even more reason to come after us.
Then again, Alindra did think we’d be escaping to the Lands Below. I’m guessing Grathgore wouldn’t venture down there, not even to retrieve a magician, let alone to chase what’s probably a paltry amount of gold for His Highness. But what in the voids did she think she was going to do with all that gold? Did she think the Lands Below had anything especially interesting to buy?
