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Thea shook her head in disbelief and addressed Kipp. ‘Safe to say that you’re not still mooning over Milla, then?’
Kipp blinked slowly. ‘Who?’
‘Milla!’ Cal exclaimed. ‘The raven-haired beauty from the Laughing Fox? The one you wouldn’t shut up about for the first four months we were travelling? The one we saw kissing that other man…’
Kipp scratched his chin before shrugging. ‘No idea who you mean.’
Thea found herself smiling. It was moments like these she missed out on when she was lost in her fury. She had to appreciate them while she could.
‘You’re ridiculous,’ Cal said.
Kipp reached across and attempted to pat his shoulder. ‘It’s alright to be jealous, Callahan.’
‘I’m hardly —’
‘You can’t teach it,’ Kipp continued, sitting up straight in his saddle. ‘Some of us are just born this way.’
‘And what way is that?’
‘Oh, you know,gifted.’
Cal’s face reddened. ‘You’re such a —’
‘Wren will never have him,’ Thea interjected, sharing a pitying look with Cal. ‘He’s too annoying.’
‘That’s a nice word for it,’ Cal muttered.
The banter made for a quicker ride, and sooner than expected, Thea found herself at the edge of the forest, looking out onto a road that was bustling despite the harsh conditions. Carriages and horse-drawn carts groaned along the worn, icy path, wheels creaking beneath the weight of wares and weary travellers. There were people on foot as well, bundled in cloaks and blankets, shuffling along with packs strapped high on their backs, their breath visible in the frigid air.
‘The fuck is this?’ Cal blurted, watching the rumbling carts leaving deep ruts in the increasingly muddied slush.
‘Maybe they’re all here to celebrate Thea’s name day,’ Kipp declared.
‘My name day is well and truly over, Kipp,’ Thea said drily, her hand drifting to her fate stone.
‘We’re here to watch the eclipse in Vios, boy,’ an elderly man croaked from the side of the road, cupping his hands before his mouth, attempting to warm himself.
Cal shot Thea an apprehensive look.
‘You’ve been before?’ she asked the man.
He shook his head. ‘First time going to Vios for it,’ he replied. ‘But if there was ever a time for it, it’s now, eh?’
‘You think it’ll save the midrealms?’ Thea pressed, brows knitted together in scepticism.
‘Me? No. I think we’re all fucked.’
‘That’s the spirit,’ Kipp retorted from his horse.
The old man shrugged. ‘My wife was a spiritual woman. She was always on about how the alignment of the sun, moon and world was a reminder of the interconnectedness of all things. How an eclipse is the lifting of the veil between our world and what’s next – how it gives us access to the gods, to the Furies themselves.’
‘Right…’ Kipp scratched his head awkwardly. ‘She somewhere in this chaos, then?’ He nodded to the bustling activity on the road.
‘She’s dead,’ the man said.
Kipp baulked. ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’
‘Wraiths got her. Not five months ago.’
