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“He told me,” Kieran replied. “Back when we first arrived at Winter Castle.”
“And you kept him around?” Fiona asked. She looked surprised rather than angry.
Her tone felt condescending to me, but my guilt regarding my earlier words prevented me from commenting on it.
“I did,” Kieran replied. “I told him that he could take anything I had that I did not need. We have a lot of things that we don’t need, sister.”
My heart warmed for him as I watched Fiona. She seemed thoughtful for a second.
“Still,” she mumbled, but she did not add anything else.
After a while, Dearen came with the food. He had found a big loaf of bread and some carrots. It wasn’t a feast we would remember fondly the next time we were hungry, but it proved Kieran’s point about Dearen’s stealing habits. Perhaps the village was not that rich, and he had taken only what would not be missed.
The day was getting darker as we ate. We had spent the whole day running away from the soldiers, and now that they were far away, I informed everyone that we could sleep tonight and keep making our way toward Cari in the morning. They would not be able to find us anytime soon.
You’re close, Cari said at that. I can reach your friends’ minds without using you as a vessel.
Don’t do that, I said warningly.
Cari did not use any words in response to my warning. She only made sure I felt her resentment and frustration.
“We don’t have a fire,” Dearen said. “But I think it’s warm enough now that Brigid doesn’t have to use her power to warm the ground.”
“Yes,” Kieran replied. “It is getting warm.”
He’s afraid of spring, Cari said.
Are you in his mind? I asked her angrily.
I don’t have to be in his mind to know what he means, Cari replied, and as we made our beds to sleep for the night, she pulled off from my mind at once.
***
THERE I AM, Cari said, her tone full of excitement as the words echoed inside my mind.
I stared at the building, which was oddly placed on top of a hill. We were staring at it across from a large lake, and in the middle of the lake, I could see the little island with the cherry tree. It hadn’t blossomed like the last time Cari had shown it to me back when she first told me to come and save her, but it was the same tree.
On the other side of the lake stood the weirdest castle I’d ever seen. It wasn’t wide enough to be mistaken for a lord’s residence; it looked like a tower built to keep a garrison. It only had two stores, and it did not have walls surrounding it.
Of course, the hill was tall enough to deter any attackers from trying to take the castle. It did not have any trees or forests to hide behind, and the castle was steep enough that one would need tools to climb on its stone walls.
You didn’t mention we would need mountain gear to save you, I said to Cari.
Because you don’t,she replied. I’ll get you in. All you have to do is walk around the lake and reach the gates.
What gates? I asked, my gaze wandering across the scenery to spot what she might be talking about.
Those, she said, flashing the image in my mind instead of giving me a direction to look at.
It took me only a few seconds to spot it.
The gates weren’t exactly hidden, but they would have been easy to miss if it weren’t for Cari’s instruction. It didn’t look like a door at all. It was a flatness on the side of the hill, the same color as the rest of the dry mountain. If it weren’t for Cari’s assurance, I would not think to go there at all, but when I observed it closely, I realized that the door was guarded.
I’ll take care of the guards, Cari said as soon as I saw the two guards.
They make the door rather obvious, I said. What’s the point?
The point is, Cari said. You wouldn’t be able to see them if I wasn’t lifting the cloak on them for you.
