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I left through the southern gate to not arise suspicion and had to circle through the Neverwood to get to the northern gate to meet Sahlyn. I loved every creature of this wood, so on my brief journey, I said farewell to my wild friends. I also asked them about Iro, but there was still no word of his whereabouts. As Tavere clomped back onto the main road at the gate, I had a heavy heart. I didn’t think I would see my jay again.
My stupid heart convulsed upon seeing a familiar hooded rider on a gray horse. I swallowed back the well of emotion. I still didn’t know what it was we were doing. For all I knew, he was leading me straight to the palace to my inevitable death. I should have questioned him more. But instead, I was following him on blind faith.
I was an idiot.
He watched me approach with a curious expression, questioning why I was coming from the dense forest instead of the gate in excellent working condition. Then he must have remembered my relationship with the animals in this wood, and Sahlyn gave me a solemn nod. His eyes swept the forest, then the skies. I sighed through my nose and guided Tavere up beside Sahlyn’s horse.
“Ready?” His question was heavy with the magnitude of this expedition.
“As I’ll ever be,” I offered with a grimace.
Domestically
One thing that always impressed me about Autumn was her imperturbable calm. She was infuriatingly stubborn, resilient, and serene. I wanted her to shout and rage and act like a crazy female I had just dragged from her life, her family, and even a new romance. But instead, she put on her boots and trudged on without question. Well, withouttoomuch question.
She said nothing, and I know it killed her to be quiet. She wanted to ask questions, but she was waiting for me to provide answers to the ones she wasn’t asking. The fact was, though, I didn’t have responses to offer.
“Where are we going?” She finally asked without looking at me.
“To the Dunvar Mountains.”
Her head slowly turned to me, her brows raised in thought. The action wrinkled her forehead adorably.
I glanced away and took a sip from my water skin.
“Dunvar mountains,” she repeated and inclined her head to the sky. I didn’t know whether she was looking for her bird or gauging the sun, but she didn't seem perturbed by the answer.
“To the dwarves.”
That pulled her attention back to me. “The dwarves?”
I know I was giving her half-ass answers, but was she really going just to repeat them with that calm expression?
“Apparently.”
“There are still dwarves in Dunvar?”
“That was what my mentor believed.”
“Bereille?”
“Yes.”
She sucked in another breath, and I noted a lightness in her eyes. Was she happy to be going to the northern tip of Catalan, to the mountains of the dwarves? That seemed like a strange thing to make the lady happy, but Autumn was a peculiar girl.
“Tell me about Bereille.”
There was a tightness in my chest at her request. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
“I don’t…” I paused and closed my eyes against the pain, but when I did, his death played vividly in my mind, and I snapped my eyes open. Perhaps talking about him would keep his memory alive. I should memorialize his good character.
“He was the best man I’ve ever known, aside from my father.”
And I told her everything I could about him without breaking the contract’s clauses. I told her about our training, his strange yet ingenious methods and nuances, and how he kept Amira in check when others could not. I told her he had taken me under his wing, even if I didn’t think I deserved it.
Then I told her about his death. The contract didn’t wrap around my throat to stop what I was saying. I didn’t tell her anything specific about the queen or the hearts. I simply said I had seen something horrifying, and Bereille had been there to pick up the pieces.
