“All right, then,” she says, resigned. “I suppose we continue onward.”
I nod and gesture for her to lead the way. Sadly, my words run out and I decide silence is better. Silence is easier. Less torturous.
One of the hills slowly gives way to a brittle forest, skeletal branches draped in ice, the weight of winter heavy upon them. The cold intensifies under the shade. I wonder if the war had been this cold. If I had ever been this cold, despite the sweat sliding down my back.
The sun drags lower in the sky, painting the ice-tipped peaks in bleeding hues of gold and crimson.
We have walked for days, and for the first time, Arlet starts to huff. I can’t blame her, I too am struggling against the unforgiving landscape.
A labored, rattling sound escapes her lips. I glance at her, watching the effort etched into her face. When she catches me looking, I turn away.
We keep hiking, but the sound Arlet makes returns—a soft, pained noise. I glance again.
She grits her teeth, her gaze snapping up to mine. “My moderate training sessions didn’t account for climbing mountains and crossing frozen ravines. Mind yourself—I will keep up.”
“I just want to make sure you are all right,” I say.
She pauses. Then, she smiles. It’s small, but it catches me off guard. Something shifts inside me, unfamiliar and unwanted.
And when she stops walking, leaning against one of the evergreen trees on the side of the hill, gulping down air like she’s drowning, I know I can’t ignore it.
I pull out a animal skin filled with water, take a swig, and then hold it toward her.
“Would you like to rest?”
She looks up at me, her brown eyes glistening, her cheeks flushed with effort, and she takes it.
“I swear I can do this,” she insists. “We haven’t even made it that far.”
“We have made it far enough. And you aren’t well, Firelocks. We should rest.”
She doesn’t respond.
Eventually, I turn away, and find a spot to think. What is Teo thinking right now, two days after my departure?
Out of the eighty years we have known each other, I have never done anything without ensuring it was all right with him. We’d been each other’s confidants for as long as I could remember. He knew everything about me.
And yet—I didn’t tell him I was leaving.
A deeper, more tragic realization settles in my chest, heavier than the cold.
I hadn’t said goodbye in Adra’s name.
I hadn’t lit her stone.
My shoulders curl forward, and for the first time, I wonder what the hell has come over me. I had rules.Order.
Arlet coughs again, and I turn back to the woman I’ve chosen to follow blindly away from my home. The horror of the situation dawns on me like the glow of her flushed skin.
I’ve chosen her over everything else that once mattered to me.
My mood, my plans, sink like a stone landing in sand—final, without ripple or recourse. I let out a long breath, draw myself up, and seal my lips together. Then, I move toward Arlet and wait.
She regains her composure and begins walking again. I don’t goad her.
I made a choice, and whether it was the wrong one no longer matters. I’ll send a message to Teo when we reach the elves.
I glance back at the trees. Carving Adra’s name into wood is unnecessary, but there are stones everywhere. I could use one of the knives in my pack.