Shalkan stopped as Kellen wriggled free of the saddle, just in time to catch the girl as she slumped to the ground. He lowered her gently and turned back the hood of her cloak. She was gasping for air, and her eyes were half-closed.
'Vestakia? Vestakia, can you hear me?'
'I… oh, it hurts so much!' She rolled to her knees and retched weakly.
Kellen hated to badger her, but he had no choice. 'Vestakia, is it near? Which way?'
'There.' Still on her hands and knees, she pointed up between two boulders, at a nearly sheer half-dome of rock. 'Near. It must be.'
'We can do it,' Shalkan said, looking the way she had pointed. 'But not in the dark. And the animals can't do it at all. We'd have to leave them here.'
'Stay here tonight?' Kellen said incredulously, gazing down at Vestakia. 'She can't!'
'There are some medicines in your packs that will help her. So I suggest you get them,' the unicorn said impassively.
Kellen got to his feet and gazed up at Jermayan, who was still sitting astride Valdien, gazing down at Vestakia's misery as if it had nothing to do with him.
'Well? Are you going to just sit there? Do what you came here to do and be of some use,' Kellen snapped harshly, in a voice he hardly recognized as his. 'Or I'll tell Idalia you failed in your task to help me. And how. And why. And she can make up her own mind whether or not you were worthy of her.'
Jermayan flinched back as if Kellen had slapped him, and turned wordlessly away to dismount and unpack the mule.
A heavy weight of oppression seemed to press down on Kellen's spirit. It wasn't just the deadness of this place, the gloomy sky, the unforgiving stone, though all of those contributed to the feeling. Something bad lived here. Something inimical to the human spirit. Vestakia was right, or if not right, very close.
He had to fight himself to keep from crouching down, from looking over his shoulder, from peering at every shadow in search of an enemy. Vestakia was already miserable enough; he didn't want to terrify her.
Kellen turned back to Vestakia, helping her to sit. 'You'll feel better soon, I promise,' he said, hoping it was true. 'Shalkan says we have medicines with us, and you'll have them soon.'
Vestakia smiled wanly at him, blinking back tears. 'Please don't let them get me, Kellen. I'd rather die than that. Promise me.'
Apparently his attempt to put on a cheerful face wasn't distracting her. Well, if this place seemed oppressive to him, how bad must it be for her?
'I won't let the Demons have you,' Kellen promised, realizing with a sinking feeling just what it was he was promising. And Jermayan would probably be happy to kill you whether there was a Demon around or not.
He looked up at the sky, trying to decide how much light they had left. By the position of the sun, it was a few hours before sunset, but darkness came quickly here in the mountains. Even if Shalkan's remedies worked, and Vestakia was well enough to go on today, there was no guarantee that darkness wouldn't find them halfway along the path, trapped somewhere in the mountains far too near the Barrier.
But Kellen knew he'd been right, too. The thought of camping for the night here on the enemy's doorstep was not only unthinkable, he suspected it would be impossible. He thought of the dreams he'd had back on the haunted battlefield and shuddered. He wasn't willing to risk more of the same—or worse. There might not be any sign of opposition yet, but the longer they stayed here, the more likely discovery became. No, they'd go on as soon as possible.
Shalkan had wandered off, and was talking to Jermayan. Kellen would have given a lot to know what that conversation consisted of, but the unicorn's voice was pitched too low for him to hear. Jermayan was unloading the mule, and unpacking the brazier. Shalkan collected one of the bags in his teeth and sauntered back, depositing it at Kellen's feet.
'There's a cup, a black bottle, and a wineskin in there. Put an ounce of the contents of the black bottle into the cup, then fill it up with the wineskin. Then have Vestakia drink it. Jermayan's brewing tea.' Shalkan's voice was neutral, conveying nothing of what he might be thinking.
Kellen ought to have expected that. Well, if whatever was in the bottle had allheal in it, the stuff might do Vestakia some good. 'Listen, just tell me if Jermayan ever neglects to brew tea when we stop, will you?' he asked Shalkan, trying for a little humor to at least cheer up Vestakia. 'If that happens, I'll know there's either something seriously wrong with him, or it's an imposter.'
