Shadow's master

would keep his men off my lands.”

“Lands you stole from me!' Sarrow retorted. “After you burned down two of my mills.”

“I had nothing to do with it.”

“You lie!”

Josey tried to stand up in the stirrups, but couldn't find purchase even on her tiptoes. Frustrated, she shouted, “Shut up both of you!”

Sarrow and Therbold glowered at each other, but they remained silent. Brian had a hand on his father's arm.

Josey cleared her throat and tried to ignore the villagers staring at her. “Now, it is growing late, and my camp is far away.”

Sarrow looked to his rival. “I would be happy to provide an escort for you-”

“Thank you, my lord, but that will not be necessary.” She smiled. “You and I will both be guesting with Lord Therbold this evening.”

Therbold's mouth hung open. “Highness, that would be-”

“That is a command, my lord.” Josey looked to Count Sarrow. “For both of you. Therbold will play host and we shall sit down like level-headed men and women and solve this problem. Together.”

Lord Therbold muttered something under his breath, and then said, “I will not allow this mongrel in my house, Highness. I would rather-”

Josey glanced over Count Sarrow's shoulders. Lord Therbold's words died away as Hirsch approached on his small mare, followed by a company of crossbowmen. The soldiers' arrival had a profound effect on both noblemen. After a quiet conference with his officers, Sarrow announced he would be glad for a chance to settle their differences. Therbold was not so effusive, but he bent his stiff neck and mumbled a half-hearted welcome.

As the two sides set out on the road, leaving the villagers in peace, Josey rode up beside Hirsch. The adept smiled beneath the crumpled brim of his hat. “Making new friends, lass?”

“Not so much.” She leaned closer. “Your timing is excellent, Master Hirsch.”

“So I've been told, but it looked like you had things well in hand.”

It didn't feel like it. “Thank you. Any news from Argentus?”

“About finding a crossing? Nothing new. He has scouts on both sides of the river, but my guess is we'll be stuck here at least another couple days.”

“Just what I didn't need to hear. Can't you”-Josey wiggled her fingers in front of her-“wizard up some way for us to cross?”

He looked at her out of the sides of his eyes with one brow arched.

“All right.” Josey puffed out her cheeks. “Send a message back to camp, telling them where we'll be. In the meantime, I'll see if I can get these two old bulls talking.”

“I think browbeating them was an auspicious start.”

Josey glared until Hirsch winked, and they both started laughing as they rode down the muddy path.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“What the fuck is that?”

Caim steered his steed around Dray for a closer look. A low structure sat off to the side of the road amid the clumps of colorless grass-an oblong, semi-flat stone about eight feet long laid across two plinths like a crude table. Brown stains marred the surface of the long stone, and three severed heads were displayed on leaning pikes behind it.

Caim's horse shied away when they got within a pace of the display. He held the animal steady while he studied the heads. The victims had been Northmen, judging by the wisps of wheat-colored hair blowing in the wind. Their skin was blackened and ripped. The eyeballs shone in the lantern light like orbs of ice.

“What's it supposed to mean?” Malig asked.

“It means stay the hell away,” Dray answered.

Caim swung his steed around. Egil caught his nod and took off down the trail again. Caim rode up in front with him while the others filed behind. The road was harder to pick out, having shrunk over the past two days to a narrow dirt path little more than a hunting trail. They'd been riding over a monotonous plain of snow and pale grass, past menhirs and over bone-white creeks.

“You see a lot of those shrines out here?” Caim asked.

“Some. Mostly up north.”

“Who puts them up? Priests?” Caim had guessed the table was an altar, although to what deity he could hardly guess. The stains certainly looked like blood….

Egil shrugged. “I suppose. People don't talk about them. It's best that way.”

“Seems like people don't talk about a lot of things up in these parts.”

Egil pulled something out of a pocket-it looked like a stick with the bark shaved off-and started chewing on it. “Back when I was a boy, I remember seeing the sun in the sky. It would rise and fall every day. The warmth of it was like an oven on my face. They say the sun still shines in the south beyond the mountains. That true?”

“Sure.” Caim studied the guide's face.

“I was five years old when the Dark came to these lands.” Egil snapped his fingers. “And all of sudden the light was gone. That was near twenty years ago, and I ain't seen the sun since.”

Caim did the math. That was about the same time his family had been attacked. Were they connected?

“I've got a question,” Dray said. “How does anything grow up here in the dark?”

“Not much does.” Egil kicked a tuft of grass sticking up through the snow. “Except for this stuff. We never saw it when I was little, but now it's everywhere. The priests say…”

“What?” Dray asked.

“Doesn't matter. I don't listen to them. What are y'all hunting? There's lynxes out here, though they're hard to spot.”

“We're not hunting for game,” Caim answered.

The guide nodded. “Yeah. I didn't think so. You aren't outfitted for shit.”

Caim inhaled through his nose, pondering his options. He decided to take a chance. “We're looking for a place.”

“What kind of place? I'll tell you right now there ain't much to find up here. And we'll be entering Bear tribe territory soon.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Not really. We probably won't see anyone unless we go near one of their winter villages. But if we do, they might want a tax for crossing their lands.”

Caim shifted in the saddle. “I guess we'll handle that when it comes.”

With a nod, Egil jogged ahead, leaving Caim alone in the dark. Caim looked across the plains in search of a landmark he could use to judge their progress, but everywhere was the same dull, gray-black wasteland. Kit had said there was a town up ahead, but he had forgotten to ask how far. Knowing her, it could be days, or even weeks, away.

Electric fingertips ran down his spine. “Isn't it a beautiful day?”

Caim swallowed a smart retort because, in a way, it was beautiful. There was something pure about the lay of the snow on the plains. Virginal. If not for the glow of the lanterns ahead and behind, he could have believed they were the only people in the whole world. “How much longer till we reach that town?”

“Not too far.” Kit came around to straddle the horse, facing him, her legs wrapped around his waist. “Remember what you promised.”

“I haven't forgotten.” He tried to imagine exactly what she had planned. He was flesh; she was spirit. They couldn't touch, not even to kiss, but she continued to act as if they were lovers in deed as much as in word. He loved her. He could admit that now, but he didn't know what kind of future they could have together.

Egil came back, his lantern bobbing with his strides. “We're making good time. We should reach Jarnflein