Kaiten relented with a sigh and muttered a gruff “come here.” He shifted, awkwardly, and pulled Cassendir to his chest, wrapping him in the Beastman’s share of furs and clamping his arms around the scholar’s. Kaiten stared back at Loren, obviously in discomfort.
“Just keep him alive, okay?” Loren sighed. “For me? I’ll repay the favor with whatever you want me to do once we’re all somewhere warm and not dead.”
“What? I don’t want him to die either!” Kaiten spluttered, indignant. “It’s just that-“
“Is it because he’s a human or because he’s male?” Loren asked bluntly, hands on her hips.
“…..Human.” Kaiten muttered, embarrassed. “You humans have no fur, no feathers, you feel so strange to hold. Too smooth and soft.”
“Just tough this one out for a little while.” Loren tried to stifle a chuckle. “I promise it won’t be for very long.” She glanced back at Cassendir’s face. The scholar’s head had pitched forward onto the Beastman’s warm chest. He was awake, aware that he now was cradled in muscular arms covered in coarse fur, but he made no move to react. The blue light of his magic flickered.
The next few minutes were spent with Loren busying herself around the igloo, checking and rechecking her packs, taking out a cut of venison that she had wrapped in a scrap of silks for storage, and finding enough kindling and sticks to make a fire.
From where she was curled up with Ma’trii, Kae watched Loren as the princess zipped around, blind to the world in her haste to gather enough fallen twigs. “Princess.” Kae called.
Loren muttered to herself a checklist of things in her pack and the basic plan of how to get to Sagna from the northern border. She didn’t hear Kae at all.
“Princess!” Kae called again.
Still no response. Loren crouched by a spot in the snow and began to rub twigs together over kindling.
“Loren!” Kae shouted.
Startled, Loren dropped the sticks she was holding. They clattered onto the pile of twigs and tinder, and the full weight of her situation fell on Loren like a stone as Kae watched. They were children, lost in the middle of nowhere, going to attempt to…to do what? Assassinate a queen? Seek revenge? They could barely survive a short trek through the north. Her friend almost died, and another was well on his way to freezing to death. Her friends were following her to their deaths. She had no right, no right to hold their lives in her hands like this. The princess realized these doubts were coming so frequently because they were right. They should have stayed home.
When Kae called her name again, softly and close by, Loren looked up. Hot tears streamed down her face. “Yes, Kae?” she muttered.
Kae’s smile was gentle. The huntress knelt beside Loren and pulled the princess into a hug, wrapping her traveling cloak and furs around her shoulders. “I know what you’re thinking, Loren.” Kae said. “Please calm down. We’re here with you and we’re not leaving. Let’s just focus on one thing at a time, alright?”
Loren looked to Kae. The huntress’s face was so close to hers. There were dark circles around Kae’s eyes, her skin was pale, she simply looked so tired. And yet here she was, able to smile and comfort the princess while she herself was freezing.
Loren’s wracking sob was muffled by the furs as she pressed herself into Kae’s chest, holding onto the huntress tightly. Kae patted the princess’s back, patiently letting her cry.
“This whole thing is terrible, isn’t it?” Kae said with a soft chuckle. She felt Loren nod, and she laughed again. “Think about it this way, princess. If it wasn’t for you, Ma’trii and I would never have seen what’s past the forest and the plains. We’d never have gone on an adventure, meet new people, experience magic. All we knew were dirt and trees. We were happy there, I admit, and it was a simple life, but that was all. The world is so much bigger than we thought. There’s so much to do, see, smell and eat. Isn’t that right, you dumb wolf?”
Ma’trii nudged Kae hard in the arm and gave her one long lick across the face before bounding off, bowing playfully at both of the girls.
“And Cassendir, you know how much he loves to observe and study. He’s Kespian and a scholar, so seeing more of the world that isn’t sand and books is exciting for him. Didn’t he trade a notebook full of notes on cold weather plants just to get you a horse back at the crossroads inn? That was one notebook, full of notes on plants. And the Plaguelands! Think of all the knowledge he drummed up just slogging through the Plaguelands.” Kae smiled and squeezed Loren in a familiar gesture. “We’re following you on our own free will, princess. So go and be our fearless leader, that dragon that leads armies to war or whatever it is your big blue and gold dragon is actually there for. We’ll be with you.”
Loren looked up gratefully from Kae’s arms, eyes still shining with tears. Kae looked back at her, and a feeling began to well in the huntress’s chest. The princess was so vulnerable, so small in her arms and bundled in furs and silks. In that moment, the princess looked like a young girl, just like Kae. Almost a woman, but not quite yet. Her shoulders were tensed and strong, with responsibilities piled high onto her. But in Loren’s eyes, the weight of it all showed. The princess was the next in line to rule an entire kingdom, and her
