“I beg your pardon?” Gershwin said, confused.
“I mean… Okay, its about Loren.” Kae dropped any pretense about being vague. She wasn’t very good at subtlety. “I think I figured how her dragon magic works. It gives her focus, I think confidence too. She gets better at fighting, better at tasks. But that’s only when she actually uses it, on purpose. And she never speaks.”
“But Kae, we’ve seen her with the dragon gold eyes and speaking before.” Cassendir put in, impatient.
“Yeah, I know. But when she gets like that, its like she changes. She gets violent, abusive. I know Loren isn’t actually like that. I think it’s the magic changing her.”
Gershwin stroked his beard. All three of them watched the princess as they walked in a short silence. “As far as I am aware, the High Dragon’s magic passed to the Lady Ylfair is primarily used to communicate with the dragon of Aldoran.”
“Does it control the dragon? Or just talk to it? I’ve seen Loren with the dragon, they were in the forest and they looked like they were talking.”
“Well, I am unsure. It could be a direct link, the bearer of the pendant’s mind speaking directly to the dragon. Or it manipulates the beast outright.” Gershwin shrugged his thin shoulders. “I suppose only the royal line of Aldoran can really say.”
Kae frowned as she listened. The huntress was still unsettled, unhappy with the old man’s conclusions. “What if… Can someone else’s magic, like your magic, change how someone else’s magic works?”
Cassendir sighed. “Kae, slow down. What are you talking about?”
“Seraphis touched and used Loren’s dragon pendant back at the outpost, remember?” Kae said, arms flailing about in desperate gestures. “And she had Haedria’s magic on her. What if the magic somehow passed into the pendant, and changed it?”
“What if Queen Haedria’s magic, burned into Seraphis, tainted Loren’s dragon magic?” Cassendir said. The scholar was growing increasingly tired. He rubbed at his temple and the budding headache growing there. “Kae, I don’t think that’s how magic works.”
Gershwin folded his arms across his chest, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “I have never heard of such a thing happening, huntress. But then again, I am only one man. Perhaps a powerful mage has, in the past, taken control of another using such means. What I know of Haedria Dagan is that she is ruthless and powerful, but unfortunately not much else.”
Kae’s brows furrowed in thought, “There’s something wrong about her magic. I know there is.”
“Don’t worry about it, Kae.” Cassendir muttered. He huddled further in his layers of furs and dragged his feet. “We’re tired, hungry, and freezing. I’m sure whatever you think is wrong with Loren will wait until we get to the nearest town. What I wouldn’t give for hot soup…”
They walked on, but the huntress still could not shake the sense of unease she felt. She watched Loren call on the dragon magic just a few hours ago to help her make a meager fire. It was different from how she acted facing Danna in the inn. The princess was about to rip the mage apart back then; that was hardly the diplomatic princess she knew.
The path at the foot of the mountain was more of a hole punched between trees at the entrance of a forest. The canopy had curved over a dirt path wide enough for one wagon to pass, and wheel tracks were worn deep into the dirt. Scraps of brightly colored woven cloth were tied to low hanging branches of the trees flanking the path, a sign — Gershwin said — to nomads and traders saying that this path was neutral territory.
Patches of snow dotted the path, a great change from the unending blanket of white that they had to slog through for the past few days. Weak rays of light were able to break through the thick canopy, causing the forest path to be cloaked in a gloom, though it was afternoon. Loren stopped at the mouth of the forest, staring down the path and into the dimness beyond. She couldn’t see the end of the path from the trees, she had no idea where it would lead.
Kae saw the princess hesitate. She put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, smiled, and moved to lead the way. Without thinking, Loren grabbed Kae’s hand.
The huntress was someone familiar, someone good and kind. Loren realized in that moment that if she had to walk into the unknown, Kae the huntress was who she would have at her side. And here she was, squeezing her hand. Loren smiled, unbidden, and tried to hide the blush rising in her cheeks. Kae twined her fingers with Loren’s, held her hand in a confident grip, and started down the forest path.
Kae felt at ease in the forest. The close, claustrophobic aura of the trees were different so far north, compared to the Kilrough Forest. There was less light, the air hurt her lungs from its sharp cold, and the smells and sights were all different. But it was a forest, and she was a huntress. With a single whistle, Ma’trii bounded ahead and stalked off into the gloom, scouting the path ahead for them. The wolf disappeared into the trees, the leaves ruffling quite a bit before they stilled.
It was very quiet along the path. Nomads that used the forest path to reach the border town would amuse themselves along the journey with songs sung loudly by voices addled with wine and beer. But Loren and her friends were alone, with only the soft whistling of the wind through the trees.
The huntress led the way, carefully guiding Loren down the pounded dirt path. It was rough, with many dips, and while Loren was not fragile, Kae acted as if she was. To her, Loren was a princess. She knew from
