The silence that fell between them was suffocating.
The princess turned away. “I’ll be outside asking around the town and buying provisions. Meet me and the others when you’re ready to leave. We’re so close to Sagna,” she said.
She crossed the room in a few purposeful strides. Loren pulled the door open and paused at the threshold. “We’re days away from ending all of this. You can do whatever you would like after. You don’t have to serve me.”
Kae’s protest was drowned out by the sound of the door falling shut.
Chapter Twenty
Cassendir emerged from his and Kaiten’s room feeling refreshed and back to his old self again. He was still much colder than he was used to, the climate was even colder than it was in Aldoran, but after a good night’s rest on a feather bed and a hot bath provided by the innkeeper, the scholar had himself sorted. He had spent the first hour since waking just writing furiously in his various notebooks, filling them with notes about the north and the nomad path that he wasn’t able to jot down earlier due to misery and possible frostbite.
He walked into the common area of the little inn, all smiles and a cheery mood, and stopped in his tracks. Seated around a small round table were his friends. But the princess’s eyes were gold as she spoke to Kaiten with the seriousness of a Warmaster discussing strategy. Beside her was Kae, staring blankly into the grain of the table, looking haunted. He approached them cautiously.
“Good morning?” Cassendir said.
“Are you ready to leave, Cassendir? I have one last thing to do before we set back on the road and it shouldn’t take too long.” Loren said curtly. She barely spared him a glance before turning back to Kaiten.
The scholar frowned, annoyed at the princess’s bluntness. He pulled up a chair beside Kae, and saw that the huntress had a plate of stewed meat in front of her, untouched. “Kae? Are you alright?” he asked, then dropped his voice and looked pointedly at Loren. “Did something happen? She’s quite rough today, not to mention the eyes.”
Kae nodded. “You could say that. What happened exactly…I’m not sure I can explain.” She looked back to Loren and saw that the princess paid the two of them no mind at all. They were at the edge of Loren’s vision, she suspected, but she wasn’t sure to what extent the dragon magic aided her senses. “I need to talk to you later, Cassendir.”
Ma’trii the wolf arrived at the door to the inn. He politely sat just before the door and grunted to catch Kae’s attention. Even when the huntress waved at Ma’trii to come in, the wolf stayed put so as not to track mud into the inn.
“Princess, Ma’trii says the snow leopard Beastman has walked back to his tent.” Kae said, looking over to Loren.
The chair scraped harshly against the ground as Loren suddenly stood. “Great. We have no time to waste. Let’s go.”
The princess was almost out the door, patting Ma’trii on the head in mid-stride, before Cassendir managed to get up. “Loren! Loren, wait, what do you plan to do with the old leopard?”
“Gershwin said not to talk to him, right? Well, I intend to do just that. The First Son would have a reason for that warning, and the Beastman did seem a bit strange.” Loren led the way, strolling quickly through the small border town and into the gathering of colorful nomad tents just beyond. “It’s a mystery I’d like to solve before we go.”
Cassendir frowned. A deep crease formed on his brow. “I think we should leave him well enough alone. He’s done nothing to us. To you.”
Loren didn’t stop or even turn back to look at the scholar. Cassendir let out a frustrated groan through his nose, and Kae appeared by his arm. The huntress’s expression was grim as she watched Loren walk off through the crowd without them.
“Kae?”
“Cassendir, what was the town you said we were going to drop Kaiten off at?”
“It was Hardwick, a small town at the end of the Imperial Highway on this side of the Kilrough Mountains. I think it is at the edge of the Aldoran territory, but I’m not sure if another kingdom claims it. Why do you ask?”
Kae sighed. “If we’re leaving Kaiten to go home on his own, I’ll have to ask him a favor. Do you think he’ll pull through?”
“Well…From what I know of him, he’s a proud and steadfast man. I think if he promises to do something, he’ll do it. He’s kind at heart, so he’ll help.” The scholar looked curiously at Kae. “It’s about Loren, I know. But what about her?”
Kae walked on, following Loren at a much slower pace. “I don’t trust her magic, Cassendir. It changes. I don’t like it.”
“Changes?” Cassendir jogged a bit to catch up with the huntress. “What do you mean?”
“Sometimes she isn’t herself. The magic changes her, and she’s been using it too much.” Kae sighed again, defeated. “I can’t do anything.”
“But you think…” Cassendir said slowly, attempting to trace the huntress’s train of thought. “You think that maybe Kaiten can send for help. Without Loren knowing.”
Kae only nodded.
The snow leopard Beastman’s tent was small compared to the other nomad structures. While the nomad tents were set up outside of the border town’s short walls, the snow leopard’s tent stood alone, without neighbors, as if shunned. Loren stood near the opening of the tent, looking at the strange patterns and colors of the mismatched fur and hides. The other tents were not set up with sheets of hides nearly so colorful.
