“So what if I am?” I asked defensively. “It’s been four days since the last one. A lot has happened since then!”
“We’ve had two battles, Elden.”
“Two battles is a lot!” I pointed my quill at her in accusation. “What would you know about letters anyways? You don’t have anybody back home worried about you fighting on the front lines.”
The knight spun backwards and collided with the center tentpole in feigned injury as imaginary arrows impacted her chest, causing the whole structure to sway perilously back and forth. “You wound me! Where are your manners, Sir Knight of the Flashing Blade?”
I rolled my eyes and groaned. “I told you not to call me that! It’s a stupid name.” I paused, suddenly narrowing my eyes at her. “Wait, wait. You don’t actually like your nickname, do you?”
“Why shouldn’t I?” she asked, amused. “Only the greatest warriors are given nicknames. Just because I got mine first doesn’t mean you should—”
“Elden!” Another voice shouted from outside the tent, and was followed a moment later by a burst of light as the flaps opened to reveal a broad-shouldered man in black plate armor. “We’ve got to...oh, Kel, you’re already here. Did you give him the news yet?”
“Well, I was trying to, but Elden here was too busy writing his letters to pay attention,” she answered, her voice dripping with playful sarcasm.
I let out an exasperated groan, then turned to the man at the entrance. “What’s up, Jarut?”
“We have another war meeting to attend. Our next operation begins at sundown.”
My jaw dropped. “Another operation already?! There’s no way the men are up to that!”
He shrugged. “I’ll admit, I’m not sure what King Janus is trying to accomplish with this recent offensive. I guess we’ll find out at the meeting.” He turned and exited the tent. “It starts in twenty minutes. Don’t be late!” he hollered over his shoulder as he left.
“You’d best hurry with that letter, Elden,” Kel teased, turning to leave as well.
“I’d already be done if it weren’t for the interruption!” I shot back at her, fighting off the grin that tried to creep across my face. With my distraction dealt with, I spun back to the table and tapped my quill against the blank parchment in thought.
“Tell Amaya I say hello,” Kel spoke quietly into my ear, her face suddenly inches away.
Her voice caused me to jump in surprise again, and I smacked the table loudly. “I told you to stop doing that!” I yelled at her as she made for the exit once again. She threw her head back and let out a burst of melodic, high pitched laughter as she pushed the flap open and disappeared into the outside world. Grumbling under my breath, I watched the flap for a few seconds to confirm that she wasn’t going to sneak back into the tent again, then finally returned to my writing.
I dipped my quill into the inkpot at the edge of the desk and began my letter as I always did. “Hey there, beautiful. I’ve missed you.”
---
A gentle hand shook my shoulder and roused me from my dream. Blinking away the fuzz of sleep, I found Lia crouched next to me with an excited smile on her face. “Come see!” she whispered excitedly. “Come see!” She turned and hurried out the back of the wagon without waiting for a response. As she disappeared from sight, I realized the cart was stopped and nobody else was inside with me. After fighting off the temptation to use Detection to find what Lia wanted me to see and quickly go back to sleep, I climbed to my feet and left the wagon as well.
The source of her excitement was clear as I pushed through the cloth flaps: a thin layer of snow covered everything in sight, and heavy flakes swirled lazily in the air. Marin and Lia stood in the center of the road with their faces upturned toward the sky, laughing as they attempted to catch the fluffy crystals on their tongues. Hana and Marten tended to the horse with a bucket of water and a bag of feed. I smiled and took a deep breath, appreciating the faint scent of burning wood in the crisp air.
Reflexively, I reached out with Detection to scan our immediate surroundings and was surprised by the amount of focus it required. Although I had only pushed out a few hundred yards in every direction, the strain made it feel as though I were pushing the ability to its limits. I pulled the energy back to a tight radius encircling our spot on the roadside and watched the area closely to determine what was causing the disturbance. The answer was immediately apparent: every time a snowflake landed within the area my mana covered, my brain took notice of the movement and updated my mental map.
“It’s a lot, isn’t it?” Lia had made her way over to the wagon while I had awkwardly stopped in the snow, apparently showing the strain of the Detection on my face. “The snow. Up here,” she added, tapping her temple with a smile.
I nodded. “It’s definitely an interesting quirk.” I looked up to the overcast sky, shading my eyes from the falling flakes. “How long was I asleep?”
“Not too long. I think it’s about noontime,” she answered. She grabbed my hand and spun to face the countryside again. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
Surprisingly, I agreed with her. The neverending winter of Hedaat usually blotted out the sun with vicious blizzards and had never been something I considered beautiful. After living beneath snow and ice for so long, I expected that the sight would instantly darken my mood,
