Alianor tries carrying on a conversation with me, and I try to reciprocate, but my mood seems to match the sun today. It starts low, with Dain and the dropbear, and then rises briefly midday before dropping again.
By late afternoon, I’m walking in silence with Dain. It’s a comfortable silence, though—the kind I don’t find with anyone else. He walks beside me, and Malric guards my back, and Jacko alternates between hopping ahead and riding on my shoulders.
“There should be more monsters,” Dain murmurs after at least an hour of silence.
I glance over. Wilmot is in the lead, and everyone else is too far behind to hear him.
“We haven’t seen a single one,” Dain says. “You’ve noticed that, right?”
I lift one shoulder. “Maybe the migration isn’t as bad as we thought.”
He peers at me, dark eyes boring into mine. When he doesn’t say anything, I squirm and shrug again.
“It’s never this quiet,” he says. “Especially when you’re around.”
I tense.
“I’m not blaming you, Rowan,” he says, sounding exasperated. “I’m stating a fact. It’s also a fact that I’ve lived in this forest for years, and I can’t remember ever walking a full day and not catching at least a fleeting glimpse of a monster.”
When I don’t answer, he says, “You have noticed. I know you have. So why aren’t you talking about it?”
“Because she doesn’t want you to mock her,” Wilmot says without turning.
Now it’s Dain’s turn to tense. “I—”
“Mock her. Tease her. She isn’t in the mood for that, from you or anyone else. She isn’t in the mood for any of it. The silence is bothering her too much.” Wilmot glances back. “Am I right, Rowan?”
I don’t answer.
He lets us catch up and then resumes walking, leading us as he talks. “Your aunt used to get that. It’s the Clan Dacre blood. Something isn’t right here, and it’s putting you on edge.”
Alianor jogs up beside me. “Should we stop, then? Figure out what’s wrong?”
Wilmot shakes his head. “Not unless Rowan senses danger. When Jannah got that way, it was just a sense of unease. The balance is off. First there were too many monsters, and now there are none.” He glances back. “Is that what you’re feeling, Rowan?”
I nod.
“Then we’ll continue on. Just let me know if it changes.”
CHAPTER NINE
The next two days continue to pass with far too few monster sightings for the Dunnian Woods. The forest is overly quiet, empty of both monsters and animals. The more I think about it, though, the more it makes sense. We’ve encountered colocolos and dropbears and harpies, all not usually found in this region. As they passed through, they’d upset the balance. The colocolo stampede would have unnerved every creature in its path. The dropbears and harpies have been hunting, frightening prey animals and prey monsters alike.
While it’s possible this is happening all across the forest, I feel as if we’re walking a migration corridor. To our left, rivers flow from the mountains. A few miles to our right is the empty riverbed left by the Michty River.
We seem to have encountered the dropbears on the path the monsters are taking east. Then we returned to that region and found the colocolos and harpies. According to Cedany, there’s been increased monster activity near her cabin for weeks.
It’s been three days since we left Rhydd and the others. No one has caught up to turn us back. We’re walking and talking. Well, the female part of our entourage is. I know people say that women talk more than men, but Mom always said anyone who said that hadn’t met our father. On this trip, though, the stereotype holds, because the male contingent is Dain and Wilmot.
I often wonder what it was like when the two of them lived alone together. Did entire days pass without a word exchanged?
I’m in front with Alianor while Cedany and Kaylein bring up the rear, deep in conversation. They have been talking more and more since we left the others. They’re close to the same age, and while it might seem that a healer and a bodyguard wouldn’t have much in common, they find plenty to discuss. They do have something in common—they both take care of others—but they also just like each other. You don’t need to have much in common for that.
Cedany has been teaching Kaylein about plants, and Kaylein has been teaching her fighting techniques. Sometimes they’re talking about that and other times they’re just talking.
As for me and Alianor, we aren’t so much talking as goofing off. My mood has lightened in the last couple of days. I’ve forced it to lighten. I get annoyed with Dain when his moods affect everyone else. I can’t let my own unease infect the expedition.
When that mood feels like it’s going to drag me under, I let myself give in to it. That’s what Mom taught us. Find a quiet place and allow yourself to feel down for a while. I do that with Jacko and Malric, and then I rejoin the group. While my time alone seems to confuse Alianor—who wants to cheer me up—Wilmot convinces her it’s best to leave me be, and I appreciate that.
My mood is better today, and Alianor and I are passing the time making up imaginary monsters—what if you put the head of a wildcat on the body of a horse and stuff like that.
Earlier we’d been planning our dresses for the winter festival. I remember the first time Dain heard us talking about clothing. He’d said we didn’t seem like the sort of girls who’d care about such things. We’d both retorted that a girl could swing a sword or stitch a wound and still like pretty dresses.
There isn’t a “sort” of girl any more than there
