Flea sat up. “Was it her?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Knew it! And you didn’t believe me.”

“It just seemed too big a coincidence. It could have been a trap.”

“Why can’t a coincidence be a good thing?”

“I think there’s a law against it in Ryazan,” Quain quipped.

“I’m all for avoiding Ryazan,” Kerrick said.

“Don’t want to run into Xane’s skeleton crew again?” Belen asked.

“Do you?”

“Not without another hundred armed men by my side. Those people…”

“Are sick bastards,” Quain said.

“How so?” I asked.

“For one, they use the bones of the dead as weapons, armor, tents and two—”

“That’s enough, Quain,” Loren said, then asked me, “Did you find out about the rest of your family?”

Quain swatted him. “Nice segue, Loren. You basically implied Avry’s family is crazy.”

“Only you would make that connection, bonehead. I was trying to change the subject. Unless you want to reminisce about the time Xane’s men almost skinned you alive?”

“No,” Quain, Flea and Belen all said together.

“Any more good news?” Flea asked me.

Grief welled as I shook my head. “More victims of the plague.” This they all understood. “Noelle is all I have left.”

“Sorry to hear that, Avry,” Belen said. “I’ve lost a sister and my mother. My younger sister and father survived.”

“Parents and sister gone. One brother and a great-aunt left,” Kerrick said.

“My wife and…” Loren closed his eyes. “And the baby she was carrying died with her.”

I bit my lip, losing his child seemed extra cruel. This listing of the dead and the living was inevitable whenever survivors become comfortable with one another. I was touched they shared their lists with me.

“It was just me and my dad,” Quain said into the silence. “He lasted a couple years, then the plague got him in the end.”

Flea stared at us. “I can’t decide what’s worse. Losing family members or not having a family to lose.”

“Not having a family to lose,” I said. “It’s heartbreaking, but better to have some time together than none at all.”

“And they live on in your memories,” Belen said.

Flea hunched down. “I don’t have any memories.”

“Sure you do,” Belen said.

Confused, Flea glanced at us.

“Like when you kicked Belen in the shins,” I said.

“And when we rescued Avry,” Belen said.

“Oh.” Flea brightened.

Kerrick suggested everyone get a few hours of sleep.

“I’ll stand guard,” Belen offered.

“Have you been on duty all night?” Kerrick asked.

His sheepish expression answered for him.

Kerrick sighed. “Belen, being in charge doesn’t mean you stand guard all night.”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

Loren flung back his blankets. “I’ll take the next shift. I had a few hours earlier.”

I slid into my bedroll as exhaustion caught up to me. Fresh grief for my mother’s and brother’s deaths played tug-of-war with joy over finding my little shadow alive. My heart felt torn in two. Eventually, I didn’t have the energy to stay awake any longer.

A couple days after we’d visited Noelle, Kerrick announced his plans to travel north to find out if Estrid’s ambush had returned from the pass. “The bulk of her army is camped outside Zabin. The group from the pass would most likely travel down the border road between Pomyt and Vyg to meet up with them. Since we’ve already lost so much time, I don’t want to waste more guessing if they’ve left.” He looked at me.

I wouldn’t feel guilty about the delays. No reason for me to hurry to Ryne’s bedside only to refuse to heal him. I dreaded Kerrick’s reaction when that happened.

“If I don’t return in ten days, leave this location immediately,” Kerrick said to Belen. “Find a hiding spot and hunker down until spring, then take Avry across the Nine Mountains.”

“You shouldn’t go alone,” Belen said.

“I can move faster on my own. Don’t worry, Belen, I won’t get too close.” He glanced at me again before he left, and I wondered how far his forest magic stretched.

Belen kept me busy during the next nine days, teaching me how to fight with a knife, defend against a knife and practicing all that I learned. I worked with Flea at night, showing him how to juggle four objects.

“Two in one hand, throw and catch them with the same hand.” I demonstrated the motion. “When you master that for each hand, you put it together so it looks like the stones are going back and forth between hands, but you’re really just throwing the same two rocks with the same hand.”

Flea hefted the stones. “This is just going to get more and more complicated, isn’t it?”

“Yep.”

“Just like you,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“It was supposed to be simple. Find you, take you to Prince Ryne and it’s done. But it’s all complicated now. And what if Kerrick doesn’t come back?”

A strange little feeling tugged deep within me. Flea had voiced what I’d been unconsciously worried about—Kerrick. Which was utter nonsense. I concentrated on Flea’s question. “Then we’ll go find him and rescue him if we can.”

“But Kerrick said—”

“Think about it, Flea.”

He didn’t take long. “Belen won’t listen.”

“Not that complicated when you stop to consider all the variables.”

“No, but…sometimes I don’t have an answer for all the variables.”

“No one does. We do the best we can with what we have. And good leaders stay about two steps ahead of the rest of us. I’m beginning to understand why your prince assigned this mission to Kerrick and not Belen. A certain amount of ruthlessness is needed.”

Kerrick failed to arrive on the tenth day. Belen paced and fretted and growled at anyone who dared suggest we pack up or we search for Kerrick. He kept his angry bear routine all during the eleventh day, as well.

Near sunset, Quain, Loren, Flea and I gathered outside the cave and out of Belen’s sight and hearing.

“Do we follow Kerrick’s orders despite Belen’s…ill humor?” Loren asked.

“Or do we find out what happened to Kerrick?” Quain asked.

“We should leave,” I said. “If Estrid has him, she’ll eventually learn where we’re hiding. We can launch a rescue attempt from our new location. If he’s delayed, he can easily track us to our new hiding spot.”

“Leave tonight or in the morning?” Loren asked.

“Tonight, under cover of darkness,” I said.

“What about your sister?” Flea asked.

“She’s safe enough where she is. If there’s a chance to get her before the spring, I will, but I won’t risk all of you. I can always come back for her later.” Without thinking, I had assumed the leadership role, and, like I had said to Flea, a certain amount of ruthlessness was needed. In this case, my sister would have to wait.

The men returned to the cave to start packing despite Belen’s protests. Before I entered, the wind shifted and I caught a whiff of spring sunshine and living green. I turned into the wind, expecting to see Kerrick standing there. Disappointment panged until I remembered I hated him. Until I realized he had probably been hanging around to see what we’d do without him. Typical.

Breathing deep, I walked north, following Kerrick’s scent until I lost it as quick as I had found it. I pulled off my gloves and pressed my palms to the cold ground. Strong magic tingled along my skin, pulsing to the south. He had moved downwind of me.

I straightened and spun around. No one, but I wasn’t going to trust my eyes this time.

“I know you’re there. No sense wasting any more energy,” I said.

Kerrick appeared next to the tree a few feet in front of me. He had used his magic to blend in with the darkening forest. His expression was unreadable.

“How long have you been back?” I asked, trying to sound annoyed in order to cover my relief.

Instead of answering, he said, “You sniffed me out, didn’t you?”