A cinder popped in the fire and both women looked over. Alina watched the flames again. No one had ever asked her that question. Her reasons defined the way her life had shaped itself. Not to mention the fear the vision instilled in her. The thought of telling someone usually meant vulnerability. Emotion, true and raw, could be a loose end, a weapon in any person’s hand.
Alina thought of the vision of war. Her people fought back. Everything had been in ruin. Was that a better future than enslavement? Alina shook her head. Usually, she would never discuss such feelings so openly. But that night, with the fire, the stars, and Senri at her side, sitting and watching, she altered her decision. She suddenly needed to talk to someone, to reassure herself she acted for the right reasons. “You love this village, Senri.”
The Warrior nodded. “Of course, I—”
Alina shook her head. “It wasn’t a question. It’s obvious every time you look around. When you see these people together, talking, laughing, working, thriving.” She paused and thought over her next sentence. “It fills you with something. It’s greater than happiness.” Alina looked beyond the bonfire flames, out to the forest she knew surrounded them. “That is what I feel for this kingdom,” she said.
Senri nodded.
Alina knew the simple and truthful answer would satisfy Senri, but she deserved the whole answer. “Since I was a girl my mother told me I might one day have the chance to rule Osota.” Senri raised an eyebrow and Alina laughed. “She did not plot or scheme, my mother was...she worried for my aunt and uncle. They had tried so hard for children, even back then.” Alina had considered telling Senri her mother had seen it, but she did not feel ready to relinquish that secret, despite Mala’s warning. Senri might move beyond reach if she told her, and she wanted to pretend they could be together just a bit longer. “She told me if I was ever offered the throne I had to take it.”
“Is that all?” Senri asked. She sounded disappointed.
“No,” Alina replied, thinking of the signet ring hanging from a chain around her neck. “My mother told me there were terrible people who would fight for the throne if I did not lay claim. She knew…I mean I think she knew there was an assassin after them. A few nights before my parents died she came to my room…” Alina’s throat tightened, her eyes watering.
Senri reached over and rested a hand over Alina’s, the contact warmer than the fire. Alina looked up. Senri leaned forward. “You don’t have to talk about this if it hurts.” Alina let herself stare selfishly into Senri’s eyes, and for a while Senri stared back. Then the Warrior blinked, looked down to see her hand covering Alina’s, and pulled away. “Forgive me.”
Alina sighed. “You’re so noble,” she muttered.
“What?” asked Senri.
Alina smiled, eyes lingering on the dying flames of the shrinking bonfire. “It’s nothing. That night, though…” She remembered her mother opening the latch on her door, shushing her and sitting down on the edge of Alina’s bed. “she came to my room and gave me this.”
Alina pulled the chain over her head and handed it to Senri. The Warrior held the signet ring as if it were a hot ember. Alina smiled and accepted it back from Senri’s shaking grasp. She slipped the chain back over her head. “She told me to keep it safe, she told me that no matter what, I was to keep it, no one else. She then told me that if they...if anything happened, I needed to do everything to keep Osota free. These people, the Councilors willing to let Shedol into our kingdom, they do not offer my people freedom.” She closed her eyes, remembering the cold, empty wasteland from her vision, and then opened them again. The bonfire seemed smaller.
“I suppose that’s a good reason,” said Senri quietly. Alina nodded and looked up at the stars. They shone brightly. Alina checked the positioning of the constellations and chuckled softly.
“What?” asked Senri.
“Is that really the position of the owl?” Alina asked, pointing to the constellation.
Senri looked to the sky. “Yes, that’s the owl. Why do you ask?”
Alina sighed. “For starters, it is terribly late and I should head to the inn.” Alina rose and brushed the dirt and grass from her clothes. Senri stood with her.
“What else does it mean?” Senri asked. The two walked away from the bonfire, searching for the small lamp hanging at the inn door.
Alina played with her skirt, twirling it lightly as she walked. They stopped in the middle of the street, the faint glow of the inn’s oil lamp washing over them. Alina looked at the position of the constellation again. “It means I missed my birthday.”
Senri looked up at the constellation then back down at her. “Oh, your Highness, you should have said something, I would have gotten you a gift.”
Alina laughed again. Her eyes met Senri’s. She suddenly realized they stood very close, close enough for her to feel Senri’s body heat. “Call me Alina,” she said, feeling bold.
“Excuse me, your Highn—”
She pushed a finger against the Warrior’s stomach in warning. She could feel the firm muscles of Senri’s body underneath the shirt. “I said call me Alina.” She made sure to use her firmest tone. “That is what you can give me for my birthday,” she added, her soft demeanor returning. She let her hand rest over her Warrior’s abdomen. She felt the muscle rise as Senri breathed in.
Senri smiled down at her, flashing in a small grin. Her voice came out soft, for only Alina to hear. “I think I can do that, Alina.”
It sounded so natural coming from Senri. It soothed Alina and made her giddy at the same time. She looked down at her hand still pressed against Senri and then up at the smiling woman. “Senri,” she whispered back, almost an invocation.
Something clanged. A clatter came next, then the tumbling crash of metal falling over itself and the two sprang apart. Alina frowned, looking around for the sound while Senri moved in front of her, hand at the sheath of her sword. “Go inside, Highness.” The softness had gone, Senri all soldier once more.
“Senri, I think it was only a—”
“Go,” Senri said. She turned and looked back at her with such a hard stare Alina stepped back. Senri’s face immediately softened. “I’m sorry. It’s probably nothing, but I want you to be safe. Please, go get some rest.”
Alina started to protest, but the pleading look in Senri’s eyes stopped her. “Fine, but you need to get some rest too.”
“I will,” Senri replied. “I’ll head back to my parent’s farm as soon as I find out what that noise was.”
Alina nodded. “All right then.” She stepped back to the inn door, her fingers wrapping around the handle. “Goodnight, Senri.” She pulled open the inn door.
“Goodnight,” the Warrior said back. As Alina stepped inside and let the door close behind her, she heard Senri say quietly, “Alina.” The inn door shut and Alina stood alone in the dark with nothing but the flicker of the hearth embers and her own hammering heart for company.
Chapter Seventeen
THEY LEFT THE VILLAGE first thing the next morning. Some of the villagers asked them to stay one more night, but Yahn insisted they depart. Senri knew he feared pursuers, and reasonably so. Anyone tracking them would have gotten a nice window of opportunity to catch them with the time spent loitering at the village. Ideally, they should have resupplied and moved on. Senri glanced up at the mountain path they followed. She would not blame anyone for the delay. She had dreaded this part of the journey most of all.
Senri had grown up on stories of the mountain’s impassibility from wandering merchants. Dragons were dangerous, after all. But some attempted the climb. Occasionally, a weather-worn traveler would descend from the mountains, filled with stories of bloodthirsty bandits and the towering dragon cities resting on mountain peaks. The trail revealed just how troublesome the climb would become for horses. Most of the greenery faded a ways up. Scrubland took over past the timberline. The wind would be unbearable at the pass, but for the moment, they stayed low enough along the trail.
; By the time they found an appropriate area to camp, the sun had set and twilight faded to gray. Storm clouds gathered overhead, and Senri hoped their menacing look masked a lighter shower. She somewhat dreaded setting up the camp that evening. The crash that had interrupted her and Alina the previous night had only turned out to be a nosey cat poking around in Gustav’s forge. But now they were camped way off from the road, hidden by scrubland and trees in the mountain pass. With the way things had developed between them, Senri might not object to any of Alina’s advances. Instead of dwelling on what might come, Senri dismounted Stomps and removed her pack to let him graze. She moved to a relatively clear area to set up her tent and got started. When Alina moved to set up her tent nearby, Senri smiled. Senri finished and walked over to help the others start a fire. Alina still struggled with her tent, though she seemed to be setting it up well enough. Usually, she would call Senri over to help by then.
“We’re out of firewood,” said Yahn. He worked on setting up a pit. The pitiful amount of kindling would barely last an hour. He took one of the last sturdy branches and wrapped the end in linen. “Go fetch some more.” He passed Senri the branch.
Senri nodded and gripped the top of the torch. She breathed in and it ignited, illuminating the space around them. “I’ll be back.” She turned and walked toward the bordering trees.
Alina looked up from her completed tent and waved. “I did it!”
Senri stopped and examined the tent. “Good job.”
“I suppose it is.” Alina stood and glanced over at Senri. “And where are you off to?”
“Collecting firewood,” Senri replied. She gestured over at the trees. “Want to help?” The suggestion surprised her. Did she really just ask a princess to help her gather wood? It was a nice excuse to spend more time with her, something Senri had avoided for the duration of their journey. She liked the way Alina’s features softened every time they spoke, how her shoulders relaxed and her mouth eased into a smile. Senri found herself following the curve of that smile more and more, tracing the lips with her eyes.
“Senri?”
The question interrupted her musings. Alina looked at her. Senri blinked. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”
“I said I’d love to accompany you.” Alina had grabbed her bow and quiver. She stepped forward and glanced to the woods. “Shall we?”
Senri grinned and gestured with her torch. “Right this way.”
They walked away from the camp and into the trees. Senri looked over at Alina and caught her staring. She looked away again, heat rising on her cheeks. The torch sputtered and she had to concentrate to get it back under control.
“So, where should we look?” asked Alina.
They had gotten far enough into the tree line that plenty of felled branches lay close at hand. Suddenly, Senri wanted to stop looking for firewood and spend a moment alone with Alina, perhaps just talking. She shoved the feeling away.
“We should be fine here.” Senri gestured at the downed tree limbs.
Alina plucked at her bowstring. “Right.” She moved to pull the bow over her chest and free up her hands, but Alina paused. Her gaze shifted to the outer edge of the trees and Senri looked as well, but could not spot whatever Alina seemed to see. Alina’s hand came out and pushed Senri. Alina gripped the fletched end of an arrow. She knocked it on the bowstring and shot. Something cried out and fell. Alina lowered her bow.
“What was that all about?” Senri glanced from the spot in the woods to Alina and her bow.
Alina shouldered the bow. “I thought we could use something fresh for dinner.” She marched off toward whatever she had felled.
Senri followed. “But when did you learn to shoot a bow that well?”
They arrived at a downed rabbit. “I had a lot of practice at Eastwatch Keep,” said Alina. She bent over and picked up the slain animal, the arrow neatly lodged in its head.
“A little bit more than that,” said Senri. She had never seen someone nail a rabbit so precisely before. She almost suggested they should actually collect firewood when a flash of lightning lit up the sky and the boom of thunder echoed. Alina yelped and leapt closer to her. When the rumbles faded, Senri grinned. “Something you want to tell me?”
Alina glanced up at the sky. “No. Nothing. Let’s get the firewood and get back to camp.”
Senri smirked and followed Alina to some downed branches. The wind picked up. They gathered faster. Soon, rain fell, slowly at first, then in sheets as they walked back to camp. The thunder boomed once more and Alina dropped a piece firewood. “A little jumpy, aren’t you?” Senri bent to pick it up, adding it to her own rather large armful. The wind blew even harder and the torch guttered.
“Thunder is startling,” Alina said. They walked close together, hunched over against the sheets of rain and driving winds. The torch had gone out and Senri tucked the branch into the rest of the others she carried. When the campsite came into view, Senri frowned.
“You might want to pick up the pace,” she said.
“Why?” Alina had to shout over the roar of the wind.
“Because your tent is blowing away.”
“No!” Senri followed her as they pushed against the storm and back into camp. Alina’s tent hung by one post, then the cloth tore and it tumbled away in a mess of fabric and rope. “No!” Alina ran toward the fleeing supplies, but Senri reached out and caught her by the arm.
“It won’t do you any good. The storm is too much!”
They found Yahn and the others breaking down camp and corralling the horses. He looked up and waved them in closer, clothes sopping wet. “There’s a natural overhang up ahead!” he yelled over the howl of the storm. “Nat and I can fortify it against the winds and it should provide enough shelter to sleep through the night. Gather what you can before the whole camp blows away.”
They went over to Senri’s tent and broke it down. Stomps followed them and allowed the two to sling items over his back without much complaint. Senri made sure to tie the bundle of firewood in place with her tent supplies.
“Is that it?” she asked Alina. The two glanced around, but Senri doubted they would find much of anything else. “Let’s go. Yahn said he’d lead us out.”
They rejoined with the rest of the group. Nat and Lanan stood beside one another, clothes dripping, having removed their armor in anticipation of settling in for the night. Nat leaned in close to Alina and asked, “I don’t suppose you are a wind reader?” She glared.
Yahn led them along a ridge and around the side of a hill. Senri gripped at the reins of Stomps as if he might blow away while Alina guided her own horse nearby. By the time they made it around the hill and under the overhang, not a stitch of Senri’s clothing remained dry, but at least they had shelter from the wind. Senri grabbed the firewood first and set out to make a campfire. She had the branches dried and lit in moments, providing them sufficient light. The rest of the group pulled tent supplies down.
“My tent is gone,” said Lanan.
“Mine too.” Alina rested her forehead against her horse’s saddle.
Yahn and Nat worked on reinforcing the overhang against mudslides. They held their fingertips to the rock walls and felt for the areas of weakness. “Pair up,” Yahn said.
“What?” Senri whipped around from her station at the fire.
“I call Lanan!” Nat shouted, glancing over at Senri. “Better cuddle up.”
“I’ll kill you,” Senri growled. Her friend just laughed and continued his work. Senri turned back to the fire, but nothing remained for her to do. She pretended to fuss with it anyway.
“Senri.” Alina sat down beside her, but she remained focused on the flames. “I...do you have the tent set up yet?”
She shook her head. “I think I’ll sleep outside.”
“Absolutely not, not in this weather.”
Senri couldn’t look at Alina.
“Is the thought really so repulsive?”
She broke away from the flames. “No!
I didn’t mean—” She stopped when she saw Alina grinning at her. She had to stop falling for that.
Alina winked at her. “I won’t bite.” Senri felt her face go flush and looked away. Alina laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll be good. Just please don’t sleep outside because you fear for my virtue as a lady.”
A hint of a smile tugged at Senri’s lips. “You mean there’s a virtuous woman in there?”
Alina laughed. “There’s that sense of humor. Help me set up now. I don’t think I can do it right a second time.” They both stood and brushed themselves off, bits of leaves and mud falling to the ground.
After setting up the tent, they returned to the campfire with the others to eat the evening meal. Alina’s downed rabbit made for a good addition to the stew, and the warm broth helped abate the cold, though Senri had no problem keeping herself warm. She offered to help dry their clothing with some careful heat reading, though she found it difficult to keep from searing anyone’s skin as she gently ran her hands over the sopping wet clothes. They sat and talked, arranging the first watch. Senri tried to take the first watch so that Alina would be asleep by the time she returned to the tent, but had somehow ended up with early morning.
As the others got up and left, Yahn looked over at her from across the fire. “Get some sleep.”
Senri nodded and stood. Alina followed her back to the tent. Senri began undoing the straps on her own armor. Usually she would do this inside the tent, but she wanted to give Alina the chance for privacy, but the princess removed her armor outside, too. Alina peeled off the various pieces and crawled inside the tent. Senri shook out her tunic and rubbed her head. You can do this. The thunder boomed again and Alina yelped from inside the tent. Senri crouched down and crawled inside. Alina already lay huddled under a blanket.
Senri arched an eyebrow. “Are you all right?”
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