A king of snow and flame

Chapter 3

"Is that grass?"

"Wha-?" Keylan pushed his head up from underneath the coat. He looked out to the area around them, where the snow had melted. He leant forwards, looking down at the withered plants that the snow had revealed.

"Yeah, that's grass." Keylan seemed just as surprised to see it as she was, especially when it was still snowing. "What happened to the snow?"

"It melted. Said Elean.

"I can bloody see that." Keylan stood up. "But why?"

"Body heat?" Offered Elean.

"I don't think either of us are that warm." Said Keylan. "Whatever. We should be focusing on getting to the nearest city. They won't be able to find us there. We'll just be another two street urchins."

"After that, we can overthrow the emperor." Said Elean, her eyes flashing with ambition.

"Are you fucking serious about that? That's your main concern right now?"

"Of course I'm serious. That's my throne, and I want it back."

"I'm regretting letting you take me with you." Said Keylan.

"What?" Elean stood up next to him. "You can be king, if you want."

"That involves marrying you, and that's not happening." Said Keylan. "Anyway, you didn't happen to bring a map, did you?"

"Nah." Said Elean. "But we went in a straight line from the gate, right? Won't there be a road eventually?"

"I hope we went in a straight line." Keylan replied. "It's easy to lose your way in the snow."

"When've you ever been in the snow?" Elean asked. "Weren't you a colosseum slave, too?"

"Most of us had lives before we got nicked by traders." Keylan began to walk, continuing the path their footprints had taken the night before. "Come on. They might've sent out guards."

Elean followed him. It had stopped snowing, but she kept the coat on anyway. Keylan's blacksmithing gear would be fine for him until the snow picked up.

"The guards'll think we're dead." Said Elean. "The storm picked up so quickly, it must've been a stormsinger. They'll be trying to find two bodies in the snow, not a blacksmith and the true empress running away."

"They aren't finding that, either." Keylan said. He was exhausted already, partially from the snow-trudging and partially from Elean's god complex. "They're finding an idiot with a sword and a blacksmith who made some very poor life choices."

"This wasn't a bad life choice!" Said Elean. He almost had to admire her enthusiasm. "Think about it! You'll be emperor!"

"I'm going to be fucking dead, is what I'm going to be."

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"Come on, Keylan!" Elean grabbed Keylan's hand, pulling him up onto the back of the cart. They stood on the back, hidden from the view of the driver by the large, wooden sides and the snowstorm that had picked up.

"God, it smells awful." Keylan had to hold back from retching. "Is that something dead in there?"

"I think it's a death cart." Said Elean. "Collects bodies from battlefields. Don't know why they need them so much."

"Can't be burials." Keylan responded. "Only nobility get burials."

"Whatever. It's going to get us to a city. But what about the guard checkpoint?" Elean asked. "They have those, don't they?"