Ten of Swords (Draft Only)

Chapter 5

Elise woke in the middle of the night. The fire was out. It was dark. For a moment she panicked, not entirely sure where she was, but the familiar sounds of her son snoring and Pepper turning over in her sleep helped to ground her. She sat up slowly and looked up at the starry sky while the sounds of the dark forest soothed her nerves. She could tolerate this kind of loneliness. Solitude was not always unwelcome. Sometimes it was refreshing, after long days of keeping tabs on people and trying to keep everything under control.

Sleep meant relative safety. She supposed it was why seeing her loved ones resting made her feel at ease. The light of the moon was just enough to see their silhouettes, but that was all she needed. Knowing that they were there. They were breathing. They were alive. She held her shaking hands together and took a deep breath. It was tempting to start planning and problem solving, but she knew it wouldn't do her any good. Not now. Not when she should be sleeping. She could see their faces as if she had only spoken to them yesterday. It had been days already. Soon, it will be weeks. Then months. Then years. She wondered if she would ever stop seeing them.

When her heart stopped racing, she lay down again and went back to sleep.

Morning came too soon, just as it always does. When it was clear that rest would not return no matter how hard she fought for it, Elise finally got up and got to work packing away her blanket and supplies. All but Sniffles were already awake. She would let him rest a little longer. Just until they were ready to go.

Their next stop would be a small town that was a little more out of the way. It wasn't the most remote place they could go to, but it would be good enough. Especially considering that she didn't plan of them staying out of the way forever. Confronting Corden head-on would be a bad idea, and the agents that hadn't been with her when they were attacked were probably scattered. Chances were, they were all told that she was dead an sent out on missions as far away from her as possible, so that it would be near impossible for her to find them.

There were no good options for the path forward. If they decided to prioritize their own survival, they would be giving up on the lives of countless others. Alternatively, if they chose to stick their necks out and try and stop the chaos before it started, they could very well die without saving anyone. At least the politics were minimal.

The town they were heading for had mostly avoided siding with the rebels. Living conditions weren't ideal, but they were surviving. They wanted to keep it that way. Local farms didn't have a lot of livestock, but they produced some grain and milled flour. She had scouted them out in the past to see if they could be potential allies, but beyond legal trade there was nothing they could get out of them. They weren't particularly well off, and most of what they produced was just enough to keep themselves fed. In short, they were a low priority for both the crown and the rebellion. It also meant that they would need to source their own food.

Just as before, Elise rode with her son, while Pepper and the mage had their own horses. Since Elise and Sniffles where the lightest of the group, it was easier on the horses this way. Though that might not be for long, since the boy was growing very quickly. For the time being, it was advantageous, especially when sniffles once again lived up to his nickname.

There must have been something in the air, something the others couldn't smell quite yet. Whatever it was, Elise and Sniffles had to swap places to boss could take control of the animal. The boy's eyes had grown weepy, and between constant sneezing and a torrent of mucus, he could hardly focus on anything other than his own suffering. Then they started to sense it. The scent was indeterminate at first, but as they approached their destination Boss could feel her stomach begin to churn with anxiety. Peper's posture was rigid an alert. Sniffles groaned as he fought and failed against his own sensitive nose.