Enchantment of the Bow

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Jed's POV

The large hoofs of the mount beneath me beat the ground as we gallop along a well hidden path, following after Syl and Adolin. I try not to think about what had happened the day before, instead focusing on the rhythm of the horse beneath me. It feels strange for me to be riding a horse other than Hamais, but I was still too worried about his leg to push him with a trip so far away. I left him to rest at the stables after giving thorough instructions as to how he is to be treated in my stead. I was given a tall, sturdy filly to ride, and I find myself grateful for her long legs. At this rate, we may catch up to the siblings within a few hours.

I wasn't told this horse's name, but because of the silver, dappled coat she bares, I've been calling her Grey. It feels better to have something to call her- everyone deserves to have a name. The last time that we stopped, I tugged her long mane into a few braids to avoid having the coarse hair whip at my cheeks, the way that it had been for a few hours. My face still stings at the thought of it. Hamais' mane is cut short so that doesn't happen, but this filly's hair reaches nearly to her chest muscles. It looks beautiful, I will admit, but it does little good for anything else.

Grey is much more wild and afraid than Hamais, easily spooking at the slightest rustle of a bush, but she is fast. She couldn't hold a candle to Lasreal's speed, though, but then again, this is a land beast whereas he is no ordinary horse. So, I can't fairly compare Grey to him. I give her neck a pat in consolation and redirect my thoughts. When I think of Lasreal, I can't help but think of Lyra, as well. The two are one in the same, after all, even if the Princess doesn't realize it. The Fates did not chose Lasreal as her mount at random- they share the same, uncontrollable spirit, one that everyone looks at from a distance with awe on their faces. Many are too afraid to get close, but there is rarely a person who cannot admire the fire in their eyes, the freedom that they were born to claim. There is no way that you could ever hope to contain something as wild and reckless as the two of them, and I find something about them so unbelievably beautiful. Whether together or apart, Lyra and Lasreal resemble each other uncannily.

Realizing that I had failed in my attempts to keep my mind from wandering to Lyra, I shake my head and focus in on my surroundings. Looking down at the hardening mud, I slow the filly to a walk and pull her up beside a pair of tracks, undoubtedly made by two horses. It is possible that two other riders had found their way onto this path within the past few hours, but it is doubtful. This particular rout was originally a deer trail that Kaladin showed us, marked only by landmarks that he had pointed out, things otherwise camouflaged to any other stranger. Like a group of boulders with one small rock just to the right of a larger one, or moss that grew sideways on a certain fallen log. Even things as small as a bird nest in a certain kind of tree serve as land marks to us, so it is unlikely that a pair of random travelers had managed to follow the trail perfectly. Just in case, though, I keep Grey at a walk and creep towards a clearing up ahead. We are so deep into the woods at this point, that seeing anyone but Adolin and Syl would just be unrealistic. Unless you had grown up in these parts or gotten yourself hopelessly lost, no one but trained mercenaries would be able to follow the subtle marks that our leader instructed us to follow.

When we were smaller, Kaladin would do this sort of thing all of the time, as training exercise for our observation skills. I had always been quite good at tracking, so doing this was never very straining for me. But doing this is how he find our secret meeting places if we ever got separated, and even how we get back to campsites when we were sent out for hunting or scavenging for wood. If you know how to do it, it is really quite easy. Or it is to me, at least.

Adolin is a sharp boy, but even he gets lost sometimes and Syl has to go track him down and drag him back home. I don't think she really minds, though. I know that she likes having time alone with her brother, where they don't feel the need to put up the front of bickering constantly. The two are much closer than they like to appear to be, and used to be alone with only each other for company all of the time before they came to Kaladin. Even though they argue and threaten each other often, I can tell that they love one another very much.