Roses and Thorns

20- The Last Snow

The next half moon is no more perilous than the last, but the town has made it quite clear that everyone is tired of snow, long hours, and the typical difficulties that come with the starving moons. Anassa is making frequent trips to the storehouse like she intends to get out the supplies for sewing seeds and Alabaster still hasn't talked to me since the incident.

I haven't spoken to the Hunter, either, though a few lines from Calliope seem to indicate he's getting along well. I've made plans, sure, but I know that for my sake and his I can't act on them yet. At worst, I never will, but at best, I need an opportunity.

Today, I wake up with back sore and paws burning to an empty house. The scent of Ace still lingers in the air, his earth and new plants smell still clinging to the sheets, but Asha, who has always been summer winds and poppies, is seemingly vacant. I feel a warmer sun beat in through the window and know that once again, I've slept in late as my body's natural rhythms will allow. It's a miracle I don't wake up past sunset when no one is there to wake me, seeing how little sleep I get and how many hours I lose to being abruptly thrust out of bed in the morning.

I stumble through the streets with little to do and no desire to work, the intent to visit the library and speak with Anassa somewhere in the back of my mind but sounding less and less pleasant by the second. I feel as washed out as the landscape, with piles of snow stacked between buildings and the ground a mess of mud and frigid water.

Ace passes me first, cape flying up in the air. "Where's Asha?" I ask.

"Out," he says. "Calliope has her. Anassa, Ivy, Rye, Morgan, Blitz, Eris, Tammory, Missel, Hirina, Duncan, the other pups, and I are all working on some emergency preparations. We thought you might want to sleep in for once in your life, so we didn't ask."

"What's going on?" I ask. "You just listed off almost the entire Glade, save for the Cloud Chasers."

"They're getting prey. You know how there's been a bar rumor for months that Natrina herself was roaming the countryside, searching for Aislyn?"

"Erm... it may have come up in conversation, once or twice."

Ace lets out a noise far closer to goat bleating than laughter, tensing himself on his paws as if the earth is shaking beneath him. "It's not a rumor."

My heart drops into the depths of my stomach. "Here."

"Yes."

"Her."
"The Queen. Right here. Not long from now."

"Do we know how long?"

"Not long enough."

"Should I..." There go all my plans. Then again, I didn't quite have plans before this, so it's more that I've lost the abstract possibility of creating plans, which is somewhat less upsetting. Still, I can't shake the unease from when Ace mentioned Calliope watching Asha, somewhere in the wilderness, nor Ace's willingness to let her do so. "Calm down."

"What if they do find something? What if- what if-" Ace shakes his head. "I'm sorry, I've been panicking all morning. It's hard to stop once you start." He looks at the trees. "I have to keep her safe. I have to."

"You don't think she has something to do with all this." I pick up his anxiety immediately. It swells within me with each breath.

"Either one of them could." Ace replies. "Promise you'll help me keep them safe."

"Always. You keep busy." I nudge him, flicking his ear with my muzzle. He loosens up a bit. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go supervise a superviser. Tell Tammory where I went so she doesn't explode, won't you?"