Blood-Bound [ Lore of Penrua: Book I ]

41

The way they went had no beaten path. How Matei could know which direction they were headed was a mystery to her. Yet on the afternoon of their second full day alone in the forest, Mhera had begun to notice something strange. Now and then, she saw the rebel glancing upward into the treetops. She had followed his gaze each time, and once or twice had discerned a pale mark on the trunk of a tree. They took the form of straight lines with dots above or below in varying configurations, designs that reminded her of the Arcborn markes. At the sight of some Matei continued forward, and others would cause him to veer to the left or to the right.

The tension between them had eased somewhat out of necessity, but Matei was still distant and short. Mhera began to wonder if the secret pain that slowed him down had roughened his attitude in addition to his hatred of her. He was worn down. Both of them were. Even had they been friends, it would have been difficult not to be snappish toward one another on such a trying journey.

At last, though, Mhera's curiosity got the better of her and she ventured to break the frosty silence. As they shared their midday meal, she asked, "They're a map, aren't they? Like a trail?"

Matei threw her a guarded glance.

Mhera raised her brows. "The marks on the trees. I'm not blind." She took a sip of water.

"I suppose there is no sense in hiding it. They're in code. Some of them are intended to lead folk astray. But if you know them, they'll lead you straight to Hanpe."

"Why do you look at me like that? Like I'll tell the first person I see? I have no one to tell."

"I don't think it matters any more, anyway," Matei said. "This is why we move so quickly, why we cannot stop too long to rest."

"Because my uncle knows where Hanpe is."

"I heard it in the prison. They tried ..." Matei fell silent, flicking the core of his apple away into the underbrush. "One of us broke."

"Your back ..."

"Don't, Mhera. I know you wish I had gone to the sword. Don't pretend to be tender-hearted toward me now."

Mhera was stung. She looked at him, shame descending over her like a woolen shroud. "I only meant ..."

"Leave it. Take your water skin. We move on."

For many more hours they walked, until night descended over the Duskwood. Matei still walked on ahead, picking an unmarked pathway through the trees. As the light failed them, he drew to a stop some distance ahead on the path, peering up into the treetops. Mhera noted his uncertain stance with some anxiety.

Had he gotten them lost? Had they enough food to last if they needed to go farther than he had expected?

She caught up with him, gazing up as he did into the darkened branches of the trees, seeking any pale marks up on the trunk above the lowest branches. She clutched one blanket around her shoulders like a cloak, for the night was chill.

"Are you lost, Matei?" Mhera's question was accompanied by a tickle of fear. She did not want to rile Matei again, but she was more afraid of being lost forever in this horrible forest.

"No," he said shortly, but his tone did not convince her. "The sign was guiding us in this direction. Perhaps it grows too dark for me to see them clearly enough. We will go on—I just ... need a moment."

He took a moment, and then another. Finally he started to walk again with a whispered curse. "I had hoped to reach Hanpe tonight."

Mhera moved along to the right, letting him walk on ahead. She looked high up into the trees through the gloom, squinting. She saw a pale blur here or there, but was unable to tell whether they were path markers or just a trick of the eyes.