Heart of Ash (The Dark Arcane Series: Book 1)

Chapter Thirty One

They continued to ride hard for several more days, and the weather grew noticeably—and painfully—colder. The once fresh breeze had sunk into a biting icy whip that snagged along their cheeks.

Ashyn wasn't sure what was worse: the almost constant brooding of Kade, or this wretched cold.

The only good thing about the lower temperature was that it lowered the likelihood of bandit—though she wasn't sure Sariem would say that made the conditions worthwhile. She cast a glance backwards. The woman was bundled up with her arms crossed and trying not to shiver. Her horse continued trekking through the ground, reins knotted and slack, lazily following the horse in front.

No one said a word about the Captain.

"Nala," called the Ender. "I need you up front with Conan. We're entering the northern towns now and Conan's Graelanreean is sketchy on the best of days."

There was a protest from the short haired man, and he proceeded to shout an insult in what was presumably Graelanreean.

But even to Ashyn's untrained ears, that was entertainingly poor. She thought she might have seen him dip his head to hide a smile.

The Ender may have even laughed at that, and amended, "On second thoughts, Conan move back with me"—Conan looked suitably affronted—"Sariem, you're up front with Nala, just in case anyone thinks she's—"he cut off, apparently not knowing how to finish the sentence.

Fortunately, Nala did, and with a laugh she said, "Just in case anyone decides to spit in my face, you mean. It's alright, I'll put my hood up and hide my hair. This isn't my first time in the north."

The words were impressively light but her face tightened almost imperceptibly. This was her first time back in her hometown after running away all those years ago. Ashyn couldn't imagine what she must be feeling.

"You know how to keep the mood light, don't you Nala," Ashyn quipped.

She winked. "That's me."

They trudged onward, passing small villages and worked hard to avoid making conversation with the flints. The houses were made of darker, rougher, more misshapen stone, and the ground became distinctively more hilly. In the distance they could see a large mass of dark jagged trees laced with snow.

The Red Jae Taiga.

"See the two rock peaks over there?" Nala pointed to the features as she asked no one in particular, but they all listened in interest. "That's supposedly the place where our Star-Sun Mother, and our Moon-Sky Mother first fell in love with each other. And to pass between them is said to bring luck and good fortune, as well as a closer connection to the Great Mothers."

"Have you ever been?" Ashyn surprised herself by asking. It wasn't like she cared.

Nala readjusted her hood as she shook her head. Her voice was wistful, "No, I left the north before I got the chance to."

"Hey, are you going to be alright going into the city?" Sariem asked her. "I know your parents live there."

The flint shrugged off her concerns. "It's a large city and they're busy people—and I have no interest in ever seeing them again. Less questions about me, princess, and let's just focus on the plan."

Which was to the enter the city and find a way to contact the King. Then they had to make him see the importance of their message so he would send out flint soldiers because without those extra fighters, the Shadows and Ashyn weren't going to be able to hold off a company of soldiers.

Unfortunately the north was not kind to outsiders, and the King was well-known for his distrust.

"After this is all over, we can go to those rock peaks before we go back down south. If you like," the Ender said, his tone unexpectedly gentle.