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

Chapter Twenty Seven

They stayed at the campsite of the dead traffickers for just under a week, with the bodies piled up in a far, far corner under a blood stained sheet.

Ashyn hated the fact they were waiting for her—hated it more than the pain from her side that often shocked her breathless—but she couldn't even walk a day ago. But today she'd had enough of staring at the roof of the tent, of around this cursed place so she insisted she was fine to move on. It wasn't a total lie.

"You alright?" the Ender asked, as she walked over to her dark doe-eyed horse that had been tacked up for her.

She nodded and eyed the distance from the ground to the stirrup. She was an independent soul but she wasn't stupid enough to try and get up on her own. She sighed. "Could I have a leg up?"

"Here," Nala was already by her side, kneeling down. "I got you."

She grunted, putting her foot on Nala's cupped hands. Without having to be asked, Sariem moved to place her hands under her arms, helping to hoist her up. She gripped the pommel, and swung her leg over, groaning as she landed.

Her side twinged but it was overridden with the relief she felt to be back in the saddle.

She nodded at the women beside her in thanks.

There had been a different sort of group dynamic since—everything. Things weren't suddenly perfectly roses and rainbows—not by a long shot—and perhaps it was because she'd been bedbound, but there's been less fighting, fewer paranoid stares, and fewer accusations. They had been tested according to each other's judgement and apparently they had passed.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Ender asked the boy, Wilme. "You should only have to ride for a day before you reach the first town."

The kid nodded. "I've ridden on my own before, sir. Many times."

"You still have that money bag hidden?" Conan asked in a surprisingly gentle tone.

"Yep," he chirped, tapping his side.

"When you do that, you're letting pick pockets know exactly where your money is," Kade warned, and the kid's face fell.

"Ignore him, kid," Nala cuffed him on the back of his head. "You'll be fine, just stay alert."

He nodded fervently.

They finished mounting up, with Nala helping the kid into his, one from the smugglers collection.

"See you, kid." Ender waved goodbye. They called their goodbyes until they saw him disappear through the trees.

"Is it wise to leave him alive?" Ashyn questioned, letting them hear her plain disapproval.

"He's just a kid, and besides, he thinks we're travelling east." Ender turned to her.

"I could still take him out just in case," she offered, even though her body warned her not to even try.

"And just when I think I've heard the most cruel thing to leave Ashyn's mouth, she then offers her child-killing services," Nala drawled.

She shot the pale haired woman a withering look. "It's just a killing service, no need to drop the child in there; makes the clients antsy."

ψ

They rode almost the entire day, and even though her surprised muscles begged to stop, she bit her tongue. She would not be the failure of this group.

Ashyn had never needed some smokeseed more than that day. She'd stolen some from the smugglers stash but as it turned out, she would not be able to smoke until they finally stopped moving, when the moon arced higher than the trees and the night crickets sung louder than the gentle hiss of the wind. She couldn't complain, for she was sure she would find no sympathy for her illegal drug habits here, no matter how deep their townspeople blood ran.