The Midnight Storm (A New Dawn #2)

Chapter 49 - Nick

Contrary to what one might expect, Bigtown was not a big town. With its five thousand inhabitants and a stable that housed a hundred horses and twenty mountain dogs, it was surely larger than any other settlement in Ice, but by Greenlander standards, it wasn't even a city. More a big village. 

The carriage wheels spluttered through the mush of melting snow and mud; Bigtown didn't have stone roads. Not that Nick could blame them for that—it made no sense to build something one would only see during the summer moons.

Bear had squeezed himself between him and the Prince. The rider's bench too crowded for two people and a growing mountain dog whose enthusiastic yips accompanied the constant wagging of his tail against Prince River's side.

"Yow-Yick," he repeated with each clipping of hooves.

Nick wrapped his arms around his pet, both to keep Bear from jumping down the waggon and to shelter himself from the cold Ician wind. He received a lick on his cheek in return.

"Yow, Yick."

Home, Nick. 

The animal's memory never ceased to amaze him. When Bear had left Ice over a season ago, he had weighed less than a good book and had slept most of the journey in the Prince's pocket. Since then, Bear had grown ten times that size, but he remembered the place as if he had spent years of his life here.

Nick buried his head into the fur. "I know nothing here. You'll show me around, won't you?"

"Yep-yep," Bear replied.

On his left, wood clashed with wood. Feet splattered as they dashed through the mud. Concentrated voices of boys and men groaning, then frustration as they lost their focus. 

Nick turned his head towards the outlines of a fenced building. Four, no, five blotty shadows darted around in circles around each other. More banging. A deep groan. A pair of boots slipping; a body plunging into the mud. A burst of laughter.

"Is that what I think it is, Bear? Is that the School of Four Other Senses?" Nick asked.

"Njarf," Bear said.

"No, then what is it?"

"Rawl-yo-yo," he whined sadly.

"That's alright, Bear. You can't know everything."

"The school you'll be going to is outside of Bigtown. I'll take you there tomorrow," Prince River said.

He turned a corner, then rode on for a while before turning another corner. Here and there, people greeted him and asked about his travels, as if greeting an old friend. 

The Ician Crown Prince's replies were consistent and concise. "Good, but better to be back."

Nick couldn't imagine Sebastian ever riding so casually through Sundale. Wherever he went, a horde of crazy waving Sundalers followed him. Ice seemed so peaceful, so normal. It couldn't be real.

The sweet earthy smell of horses mingled with the scent of warm hay grew stronger. With the next turn, the Prince slowed down. The contours of a stone entryway came into view, the edges too low for the horse and the carriage to fit.

Nick ducked.

For a quick moment, the carriage went faster than the horse pulling them. Nick's insides panicked more than the animal. Even Bear yowled in pleasure. 

They were going downhill. 

He knew that! The stable of Bigtown laid under the ground, easier to keep the horses warm during the long and harsh winters.