QUEST WORLD

Combustible Campsite

We keep more or less to our separate groups as we ride—Steel, Sela, and I up front with the prince and princess behind us, far enough back that we can't hear what the others are saying. Not that any of us talks. I think we're all appropriately Freaked Out after the events of the past few days.

And I'm exhausted.

The lower the sun dips, the more I feel that I haven't slept in two days. I'd been living on panic and spite since Steel showed up in The Dizzy Ogre, but now that it's quiet, just the swaying of my horse and the easing dimness of twilight and the humid, blanket-like warmth of the forest...

"Amelie!" Steel cries.

I blink, and realize I'm hanging halfway off of my horse. I yank on the reigns, which makes the horse stagger off the path—and my forehead clips on a low-hanging tree branch.

What sleep started, that branch finishes.

I flop backwards off my horse. Thankfully, this path is rather overgrown, and I land in a bush. But my head throbs where I smacked it and I just sit there, thorns poking my thighs, my head buzzing.

"Are you all right?" Steel fights to stop his horse, but gods, he's a horrible rider. He actually manages to make his horse whirl in a complete circle.

The absurdity of his question coupled with him spinning his horse makes me burst out laughing.

"Oh, I'm great!" I hiccup. "This is the least concerning thing that's happened to me in the past forty-eight hours. Isn't it?" I dissolve into giggles.

There's some rustling, a few grunts, and when a hand grabs my arm and lifts me to my feet, I expect Sela with a disapproving scowl.

Only it's Thertan.

"Imina," he calls over his shoulder. "Find a campsite. We're not going any further tonight."

I shove him. "You don't make the decisions in this troupe, Princeling. We're not stopping until we reach Artery."

"Arderis," Sela corrects. She's standing not far from me, holding her horse's reins, mine's, and Steel's.

"Arderis. We're not stopping until we get to Arderis."

"Arderis is at least another three hours' ride," Thertan counters.

I pull out of his grip. "Well then, let's hop back up on our horses and—"

I take a step, but my legs must have hit the ground harder than I thought, or maybe I am just that tired. My knees give way, but before I can collapse, Thertan grabs me again.

"The later it gets, the more dangerous this forest will get," he says.

"That's what I said!" Sela chirps.

"And I'm not riding any farther with a party member whose reflexes are hindered," Thertan says.

"Excuuuuuse me." I turn to him, which puts us close enough that I can feel a rush of heat off him. He smells like horses and worn leather. In the rising dark, his eyes are colorless.

There's a long, heavy pause.

"Excuse you...what?" Thertan presses.

Oh. I didn't say anything.

"All right." I sniff. "Maybe camp isn't the worst idea. But the sooner we get to Artery—"

"Arderis."

"Arderis, the sooner we can get all this— fixed."

"Believe me," Thertan says. "No one wants to get this fixed more than I do."