I growled as the wagon hit another bump in the road, jerking me from sleep. Not that it had been very good sleep, of course, but it was more than a little annoying to be awoken by potholes and gravel a third time in the same night.

The fabric walls were dark under the night, and the boxes and crates formed a uniform shadow to my left. I could barely make Silst out on top of the pile, and mostly by the glinting of his eyes in the warmth stone’s dim light. The gentle chirps of the trotting colgs out front were almost drowned out by the rolling of the wheels like the lullaby of the road.

We’d decided before we left that we would try to double time the route by rolling along in the night as well, and four poor soldiers and Luis had been chosen for the duty. Thankfully, colgs were stupendously quick sleepers, so with a slow pace and a lot of small breaks for naps we were able to keep up a good pace.

Which was necessary, because winter had not yet ended. We’d waited until the cloud wardens had predicted for some weeks of clear weather, but such an art was nowhere near exact and we didn’t want to be on the road when a storm hit. The thin passes connecting Minua, Verol, and Fangpeak would be hard enough without the extra snow, and the warming stones could only do so much if it got too cold.

Of course, we were still in the ‘easy’ part of the trip, only a day out of the ducal capital as we were. I knew that if I looked outside, I would see the vast River Norni splitting the valley and reflecting the light of the twin moons.

Or I would, if it wasn’t the dead of night.

I resettled myself again and closed my eyes, willing sleep to take me again, only for another bump to immediately jostle them open.

“This is hopeless.” I muttered to myself. “Do they not have proper roads in Minua?”

“Ah, any more than Summark does.”

I hadn’t meant for anyone to hear, but Auro whispered a reply from my right. I turned to face her, only to remember that she was only a few inches away. We’d had to pack the wagon like sardines in order to let everyone lie down at the same time, so Breale and Auro had ended up on my left and right respectively. Fredrick was further on Breale’s other side, and with Luis driving through the night we had just a little more than enough room.

“Did the wagon wake you up too?” I whispered.

I felt my eyelids drip as I talked.

“No.” She admitted. “I couldn’t sleep to begin with.”

“Excitement then?” I yawned. “I guess I am too. I still want to know what Luis said to him to let him go.”

After Luis volunteered, Count Ephren and Andril had taken him aside to speak for some minutes before relenting, but none of them had told us what he’d said. Luis had only claimed to have family up north in Ithin Sele, the capital of Fangpeak. It all seemed too convenient to me, really, but the thought of having another friend with me on this trip stayed my questions. Even if that friend was Luis.

“Luis? I… I suppose that’s it.” Auro turned away for a moment. “It’s, ah, too cold. I think? I think that’s it.”

“That right? Even with the stone?”

I couldn’t exactly feel it if it was a bit chilly, of course, but I’d always been under the impression that a wagon with a heating stone and four people in it would actually be kind of warm. Though now that I thought about it, I couldn’t feel any heat either.

“Well, not cold.” Auro amended quickly. “Just chilly. Like it’s, eh, biting my toes.”

“I suppose that would make it hard to sleep… Do you want my blanket?”

Auro shook her head violently, as if the very thought displeased her.

“No! What will you do then?”

I chuckled.

“I mean, I can’t feel cold, so…”

“I c-couldn’t do that, I’d feel bad.”

“Well now you’re stuttering from it. You’re probably only a few minutes from losing toes.” I joked. “What about this then?”

I sat up and threw my blanket over her, only to groggily climb under the two of them as well. Her skin was warm to the touch, and I felt just snug enough to close my eyes again.

“That better?” I asked with a yawn. “Now we both… have… two….”

I barely noticed her rapid nods as I slid into sleep facing her back.

And then I realised what I’d just done, and all drowsiness left me. I immediately hoped beyond hope that there wasn’t enough light to reveal my face.

Was…wasn’t I a bit too close? Why had this been the first thing to come to mind? Exhaustion? Naivety? No, couldn’t this be construed as assault in some counties? The only right thing to do was to extract immediately, but how could I do that without it being awkward? Was that still possible?

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

All too consciously, I felt the warmth to my right and the rapid beating of her heart. Out of the corner of my eye I felt her continue to sneak glances at me, and I couldn’t decide if she was disgusted or bewildered. I could almost count the relation points ticking down between us.

Luis wouldn’t think it too strange if I took his spot at the helm, right? He’d probably welcome the relief, and I knew I wasn’t going to get any sleep while this situation held. But should I wait until Auro falls asleep? Or would she just stew in anger until morning?

Slowly, I began to scoot away from her. Before I had gotten three inches, however, I found a different body blocking my way. Turning my head as carefully as I could, I found that Breale had slipped her mooring and invaded my space when I’d turned to my side.

The hell was this? You were already one of the taller ones here, so why’d you have to take my spot too? This pitching bastard!

My irritation quickly drowning out any embarrassment, I tried to push Breale back over to her back with my elbow. For a moment she started to turn over, and I started to reclaim my spot.

Then, like a poked bear, she suddenly rolled over the other way.

I was immediately squashed against Auro, and I felt her just about jump out of her skin in surprise. Then, Breale wrapped her arms around the both of us and started to squeeze like a trash compactor. We were both pulled close, and I felt my face burn red.

“S-s-s-s-Saphry?” Auro stammered.

I tried lifting my elbow to strike back at the Maverick, but I found it trapped under the crushing vice that was her arm. Nor did straining bring me any results, and after a few seconds of struggle I settled down and glared at her.

“Breale, you damn log, wake up!” I whispered. “You’re killing us!”

In response, she mumbled something incoherent about swords.

Should I just bite her? That’d wake her up, right? Eh, but what if she screamed and alerted the boys? A light bite, maybe? Ah, but that could get weird really quickly…

Suddenly I remembered the other victim, and I craned my head to look at Auro.

“Auro, can you get free?” I asked.

The only response was a sudden soft snoring.

“There is absolutely no way you fell asleep that fast.”

When the snoring continued, I turned back to Breale and tried calling her. Steadily I grew louder, until I heard Fredrick begin to stir.

“Huh? Hmm…”

My mouth went dry as he shifted position, my fear only ending when he settled back into sleep.

Fredrick or Silst waking up now… that would be a disaster. I could already hear the jokes in my mind.

The snoring continued, and I sighed in resignation.

Great.

…

Silst watched as Saphry carefully patted down the blanket she’d set on top of the boxes and nodded to herself, happy with her effort. By pushing boxes against the fabric, she'd been able to create a small space between the third layer of crates and the wagon roof, one just big enough for her to fit in. And right where Silst had previously been sleeping.

“I really am sorry, Saps, but it really wasn’t my-”

Saphry threw another glare towards Breale, and the girl looked away in shame.

Silst didn’t really know what exactly had happened between them last night, but by the time everyone had gotten up Saphry had looked as though she hadn’t slept a wink. Silst only hoped the ire wouldn’t last long.

Silst knew well how travelling grievances could turn into problems. He had been witness to it firsthand on many a new hunter’s first flight with the elders, even as young a drake as he was. One of his elders, Winterspite, had lectured to his hatchery many times on the proper way to behave while abroad, and while he had tried to instil the same lessons in his own charge he wasn’t sure how much actually got through. Silst was only some decades old, after all, hardly qualified to be teaching others, and Saphry had been exceptionally difficult the last-

Silst paused.

There’s an easy reason for that. Gideon thought. I just wish he would think about everything a little more.

Gideon knew he wasn’t helping by being angry, of course, nor by not speaking to him, but he just couldn’t help it. Ryder had promised over and over again that he would be more careful, that he would run from danger, and he had repeatedly broken that. And so when he had practically volunteered to join the fleet and then been captured… something inside had snapped.

Though from what I’ve heard, that last one might be my own fault. Gideon thought. Why did I listen to Andril? Why did I leave right when the ship arrived?

The drake sighed, a thousand logical reasons already coming to mind.

Because I’m hardly out of the hatchery. Silst thought. I’ve been much too empathetic of a dragon recently, and Andril was worried. And besides, if the only way Saphry will understand my disapproval is silence, then silence it will be.

A travelling song drifted through the fabric as one of the wagons up front started it up. After coming to the South, Silst had quickly learned how deep a love for song the average veroline citizen had. Every dinner one would be humming, every workplace was alight with flute, and every marching soldier seemed to have three dozen different marches and drinking songs memorised.

In comparison, the dragons of the Northspine were immensely taciturn, only making noise to scare their enemies or to communicate when needed. Most of them had treated verbal speech as a failure, and held telepathy as the highest ideal. Silst had often thought that had come from their necessarily crude language and the elegance of mind-speak, but that did not explain the lack of music. No, Silst could only truly understand music in the sound of the winds, the rush of the storms, or in the call of the hunt.

Until recently, at least. As of a few months ago he has suddenly gained the ear for it.

Saphry sighed and glanced towards him.

“It must be nice not having to sleep.” She complained. “Especially next to someone like Breale.”

Gideon didn’t respond.

I suppose it would sound like that. He thought bitterly. Sometimes I wish I could skip out on the night without a thousand memories bombarding me. That I could stop staring at stars waiting for the important people to get up and do things. It’s not physically tiring to stay awake, but it really was tiring in every other way.

Of course, it also let him study and test to his heart's content, but Gideon had found that practising potions and small magics without talking to anyone to be quite bothersome after the second month. Even looking at a book made him a little lonely now. Indeed, ever since the battle he’d just been biting the bullet and taking the memories instead. Because surely they had to end at some point, right? He wasn’t that old!

“I’d like to say I’d spend all the time practising magic if I didn’t need to sleep.” Ryder continued. “Though I’d probably just spend the time reading anyway.” He leaned close and lowered his voice to a whisper. “It’d be a better ability back on [Earth], anyway.”

It would certainly be less boring. Gideon replied.

Ryder grinned.

“I wonder if we can think up some kinda potion for it once we get back. I’m sure it’s possible. Then: [video game] nights forever!”

You know what? I prob…”

Gideon frowned.

He always gets you when he mentions Earth. Stop falling for it! He’s smarter than he looks sometimes!

Ryder prodded his flank.

“You probably what? Come on, was it in the book?”

Gideon turned his head away to stare at the back of the wagon.

Just one more week. Then he would have gotten the point. Just one more week.

“Saps, you going to eat breakfast?” Breale asked. “You know as well as I do how surprisingly good Fredrick is at cooking.”

“Surprisingly?” Fredrick asked. “The only surprising thing is that you can’t do it too.”

“Ah, that was one of Mother’s topics.”

“I’m not sure what that has to do with anything.”

Gideon watched as Ryder turned back to the rest of them, and halfway through the turn he could almost see the change in his face.

“Be right there!”

When she turned back to him, Saphry was smiling.

“We’ll talk about it later, I guess. “ Saphry shook her head as she turned away. “Ah, just imagine how many books I could read…”

He watched as she climbed down beside Breale and gratefully accepted a bowl of soup. As they talked, Fredrick started humming a song, and the rest of them joined in. Even Saphry.

Even reading gets boring eventually. Silst thought as he watched. Everything does, in time.

And the wagon rolled on.