Ryland’s second bout with sleep did not go uninterrupted, but at least he wasn’t thrashing his way through it. The nonsense refused to let him be. Not even now, away from the queen, away from her court, away from Tienja.

Well. Hopefully away from Tienja. Maybe he had been chased back home. Maybe Ryland would never have to see those umber eyes with drug-strangled pupils staring straight through his soul ever again. Nice thought, but not one Ryland was prepared to hold his breath for. When Jaraka wanted someone dead, Tienja always saw it done. Always.

And then he’d slink back to his cot with all the other living trinkets…

No. No pity for that thing. Never again.

Ryland stared up at the ceiling of their shelter for a few minutes, breathing slow, counting as he rid himself of the nerves his dreams inflicted on him. When he was ready, he sat up, which caught Vael’s attention.

“You okay?” his cousin whispered from where he sat by the cave’s entrance. “Could probably rest a little longer if you need.”

“No, no,” Ryland mumbled through a yawn. “No, I’m good.” There was no time. They had to get moving. “Wake Kiran.” Safer for Vael to do that than him at the moment. She’d been angry yesterday, for good reason, and they didn’t need to risk bickering first thing. He set himself to splitting supplies and the food Kiran had cooked last night more evenly between their packs.

Once they’d gotten some potatoes warmed up enough to eat and as many layers on as they could, they got moving. The sun was visible enough through the winds thankfully. That made it easy to course correct and start their way south with a lean to the east. Heading toward the coast would see them break from the snow a little faster than if they headed straight down. For now, though, Ryland was willing to thank the winds directly for being there to obscure their footprints, even if it stung their faces. A small discomfort in exchange for huge blessings. He just needed to make sure they kept good pace but also held back his own long-legged strides so the other two wouldn’t get overtired.

To Vael and Kiran’s credit, they were struggling silently and with grace. Ryland couldn’t ask for much more than that—who didn’t struggle through the tundra? But in particular, these two were showing more mental fortitude than most of the Guard. Vael had muscles forged by his profession, but he was also used to being as warm as he pleased if not outright hot. And Kiran often went hunting in the dead of winter, but that didn’t require walking for hours in freezing wind. So while it soon became clear that they were definitely not moving fast enough to get out of the snow by nightfall, Ryland felt confident they would only need one more snow cave.

As long as the winds hindered them in the day, hopefully they would also keep them safe that night.

Finally, as night showed hints of falling, Ryland stopped. “We’re done,” he announced to his wards. “Let’s dig.”

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Vael halted and wavered before he set his hands to his knees and heaved a deep sigh. “Ho… That was a long walk,” he gasped.

Kiran said nothing. Just dropped her bag and started the work. The scowl on her face wasn’t just from keeping the wind and snow out of her eyes, but there was nothing to do or say about it yet. Survival first. So Ryland threw in with her, using what shreds of energy he had left to carve out their home for the night. She didn’t object to being shoulder to shoulder with him at least. When Vael caught his breath he joined in, and the three made short work of it.

It was just past sundown when they finished and could carry a flame to see by inside. Ryland immediately sat on the floor with his tiny makeshift torch in hand and sighed as he leaned his head back. He’d slept, he’d eaten, he’d added layers to his clothes, but the exhaustion was taking him again. The last few days had not been kind enough for him to keep pushing, especially with screaming muscles. Damned if he wasn’t going to try though. “Someone make the fire,” he mumbled. “I’ll cook.”

“I should try to hunt,” Kiran grumbled while Vael hopped to build a firepit.

Ryland shook his head. “No. Don’t go out there. We need the snow to blow over.”

“Why?” Kiran snorted. “We’ve been out there all day. Nobody came for us.”

“He can still catch up.” Ryland closed his eyes. His hand that held their torch was starting to shake from exhaustion. This wasn’t good. A proper meal would do so much good. But not if Tienja killed them before they could eat it.

That wasn’t a good enough answer for her, though. “Ryland, you’re half dead and we still have at least another day of walking to go! You need meat. There is no way that man is anywhere near—”

“Yes there is,” Ryland snapped back as he pounded his free fist into the ice beside him. “You don’t know him. You don’t…” He swallowed against the grit in his dry throat. “He isn’t normal.”

Ryland heard Kiran scoff, and he opened his eyes enough to see she’d turned her head away as she moved to hug her knees to her chest.

Vael glanced between the two of them before he went on with building the wood for their fire. “Cousin,” he said gently, “how could he track us? Why is he not normal?”

Cold started picking at Ryland’s joints, but he did his best to keep from shivering hard. Not easy. Remembering the things he’d seen, the reasons he had to doubt his own beliefs… “Their gods,” he mumbled as he brought his right hand, stiff with cold, over the flame he still held.

“What about them?” Vael asked.

If there was any real benefit to the blacksmith’s unshakable faith, it was that he wasn’t going to dismiss someone else’s conviction in something no one else could see or touch. He wasn’t going to make Ryland feel crazy for…not quite believing, but starting to wonder. Wonder very, very hard. So Ryland took a deep breath. “They have a god for death and deception. The Master of Shadows, they call him. Navatoro. And they say Tienja is possessed by him.”

“What does that mean?” Kiran spoke more skeptically, but at least she was willing to turn her eyes toward him again.

“I don’t…” Ryland swallowed again. “Sometimes he…he moves too fast. Sees too fast. He took on the whole fort. By himself. They say he can do those things because Navatoro takes over. Speaks to him. Makes him do things.”

Kiran’s frustrated expression slacked as she looked to Vael for guidance. Vael didn’t have much to give. “Is that true?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Ryland managed to say above a whisper. “I know I have seen him be…terrifying. And I know they give him poppy juice to calm him.” And Ryland knew what Tienja was like in the times between. He could still hear the crying in the dark, the pleas in a language he didn’t fully grasp, the shaking moans…

No. No pity. Never again.

“Ryland.” Kiran’s tone was flat, but not angry at least. “Are you saying he’s using a god to help track us?”

The scout looked down into his lap. “…Either that, or a god is using him.”