Dark of Winter: A Between the Worlds novel

by Morgan Daimler

  He nodded, his expression thoughtful. “You told her you were planning an escape earlier, would you have taken me with you then?”

  The question surprised her and she answered more honestly than she might have otherwise. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t have thought you’d go with me and I wasn’t sure if I could totally trust you, but I definitely didn’t want to leave you were you’d be tortured for other people’s entertainment either. No one deserves that.”

  He nodded again. “So you have a plan?”

  She stood up and extended a hand down to help him up. “First I need my boots back.”

  He glanced down at her sock-clad feet and smiled. “Fair enough. You’re sure everyone is asleep?”

  “Yes. All the other elves and Cormac and Anna are upstairs, sleeping. My mother’s trow are separated, two in the stable and one in the upstairs hallway and one by the front door, but they are also asleep.”

  He licked his lips, “The one by the door might be a problem.”

  “There should be a back door, or worst case we can climb out the bathroom window,” she said trying to sound reasonable.

  “Yes, but we’ll have to pass through the main room to get anywhere,” he pointed out.

  “Well, we just have to be quiet,” Allie said, inclining her head in a shrug and trying to seem more confident than she felt. The idea of confronting any of the trow wasn’t pleasant. “If we wake him up we’ll just say I had to use the bathroom and wanted you to escort me.”

  “A lie?” he said, shocked at the idea.

  “It’s not a lie if we’re climbing out the bathroom window,” she pointed out. “We’ll just leave out the window part and let him assume I mean for the usual toileting reasons.”

  Sal looked dubious but nodded, clearly willing to follow her lead. She went on, “So we’ll get my shoes and I need to leave my mother a note, so she doesn’t think you’ve kidnapped me again. I’ll explain I’ve taken you and I’m going home. Then we’ll get my coat – and whatever you were wearing, a cloak or jacket or whatever – and then go out the back. Start heading back towards the border from here.”

  “What other supplies do you want to bring?”

  “What else do you think we’ll need?”

  “Weapons would be good, and food,” he said, obviously considering the problem.

  “Well, take whatever weapon you can use. I’m useless with that sort of thing, but I am a witch so I have some magical skill if its needed,” she said, moving towards the door, impatient now to get going. “And food…I don’t want to take too much from Anna, but enough bread and cheese to get through a few days walking is probably a good idea.”

  She opened the door and edged out with Sal close behind. A quick look to the right showed one of the trow guards, the one she expected to be downstairs, sleeping half-sitting against the wall next to the front door. From Sal’s sudden surge of panic she knew he had seen the guard too. Hoping he wouldn’t freeze up she kept moving, out into the main room. He followed on her heels almost stepping on her feet. She turned halfway and pointed down at her socks and he made a face then moved back to one of the shelves against the wall by the door they’d just come out of. Reaching up he rummaged around and finally pulled her footwear free. The trow snored.

  He rejoined her and handed her the boots, but she didn’t put them on yet, worried that it’d be too loud walking in them on the hardwood. As soon as she’d taken the boots from him he moved quickly across the room to the hearthside, scooping up some cheesecloth that was lying out and grabbing supplies. When he’d taken as much as the cloth could hold he pulled the sides up and twisted the end into a knot to fashion a bag.

  While he was doing that Allie found some scrap paper and a quill, grateful that magic made ink unnecessary, and quickly wrote a note for her mother. Her conscience nagged at her that she was taking the cowards way out by sneaking off in the night but her common sense convinced her that talking to her mother would have ended with her in her mother’s Holding. Somehow she doubted she could say anything to her mother’s face that would convince the elven woman not to see her as a valuable asset and the memory of the trows’ deaths was still strong. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to like to stand by and watch Varessial and Pollineir die. So she wrote a short letter, explaining that her husbands were on their way and that she wanted to avoid the complication of their arrival here by meeting them. She explained that she still felt like Sal owed her and she intended to make sure he repaid her for the trouble he’d caused; let her mother make of that what she would. She also asked her mother to repay her debt to Anna and Cormac by leaving them in peace when she left.

  When she was done she straightened up and headed towards the hallway keeping one eye on the sleeping trow. Sal started to walk back towards Allie with the full bag, then stopped and went back to take a water pouch and several daggers as well. She nodded to him and headed down the hall, trusting him to follow her.

  At the end of the hallway she stepped into the bathroom thinking they could climb out the window easily enough, but he grabbed her elbow and shook his head. He led the way down the shorter hall, towards the door to the underground pool, and opened a door on the left which turned out to be a mudroom. Allie paused there to put her boots on, and was about to ask about her coat when she saw it hung up on the wall next to the door to the house. Sal was already pulling down a heavy wool cloak for himself.

  Once they were as ready as they were likely to get they headed over to the back door, sliding the lock open. Allie paused to re-asses the other people in the building but everyone was still sleeping soundly. Sal reached out and grabbed her wrist, his emotions a mix of hope and anxiety, “Are we ready?”

  She nodded and chewed her lips, wishing she wasn’t afraid. “Yes, let’s go while we can.”

  “It seems too easy,” he said, glancing nervously back towards the main house.

  “If your father was still in charge it wouldn’t be this easy,” she said. “But my mother isn’t expecting anyone to make a run for it. Well not me anyway. That trow by the front door is probably to make sure your father stays put, but why would she think I’d go anywhere?”

  “It is crazy,” he agreed. “You don’t have to do this you know.”

  “I wish that was true,” she sighed, opening the door slowly to minimize the noise. “Come on, we need to go as quickly as we can, and I’m not exactly speedy with my bad ankle.”

  The door swung open to the absolute black of a moonless night, lit only by stars. Without another word the two moved out onto the snow, heading towards the woods.

  ************************************

  Jess rose early the next morning, as the dawn was just starting to break. The others still slept but he was restless, worried about Allie and hoping that she would contact them. If she had followed through with her plan then she was already free of any Dark Court hold and working her way through the Wilds, but that thought was not entirely reassuring. He looked around at the snow filled woods and thought of all the dangers that she could encounter and his mood fell even more.

  He revived the fire and began cooking to take his mind off it, but to no avail. As he stirred their leftovers from the night before, a light venison stew, he could not stop himself from going over a list of all the dangerous beings who made their home in the Wildlands. At least he thought in the hands of the Dark Court she was physically safe because they would not harm her. The things that live in the Wilds are not all rational beings like the Makiawisug, some are truly monstrous and little more than animals. What will she do if she runs into a Nuckelavee or a Barghest? And even beyond those dangers, she is a product of her world, of the human settlements, how will she manage to cross a snowy forest in the cold, with a bad ankle besides? He felt despair gnawing at him and tried harder to push it away but the more he thought of where Allie was the more worried he was for her.

  Her voice in his mind was like the sun rising above the trees at his back, bringing light into t
he shadows. “Jess? What is it? Are you alright?”

  “Allie!” he thought, overwhelmed with relief just to hear her. “Yes, I’m sorry I was just thinking of you. I didn’t mean to draw your attention with my feelings.”

  “It’s alright,” she thought back, her love filling him, “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. We’re taking a short break to eat something and I could feel how upset you were and I thought I’d better find out what was going on.”

  “We?” he thought, puzzled.

  “Oh, ah yes,” she said. “I took someone with me. When I escaped. You’ll probably think it was foolish but I couldn’t leave him there to be tortured so I kind of bullied him into going with me when I left. Well, not bullied exactly, more I told him that he’d be killed if he didn’t go with me.”

  Jess’s lips twitched into a smile, but before he could respond Bleidd’s sleepy voice was entering the conversation, “Of course. I imagine threatening him with death was more than sufficient to motivate him in joining you on this escape.”

  “Shockingly, yes,” Allie agreed, her amusement flowing around Jess and lifting his mood even further.

  “Normally I’d lecture you on soft-heartedness in life and death circumstance but in this case I think there’s a silver lining,” Bleidd said. Jess turned and saw him sitting up in their bedroll, stretching.

  “Dare I ask?” Allie thought.

  “Should you encounter any dangers you can’t avoid you can shove your charity case in that direction and run the other way.”

  Allie sighed, the sound odd in his mind. Bleidd smiled, freeing himself from the blankets and moving to join Jess by the fire. Jess said, “I understand, my heart. If you believed he would be killed or tortured of course you couldn’t leave him to such. And you know the Dark Court well enough to judge his fate in their hands accurately.”

  “It gives me no pleasure to be sure, although after the last few days I’ve realized I don’t understand the Dark Court nearly as well as I thought I did.”

  Bleidd and Jess exchanged a long look before Bleidd answered, “Perhaps but you still understand it better than we do. I am curious though if your mother killed the ones who took you, who do you have with you?”

  “I am just as glad she did, although I should not say so,” Jess thought, sighing aloud. “We were charged with capturing them all or killing them if they could not be captured and from the numbers you described with only four of us that would have been a hard fight. I would not have relished it, with you trapped in the middle.”

  “Oh, you were…I mean of course you were. With bringing in the Dark Court agents. Or killing them.”

  “What is it?” Jess thought surprised that she seemed upset at that idea.

  “Its…foolishness on my part,” she replied slowly. “But I’m sure my mother will be long gone before the Guard gets there.”

  “Do not fear for your mother Allie,” Jess thought trying to project what reassurance he could. “We were specifically tasked with capturing or killing the elf you named, and by extension those connected to him who were endeavoring to gain a foothold in the Holding. Obviously your mother’s involvement in the death of other elves would merit our attention, but we had no specific orders relating to her.”

  “As far as I know she has no intention of staying and is very involved elsewhere,” Allie said with more confidence. “And she didn’t kill anyone herself, her bodyguards did. I’m not sure how the Law treats that.”

  “I would still like to know who is with you,” Bleidd said, refusing to let the subject drop.

  “That…may require some explaining,” she said. “He is the youngest elf who was there. He was being treated really badly by all the others, but he was still kind to me, as much as he could be. And he helped me when he could in little ways.”

  “Allie,” Jess said, frowning, suspicious that she had done something that would directly conflict with his duty.

  “Don’t worry about the details right now, okay?” she thought back. “I can explain more when I see you, in person. For now just trust me that I can trust him and that I couldn’t leave him there.”

  “Yes, let’s focus on finding each other first,” Jess agreed. “Then we can discuss this person you have liberated.”

  “Right,” she said. “Well, I need to get moving again. We’re heading roughly south-west through the woods.”

  “And we are going north-east towards you. If all goes well we should see you by nightfall, I hope.” Bleidd said.

  He could feel Allie withdrawing and a moment later Bleidd next to him changed from the clothes he slept in to his uniform, the magic rippling across his form. Jess looked at him sideways, “Do you think this person she has with her presents any danger to her?”

  Bleidd inclined his head in a shrug, “Knowing Allie’s history of judging people’s character I might be concerned, but under the circumstances, if he is young and an elf I would hope he feels indebted to her for trying to save him from death or torture. That should at the least prevent him from harming her himself.”

  “True,” Jess agreed. Glancing down his eyes fixed on Bleidd’s badge, “You know eventually you must tell her about this.”

  “About what?” he asked, reaching out to scoop some of the stew into the wooden bowl he conjured to hold it.

  “You know what I am speaking of,” Jess said. Bleidd handed the first bowl to him before filling a second one.

  “Eat something Commander. Starving yourself won’t get us to her any faster,” Bleidd said. Then, “Yes I know I will have to tell her I have joined – or re-joined – the Elven Guard. Eventually. But she is likely to be upset by the news and I would rather not tell her when we are separated and her life is in danger. I can tell her in person when I am better able to explain.”

  “You think she will be upset?”

  “I am almost certain she will be,” Bleidd said, beginning to eat. He knew speaking and eating was considered very rude by elven standards and he relished the knowledge as he continued the conversation between mouthfuls of food. “Allie does not like change, and she does not like uncertainty. And, at some point it will occur to her that my being in the Guard, in your squad, means that when you are assigned out in the Holding for missions I will go with you. And she will be left alone in the house for weeks at a time while we work. And I promise you she will like that not at all.”

  Jess frowned, pausing with his spoon halfway to his mouth. “She will have Jason, as well as Hannah and Shawn.”

  “Oh I fully intend to point out that Jason will be with her, but she will still not like it.”

  “Hmmm,” Jess said, studying his own bowl. “In fairness Gadreene given her nature it will be very hard for her with both of us gone for extended periods.”

  Bleidd sighed. “I know. So as I mentioned before you must prevail on your brother to keep us close.”

  The other two members of their squad woke up and joined them for breakfast, putting an end to their conversation. Still Jess found himself turning Bleidd’s comments over and over in his mind.

  They packed up camp quickly, erasing all signs of their presence before moving on. Jess found his step a bit lighter now, having spoken to Allie and knowing that she was making her way towards them even as they worked their way to her. For the first time since he had realized she was missing he felt like there was a real chance that they would see Allie again soon, and the thought drove him forward.

  “Have you noticed,” Brynneth asked a short time later, his voice low, “the Makiawisug are gone.”

  Bleidd nodded, “Yes, I had noticed.”

  “Perhaps we left their territory?” Tashlin said.

  Jess paused, studying the woods. “Perhaps. Or perhaps something else is here that they would rather avoid.”

  The elves all exchanged uneasy glances then began moving forward again, hands on their swords now. The woods fell silent, the only sound the slight crunch of the elves’ boots in the snow and the rustle of the branches in the w
ind. Jess could feel himself tensing as they continued forward, knowing that there was something nearby but unsure exactly what it was.

  *******************************

  Throughout the night Sal and Allie took turns leading the way through the woods. Allie was following a vague sense, almost an instinct, towards where she thought the Elven Guard squad was. She knew that Bleidd was able to sense their bond, to see it, but she had never had much interest in learning how herself. She regretted that now, when it would have come in handy, but there was no fixing it. All she could do was trust that the pull she felt to head south west was genuine.

  It was harder than Allie had expected to have to break a trail through the snowy underbrush, especially with her bad ankle pulling at her with every step. Still they made more progress than she’d expected, cutting their way through the forest for the rest of the night until dawn started to lighten the horizon.

  She found herself profoundly grateful for her heavy work boots, which handled the snow hiking really well, and for her jacket. It was funny, she couldn’t count the number of times she’d almost gotten rid of the coat which was heavy duck-down, because it was too warm for what she needed it for. Now though as she moved through the snowy forest she found that she was totally comfortable.

  Allie did her best to balance trying to follow that vague sense towards Jess and Bleidd and keeping her awareness open for any presence around them, hoping that if they did run across anything dangerous they’d have at least some warning. For the hours they hiked though all was quiet.

  After their brief break to eat, during which Allie had reached out to talk to Jess, drawn by his emotions, they had pushed on again. It had been good to hear their voices but she had no idea now how she’d protect Sal from the Elven Guard. Out of the frying pan and into the fire she thought as they walked on if I saved him from my mother killing him only to have the Guard do it anyway. Ugh, what is it with this kid and everyone wanting him dead? How the Hel am I going to fix this? She tried to work through the problem as they traveled but there didn’t seem to be an easy solution.