by Tom Hansen
Still, this area seemed to be largely devoid of the constant bevy of soldiers who usually roamed the roads and harassed the farmers.
Other than the soldiers that hunting me.
She turned back to the north, watching, as the soldiers finally made it into the town proper. A dozen lamps were lit as the soldier’s shouts shook snow from the roofs of the sleeping huts. The sound of crying babies wafted through the air as the soldiers walked down the rows, pounding on the doors with their fists and weapons.
She frowned as she watched innocent women and children pulled from their homes and rounded up in the center of town for questioning.
“Have you seen a red-haired girl come through here?” She mouthed the words, trying to sound exactly like his voice. She’d heard the questions plenty of times before, and wanted to punch his mouth to prevent him from ever asking that inane question ever again.
Talia’s heart sank.
The soldiers were here because of her. She had led them here—not by purpose, mind you, she hadn’t known this small village was past the cliff—but it wasn’t their fault that she was on the run from the Queen’s Elite. She had practically sentenced this small town to death. Even if none of them had seen her, which they hadn’t, they would at best be shaken down for ‘unpaid taxes to Her Majesty’.
At worst…she shuddered.
At worst was something she didn’t want to think about. Talia personally knew the full terror the Frost Queen could unleash. Her family’s future had already been written in the Raven’s book, a cursed name scrawled in blood, and now she had brought that misery to an unassuming group of fishermen.
It was maddening. She’d brought ruin upon these people and hadn’t even known they existed. Had she only been on the other side of the road as she ventured north, there was a good chance they would have all walked on past this place, and the villagers would have never been the wiser.
“Dammit.”
She couldn’t let them bully the innocent. This was her fault, and she needed to clean it up, no matter the cost.
“Dammit!”
Talia punched her knee, angry at herself once again for bringing unwelcome guests into the town. “I’ll clean it up. I will make things right.”
She opened her pack and rummaged around until she found the last piece of dried meat at the bottom. It was smaller than her thumb, but somehow it would have to sustain her for the upcoming battle. If she was going to do this right, she would need to build up enough energy to use her magic to its fullest extent.
As she munched, she realized that if she was successful, she might actually be able to end her pursuit here. Go in, kill them all, bury all the evidence. She would be completely rid of these soldiers.
She would be rid of him.
The thought brought her to the edge of tears, but she quickly got over herself and repacked her bag.
“If I’m going to go in and take out these soldiers, I’m going to need more energy, possibly some rest.” Being on the run for so long, she rarely had the opportunity to rest, let alone eat a hearty meal. She was exhausted, and she smelled a fright at that.
Talia sniffed herself, reeling back. “Yeah, weeks on the run, I definitely need something.”
She looked back over the rise into the small village.
A flash of color unlike the white and grays caught her eye from around one of the corners of a hut on the edge of the village. It was almost like someone or something had been hiding there.
She blinked and it was gone. Though she couldn’t shake the feeling that something continued to watch her from the darkness.
Adjusting her pack, and cinching the ties around her skinny waist, Talia headed toward the coast to do some fishing.
Chapter Two
After a short exploration, Talia found a spot near the shoreline, up under the lip of a small cliff face. The wind was nearly non-existent here, only coming in occasional gusts from the north. The rise from the town plus the cliff between her and the road meant that she could setup a small fire amid the flurries and not be at risk of being seen.
And bonus, given the ledge above, she wouldn’t have any snow falling on her.
Before she knew it, she had a small fire going. She stuffed her kettle full of snow to melt.
Walking down to the water, Talia took a moment to breathe in the salty air. Despite the constant winds the last few days, there was something serene about standing alone on a beach in the dead of night.
She watched the water for any signs of fish. It took only a few seconds for her to see the first splash, followed by another a few feet away.
She glanced up the coast for signs of another human. A slight movement up the beach caught her attention, but it looked like a crab out for an evening stroll. Satisfied, she readied herself.
Talia took a pregnant moment to breathe, allowing her nerves to center before releasing her magic.
Around her, in a circle about thirty feet in every direction, time stopped.
She stepped into the ocean toward where she had seen the splash. The time-stopped waves caressed her cold skin as she parted the waves with her calves, feeling less like water and more like silk. She found the first fish with ease, plucking the herring from the motionless ocean. It was quite large, but she knew she would need even more energy for her battle to come, so she found the second one a few feet away, a trout of some variety, half the size of the herring, but together they would provide her an incredible meal.
Back on the beach, Talia smiled. “Almost too easy.” With a firm grip on the fish, she released her magic, allowing the waves to complete their predetermined path.
Getting back to camp, she cooked herself a well-deserved meal for the first time in weeks. Seasoned with dried sea salt found on the rocks, it was a feast unlike any other she could remember.
After so long of eating cold or near-frozen raw meat, frozen berries, or a handful of nuts she had stolen along the way, it was the lap of luxury to be able to cook a warm meal like this.
She used the boiling water to brew a tea with some dandelions she had found a week ago, then filled her two waterskins with the rest of the boiling water, and set more snow to melting.
Her hands shivering from the cold, the piping hot teacup rattled in her hands as she took her first sip. The tea warmed her from the inside out, as well as coaxing warmth into her frigid fingers.
As the gentle waves lapped upon the shore not more than thirty feet away, she found herself almost lulled into a false sense of peace.
For the first time in as long as she could remember, she was alone, warm, with a full belly. She placed both waterskins filled with hot water against her body, warming her shivering figure more than she’d been for a very long time.
Then, the smell hit.
“Ugh!” She reeled back as she caught a whiff of her own ripe scent. Being on the road, and on the run for weeks, had certainly taken its toll. Talia gazed out at the ocean, wishing she had the gumption to take a bath.
“No way I’m going out there in the middle of the night. I’d freeze my tits right off my chest!”
But then she looked at the fire, and the little cove she’d managed to procure for herself.
The wind-battered coast had a rocky shoreline with exposed craggy rocks, but as she payed closer attention, she realized that those rocks contained dozens of small tide pools, most of them filled with seawater. But the one she had built her fire next to was filled to the brim with pure snow.
If she could melt all that snow, she might actually be able to bathe in the divot in the rock.
A yearning unlike anything she’d had recently bubbled to the surface. It was so trivial, so insignificant a notion, but she wanted it. She’d come down here simply to have a nice hot meal, but she had been on the road for so long and hadn’t had time to bathe until now.
The beginnings of an idea percolated in her mind. “A bath would certainly restore my energy levels, and might be a better use of time then taking a nap.”
> Before she knew it, she had rounded up some more wood, and stoked the fire higher than she had ever dared. She scooped up snow with her one pot, and placed it on the fire to melt. Talia brought into service every container that wouldn’t melt to turn snow into boiling bathwater.
An hour later, she had five inches of boiling water in the rocky divot. Steam from the boiling water rose up in plumes into the darkness, and she could barely contain her giddiness. Talia felt young once again, like a girl on the cusp of womanhood, with not a care in the world before the weight of responsibility took over.
Or before the Queen caught wind of my family’s magic.
After one more careful check on her surroundings, she stripped down and eased into the scalding bath. Her skin screamed in agony, but after a couple seconds, she realized just how amazing it felt to actually be warm for once.
She slipped into the water and fell on her back, allowing the water to seep into her bones and sore muscles.
She rolled over, getting her front warm before grabbing the pot and refilling her hot water once again. She grabbed more snow and placed it on the fire to melt.
This was amazing! She should have done this before. Why hadn’t she done this weeks ago?
Talia lost herself in the thrill of being half hot, half-cold as the wind chilled her exposed skin.
She rolled to her back once again, dunking her ample straight red hair into the water. Grabbing her pack and rummaging around inside, she managed to find a sliver of soap she had stolen long ago.
She stared at it for a long time. It was one of the first things she had stolen since she was in that place. After months in the tortuous hell that was Reyoarfjell, little things like stealing a bar of lye soap gave her a small sense of freedom, making her feel like she had a choice in a place that normally gave none.
After another quick rummage, she came out with the last sprig of rosemary she had found by the roadside a few weeks back. Crumpling it up, she dropped it in the water to release its magical scent, then took to using up the last bits of dried soap to clean herself.
Eventually, the fire died down and there was no more snow within grabbing distance to feed into the pot and kettle.
“Well, it was nice while it lasted.”
Talia looked over to the rock where she had laid out her towel, only to be disappointed that the towel had apparently been knocked off the rock and fallen into the pool behind her. Soaking wet, cold, and full of mud, she looked disapprovingly at the dirty towel. She had hoped to be able to dry off clean and energized, but now she would have to wash off the towel or get into her clothes dripping wet.
The sooner the better, since the howling wind was chilling her to the bone now that the water had lost most of its heat.
She savored the moment for just a minute longer. After so long on the road, this was one of the last things she had thought she might be able to enjoy, but she was glad that she took the time to heat up all the water.
Talia felt like a new woman, and checked inside herself at the steady strum of magic that beat within her heart. For too long she had eaten scraps and gotten almost no rest, and that had affected her ability to cast spells, especially the heavy drains that her particular magic put on her.
In the distance, a snap echoed through the darkness. Talia crouched down, grabbing the dirty towel to use as a camouflaging shield, when a sudden gust of wind blew out of the north, grabbing the towel and flapping mud across her face.
She let go of the towel as the wind picked it up and carried it off toward the south.
“Dammit!” Before the water cooled even more, she cleaned off her face and hands again and took a few breaths to calm her nerves.
Now she was wet again, after having to clean herself off, and between the cool water and the wind, she was shivering hard. She needed to dry off and get back into her clothes.
That was when she heard the distinct cough of a man.
Chapter Three
“You must not be from around here, lass.”
Talia flared her magic and turned her body into an aggressive stance, ready to fight if she needed to. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears as she struggled to see past the fire and into the darkness. Whoever was out there would either be friend or foe, and she was not in the mood to be interrupted in such a way.
“Who are you? Go away!”
From the shadows, the largest man she had ever seen stepped into the dim light from the dying fire.
He was at least six feet tall, possibly seven. He weighed in excess of two-hundred pounds, at least double her weight. His hands were huge too, and in them he clutched a bundle of wood in one, and a massive axe in the other. He looked a spit older than her, possibly in his late twenties.
Atop his head and on his face was some of the most brilliant red hair she had ever seen. His thick beard made him look as fierce as a wild animal, and the wild curly hair that adorned his head bounced wildly in the wind. He was as thick and as hairy as a bear, and probably just as deadly.
But mostly she noticed his piercing eyes. He missed nothing as he looked her up and down.
Shit!
She realized just how naked she was, standing there in the cold with nothing to cover her but her half-frozen hair.
Suddenly very self-conscious, Talia crouched down into the makeshift tub, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs.
“Turn around, I’m naked here!”
He smiled, a broad, toothy grin amidst his fiery beard. “I can see that, lass. While I am not complaining, I do need to ask what are you doing about these parts?”
He pointed up and over her head. “You’re clearly not from around here, given how you didn’t account for the wind with your towel there. I can go fetch it for ya, but you might not want to put much stock into cleaning off yerself with it now.”
She glared back at him. Was he seriously lecturing her on towel etiquette right now?
“Hey, you big oaf, I said turn around!”
He raised his bushy dark-red eyebrows, which seemed to dance in the firelight. “And why should I do that?”
Incongruity flooded her mind. Was he seriously that daft? “Because I’m naked, and you shouldn’t be looking on me when I’m like this. It’s not polite.”
His grin crossed his face again before replying, his gaze not leaving hers. “How do I know you’re not here with those solders? I have to protect my village, you see.”
Anger flared through her veins, and she stood and pointed at him. “I’ll have you know I’m not part of those horrible–” She realized what she had done once again, and huddled back down mid-sentence. “I said turn around!”
The man chuckled to himself. “Alright, but if you come at me with a knife then I’ll have no way to defend myself, so you can see the predicament we are in here.” He turned around, planting his feet directly away from her, his massive frame blocking out the blizzard.
“Do I look like I have a knife on me?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, I’ve only seen the front of you so far. Perhaps if you would be good enough to turn around and let me see yer backside then I can know for sure.”
Fury raged through her body, and Talia nearly leapt from her semi-protected spot in the tub to lash out at him. But he continued his infuriating sonorous chuckle, his entire upper body shaking with each laugh.
“Oh, and I have myself a towel if you need one, lass.”
Still furious at the forwardness and inane babbling of this man, but curious at his offer of a towel, Talia willed her anger to ebb before speaking. “If you have a towel, I would be most grateful, but you stay facing away, you hear?”
After another deep chuckle, the man pulled something from his jacket and held it over his shoulder. “I can’t rightfully hand it to you like this, but if you insist on me keeping my back turned, then I suppose you’ll just have to come and get it.”
She hesitated. “How do I know you aren’t going to hurt me with that axe?”
&nbs
p; He turned his head sideways, the failing firelight catching the profile of his rugged face. He had a deadly serious look on his visage. “This here is my home, lass. If we’re going to start asking questions, then I’d like to start. Why did the soldiers come into our village around the same time you started snooping over our borders?”
He glanced at her quickly before turning his head back around. His face betrayed his true emotions. He was deadly serious, and worried about his town.
The mood in the small cove changed in an instant. Talia wasn’t even mad that he had looked at her again. In fact, she felt awful.
He was right. She had brought them here, but she was going to fix it. She’d been on the run for long enough now, that it was time to end this cat and mouse game they’d been playing for weeks.
Worry and sorrow caught in her throat. “I–I’m sorry. I never meant to bring them to your borders. I didn’t even know there was a town here. I was simply trying to escape. I promise I will make it right.”
“We shall see, lass,” he said. “Catch.”
He tossed the piece of cloth over his shoulder.
She snatched it out of the air, then held it up in front of her. “Are you shitting me?”
“What? Not prissy enough for the likes of you?”
Talia glared at him. “You said you had a towel. This is barely big enough to be called a handkerchief.”
The jovial air about him came back and he chuckled once again. She watched his broad shoulders bounce for a moment before finally breaking her gaze from his wide body.
“You seem to be the one needing a towel more than I, Miss. Beggars shouldn’t be choosers, as they say.”
He was right, of course, so she ended up using it to dry her naked goose pimple skin off. “You don’t move there, sir. I’m going to get dressed.”
Be my guest, lass. I ain’t going nowhere.”
