They slept that night huddled together around a small fire, jumping at every sound in the dark. When they awoke the next morning, Coralie was stiff and cold, her mind groggy and slow to wake.
They travelled the whole day, refilling their flasks at a small, spring-fed stream.
That afternoon, when they were about to stop to make camp again, they saw a thin column of smoke not far ahead.
“Looks like a campfire,” Coralie said. “They might be travelling from the other direction. Maybe whoever it is can tell us if there are any towns left in that direction.”
“Yeah, or maybe they’re running away, and they’ve got no money or food and they’ll kill us and rob us.”
Coralie eyed her. “Yeah. Or that.”
Lilianna rolled her eyes. “Let’s at least hide our money somewhere first.”
“Good idea. Sure.”
They secured their valuables in a hollowed-out log, then hesitantly approached the campfire.
Two men with soot-smeared clothes sat around it, cooking fish in a fry pan. The grease sizzled and popped as one of them shook it, sending up a cloud of smoke.
“Don’t go burning it,” his companion muttered, then looked up and saw Coralie and Lilianna approaching. “Afternoon.” He reached for his head, found no hat there, and dropped his hand again. His companion looked up, saw them, and raised his eyebrows.
“You girls all right?”
“Afternoon,” Coralie said. “We’re fine, and yourselves?”
“Oh fine, fine. Just on our way to Kulem, looking to join up.”
“Join up?” Coralie asked.
“Kulem’s destroyed,” Lilianna cut in.
The man was poking at the fish with a stick, peeling up a burned edge.
“What do you mean, destroyed?”
“I mean burned to the ground. It got hit by raiders.”
The man set the fry pan on a rock at his side and stared up at her.
“Gods damn it, Ector, I told you.”
“Don’t go saying you told me so, I was the one that said we should have left weeks ago.”
“Well, too gods damned late now, isn’t it?”
“So we missed that one. The fighting’s not done, is it? Think they’ll just stop raiding now that they’ve got Kulem?” He turned to Lilianna. “It was pretty well picked clean, was it?”
“Picked clean?” Coralie asked.
“We didn’t look,” Lilianna said coldly.
“See anyone else around?”
“Only dead bodies,” Lilianna said.
“See, Lonan?” the man turned to his companion. “I bet there’s not many people willing to go near.”
“What, you think the raiders just left a bunch of stuff for us? That’s the whole point of raiding, idiot.”
“They’ll be in a hurry.” Ector peeled a small fish up off the pan and popped it into his mouth, licking his fingers and blowing on them as he crunched it. “They won’t have got everything. They’re busy burning temples and taking recruits.”
Coralie’s stomach twisted, imagining these men poking through what was left of her grandmother’s cottage. Ector turned to her.
“Apologies, little misses, would you two like some fish?” He offered her the pan. It smelled good, if a little burnt, but Coralie shook her head. “No, thanks. If you’re coming from the west, do you know of any large port towns that way? We’re looking for passage to Kreiss.”
“Kreiss, eh?” Lonan said. “What do you want to go there for?”
“Do you know of any towns?” Lilianna asked, her voice cold.
Ector picked a fish bone out of his teeth. “No need to be rude.”
“Sorry,” Coralie said. “We’re in a hurry. We’re… people are waiting for us.”
Ector smiled, his eyebrows lifting. “Oh yes? Well, isn’t that nice. Yes, in fact there is a nice port town that way. Not easy to find, though.”
How was a port town not easy to find?
“How hard can it be?” Lilianna snapped. “It’s on the coast, isn’t it?”
“Well, how about you be a little more polite, maybe join us for a meal, and we’ll tell you?”
Coralie felt her stomach sinking. She glanced at Lilianna, willing her to stop.
“We’d better go,” Coralie said. Lilianna looked at her like she was going to argue, but when their eyes locked, something flickered through her expression and she turned back to the men.
“Enjoy your fish,” she said, turning to go.
Coralie followed suit, backing away, but Ector stood. “Now, don’t go running off. Stay with us, we’ll take you Kreiss, if you want.”
Coralie saw Lilianna’s face harden and her fists clench. Her hand went to the pouch at her side. Before Lilianna could do something stupid, Coralie grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, breaking into a run and dragging Lilianna along behind her. They dove into the forest and heard at least one of the men crashing along behind them. They dodged in and out of trees, stumbling over fallen logs, careening around a large tree and ducking down into some bushes. They heard the man lumber past.
“Zastros’ balls, I wasn’t going to bother you. Stop taking things so seriously and come back and join us,” he yelled.
He paused, and they watched him turn in a slow circle, his eyes skimming past where they crouched. Finally, he shrugged, cursed, and wandered back the way he had come.
Coralie’s heart beat painfully, and she realized she was still gripping Lilianna’s wrist. She let go, letting out a rush of air at the same time.
“OK, you were right, we shouldn’t have tried to talk to them.”
Lilianna massaged her wrist. “You think too well of people. It’s fine. At least we got some information.”
“That there’s a port town that’s somehow, inexplicably difficult to find?”
“Maybe it’s invisible. Or tiny.”
Coralie laughed a weird, high-pitched laugh she’d never heard herself make before. Lilianna looked at her like she thought she was cracking up.
“I’m fine.” She gasped in a choked breath of air. “Really. Totally fine.”
“Great. Me too. Glad we’re both fine.”
“Yep.” She giggled, then put her hand over her mouth. “I don’t know why I’m laughing,” she whispered through her fingers.
“Probably because you’re fine. That’s what people do when they’re fine.”
Coralie nodded. Lilianna leaned her head on Coralie’s shoulder and sighed. Coralie was suddenly aware of how close she was. She froze, afraid if she moved Lilianna would sit back up.
“Gods, people are the worst,” Lilianna muttered, and Coralie laughed again, jostling Lilianna’s head. She sat up. “Let’s grab our money and keep going. Put some distance between us and those idiots.”
“Agreed.”
For the next few days she and Lilianna walked. They passed no one, even though they encountered several more destroyed towns. Strangely, Coralie was happy. Her thoughts strayed often to her grandmother, but mostly they were thoughts of her off in her new life, young and happy and getting ready to do all the things she’d wanted to do in this life but hadn’t.
Even though they had very little money and their food supplies were quickly dwindling, she was with Lilianna. They were together, and alone, and there was no one to bother them or judge them. Sometimes, when Lilianna looked at her, there was something in her expression, some warmth that said maybe she felt the same way. But neither of them said anything.
“Well, that’s the last of it,” Coralie said, handing a chunk of bread to Lilianna and taking the last, smaller chunk for herself. She shivered, moving closer to the fire.
Lilianna shrugged, taking a bite. “I’ve already eaten better this week than the last three.” She held out the rest to Coralie. “You want this?”
“No, you go ahead. I’m sure we’ll come across a town soon.” All that money in their pockets and nowhere to spend it.
Lilianna glanced at her. “You regretting coming
with me?”
“You mean would I rather be dead than here with you? No.”
Lilianna laughed.
“But, seriously, no. Of course not. You?”
Lilianna picked at her bread. “This is already so much better. Even if we just wander around in the woods encountering burned-out villages for the rest of our lives.” She swallowed the last of her bread and twisted the ring on her finger as she stared into the flames.
Coralie’s heart gave a quick double beat. “Me too.” She cringed. That didn’t even make sense.
Lilianna laughed. “What are you talking about? Stop being so nice to me.” She gave Coralie a playful shove. “This must suck for you.”
“I’m serious.” She’d meant it to sound playful, but it didn’t come out that way, and Lilianna looked up, her expression skeptical. Coralie felt a rush of panic and back tracked. “You’re… my best friend. You know how much it would suck being in Harfoss without you?”
Lilianna nodded. “Let’s see… you’d probably have married… Cory…”
Coralie’s stomach twisted, but she tried to keep it out of her expression. “No way.”
“What? He’s cute.”
“Cory and Coralie?”
“Hmm… good point. Gil, then?”
“Do I have to marry someone in this fantasy of yours? Maybe I’m just the town smith. Forever.”
“Wait, no, I’ve got it. Hugen.”
Coralie choked on a bite of bread. “Sweet Xastros, Lilianna, that’s… ugh.” She grimaced. “That’s horrifying.”
“And you’d have little, angry, sanctimonious babies,” Lilianna said, giggling.
Coralie rubbed her hands across her face, trying to get the image out of her mind.
“And you?” Coralie said, trying to distract herself.
Lilianna thought for a moment. “I’d probably be dead in the woods. I’d probably have gotten lost the first day, eaten something poisonous, and expired.”
“Better than being married to Hugen.”
“True.”
“Where do you think we’d be if we’d gone with that guy? Aron?”
“Probably chained up in the hold of his boat.”
“No…really? He didn’t seem that bad to me.”
“Who shows up and proposes to some random woman he’s never met?”
“Right. Well, yeah, that was weird.”
“I mean, how hard is it to pretend to be decent for two days? Even a crazy person could probably do that.”
“I guess…” Coralie said.
“Eh,” Lilianna said, poking at one of the logs with a stick and sending sparks up into the sky. “Maybe not. Maybe he’d have been fine, and we’d be off in his boat with fancy gowns and drinking tea out of gold cups. Still sounds worse.”
Coralie’s heart warmed. “Yep. Definitely worse.”
26
Lilianna
Something seemed off about Coralie, and Lilianna couldn’t quite figure out what it was. No matter how many times Coralie insisted she wanted to be there, Lilianna couldn’t quite believe it. Because who would want to be here like this? They were starving, and, while Lilianna might be used to that, Coralie wasn’t.
“What about those?” Lilianna pointed to some mushrooms.
“Hallucinogenic.”
“What kind of—”
“The kind that makes people see the gods and think they’re telling them to kill themselves.”
“Always?”
“As far as I know.”
“That’s so specific. Why would there be a mushroom like that?”
“No idea.”
They walked in silence. Lilianna could feel that Coralie wanted to say something. She was just about to turn around and demand to know what it was when she saw movement up ahead through the trees. She froze, listening, and Coralie came to a stop behind her.
Crouching down, Lilianna pushed aside some brush and edged forwards. Up ahead, a ramshackle dwelling perched on the cliff overlooking the sea. Someone was coming around the corner, carrying a large stone and whistling a reedy, energetic tune. He was tall and blonde and looked vaguely familiar.
“Isn’t that…” Coralie whispered.
Lilianna stood up and strode forward, pushing her way out into the clearing that surrounded the structure.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
The man jumped and dropped the stone on his foot. He gave a grimace of pain and turned; when he saw her his jaw dropped open.
“Well, if it isn’t the erstwhile fiancé.” He turned to Coralie. “And the little gambler.”
“Laundry bucket.”
He laughed.
“Is Aron here? What are you doing?” Lilianna demanded again.
Paric sat, pulling off his boot and flexing his foot experimentally. He frowned. “Yeah, yeah, he’s down in the boat.”
“And you are here because…” Lilianna prompted.
Paric blushed. “Just… building a shrine.”
“Why?”
“No reason. I like the goddess Wrimera.”
Lilianna looked at the falling-apart structure. “This thing looks like it’s been here forever. You expect me to believe you’re building it?”
“Renovating, all right?”
“Paric?” A voice drifted up from over the side of the cliff. Two hands gripped the edge, where a rope ladder dangled down. Aron’s head popped over the side of the cliff, his hair wet and sticking up in all directions. “Everything all—” his eyes met Lilianna’s and he stopped.
“Are you following me?” Lilianna demanded.
Aron laughed. “Not intentionally.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
His expression sobered. “I’m sorry. I told you, I think we’re supposed to—eh it doesn’t matter.” He pulled himself up over the cliff’s edge and bowed. “Lovely to see you, Lilianna. Coralie.”
“Hello, Mister de Tamley,” Coralie said. There was a slightly dour, unfriendly note in Coralie’s voice that Lilianna didn’t think she’d ever heard before.
“So,” Aron said, smiling. “How may I be of assistance? Would you like to join us for dinner?”
Lilianna’s eyes narrowed.
“We’re fine.”
“Of course.”
She glanced at Coralie. “We should get going.”
“All right, well, lovely to see you.” Aron bowed. “Sorry for the strange circumstances.”
Lilianna took Coralie’s hand and led her away.
“Bye, Aron. Bye, Paric, good luck with your shrine,” Coralie called over her shoulder, and Lilianna rolled her eyes.
“Don’t be so nice to them. That was really weird.”
“Yeah… I… I think it really was an accident, though, don’t you?”
“No way. That’s why he took it so well when I said I was leaving. He’s just going to follow us around until… I don’t know.”
“Still seems nice.”
“You keep saying that, but you clearly didn’t want us to stay with them.”
There was a long silence.
“All right, yeah, you’re right. They’re weird,” Coralie said eventually. But it didn’t sound like her.
Lilianna glanced at her, then decided not to press it. Whatever it was, Coralie would tell her when she was ready.
27
Coralie
It would be OK. They were going to find a town any day now. Any hour now, really. Coralie looked up at the leafy canopy leaning over the narrow road. This road was for merchants and traders; if there wasn’t a town this way, it would have overgrown by—
A man swung out of the canopy, dropping through the air and landing directly in front of her. He moved in close, lifting a blade and angling it against her throat. Coralie froze.
A blur of fists and brown hair streaked past, just visible in her peripheral vision, and Lilianna collided with the man’s middle. The knife lightly nicked Coralie’s throat as he stumbled backwards, falling to the ground
under Lilianna’s weight.
He dropped the knife. Something flashed in Lilianna’s hand, but the man had her by the hair, pulling her back and away from him. His free hand scrabbled at his side, but Coralie darted forward and kicked the knife away. She moved in closer, but they were struggling so furiously she couldn’t figure out how to help. Then she realized it was a knife in Lilianna’s hand.
Lilianna brough the knife up, aiming for the man’s belly, but he grabbed her fist before she got there, forcing her hand away. One hand wrapped in her hair, the other holding the knife hand, he forced her back, pressing the knife against her stomach. Gasping for breath, he looked meaningfully at Coralie.
“I don’t want to hurt you, but I will. Give me your money.”
Lilianna struggled furiously, aiming a kick at the man’s knees. She arched her back, then leaned forward, recoiling to headbutt him, but he didn’t lose his grip on her hair.
“We don’t have any money,” Coralie said.
“Prove it. Empty your bag.”
Coralie tipped her bag upside down, and the little packets of cookies, tea, sewing needles, and the hatchett came spilling out. The coin purse clanked down among them.
“Sounds like money to me.”
“Get your own,” Lilianna said furiously, twisting her body and embedding her knee in his stomach. He gasped and curled inwards but didn’t release her.
“I said I don’t want to hurt you. Don’t make me.”
“Taking our money is hurting us, you know,” Coralie said. The man rolled his eyes.
“Toss the bag over here.”
“Why do you need it?”
“Toss the money over here.” He pressed Lilianna’s knife harder against her stomach.
“You keep your money right where it is, little gambler.” Paric stepped calmly out of the woods, his sword drawn.
The bandit’s eyes widened. His eyes swept down the length of Paric. He struggled to his feet, still gripping Lilianna hard. “Don’t come any closer,” he said. Paric took a step forward.
The man thrust Lilianna at Paric, then turned and ran in the other direction, dropping Lilianna’s knife as he went.
Death of the Immortal King Page 15
