Page 28 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

As they ran,snow began to fall.

They didn’t stop to rest until it was several inches deep. When Crow’s feet had grown numb and Vaara had begun to stumble, she decided they had no choice but to stop and rest. She chose a spot under the trees that was relatively free of snow and hidden from the road.

Vaara staggered against a tree. He’d not spoken since the last time they’d stopped, and she’d taken it as petulant anger at her, but now she wondered if he’d just been too exhausted to speak. His legs shook, then buckled, and he collapsed in the roots of the tree.

She watched him as she opened her pack. He did not move at all. If he hadn’t still been breathing hard, she might have thought he’d just sat down and died. Guilt gnawed at her. She’d pushed him too far.

She dug into the pack and pulled out the clothes that had been meant for Toreg. And if Toreg had been a little less of an insufferable asshole, he might have gotten to wear them.

“These are for you,” she said, setting the pile down in a dry spot by his head. He blinked slowly at it.

She pulled another item from the pack. A cloak with a heating enchantment. It warmed quickly in her hands. “And you can use this for now. The magic won’t last long before it needs to be recharged.”

She tossed it at him. He ignored it at first, and then seemed to realize what it was. He hurriedly spread it over himself, tucking his feet up under it. He’d closed his eye again, as if it was too much effort to stay awake.

But they couldn’t both sleep, because someone had to keep watch for pursuers.

She pulled her sheathed knife from her pack and fastened it to her belt, relieved to be able to wear it again. She hadn’t been allowed to bring it into the prison. She was no warrior, but who wouldn’t feel more secure with eight inches of honed steel on their hip?

As he slept, she paced. She worried. She thought about Vaara. She thought about Alexei. She thought about Patros.

She took out the hand mirror she’d used to contact him, cautiously peering into the glass. She angled it up toward the sky instead of at her face, just in case anyone was watching from the other side. The glass was fogged and empty.

She brought it to a tree and raised it in the air, then hesitated. There would be no going back after this. But after what she’d just done, it was already too late to go back.

She smashed the mirror against the tree. Shards fell deep into the snow and disappeared.

It was several hours before Vaara awoke again. He looked down at the bundle of clothes she’d set by him, glanced up at her, then back at the clothes. Slowly, as if fighting soreness, he put them on.

When he’d dressed, he looked transformed in the same way he had when she’d first seen him standing up straight. They were cheap but sturdy clothes, like any common man or woman in Valtos would wear. He no longer looked like a prisoner. He looked almost like someone you’d meet on the street. Oddly, the sight made Crow feel even more guilty about what she’d done to him.

Other than that, he looked not much better than when he’d collapsed hours before.

“Are you hungry?” Crow asked.

He gave her a hateful look—that seemed to be his default reaction to being reminded of her existence—but nodded.

She handed him the packet of field rations she’d already taken from. He sat down on a log and ate.

“Do you feel all right?” she asked.

He paused mid-chew to glare at her.

“I’m just asking.”

He continued chewing, re-aiming his glare to the middle distance in front of him.

“Are you going to be silent for the rest of the time we’re together?”

His lip twitched with disgust. “I don’t know. Will you force me to speak?”

“I don’t want to force you to do anything.”

He shook his head. “I have nothing to say to you.”

Crow reached for the packet in his hand, and he flinched away.

“Don’t touch me,” he said again.

---