Page 64 of The Assassin's Bride

He slid his finger down to the very bottom of the curve, nestling the edge of his nail against the fleshy web between his forefinger and thumb. “Ah, about here.”

“Angroth is near the length of Kentoria, from the northernmost mountains to our southern coast. The horses will make us faster going across the valley, but we'll slow again in the hills.” Despite the subtle crease of frustration between his brows, Gaius was calm. How had she ever looked past that unshakable nature and thought him anything other than what he was?

Rilion scratched the back of his neck and sighed. “We still don't know where exactly the place is, though. Intelligence offered by the sources I can reach will only get us so far. Aside from knowing he's in Angroth—”

Gaius raised a hand. “Knowing that is enough.”

If anything, the extra distance would give her more time to train. More time to practice, make herself useful, and more time by his side. That was why she'd come, Thea reminded herself. Two weeks in close proximity, traveling the mountains and valleys with him only an arm's reach away.

Solemn, she burrowed into her bedroll and gazed at the stars. Maybe she'd sleep better if she kept him that way in the future. An arm's reach away, close enough to touch when the night's sounds frightened her awake.

Tomorrow, she'd lay her bedroll close.

* * *

“Well now,” Rilion said. “What have we here?”

Thea craned her neck to see, but he'd already reined his horse to a stop and dismounted. Whatever it was, he knelt to inspect it.

Gaius dismounted, too. The closer they got to their destination, the more solidly that name cemented itself in her mind. Even with the unseemly face she'd given him.

He crouched beside Rilion and touched the ground with fingertips reddened by the cold. They'd spotted a few stray snowflakes early that morning, but they'd all roundly denied it. No one wanted to consider the impact of snow. Now, whatever it was they saw made snow a greater threat.

“How many?” Gaius asked so softly, the wind almost carried away the words. “What do you think?”

Rilion pursed his lips.

Unable to restrain her curiosity, Thea slid from her mare and inched forward to have a look.

Tracks. Clear ones, more defined than what even those left near the burned settlement had been.

“It's got to be dozens. Look how thickly they're layered.” Rilion spread a hand and waved at the marks as a whole. “And they've been by recently, too.”

“But we still haven't seen anyone,” Thea said. “How can they move so swiftly in numbers so large?”

“Simple. There has to be something we're missing.” The prince shrugged, then stood straight. His gaze tracked to the north, then the west.

Gaius did the same, though the turn of his head was barely perceptible. “They've not headed toward Passgate.”

Thea wasn't sure of the directions or distances, but she, too, saw how the trail meandered west. “Is there something wrong with that?”

“Angroth isn't known for its large number of settlements.” He dusted his hands together as he stood. It meant something to him; she saw it in the distant look that filled his eyes.

She paced closer and squinted at the horizon, unable to determine what he was looking at. “What are you thinking?”

Rilion had already returned to his horse. He stopped with his hands on the saddle and listened instead of mounting again.

A long moment dragged by before Gaius finally drew breath and spoke. “We shouldn't go north.”

“Where, then?” Thea asked.

“West. The same direction our missing farmers went.”

“Back into the mountains?” They'd only just escaped the slopes of those between Angroth and Ranor. The valley ahead had been wide and welcoming. Now they gazed across rolling foothills that promised hard travel and slow going. Slower, once the snow fell.

“If that is where they take us.” He turned and waved for her to get back on her horse. She'd gotten better at mounting and dismounting on her own, and she was able to climb back into the saddle without much difficulty.

Rilion mounted, too, then leaned forward in the saddle as if it would help him see farther. “It's a recent path. Cut by the feet of many travelers. There are no cities that way, not that I know of. Mines, maybe, but they wouldn't attract such a large group of travelers.”

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