Page 16 of The Alien Noble's Little Human

It’s such harsh terrain that only someone driven half-mad by devotion or an adventurer who has been through the Ice-Charred Peaks successfully before could attempt it, much less complete it. I’m one of a small few who fall into both categories.

Even then, I know nothing about roxolite, including how to find it or what it looks like. Those with deep geologic expertise generally spend their lives buried in books, while adventurers typically don’t have scientific minds. Zaya seems to have both tendencies. The more I try to rack my brain for solutions, the more the solution seems obvious.

She’s also a perfect participant for a reason I would likely never share. She’s expendable. If she goes, we don’t have to risk a member of the Mountain Kingdom elite who would go in her place.

She only has to survive the first half, if I’m being pragmatic. Not that I wouldn’t make every effort to save her. But when we’re facing risks this great, delusions help no one.

“The Ice-Charred Peaks are huge, though.” She turns to the maps, flipping through them. “And they change all the time. Look at these. They’re only a few years apart, and they look totally different.”

“So why were you so certain they have what we need?”

“There are certain land features, bends in the mountains near crevasses where it’s found. Sort of like certain mushrooms popping up near certain plants. Aspects of the mountain make the roxolite accumulate.”

“So what you’re saying is you have no idea where it is.”

“What I’m saying is if you have someone who knows the peaks extremely well, I could describe the features of the places it’s found, and they could translate that into the geography.”

I know one guide with that expertise, but I don’t know if he’s available. Or willing. Like most people who spend too much time in that part of the Kingdom, it drove him a little insane. Too much death. Too much oxygen deprivation.

But he’s also crazy enough to go. If he can make the trip, there’s a chance this impossible expedition can actually happen.

“We need you to go, Zaya. There’s no question there.”

“And you’re going, too?”

I can’t tell if that makes her more or less likely to come along, but I wouldn’t mind curling up in chordata-wool blankets with her naked figure to keep me warm on cold nights.

“I’m not certain. I’ll contact the guide.”

“Well, it’s not fair if I have to go and you d–”

“It’s not fair that my daughter is lying over there watching her body disintegrate. It’s not fair that her mother…”

Zaya looks away. I don’t know if she’s heard of the calamity, but at least she’s not giving the same look of pity I’ve grown so disgusted with.Pity yourselves, not me.

“You’re going and I’m going, too.” I hadn’t made up my mind until after I said it. “I don’t want to leave my daughter without a parent. But if I’m the only one keeping her from dying, then I’d rather die trying to save her than hasten her death at her side.”

“I guess that’s that, then.”

“I have a guide in mind. He’s the best there is.”

“Good. I’m glad someone else will be there.”

“A Kiphian Prince isn’t enough for you?”

“Kiphian princes have nothing to do with it. The most uncouth mountain beasts have more civility than you. So I’m looking forward to someone other thanthisKiphian Prince up there at Death’s Door with me.”

I can’t help but chuckle. I’m unsure why it’s so thrilling to get a rise out of her, but we all have to have a hobby.

“Be careful what you wish for, Zaya. You haven’t seen these parts of the world or the beings they create.”

I look her over, and incendiary thoughts cross my mind again. I could afford to have some fun. So could she, I have no doubt. She should be more terrified of the screams I could wring from her than the dangers of the mountains.

“Why don’t you go check on Hanai? I’ll meet you in her wing.”

She turns, and I watch her as she goes, enjoying the way her body moves. On my commpad, I begin to make contact with Rylan. If he can’t come, I’ll need someone else. And soon.

If the Ice-Charred Peaks are our destination, we should have already left. The winds are brutal this time of the season, and there’s more than enough peril even in perfect conditions.

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