Chapter Seventeen: The Eld Sword

  The Scholars did not attack while they slept. In fact, when Ean rose in the morning, it was to find a hearty breakfast waiting for the party. They were fitted with fur cloaks, warm gloves, and thick caps for the journey, along with waterproof packs, a tent, and enough provisions for ten days, though the trip was only supposed to take them six.

  “It can get confusing on the rock face,” Cirocco said. “Even experienced travelers have gotten lost. If you lose the path, don’t worry. You’re aiming for the highest peak of the highest mountain, which is easy enough to spot. And when you return, well… just keep walking down. Even if you miss the temple, you’ll make it to habitable land, and we’ll find you.”

  “Thank you,” Leo said, too genuinely for Ean’s tastes. If Cirocco truly wanted to be helpful, he’d give them a guide.

  Nadia gave Chadwick a roughly drawn map and he took the lead as they left the villa. The climb was hard from the start. The ground rose in a steep incline, the forest floor was thick with brush, and giant boulders protruded from the mountainside, forcing them to climb over or divert around them. After their short rest with the Scholars, Ean’s body was stiff, and his feet ached. He wished they had taken one more day of rest.

  Ahead of him, Flora’s pace dragged. Asali shifted her pack for the tenth time. Chadwick rolled out his shoulders, then tipped his head to the side to release a neck strain. They were all worn down from their travels.

  Ean glanced over at Leo. The Prince’s eyes were downcast, and he worried at his lower lip. Something other than travel was bothering him. Something the Elders must have said to him last night. Ean wanted to ask, wanted to challenge whatever anxiety they had planted in his mind, but he didn’t want to be rebuffed again. He turned his eyes back to the forest.

  The others noticed Leo’s preoccupation as well. Flora asked if he was feeling alright, but he brushed her off. Chadwick pointed out a few native birds that he ignored. Asali sat with him at lunch and spoke with him in a low tone Ean couldn’t overhear. When they continued their journey, she met Chadwick’s gaze and shook her head. At least Ean wasn’t the only one being frozen out.

  Chadwick pulled in a breath and abruptly announced, “The Golden Stag Hunt.”

  Ean wasn’t the only one that looked at him in confusion.

  “What about the Hunt?” Asali asked, in the badly acted tone of someone trying to be casual.

  “It’s what I’m most looking forward to when we make it back to Balucia,” Chadwick said. “A week of camping in luxurious cottages, fishing from gilded pavilions, and hunting a mythical stag in full court regalia.”

  “What?” Leo spluttered, snapping out of the apprehensive reverie that had been plaguing him all morning. “You complain about the Hunt all the time.”

  “Do I?” Chadwick asked in apparent confusion. He was a better actor than Asali.

  “You call it a self-aggrandized parade through the woods for courtiers who wouldn’t know a stag from a stallion!”

  Chadwick shrugged a shoulder. “A man can have a change of heart.”

  “Has even the ranger gotten tired of the outdoors?” Asali teased, more naturally this time.

  “Never,” said Chadwick. “I’ve simply learned a new appreciation for carriages, feather mattresses, and meals I don’t have to cook.”

  Leo huffed out a breath of laughter.

  Chadwick grinned, clearly pleased with himself, and pointed at Asali. “What about you? What are you looking forward to when we return? A beau, perhaps? You spend most of your time training with the guard. Perhaps a strapping young soldier has struck your fancy?” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

  Asali didn’t rise to the bait. “I wouldn’t tell you if there was.”

  Chadwick grasped his chest and made a wounded noise.

  She shook her head. “I’m looking forward to a varied routine. Something more diverting than walking all day, sleeping in a tent, and then rising to walk again the next.”

  “You never did appreciate nature.” Chadwick hauled himself up a massive boulder and then turned to offer a hand. Asali ignored it. Flora accepted the help readily. “What about you, Flora? What have you missed?”

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  “My books,” Flora said, a little breathless after being hauled up.

  Ean and Leo followed after her as she waxed poetic about her studies at the Academy, finishing her monologue with, “I’ve decided to continue my studies to become a High Mage. After everything we’ve been through, I’m feeling more confidant.”

  Leo offered a smile. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  She smiled back.

  Asali caught the exchange, but her expression didn’t sour, the way it once had. She turned to Ean. “How about you? What’s in store for you when we get back to the capitol?”

  Ean thought of Felix, and the disappointment he must feel. And then he thought of the trial waiting for him. But those were darker thoughts, and he wasn’t going to spoil the mood now that Leo was feeling better. He shrugged and said glibly, “Oh, just a blood-oath to fulfill, and an angry King that might kill me anyway.”

  Chadwick snorted.

  Leo stopped and turned, clearly affronted. “He wouldn’t do that.”

  Ean patted his shoulder as he passed. “I’m joking.”

  But there was a kernel of concern hidden in the jest. As a shadow-walker, he had seen the ugliest parts of humanity, and he’d learned to prepare for the worst eventualities. That included the King killing him out of spite.

  “I’m serious,” Leo said, jogging to catch up with him. “He won’t execute you. He’s too fair for that. And even if he did try, I wouldn’t let him.”

  “You’re very forgiving,” Ean said. “Now, if we’re being fair, like you say your father is, you have to tell us what you’re looking forward to when we get back to the kingdom.”

  Ean expected Leo to say his father, or his bed, or the library. He wasn’t expecting him to fall silent for a few moments. When he did speak, he spoke of Balucia at large. The castle with its spires rising above the city. The cliffs and the beach, the smell of the ocean. The markets in the morning, packed with fresh wares. The people who lived there, students, craftsmen, merchants, and sailors. His recollections inspired the others to chime in. Had they gone to such-and-such tavern? Had they visited the library or astronomy tower? Had they sailed to the bay with the white sand?

  Ean didn’t have much to add himself. He’d only ever been to Balucia on his way to kill Leo. From that fleeting impression, it’d been an old, loud, and over-crowded city, but he was willing to admit he’d probably missed the best spots.

  The conversation was a welcome distraction from the climb and the cold wind that started to blow. They stopped for the night and huddled together in the small tent. It was cramped inside, but that made it warmer. It did nothing to cushion the hard ground.

  They started out the next morning at first light. The air got thinner as they traveled. Ean felt it in his chest and heard it in the others’ panting breaths. They outclimbed the trees and the snow fell quicker, cutting their visibility. They spent most of the day walking up an enormous sheet of snow and ice. Chadwick spent long moments staring at the map.

  “Better to go slow than get lost,” Leo said, clapping him on the shoulder as they stopped yet again.

  Ean suspected, from the look on Chadwick’s face, that they were already lost. They hunkered down early because a squall swept in, turning soft snow into stinging pellets of ice. When they emerged in the morning, the sky was clear and bright. Sunlight played on the snow, sparkling with blinding intensity. Ean’s eyes watered from the cold and the shine.

  Chadwick apologized as they set out. They’d strayed from the intended route, and it took a few hours to correct. Chadwick was more upset than anyone else was. He kept silent for most of the day’s journey, his lips tight with self-recrimination. They spent a third night on the mountain. It was hardly the longest delay they’d faced on this trip, but it was a miserable one. The cold seeped into Ean’s body and refused to leave. The thinning air made his head ache.

  The weather stayed clear for the fourth morning, but the wind was sharper. It blew straight through Ean’s coat while the bright sun taunted him with a false hope for warmth. But the final horn of North Mountain rose above them, the last climb for the sword. It was a daunting pinnacle, made even more formidable by the fact that they’d outclimbed the rest of the mountain range. The smaller peaks were visible below them, poking up out of the clouds like waves on an ocean.

  “Look.” Chadwick pointed and Ean turned his attention to the summit in front of them.

  The ridge they stood on was a gently climbing expanse of snow until it hit the steeple of the mountain, then it shot up, hundreds of feet into the air, a nearly vertical climb. It was covered in ice so white it was nearly blue. Ean wondered if they’d be able to climb it at all, or if they’d slide right down in the attempt, but Chadwick pointed to a line of gray that zigzagged up the side.

  “Is that stone?” Leo asked.

  “Stairs, I think.”

  “Stairs on a mountain?”

  Their boots crunched through icy snow as they hiked closer and the gray ribbon came into better focus. Chadwick was right. Stone steps had been carved into the mountainside, seemingly all the way to the top. They reached the base of the stairs and a warm breeze cut through the frigid wind. Chadwick pulled off his glove and rested his hand against the rock.

  “It’s warm.”

  Everyone followed his example, stripping off their gloves to press frozen fingers onto the stone. Heat emanated from it, preventing the steps from icing over. The staircase wove its way up the horn of the mountain, at times so steep it looked more like a ladder. Ean craned his neck up but couldn’t see the top.

  “Who built these?” Asali wondered aloud. “The Scholars aren’t known for magic, and certainly nothing of this magnitude.”

  “I think it was here before them,” Flora said. She pressed her whole body against the warm stone and gave a happy sigh. “It feels old, like the orchard did.”

  “Whoever it was, they have my eternal gratitude.” Chadwick hefted his pack and gave the group a crooked smile. “My advice: don’t look down.”