She possessed the rawest winter magic I’d ever seen. What Neve lacked, however, was in her finesse, as evident by the clunky shapes of the shelters she created. Not that anyone cared when the domes protected them each night.
Give her time. She’s only had full rein of her winter magic for a little over two weeks.
For their part, the rest of the humans fished, gathered water and wood, or remained on the lookout for fae—whether they be malicious like orcs or ogres or simply passing by. To us, both posed a threat.
Until darkness fell, there would be no rest for our weary group.
Footsteps crunched through the snow within the woods. Ever on alert, I twisted to find the humans I’d sent hunting with Caelo had returned.
Ronaldo, a man of about twenty turns, beamed. He hadthree white hares gripped in his scarred hands. “Look at what we got!”
One was of decent size, sure to have some meat on its bones. Of the other two, one was average size, while the last was small, so small, I suspected they’d killed a mother and a baby that had not yet left her side.
“Nice work,” I said, aware that in our situation, we could not afford to be picky. Out here, a small meal might be the difference between life and death. “See anything else out there?”
“Foxes. We didn’t get any of those, though,” Ronaldo shrugged. The young man had been unwillingly working in Roar Lisika’s mines for most of his life, and yet, he still managed a positive attitude. “Sir Caelo said he thought he heard something larger too. He’s still looking.”
Maybe my hope for a boar was not too far-fetched after all? If Caelo caught one, it would go a long way in feeding these people.
“I heard it too,” the huntress of the trio piped up.
“Sure you did.” Ronaldo rolled his eyes. “Your hearing is worse than mine.”
“Because I’m older?” She scowled.
Age did not dull fae senses, not until we were many centuries old, which this woman was nowhere near.
“Things go at forty,” Ronaldo teased.
The huntress’s scowl only deepened. “Anyway, someone was playing a fiddle. Is there a home nearby?”
We’d spent the first two hours scouting around the lake and found no structure in sight, and on a fast horse we were four hours from the nearest town. Perhaps she’d heard awanderer or bard going down the road we’d been avoiding. I prayed to the stars that it was not a violent fae or creatures who might want to hunt us.
Like the orc tribes I’d often battled. They weren’t known to play music; however, a minority of them might. Perhaps those who did not seek out food or land for their tribes.
“We’ll see what Caelo finds,” I replied, not about to strike fear in their hearts when I had no bleeding idea what might be out there. “For now, let’s skin the hares and prepare them to roast.”
Chapter 2
NEVE
The hares were gone, and we were down to less than two days’ worth of small, portioned meals.
As a blood slave, I’d been fed regular meals and while I’d never starved, I’d also never received as much food as I wanted. Often, I’d go to bed hungry, but this hunger was different. A stronger beast gnawing at my belly. And yet, I didn’t dare complain.
What would be the point? The hunters shot three hares and then went back and found two more. The meat hadn’t gone far, but it was something, and they were trying their best.
In our situation, every little bit counted.
“Take this.” Vale held out a cooked bit of hare.
“That’s yours.”
“Between cracking the ice repeatedly and building shelters, you’ve been using a lot of magic. You need it more than me.” He extended the still steaming chunk of meat again.The savory, charred scent made my mouth water, but I made no move to take it.
Vale sighed. “Neve,please. I want you to have it.”
Something in his voice broke my resolve, and, swallowing, I took the meat. It was little more than a bite, but Fates alive, it was delicious.
