Aloisia took his hand in hers. “It’s all right. You should get back. They’ve only just made you a priest; you don’t want to get in their bad books yet.”
“I’ll come and find you later.”
She gave a weak smile. “Later, then.”
Tristan squeezed her fingers and released her.
Kaja pulled her along to the horse and helped her up into the saddle. Aloisia had forgotten about the hunt, only hours away. Whilst she didn’t feel in the right mindset, unless she was gravely unwell, there would be no getting out of it. Briefly, she wondered if it would be worth getting Kaja to injure her, but quickly cast the thought aside. Lead Huntress Dhara would see through the ruse and punish her.
Mavka set her mare off at a trot towards the Hunting Guild, Kaja and Aloisia following behind. Kaja kept glancing over her shoulder, as if to ensure she was still there. As they passed the Hawk’s Head, images of the night before came back. She peered down the alley where they had seen the blue flame and wondered if it would still be there, if it would come back if asked. When Kaja wasn’t looking, Aloisia guided her mare towards the narrow lane.
She dismounted and stalked into the backstreet, barely blinking, hoping the being would reappear. Stepping further into the alley, her shoulders sagged. It wasn’t here. Of course it wasn’t.
“Why weren’t you clearer?” Aloisia muttered. “Why didn’t you give me her name, at least? I could have done something.”
A door opened into the alley, and she skittered back. The man who emerged cast a glare her way, lighting a pipe. She was faintly aware of how crazy she must appear, standing in a backstreet and talking to herself.
A hand clasped around her wrist and Aloisia gasped.
“What are you doing?” Kaja’s brows furrowed as she tugged her back out onto the street.
“I thought I could find something…” Aloisia glanced back to the alley.
“Like an empty ale cask? Or crates of rotten food?” Kaja gave her a sceptical look. “There’s not much else you’ll find down there.”
Aloisia nodded. “You’re probably right.”
“There’s no ‘probably’ about it.” Kaja shoved her towards her mare. “You ride in front, where I can see you.”
And Aloisia did just that.
Kaja trailed her all the way back to the Hunting Guild. As they rode, Aloisia wondered where the blue flames had come from, what they were, where she would find them again. They seemed to have sought her out the day before. What reason did they have, if not to warn her of what befell Brighde?
The wooden buildings of the guild came into sight, with the Dead Woods creaking beyond them. So much had changed in such a short time. It seemed a betrayal, returning to any semblance of normality, even in the form of the guild. A betrayal of Brighde’s memory. A betrayal to Fynn’s situation.
Numbness spread across her as they made their way to the stables. Her thoughts were clouded, her limbs heavy. Tears pricked at her eyes, stinging and angry. Once Aloisia had dismounted, Kaja took the reins from her. She let her, ambling to her home in a haze.
“Leave her be, for now,” Mavka said.
Aloisia didn’t need to turn to know Kaja had tried to follow her, and Mavka had caught her. For that, she was grateful. She hadn’t the strength to face anyone, not even Kaja. She needed to be alone, to dwell on what had happened in the past twenty-four hours. And to form a plan to help Fynn.
But first, she would rest.
Awake once more from her fitful sleep, Aloisia rubbed her eyes, resolving she would not be getting any rest. At the end of her mattress was the trunk where she had flung her clothes. Brighde’s clothes. It felt wrong for them to be piled up there. She could not return them. Not really. Perhaps they would live in Fynn’s closet, but never again would they belong to Brighde. She certainly wouldn’t be able to bring herself to wear them again, nor could she throw them away. Thus, for now, they would remain there upon the trunk, not quite belonging.
Though her home was barely as big as Mavka’s hall, it felt vast when she was alone. Too much space and not enough to fill it. As someone who had grown up with many people under one roof – herself, Ma, Pa, Fynn, even Tristan and Ida had lived with them at one point – everything was too still, too silent when she was on her own.
Aloisia swept a hand down her face and pulled herself from the mound of furs atop her bed. A deep orange glow filled her home. Sunset. Beyond the open shutters of her window, the Dead Woods were silhouetted against the molten sky. The chill of the evening air wafted in. She wrapped her arms around herself, the thin cotton nightgown she wore doing nothing against the cold. As she stared into the dark depths of the trees, a small flicker of blue caught her attention.
Afraid she had imagined it, Aloisia froze, not daring to blink, not even daring to breathe.
Between one trunk and the next, a glimpse of blue flames. She sucked in a sharp breath, propelling herself across to her trunk. Grabbing a set of hunting leathers, Aloisia almost flung herself from the top of the ladder, sliding down it.
This was it. The chance she had been hoping for.
She tugged on the hunting leathers, casting aside her nightgown. In haste, she plucked up her bow and quiver set against the wall beside the door. She opened the door and caught herself short, greeted by Kaja with her hand raised as if she were about to knock.
“Good timing!” Kaja grinned.
