Inari released her, and she stepped out of his embrace.
“They were heading back north,” he said, his voice still hushed. “It’s probably best to give my home a wide berth for now. No doubt they’ll find the offerings I left for them.”
“Hopefully it will be enough.” Aloisia’s fingers curled around her throat at the thought of those things going to his door every other day. How he had faced them, she didn’t know. They were terrifying enough from afar.
“I’ve nothing left in my cupboards if it is not. And I would rather not be around in such a case. After all, I would be the next best thing.”
A shiver darted across her spine. If they were not satisfied, the guild was the closest place to them. Hopefully, they would not turn their attention towards them and take their fill from the woods instead.
“Come.” Inari placed a hand at her back, leading her southwards. “We’d best keep moving lest they come back. What would we reach by going south?”
“The Willows. The woods surrounding Ravencross. There’s a pond between the two forests and we can get to the guild from there.”
“Then let’s head that way.”
They walked in silence for several long minutes, each of them checking around for the creatures. Tension knotted Aloisia’s shoulders. If the Forgotten Gods had returned, if they left the woods and headed into the town, then everyone was in danger. But what could they do? What could anyone do against them?
“If they are gaining more power,” Aloisia said, breaking the hush, “something must be causing it. Either they are taking power or are being fed power from something.”
“I couldn’t say which.” Inari scratched his beard. “It is concerning to think they are not yet in their full forms.”
“Is there anywhere, or anyone, that would have more information on this?”
He sighed. “I’m not sure. Their folklore spreads across the Northern Territories, and I do not know where it began. It is primarily kept alive through speech. And I’ve no doubt anything your people have on these things is either gone or secured.”
Aloisia picked at the fraying bandage around her palm. What answers were out there seemed to be well out of reach.
“You said you were looking for me. Why? Did you have more questions?”
“Actually, I had hoped to borrow you tomorrow morning.”
“Borrow me?” He quirked a brow, a lopsided grin tugging at his lips.
“The judiciaries have agreed to let you examine Brighde’s markings, if you are still willing to help. Only on the condition you meet with them first. Of course, regardless of the fact there is a trial in two days, which I had no clue about, they have set this meeting for tomorrow rather than today.”
“Tread lightly,ro suda. It seems there are bigger predators than you around.”
Aloisia pursed her lips. “Yes, I know. And they seem very willing to keep me out of everything. No pressure, but I need you to come up with something if you get to see those markings.”
“No pressure indeed.” He scoffed. “I cannot guarantee I can read them.”
“I know. But I don’t want to go into the trial empty handed. They have stacked the cards in their favour. Even if I just had something they cannot foresee, something they do not expect, I can make this short timeframe benefit us. Why anyone would want to pin this on Fynn, I don’t know. They can’t have anything to prove he did it, because he didn’t.”
“Are you so sure?”
She whirled on him. “Of course I am!”
Inari held his hands up in surrender. “I was just curious.”
“He would never harm anyone, let alone his own wife. And how would he know how to summon the Forgotten Gods? He knows nothing about magic. He believed in it less than I did. They cannot even say it was an accident.”
“They will say what they want if they can make the accusation stick.”
Aloisia glared at him as she resumed striding through the woods.
“I am only saying. Expect the worst, and you will never be surprised.” He plucked a leaf from the underbrush, twirling it between his fingers.
“That’s not exactly something to live by.”
