And Finnvid wasn’t sure how to respond. “I can.” There would be consequences for his actions. He supposed he could say he’d been kidnapped while trying to prevent the escape, but he wasn’t sure anyone would accept that story. There were too many guards at the castle, and he’d had lots of opportunities to call them to his aid. Still, he was the king’s brother, and the queen mother believed him to be mentally unstable. He hadn’t actually aided in the escape itself, and the letter wasn’t common knowledge, so the family wouldn’t have to explain how it had disappeared. If he went back, he would be watched even more closely, treated like an unstable invalid, but he wouldn’t be punished too harshly. Hecouldreturn.
“You might need me. For Theos. I’m not sure I can keep them from coming after you, even if I go home. I don’t really have anything new to tell them, and they weren’t persuaded to free Theos before. If you have to move him by yourself, you’ll have to carry or drag him, and both ways seem likely to reopen the wound. If I stay, we could try to rig a stretcher. Also, you may need my healing skills, such as they are. And when you get to Windthorn, I might be useful, too. I could present the letter and explain its authenticity firsthand. I could formally apologize for Elkat’s role in the killings.”
“Oh, a formal apology? After the slaughter of a band of Sacrati? You think anapologywill make us forget?”
“No! I don’t expect you toforget.” Finnvid could have stayed at home in his safe, comfortable bed, but instead he’d been punched in the face, bound, and forced to drag himself through the snow for hours in the dark. He’d had enough. “Don’t forget anything. You need toremember! Remember who started all this. Remember who sent the suggestion that the Elkati do what they did. Remember that Elkat was a peaceful valley for generations before your Torian violence swept over us and caught us up in its current. I’m ashamed of what happened to the Sacrati, but my brother did it because he was told to by the leader of the Torian military.That’swhat I can say.”
There was movement near Finnvid’s feet. “Didn’t sound much like an apology.” Theos’s voice was low, but clearer than it had been before he passed out.
Finnvid schooled himself to speak more calmly before he replied, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. And you’re right, I need to work on my wording.”
Theos snorted, then coughed weakly. Finnvid crouched next to him and offered his water flask. “Drink. And if you can eat something, that would be good. I didn’t see any signs of infection or other problems, so I think we’re mostly just dealing with blood loss.”
“Which you should have told us about,” Andros scolded.
Theos busied himself with lifting his head to the flask. Finnvid felt a wave of affection for both of them. Theos, strong and brash, hiding from Andros’s disapproval. And Andros, kind and sweet, unafraid to poke at his grumpy friend when needed. If Finnvid was going to travel into the winter mountains again, he couldn’t have chosen better company. Well, unless he could have chosen a fit and healthy Theos instead of the injured version they were currently dealing with.
“I think I should come with you,” Finnvid said.
“Do your people use dogs?” Andros asked. He saw Finnvid’s blank expression and added, “To track with. Dogs?”
“To trackpeople?” Finnvid shook his head. He’d read of such things, but never seen an animal trained that way. “Our hunting dogs chase the scent they find, not the one we give them.”
Andros nodded, and squinted at the sky, then down toward the valley entry. “We should rig a stretcher,” he said. Apparently he’d agreed with Finnvid’s decision to stay and then moved on. “And we should carry him. If we get very, very, lucky, we’ll get a good dump of snow from those clouds blowing in.”
“Wewantsnow?”
“We do.” Andros didn’t elaborate. “Do you have anything to write with? And on? Use a chunk of bark and some blood if you need to. Leave a letter for those following us. We’ll cut that tree down, there, and lay it across the path, then tie the note to it to be sure they see it. Try to slow them down, or better yet, send them home. Make it clear that you’re not a prisoner, and don’t need to be rescued. Tell them you have a plan.”
“A plan?”
“Make it sound better than what you’ve actually got, if possible.” Andros smiled wryly. “While you’re doing that, I’ll set up a stretcher. You should take Theos’s snow flats.”
“He can’t carry me,” Theos muttered. “Give me a moment, and I’ll be able to walk.”
“Let him try,” Andros replied. “We need you strong. If we carry you now, you’ll be ready torunlater, if we need to.” He glanced apologetically in Finnvid’s direction before adding, “Ready to fight.”
Theos stopped arguing, the prospect of a good battle all that was required to ensure his compliance. Finnvid resolved to remember that trick for future use, and tried not to think aboutwhoTheos would be fighting if he got his way any time soon.
There was a ragged sheet of parchment with a stub of colored wax for writing in the medical kit, so Finnvid set about composing his message, glad he wasn’t writing in blood. By the time he was finished, Andros had the tree laid down over the path and had the stretcher assembled. Finnvid hadn’t written very many words, but he’d tried to choose the right ones, tried to compose the magic message that would make all of this go away. He knew he hadn’t come up with anythingthatgood, but he hoped he’d at least made the situation clear.
He strapped on the snow flats and helped shift Theos onto the stretcher with as little stress on his wound as possible. “Did that hurt?” Finnvid demanded fiercely. “Do we need to stop and re-dress it? Better you tell me now than later, when you’ve already wasted more blood.”
“It didn’t hurt.” Theos seemed meek, and Finnvid wasn’t sure if he liked it. “I think it’s fine.”
“It had better be.” Finnvid crouched to wrap his hands around the stretcher poles and braced himself to carry half of Theos’s considerable weight.
“Look,” Andros said quietly. Finnvid straightened, then turned to follow Andros’s gaze.
There were soldiers streaming into the base of the trail. From a distance, they looked like a dark river, filling the space and splashing up the hill.
“That’s too many,” Finnvid whispered. It made no sense. He stared as more and more men appeared. “That’s hundreds of men. It’s most of our army!”
“They can’t mean to attack Windthorn,” Andros said. He sounded more thoughtful than alarmed. “That would be suicide.” He looked over at Finnvid. “They must be planning to catch up to us. They’d know better than anyone else how badly Theos was hurt, so they’d know we won’t be making good time. But this many men . . . Do you think it’s because of you? They think you were kidnapped and are trying to get you back?”
Finnvid wished it were that simple. If it were, he could just turn around and stop the men, and Theos and Andros could continue their journey in peace. “No. I don’t think so. They must have suspected where I was all through the early winter and they didn’t send so much as an envoy to check on me or arrange my release.” Finnvid hadn’t been surprised by that, given the weather conditions, but the behavior then was in clear contrast to the situation now. “I think they discovered that the letter is missing, and they’re coming afterit. They’ve decided to back the warlord, and they don’t want you to return to Windthorn with evidence you could only have gotten from them. It would look as if they’d turned the information over to his enemies.”
Andros watched the distant men a moment longer, then nodded decisively. “So. They’re going to follow us, regardless. So take your note down.”
