Andros dropped his head and peered down at his friend. Finnvid followed the gaze and saw Theos looking up at both of them.
“He needs to get the letter back to Windthorn,” Theos said. He still sounded weak, but there was no doubt in his voice. “He needs to make sure the people know—the Sacrati know—that the warlord has attacked us.”
“It may be too late by the time I arrive,” Andros said, and Finnvid knew he was searching for excuses to stay with Theos.
But Theos frowned at him. “It may not be. Itshouldn’tbe, not if you can catch up to Zenain and his band. I don’t think the warlord will attack at home until he knows things went according to plan in Elkat.”
“What if I hadn’t agreed to come?” Finnvid asked. He looked from one Sacrati to the other. “You wouldn’t have been able to go on ahead, right?” Andros wouldn’t have left Theos behind, not injured as he was. It was unthinkable. But if he hadn’t, he would have left his Sacrati friends in Windthorn vulnerable to a surprise attack. Xeno was back there, and so many more. Finnvid shook his head. “You would have justlefthim? You should have told me that before I decided to stay! What if I’d gone back?”
“I’m Sacrati,” Theos said quietly.
“That doesn’t make you invincible!”
“It makes him duty-bound,” Andros said. “He’s sworn to fight and die for his brothers. He’s sworn to protect the Torian Empire, and Windthorn. You’ve made no such vow. You have no such duty. For you, there had to be a choice. A real one, not one made out of guilt.”
“You gambled with Theos’s life!”
“We gamble with our lives every day,” Andros said. Then he clapped his hands together, signaling an end to the conversation. “You,” he said, pointing at Theos, “instruct our young recruit on digging a nice three-man den. And you,” he added, waving in Finnvid’s direction, “stop standing around! Get moving! You’re wasting daylight, and the wind’s picking up. When I get back, I want a nice home and a hot meal waiting for me. And you should have my blankets spread out and airing. And maybe a nice centerpiece of some sort . . .”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Finnvid said, and that was it. He just got to work, piling and digging and tunneling according to Theos’s instructions, and shoulders that had been sore from being in one position for too long became screamingly painful from overuse. But when he was done, he was able to help Theos to his feet, hold him upright while he peed into the snow, and then drag him inside their new den. It was a den Finnvid had made by himself, and it was strong, and once he got a lamp lit it would be cozy.
“I made this,” he said out loud, and immediately felt foolish.
But Theos just nodded from his place on the snow floor, and inspected the dim space. “Good job.”
Finnvid turned to the packs to hide his blush.
“You . . .” Theos stopped, and Finnvid squinted at him. The Sacrati looked as if he was fighting with himself. Finally, he shook his head and said, “You really didn’t know. About the ambush. You didn’t lead us into that?”
Finnvid didn’t know what to say. After all the lies, why would Theos believe his truth? “I swear,” he said intently. “And think about it! The attack only made sense to someone who believed everything in the warlord’s letter! My family made a horrible decision, but they did it because they didn’t know the truth. They thought I’d been abused, and were seeking revenge. But I knew no revenge was justified. They thought the warlord was the absolute master of Windthorn, and had to be obeyed, but I know there are three leaders, two of whom would strongly object to Sacrati being attacked.” He stared at Theos, willing him to hear the words as he said, “I would never hurt you because I never would. Because I respect you and . . . because I don’t want you hurt. But even if that wasn’t true, the attack was juststupid, to anyone who has any idea what’s going on in Windthorn! It was stupid, and I knew better. I swear.”
When Finnvid was done, Theos was silent for a moment, then nodded. “I believe you,” he said quietly.
Finnvid returned his attention to the packs, but his hands were shaking too much to be much use. After so much horror, finally something good. Theos believed him. He gripped the canvas tightly, willing himself to be calm, and then rummaged in the pack with more purpose.
“I found Andros’s lamp,” he said eventually. The lamp was a little metal dish with a piece of wire holding up a strip of cloth for a wick. Not fancy, but it would do. “But I can’t find fat cakes.”
Theos made a face. “We’re probably out. This wasn’t meant to be such a long trip, and we didn’t think we’d be sharing with the Elkati horde.”
That was another complication. Andros would need the fat for quick energy and warmth on the trail. Finnvid reluctantly reached for his own pack. “I don’t— I took food from the kitchens. But we didn’t have fat cakes. Elkati don’t eat them.” After a deep breath, he extracted one of the cloth-wrapped bundles he’d packed. The cloth fell away from the sides, and Theos carefully stretched out and dug a finger into the creamy yellow ball, squashed on two sides but still about the size of a man’s head. He brought the sample to his nose, sniffed, then licked it.
“Butter.” He nodded slowly, then grinned. “Almost as good, andmuchtastier.”
“Will it work in the lamp?”
“Probably. I don’t know. Give it a try.”
“I will. And then I’ll melt some down and fry something in it, and you can eat it.”
Theos smiled, slow and lazy, and Finnvid had to turn away again to hide his expression. The smile shouldn’t matter so much, but it did. He and Theos were together, and they were getting along. Even if it all went wrong right then, if Elkati soldiers burst into the den and killed them where they sat, Finnvid would still have made the right decision when he left the castle and chased the Sacrati. He’d gotten what he wanted, what he needed, and everything after this was just extra.
***
Theos’s stomach wasn’t as enthusiastic about food as he wanted it to be. He forced down some butter-dipped jerky, chewed each mouthful into disgusting mush before making himself swallow it, and then fought to make sure it stayed down. He thought he was doing a good job of hiding the problem, but then he saw Finnvid chopping jerky and dried vegetables into a small pot of water warming over the little lamp, and groaned. “Broth? That’s not real food, you know.”
“If it’s all you can eat, it’s better than nothing. I’ve got some bread as well. You can soak it in the broth and eat it like that, hopefully.”
“You said I had to eat a lot to regain my strength.”
