Faye turned away and pulled her hood up over her head.
Lephas strode to the front of the group, followed closely by Karn, and both Indi and Faye nudged their horses on with their heels. Indi turned back to Magna and blew her a kiss. The old demon woman stayed at the door, waving them off until they could no longer see her through the snow and mist.
Chapter Twelve
Faye felt Lori lean forward and rest her chin against her shoulder. Her sister’s warm breath swirled through the air beside them. Faye placed a hand on top of Lori’s comfortingly.
The group was as silent as the grave, only the dull thudding of hooves in the snow and laboured puffing of the horses could be heard as they climbed the long, steady incline away from Magna’s farmhouse.
Lephas struggled on, barely maintaining his place at the head of the group as he began to tire. His wolf trotted on ahead every now and then, but looped around to walk at his master’s side.
They had been walking for an hour or so, but whereas Faye, Lori and Indi had the horses to do the hard work for them, the commander and his wolf had been wading through the deep snow on foot. He was fit and clearly more than used to travelling in this weather, but it was already beginning to take its toll on his pace.
Raxx was nowhere to be seen. He disappeared into the nether almost as soon as they left the farmyard and Faye hadn’t seen hide, nor hair of him since.
Whenever she found herself requiring a distraction from the terror looming inside, threatening to consume her, she would take a deep breath and close her eyes. Faye’s majick would stir to life as she focussed her thoughts, searching for the familiar cold, tingling sensation of Raxx’s majick aura.
He wasn’t close, potentially miles away, but she could sense him, dim on the fringes of her perception. She wasn’t sure how her majick recognised the demon the way it did, but she innately knew it was Raxx. It was equally unsettling, as it was fascinating.
As she spent more and more time with the demon, she began to realise how much her majick could do for her – and this was just the beginning.
Since Faye was a young girl, she had longed for someone to confide in, someone who understood majick, someone who could teach her how to better control it... Someone who wasn’t secretly afraid of her.
She saw the nervous glances between her sisters whenever she got angry and something across the room smashed without warning. Her father’s men standing at arm’s length, never taking their wary eyes from her. The servants who drew straws to decide who would clean her chambers, who would bathe her and cook for her. Her own parents kept their rare visits short and fleeting – a blessing in disguise, as it turned out.
Faye was good at pretending it didn’t bother her. She laughed off the deep crease in Sivelle’s brow, or the way Lori would flinch. She would extend her thanks to the guards and show extra kindness to the servants, not that it ever did her any good.
She was not like her sisters and, try as she may to ignore her majick, she never would be. It was a fact she had come to terms with at a young age, around about the time she discovered that horses, the flightiest and most timid of animals, were not frightened of her.
Raxx was not frightened of her either, it seemed. In fact, it was a novelty for Faye to be the one who was fearful of majick, for a change. The demon was by far the most peculiar individual the princess had ever met and it fascinated her.
With every step the horses took, the group grew closer to Banesteppe. Faye felt her fists clench tighter around Gaia’s reins.
“How long did Lephas say it would take us to reach Banesteppe?” she whispered over her shoulder to Lori.
“Less than a day, if we can make good time. I think he’s hoping we don’t have to camp up for the night again,” her sister replied.
Faye glanced around the snowy woodland. Though it was quiet, almost peaceful, she felt the tendrils of cold dread worm themselves into her chest at the thought of sleeping out here again. It was so dark, even a small fire did little to ease her fright.
Faye shivered, the hairs on her nape suddenly standing on end. She glanced over one shoulder, then the other, turning in the saddle beside her sister.
“What is it?” Lori asked.
“I could have sworn—”
“The weather conditions are likely to make this journey slower than we had hoped.” Raxx’s deep voice spoke out.
When Faye whipped around, the demon level with her knee, walking along beside Gaia. The princess tensed and grasped Lori’s thigh in preparation for the horse to spook, yet the mare continued plodding on. Faye glanced between Gaia and Raxx in confusion.
“What?” the demon asked, shooting her a puzzled look.
“Nothing. I-- never mind.” Faye shook her head and nudged the mare on with her heels.
Alarmingly, Gaia didn’t respond. Faye tapped her again, a little more forcefully this time. The horse’s ears were pricked to attention and turned in Raxx’s direction, however the mare’s body remained relaxed and soft beneath the saddle.
The shadow demon broke away from them, walking to the right of a large boulder that obstructed their path. Faye touched on Gaia’s reins, asking her to go to the left.
“Hey!” Faye exclaimed as the mare outright ignored her request, leaving the other horses to follow behind Raxx.
