I hesitated. “I don’t know.”
Rydian’s scowl deepened. He said nothing, but his silence was loud enough to fill the tent.
Slade cleared his throat. “In light of this new information, do we continue on our own course?” he asked pointedly. “Or offer our aid to Autumn?”
He shot a look at Eirnan and Vanya.
I turned to them both, explaining, “We came north because Heliconia has my friend Lesha, one of the Aine, as a prisoner in her camp. We intend to free her.”
Vanya’s eyes widened.
Eirnan studied me thoughtfully. “You’d risk all your lives against an entire Obsidian army for one friend?”
“Yes,” I told him simply.
He looked from me to the others, one by one, and something behind his eyes clicked. “Then we march at your side.”
“I can’t ask you to do that. But if you can point the way.”
Eirnan shook his head. “Not much in the way of cover stands between you and the Winter army. The moment we take a step north, we’ll be seen.”
“Then we find another way in,” Keres said, but I could see the bleakness in her eyes. The naiad had refused us, so the river was out. And now, a land approach was out too.
“There is another way,” Eirnan said. “Old tunnels under the mountains—traders and smugglers alike have used them for centuries to avoid the snowstorms rolling off the mountains. I worked those routes as a trader before…” His mouth tightened. “Before everything.”
“And you can find them again?” Rydian asked.
“I can.”
I studied him. “What’s the catch?”
“Only that the tunnels aren’t stable,” he said. “Parts havecollapsed, and there are creatures living deep inside those caves that would make an Obsidian look friendly. But if you want to reach the war camp unseen, it’s the only way.”
Keres rubbed her temple. “Collapsed tunnels full of monsters. Perfect.”
Slade smirked. “You’re not afraid of a little dirt and a few bats, are you?”
“Dirt doesn’t scare me,” she said. “Idiots do.”
Daegel grinned. “Then you’ve been terrified since you met Slade.”
The faint ripple of laughter broke through the heaviness for a heartbeat. Even Rydian’s mouth twitched before his attention returned to the map.
“We’d do well with a day’s rest before we continue on,” Rydian said.
Eirnan nodded. “I’ll see to it. And when the time comes, we’ll march with you to rescue your friend.”
“I can’t ask?—”
“We will fight beside you, Aurelia of Sevanwinds. We remember what loyalty once meant.”
“You already fought for me once,” I told him quietly. “I owe you a debt for it.”
“We fought for ourselves that night as much as for anyone else,” he said. “And we walk free now. The debt is paid.”
“Even so, I won’t ask you to die for me.”
He smiled sadly. “We’ve been dying for kings who didn’t deserve us for centuries. Let us die for something better.”
