40
Poetic Justice
“Quit slouching,” Cason snapped.
Serill straightened… only to realize that he wasn’t the one slouching. He focused on where his Captain and Brela rode ahead of them and blinked. Calling the position Brela was in ‘slouching’ was generous. She’d somehow managed to shift the pommel of her saddle enough to lay her chest flat against her horse’s neck, arms dangling on either side.
“Whyyy?” she whined, dragging out the word.
The prince was wondering the same thing. He was sore, exhausted, and sick to his stomach. Sick of the terribly boring meals of fish and zivox and other dried meats and bread. Sick of sleeping on a bedroll. Sick of this whole damn trip.
Gods, he hadn’t noticed how grumpy he was. How grumpy theyallwere. Even Farrah and Elias, positioned on either side of him and dressed in Severina’s colors, looked irritated. The morning hadn’t fared much better, the sun beating down on them mercilessly as they maneuvered around stray patrols and obliterated towns. It hadn’t helped that none of them had slept well; worried about Brela’s mental stability and the possibility of more looters or raiders venturing into the small village.
“Because we might run into a patrol,” Cason said. He was still glaring at her, but even his steel blue eyes didn’t have their usual fierceness.
“We’ve been riding since sunrise and haven’t seenanythingwithin two miles of us,” Brela grumbled. “Can we stop and rest for a bit?”
“We stopped an hour ago.”
“Cason, that was three hours ago.”
“No it wasn’t,” he said, but still he turned around and looked to the rest of them for confirmation. Farrah winced and Elias avoided eye contact. Finally his eyes landed on Serill. “Really?”
Serill grimaced. “Really.”
“Shit,” Cason mumbled, looking back to Brela who had shifted and was now somehow lying flat on her back. “Okay, what’s the next town?”
“Xodrith,” she sighed. “A village about thirty minutes ahead, slightly west and on the lake.”
“Is it safe?” Serill asked.
“Last I heard, it’s still partially standing,” she replied. “Small enough to be ignored by any large-moving groups, but if it’s still standing, there’s a chance for patrols.”
“Is it worth the risk?” Cason asked, glancing back at the prince.
“I think we have to take that chance,” Serill replied, gesturing to the group. “Look at us. We’re in no shape to fight if it comes to it.”
The captain considered it for a moment before sighing. “Fine. We’ll stop for the day.”
“Oh, thank the gods,” Farrah sang to the sky.
Thirty minutes later, none of them could contain their sighs of relief as they dragged themselves into Xodrith. Farrah and Cason had gone ahead to scout, finding a semi-stable barn to tie up the horses and a flat piece of land nearby that had already served as someone’s camp.
Elias didn’t waste any time, faceplanting on the ground and tucking his bedroll under his cheek. He was asleep before Farrah could finish snapping at him for leaving her to set up their tent.
Brela only chuckled, tucking herself against the shaded side of the barn as she took out her notebook. Serill had only ever caught glimpses of her drawings, since she seemed to only write in it when no one was watching. He wondered how much of what she was doing was pointless, considering the shadow-kind no longer existed to use the magic.
And seeing as Cason had sulked off to throw rocks into Calesevain Lake, he figured it was going to be his responsibility to talk with the captain.
Still, he was smart enough to wait an hour until that fire had settled.
“Distracted, my friend?” Serill asked as he watched Cason skip a flat stone over the lake. How his friend had continued to throw rocks for an hour without tiring was beyond his comprehension.
“Understatement,” he grumbled, dragging his hand over his face. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I miss traveling between the kingdoms looking for Veil artifacts and books.”
Serill hummed in agreement. “This is just another one of my father’s ploys to piss us off, I’m sure.” He paused. “I’m sorry about this morning.”
“You shouldn’t be,” Cason replied. “I’ve avoided talking about that part of my life. Talking about the hate I got for being tainted or why I didn’t want to train with the Elite. I’ve avoidedthis.” He gestured around them. “I saw what this one-sided war did to my father. I saw what the accolades and power did to the elitists around me, to Era, but that’s all they cared about. It was never my thing, and that made things worse. I just wanted to feel…”
