“How are you feeling?” Riann asked as he knelt by his friend’sside.
“Like I’ve been stabbed,” Calrain groaned, his silver eyes crackling with annoyance. Riann sighed a little in relief—if Calrain had the energy to be angry with him, then he wasn’t as bad off as he’d feared. “Are you going to get this thing out of me, or shall I spend the rest of my life with a newappendage?”
Itolas snorted, then grabbed the dagger and yanked it out in one smooth motion. “A fine weapon,” he said, admiring the bloody blade. “I could be wrong, but it doesn’t seem like it went through yourback.”
“Lovely,” Calrain said through gritted teeth as Itolas used the blade to cut Calrain’s shirt off. His body began to quake in the cold, and Riann ordered Itolas to use the bloody shirt to put pressure on the wound while they dragged him closer to thehearth.
“Take a swig,” Riann ordered, pressing the bottle of whiskey to Calrain’s lips. “This is going tosting.”
Itolas held his head up as Calrain gulped down several mouthfuls,sputtering.
He splashed a generous amount of whiskey on Calrain’s wound, and the scholar let out a string of oaths he was certain no Brother of Roisen had ever used. Taking the needle and thread he’d prepared, he quickly pierced the flaps of skin and knitted them back together. Once finished, they double-checked that his back didn’t have a puncture wound, cleaned him off, then covered him with a tunic from one of the dead knights that was three sizes too big for him. His enhanced healing would have to do the rest, at least until Tariel woke and could patch him upfully.
“You did well,” Itolas said, patting Calrain on his uninjured shoulder. “Not every man would throw himself in front of a blade for awoman.”
“Thank you for saving Tariel’s life,” Riann said, a wave of gratitude washing over him. He looked over at Tariel still passed out on the floor. “I don’t know what I would have done if the dagger had struckher.”
Calrain’s cheeks colored. “I only did what any man would do for the woman he loves,” he said, sounding slightly uncomfortable. He struggled to his feet, groaning all the way. “We need to get out ofhere.”
The three of them gathered what little belongings they had, then stumbled outside to go and retrieve Itolas’s horses. The snowfall had turned into a raging blizzard, and it was all Riann could do to stay upright as he carried Tariel, the wind howling and blasting all around them. Gritting his teeth against the ice pelting his face, he cradled her limp body against his. His stomach twisted with guilt, noting that her chest barely rose and fell. Tariel was so vibrant, so full of life and energy and formidable with her magic, that sometimes he forgot she was fragile, a woman who still needed the protection of steel andmuscle.
“Finally,” Itolas panted as they made it into the stables. His arm was around Calrain, who looked as though he could barely stand. “It looks like we have quite a collection of horses to choose from,” he said, his eyesgleaming.
Riann’s eyebrows rose as he followed Itolas’s gaze. The knights’ horses were still in the stables as well. “If not for this damned blizzard, I’d suggest we take them with us. We could sell them for quite a bit ofcoin.”
“Shouldn’t there be more than six?” Calrain asked, a worried note in his voice as he counted the steeds. “There were seven knights, including SirJerrold.”
Riann’s stomach turned to lead as he looked at the ground. “Bring your torch closer,” he said to Itolas. The Maroyan noble did as he asked, and Riann swore as he saw the fresh bloodstains tracked through the dirt and hay. “It must be SirJerrold.”
Riann and Itolas rushed over to the destroyed wall, leaving Calrain and Tariel in the stables. It was nearly impossible to see anything through the blizzard, but as Riann crouched in the snow, he found the knight who had been standing by Sir Jerrold. He was lying amongst the snow-covered rubble, his armor crushed and his face unrecognizable. But Sir Jerrold’s body was nowhere to befound.
“Blast it!” Calrain swore. “He must havesurvived.”
“But how?” Itolas shook his head in disbelief. “No one could have survived a direct blow likethat.”
“Sir Jerrold is not like most men,” Riann growled. “He must be badly wounded, but we would be fools to underestimate him. We need to get back on theroad.”
Itolas shook his head, his teeth bared in a snarl. “That bastard needs to pay for all the blood he has shed,” he said, his violet eyes glowing with rage. “He killed my servants. They were good men, with families they sent their coin back home to. And now they havenothing.”
Riann’s heart clenched with sympathy. “I am sorry for your loss,” he said, clapping Itolas on the shoulder. “But if we do not leave now, while we still have the advantage, this will all be fornaught.”
They hastily saddled the horses, then took off on the snowy road, riding for Carliss. They took an extra horse to carry their baggage, but Tariel rode with Riann, cradled safely in his arms. He didn’t dare strap her to one of the horses in case the animal had an accident, or worse, some bounty hunter came upon them and tried to targether.
“By the gods,” Itolas shouted through the storm, nearly an hour later. “Will this infernal blizzard never let up? How do we even know where weare?”
“Just keep going,” Riann shouted back through chattering teeth. There was nothing they could do but move forward, one step at a time. The inn was off limits after all the men they had killed, and out on the tundra, there was absolutely nowhere for them to takeshelter.
Perhaps this is Roisen punishing us for killing his witch hunters,Riann thought morosely. But the idea that the storm god himself had turned his wrath on them was too depressing, so he cast the thought out of his mind and continuedon.
Thankfully, the blizzard did not last forever. Gradually, it petered out into a gentle snowfall, and then to clear skies with twinkling starsoverhead.
“Is it me,” Calrain asked, sounding a bit woozy, “or is the air gettingwarmer?”
“It’s definitely getting warmer,” Itolas said, his eyes bright. “Let’s keep going. I think we might reach the Carlissian bordersoon!”
By the time they reached the Carlissian border, Riann could barely keep his eyes open. Calrain swayed in his saddle, so Itolas took over and confronted the borderguards.
“What is your business in Carliss?” one of the guards asked. He wore dark red leather armor with metal plating and carried a spear. “And why is half of your partywounded?”
