“We lost four people. Three months ago, maybe more. They went south to trade and didn't come back.” He paused. “I think I knew, but you’ve confirmed it.”
“I'm sorry.” I swallowed.
He shrugged, not callously, just practically. It was the shrug of a man who had made peace with what the land took because the alternative was madness. “You really heading to Iskaeld?”
“Yes.”
“Nobody goes to Iskaeld.”
“Somebody wants them to go.”
He looked at me for a long moment. “Who?”
I shrugged. “I’m a trailfinder. I don’t ask too many questions.”
He accepted that, many wouldn’t, but Vorn did. “They’re King’s Guard. The Darysian King sent them?”
I didn't reply because I didn't know the answer, and I wasn't going to pretend otherwise.
“How long were you following us?”
Vorn leaned forward and poked at the fire once. The flames shifted and steadied. “Went south a little, was going to look for my people. Saw a frozen horse that was too fancy for the likes of a Crystallesian.”
So two days at most. That wasn’t too bad. “We lost it the night of the skarveld.”
He nodded. “Not had one that bad for a few weeks.”
He spoke as if it were a bad snowstorm, not the force of the underworld screaming in our ear.
The Darysians were right, we were mad to stay in this country.
Vorn was focused on his fire. “You agreed to sleep here tonight. Your people are in the other shelters.” He glanced at me sideways. “The Darysian with the calculating eyes. Who is he?”
“Nicco.”
“He a problem?”
“Frequently.”
Something tugged at the corner of his mouth. “He watches you.”
“He watches everyone,” I said. “It's what he does.”
“No.” Vorn shook his head slightly. “Not the same way.”
I had no response to that, and I didn't want one, so I let the fire fill the silence.
Vorn stood, grabbing his cloak. “He tries to be a hero, and he’ll learn he isn’t one.”
I looked up at Vorn. “There are many things Nicco is, hero isn’t one of them.”
“Stay here, eat your rations. Leave the tent... well, don’t leave the tent, Amarya.”
“Of course.”
He left me in his tent, and I did what anyone would do in that situation. I got comfortable. I knew I couldn’t go outside, and I knew to stay away from the others. I didn’t want to antagonize anyone.
I ate a handful of nuts and a strip of dried beef. I helped myself to some of Vorn’s water. He hadn’t told me not to.
