I guess we were out of towners, still dressed in the commoner clothes the wagon trains sold to Lady Skol’s citizens. Of course we were sticking out. There was no other reason.
But something told me I was wrong.It was the same thing that had informed me of Dion’s coming before he came.A sense…
It was as if Roman and Dion heard my thoughts. They looked at me quickly, both with curious eyes, then turned away. As if nothing had happened.
Shortly after, we made our way to leave the village. As it was now nightfall, the gate had to be opened especially for us. Roman, again as he had with the horses, knew someone.
We were let out reluctantly, as the doors closed, the man yelledgood luck.
“Why did he say good luck?” I asked, ten minutes later on the trail.
“Because this side of Kadaar is dangerous, if you don’t know the right people,” Dion called over his shoulder.
I could see Agatha frowning in the night. The moon was high, half full and ghostly up in the sky. It grew into the sky rather than rose, and I felt a certain part of me growing with it. I could almost see as if it were daytime.
But now that I was among shifters, all my denied dreams of being a wolf were coming back. I guess I was mourning my leaving Lassig in some way.
We twisted and turned over the landscape, and when the moon passed behind the clouds, our track became more confusing. I couldn’t keep track of all the directions we changed. I soon became sick from all the rises and falls. “How far is Jebra?” I asked.
Roman laughed. “How far is the moon to her lover?”
Agatha’s frown deepened.
“Well what about the next village, you haven’t said how far it is,” I said, slightly annoyed by how both men were behaving.
Roman turned back to me, he squeezed his heels into his horse and slowed it so that it was matching our pace. “Do you know what roams the Warlands at night?”
Neither Agatha or I answered, but the frown on Agatha’s face had disappeared. Now she was afraid.
“There are feral wolves, for one. Men that have spent so much time shifted that they refuse to turn back. In fact, I’d say a lot of them have lost the ability to. They don’t want to…” He was sad telling us this. “It is a temptation that happens to a lot of young shifters.”
I hesitated for seconds about telling Roman of my history, my dormant wolf.
“But along with the feral werewolves you have our brethren,realwolves, as Lady Skol would have you believe. They’re just as vicious, but without the humanity. They’ve never been human, so their sense of justice is very different. Very interesting to talk about. But that’s for another time.”
Again I wanted to tell him the truth. I thought I felt Dion reaching out, but I pulled myself away from him. I focused on Roman. “But why do we need good luck?”
Roman didn’t smile at this question, as he had at all my others. “Because you are women. Women not of the Warlands. Women in common clothes of Lady Skol’s realm. Women that to any man, male beast of these lands, are a damn nice sight to see.You,are the ones who need good luck. Not us.”
His face had turned more and more grim as he spoke, and with the last part fell silent. He paced back up to Dion, saying nothing more.
Agatha gulped next to me, and I turned and smiled. I hoped it was a sign of bravery, because inside I was freaking out too. I’d never left the walls of Lassig, now with every second we were getting further and further from the city we’d grown up in and the danger was only rising.
I felt incredibly safe though, despite these fears. I knew that Roman and Dion were strong men, and even stronger wolves. By how everyone spoke about Dion, he was the strongest in a long time.
We didn’t speak for another few hours, only when we came to a small dip in the dark landscape did Roman motion with his head to a small hollow. It was a protected rise with boulders all around the sides.
“Here we can rest,” he said to us. “We’ll eat some of the cold foods and sleep until dawn. Then make our way on.”
Dion tied off the horses once we’d dismounted. He waited a split second for me to dismount and turn, he caught my face for a split second, and a smile broke his sullen face.
My heart bloomed and a warmth spread through me. His smile was like a mixture of chamomile and lavender tea. It had been my favorite drink that Auntie made me when I was young.
I smiled to myself watching him walk away. I couldn’t help but stare.
“He’s so secretive, what’s he hiding from us?” Agatha whispered. “He’s not spoken to you since the last village.”
I was pulled from my daydreaming. “He’s–he’s just–”
