“Elysande, slow down for a minute.” This time, it comes from Daegan. I look back at him in surprise.
I give in, slowing Harleigh down. Releasing an exaggerated sigh, I glance between the two of them, Daegan on my left, Raef on my right.
“So, you’re coming with me then?” My gaze remains to the right.
“It would be lovely if we knewwhywe were following you into certain death,” Raef chortles.
“Certain death? Don’t be so dramatic. There’s a witch who is a seer. People have gone to her seeking answers in the past and came out unscathed. I just have a few questions for her.”
“Have you ever been there?” Raef asks.
“No.”
“Then how do you know there aren’t other dangerous, violent things in that forest? There’s a reason not many people go there. Even we’ve heard tales of the forest all the way down south.”
He raises his eyebrows at me. He thinks I’m being a fool.
He’s right.
But it’s for a good reason.
“Did you even bring a weapon to defend yourself with?” Daegan asks. “Not that you’d know how to use it,” he adds under his breath.
I whip my head to the left, where he rides alongside me on a brown horse.
“Yes, I did. If you must know. I also have water magic, I’ll remind you.” He doesn’t need to know that I’ve never trained for battle with it. I squint my eyes at him. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
He shifts his gaze forward and my eyes catch on the angle of his jaw. “Fine. Keep your secrets.”
My gaze lingers on him for a few moments as he looks ahead. It’s actually annoying that he’s so… good-looking. He sits tall on his horse. Proud. His wavy light brown hair catches the wind just right, but he also looks… tired for someone only a couple of years older than me. Not that it takes away from his attractiveness at all. If anything, it somehow makes him even more attractive. Rugged. Like he’s been through more than I could ever imagine.
Not that I’m pitying the person who threatened me with a knife to my throat the first time we met.
Suddenly, he turns his head and our gazes lock. Neither of us look away for a moment. It’s like he’s trying to beat me in some sort of game that I have no interest in playing, so I relent, narrowing my eyes just to give him one last scowl, then I face forward and pick up the speed. I assume they’ll follow. We don’t have time to take a leisurely jaunt all morning.
Now that we’re moving faster and they’re in line behind me, we ride in silence, only the smacking of the horses’ hooves is heard on the long, dirt road. It gives me time to think about what I’m going to tell them once we get there. I either take a big risk and reveal my entire plan, hoping they’ll join me on my quest, or I try to find some way to talk to the witch without them, keeping them in the dark. I have a feeling they’re not going to make the second option easy for me.
I’ll have to improvise.
Eventually we slow for a bit, giving the horses some rest, with Daegan and Raef falling side-by-side behind me. I hear them muttering quietly between each other and I try my best to pick up on what they’re saying but it’s hopeless. I continue to ride in silence, looking ahead into the dusky gray world.
A smooth, deep laugh makes me whip my head back, because I know immediately it didn’t come from Raef. It came from Daegan. But by the time I catch his face, his expression has fallen again.
“Did you actually laugh?” I ask with mock surprise.
“Raef needs an ego boost now and then. I have to make him think he’s funny sometimes,” Daegan replies reluctantly.
“Most of the time,” Raef corrects him.
I look back and he’s grinning at Daegan. These two grew up together, I remind myself. It feels like I’m getting a glimpse at them as they were when they were younger and had far less worries.
“So, where’s your third?”
“Third what?” Daegan asks flatly.
“Yara,” I clarify, facing forward again.
“Most of our people made the journey back home. Including my father.” I hear him pull in a slow, lazy breath during the pause. “Only a few stayed behind.”
