“Thank you. We shall ride ahead. Here are some rations for your men.” The officer took a bag from the side of his horse and handed it to Lord Alvi before mounting again.
Aerity watched Lord Alvi, waiting to catch his eye so she could acknowledge him, but his eyes stuck to Wyneth until they rode out of sight. Aerity peered across at her cousin, who was looking straight ahead with rather mottled cheeks.
High seas. It wasn’t in her imagination. Lief had definitely found interest in her cousin, and by the looks of Wyneth’s spotted blush, she was quite aware of it. Never in her life had Aerity been one to shy away from teasing her cousin and talking about boys, or men in this case, but this did not lend itself to their usual banter. Wyneth did not look happy about Lief’s affections. And why would she be when she still wore the gray mourning color for the love she’d lost months before? And when this new man was a suitor in the hunt? The circumstances made Aerity feel like a fist was tightening around her gut. She cursed this terrible situation where her cousin couldn’t seek happiness, even as it was staring her down, quite literally. She would gladly tell the Ascomannian lord to drop out of the hunt to seek her cousin, but she knew a man of honor would not consider quitting a cause for his own desires.
Wyneth must have caught the look of anguish on Aerity’s face, because she spoke loudly against the wind and clomp of hooves, her voice breaking. “Don’t worry, Aer. We will find them. I’m certain they’re okay. . . .”
Aerity blinked and nodded, looking straight ahead again. On her other side she could see in her peripheral Vixie’s perfect forward lean, her hair flying back, in her element. The cool fall air whipped against her cheeks, turning them pink.
Hours later, just as the path took them away from the river and the land began to slant upward, she heard the soldiers raise their voices. Aerity squinted and spotted men walking through the trees up ahead. Her heart hammered as her eyes scanned. There were three!
“It’s them!” Vixie shouted.
Aerity nudged Doll harder, picking up speed to match her pulse. She even passed two of the closest soldiers. As they got closer, Aerity’s sight honed in on the one whose brown waves sheltered the sides of his face. Paxton looked weary and worn, as did the other two. She reared back on Doll and hiked her leg over the horse’s back, sliding down to her feet so quickly she nearly fell.
The soldiers let Aerity run through them to get to the hunters. Harrison was first. He walked with a slight limp and gave a bashful grin. She threw her arms around him before remembering their audience and quickly letting him go. “Thank the seas! Are you hurt?” A smudge of mud ran across his cheekbone.
“Just my ankle.”
Aerity looked toward the medical soldier and called him forward. If there had been time, she would have thought to ask Mrs. Rathbrook to accompany them.
As a soldier trained in healing tended to Harrison, Aerity took the hand of the next lad, Tiern. He gave a tired grin. His hair was still pulled back, as if he’d recently taken care of it. Before she could speak a word she saw Paxton walk straight past, not so much as glancing her way. Her head turned to follow as he stopped at the soldiers.
“Who killed it?” he asked in a low, dry voice. “Which Ascomannian?”
The soldiers exchanged glances and one spoke up. “The beast? Nobody yet . . .”
Aerity watched the back of Paxton’s shoulders relax. He turned slightly and caught Aerity’s eye, holding it for a flash of a moment that made Aerity’s stomach swoop, before facing the soldier again.
“All the Ascomannians and Zorfinans made it back, then?” Paxton asked.
“Oh.” The soldier’s face fell. “I’m sorry, but the Zorfinans are gone.”
“Gone?” Paxton tilted his head as if he’d heard him wrong. “They left?”
“No . . . they’re dead. Honor killing.”
Paxton stared at him incredulously and Tiern spoke up. “Honor killing? But why? Because they were ashamed of not going into the ridgelands in an ice storm? They were the bloody smart ones!”
Paxton fumed and pushed ahead through the soldiers. Wyneth frowned at Aerity.
“The beast still lives,” Tiern whispered. “We were so close.” Aerity’s head snapped back to him, then to Harrison, who gave a saddened shake of his head.
Despite her inner warnings, Aerity’s eyes found Paxton again. He walked on, alone.
“He’ll be all right once he’s had a good meal and a rest,” Tiern told her. Aerity flushed at having been caught staring. She could feel Harrison’s questioning eyes on her, but she focused on the younger brother, fearing Harrison could read her too well.
“Are you all right then, Tiern Seabolt?” she asked.
“Right as rain, Your Highness.” His brown eyes weren’t as bright as usual. Vixie jogged up, practically beaming. She appeared older to Aerity in that moment, with her windblown hair and her eyes taking in Tiern’s weary appearance.