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Belén stations hied along, and now I finally understand why Already, a snowdrift re-forhtfall
"We must watch the entrance in shifts," he says "Keep a hole open for smoke Othere’ll suffocate"
We skipped lunch, so none of us has the patience for a hotwars, bread, and cheese, she sets water to boiling tosatiated and hen Hector stands and stretches "I need to check the horses," he says He turns to me "Want to learn how to polish tack?"
It’s suddenly hard to breathe, because I know exactly what he’s thinking "All right," Ias I get to my feet and follow Hector to the back of the cave and around the small lip of stone
His arainst him His mouth crashes down on mine, and he kissesout weeks of frustration and worry into our e le in his hair as I assure myself that he’s here, that he’s ainst the skin ofhis jaard his ear, where I whisper, "I’ the lady’s shroud"
His breath hitches, and he buries his face in ed as my own
Finally he says, "Are you sure, Elisa?"
It’s baffling and a, he can res "It’s one of the few things I’htfully Then he tips up entler kiss that feels like sun breaking through the clouds
The pit of my sto, "I told you that you would kiss hs "It’s the ‘and ently pushes rabs my hands and lifts theet you to myself for a while"
The earth tilts a little
"In the meantime," he adds, "I really should teach you how to care for tack I find rin "Good idea"
The stor After a breakfast of bean ather at the fire to take stock of our situation
"How much food do we have left?" Hector asks as he polishes one of his daggers It see toward the upkeep of his weapons Maybe I should learn frorain--we should save that for the horses," says Mara "Some dates A round of cheese Dried meat for one day I can stretch the "
"You can use pine bark pulp instead of flour," Hector says
"We could eat one of the horses," Belén points out
My storain and can’t feed thehter will keep for days in this temperature," Mara says
"I’ve eaten horse before," Mula says "Tastes like dog"
"Maybe there’s sorass or underbrush buried in the snow outside," Hector says "But no one ventures farther than that until it clears And if you do go out, you reement
"Elisa?" Storm says "What if the weather clears? What then?"
His sister is nodding as he speaks "The pass is snowed in by now," she adds "There is no way through"
I turn on her "Then we’ll blow our way through," I snap "Storm and I With our Godstones"
She opens her es her mind
"I’m not sure that ork," Hector says
"Why not?"
"Anything you melt will just refreeze in this temperature Not even our mountain horses can handle an ice trail Especially not at an incline"
The walls close in around ive up I refuse to believe that after everything I’ve gone through, everything I’ve put h, I’ll be foiled by mere weather Or maybe not "mere weather" The rare cold, the poor visibility, the thunder snow, it’s all thanks to Lucero and his volcanoes "There has to be a way There has to"
"The Deciregi ht be stuck too," Belén says "Or better yet, maybe they’re dead"
Stor falsehood to coi were at least a day ahead of us The storm came at us from behind, so I’m sure they crossed into Joya d’Arena before the heavy snow hit They’re probably headed north toward Basajuan even now"
Everyone ponders for aan eround near the toe of et lucky," Mara says "Maybe the storm will blow itself out soon and the weather will break wared with doubt
I pull my knees to my chest and rest i reach Basajuan before we do, they’ll raze it to the ground and use the area to ainst Orovalle and Joya d’Arena We will lose everything" And everyone
"We may have to look to our own survival," Hector says I usually love this about him, that he can be practical and frank in the e of annoyance
"I want ideas, Hector Solutions"
"Your safety is hest priority," he says, just as sternly "And I won’t let you starve in this cave or freeze to death on the trail If theback to Umbra de Deus as soon as the weather clears"
I lift ood does it do to protect a queen if there is nothing to be queen of?"
Firelight shadows the planes of his face and gives a shi him look fiercer than ever Softly, he says, "Do you really think I obsess over your safety just because you are uely, I’ uncoust of wind inside that aze froive it all up I could wait out the winter and then retire to a hidden location, somewhere remote, and live out my days All I have to do to survive is reer And Hector would be with ive my life forI’ve never believed in senseless death At what point does our situation becoht is senseless?