Page 54 of Ties of Frost

Zidra sucked in a deeper breath and then groaned. Her eyes fluttered open and met mine. I blushed even though I hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Good morning,” I murmured.

Without replying, Zidra sprang upright and looked around. “It must be so late! Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I only awoke a few moments ago myself.”

Frowning, she looked around the shelter. “I suppose I can’t entirely blame you for our current position, as we both moved.”

“Perhaps we were cold and moved toward each other’s warmth.”

“Can ice elves even get cold?”

I laughed. “Of course we can. Our magic helps insulate us naturally, and in freezing weather we can draw on our magic to keep ourselves warm, but that takes a lot of energy and is difficult to keep up while sleeping. We still like warm, cozy places.” I waved at the snow dome above our heads. “Hence the shelter to trap in heat.”

“Right.” Zidra stretched her arms over her head, avoiding looking at me. “We should leave. I’d like to get this curse out of my arm before it does any more damage—and preferably before someone attempts to assassinate me again.”

Guilt pricked me. I’d gotten too distracted by thoughtsof kisses and embraces when I should have been focused on the growing urgency of our quest. “How’s your sense of direction?”

At last, she faced me and cocked her head. “I’m wyveri. It’s excellent—better when I’m shifted, but still good.”

“You probably noticed yesterday that the road here curves a lot between the hills and glens, but there’s few forests in Bryluthia, so we could cut across the countryside directly north. However, my sense of direction isn’t strong enough for that.”

“I can let you know if you’re going off course,” Zidra said, nodding.

With that settled, we packed up, ate some salted meat, and set off.

Twenty-One

Zidra

The memory of kissing Kyrundar burned like a fire—warm, compelling, but also potentially dangerous. Perhaps some reckless wyveri impulse had prompted me to kiss him, but I’d enjoyed the movement of his lips against mine far more than I ever would have guessed. More than I should have.

I could talk to some of the married rengiri. Surely they would have advice on how to navigate life as a rengir and a spouse and, most importantly, how to not let your spouse be a liability in a fight.

Still, a persistent voice said all of this was a mistake. The heartbond, the kiss, the growing attraction—it was all a misstep. None of it fit with my plan to prove myself or win my family’s and clan’s respect.

“We’re drifting too far west,” I shouted. The rushingair seemed louder and colder today, as if Kyrundar were going as fast as possible.

“What?” he yelled back.

With the wind snatching our voices, trying to course correct had been a headache all day. If only I could speak directly into his mind.

Wait.

I’d never heard of a heartbond working that way, but Kyrundar had sent sensations through the bond. Could I send a specific enough feeling he would understand without words?

It was worth a try.

I visualized bumping us to turn a bit more to the east and sent that thought along the heartbond. Kyrundar looked over, his face pinched, and turned his palms upward.

I tried again, picturing shoving him in the right direction over and over. He tilted his head. After a moment, he nodded slowly. The ice disks adjusted course. I grinned and nodded.

I could imagine Iskyr chuckling and saying,See, the heartbond isn’t useless.

The rest of the day passed far smoother than previous days. Whenever we drifted off course, I nudged Kyrundar in the right direction through the heartbond. If I needed to stop, I managed to communicate that through the heartbond as well. By sundown, the expanse of the Aizurgon Sea glittered on the horizon. I pointed a little to the east. With his keen elf eyesight, Kyrundar spotted the same thing I did—a cluster of dark shapes on the shoreline.

We continued into the night. As lamps and fires were lit in the coastal town, Kyrundar no longer needed my assistance with navigation. Most people slept by the time we reached the city of Gamnica.

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