Page 49 of Tusk Love

“Still,” said Guinevere, a slight tremble to her bottom lip, “we shall take our leave of you at once. It’s not safe to continue on together.”

The elderly woman gave a reluctant nod. Oskar thought about what it took to transport an entire clan from one end of Wildemount to the other, keeping everyone alive as they followed you and the seasons and the trade winds. There had to be limits to compassion. He couldn’t fault the matriarch in the least.

By the time Oskar had pulled on a fresh tunic and finished strapping all the luggage to Pudding, the rest of the clan had drifted back to camp, some with noticeable limps. They cheerfully thanked Oskar and Guinevere for the “cracking good battle,” and farewells were warmly exchanged. Oskar had just helped Guinevere onto Vindicator’s saddle when Nan shuffled over and pressed something into his palm.

It was a pendant. A translucent milky-white moonstone that was marbled with swirls of blue and pink, attached to a length of thin black leather.

“That is a Vigilance Stone,” said Nan. “The clans in the CyriosMountains trade us moonstones, and Zugri infuses them with detection spells in her spare time. We do not sell these; they are for use within the clan, or gifted to those we consider friends. The moonstones glow when they are within thirty feet of those carrying evil in their hearts. Rodregg wears one of these pendants, and that’s how the search party knew where to amass even though the illusion spell hid you from sight.”

Oskar went through the motions of putting the pendant on. Once it hung from his neck, the barest downward tug the only indication of an added weight, that was when the significance of the gift truly sank in, along with the realization that perhaps compassion could be endless, after all. He peered down at Nan and said, sincerely, “Thank you.”

This time, the Bonecrusher matriarch didn’t wave off his thanks. Instead, she reached out to pat his wrist. “It’s not too late toactuallyelope with her, you know.”

“Goodbye,” Oskar said flatly, turning away.

Nan’s creaky, wheezing laughter rang out behind him. “May we meet again.”

Once he and Guinevere hadleft the Bonecrusher encampment far behind them, Oskar began to consider the Amber Road.

Apart from their party, the wide strip of well-trodden, yellowish dirt was completely deserted today. The steadyclip-clopof the two horses’ hooves echoed in the still air. Gray clouds lurked on the horizon, hiding the next bastion of civilization—Alfield—from view.

All the empty space fed into Oskar’s lingering wariness from that morning’s ambush. He had the Vigilance Stone to serve as warning, but what good was a detection spell at a range of thirty feet out here in the open?

He made a decision. He steered Vindicator left. Out of the road and into the forest.

“You are absolutely certain that it’s safer this way?” Guinevereasked anxiously a few minutes later. They’d dismounted, as the trees grew too close together and the ground was too steep and entangled for riding. Oskar was holding on to Vindicator’s reins while Guinevere managed Pudding.

“The Web’s magician is dead,” said Oskar, “so they can’t lead us astray with illusions anymore. On their end, it would be easier to keep watch for us on the Amber Road than to track us here in the thick of the woods.”

She nodded at once. He wanted to tell her once again to quit trusting people so quickly, but not as much as he wanted to fold her trust into a pocket in his heart and spend the rest of his life proving himself worthy of it.

They traveled on foot for miles and miles, passing dense palaces of bramble and abandoned shacks that they raided for additional supplies, splashing through streams and crossing crude wooden bridges stretched atop rushing rivers, guiding the horses around towers of deadfall.

When night fell, so, too, did another fierce rain, and they sought shelter in a cave large enough to accommodate the horses after Oskar had checked it thoroughly for bears or big cats. He doubted that the Vigilance Stone could detect predatory animals that were, after all, only following their natural instincts and knew nothing of good and evil. Elaras the treehugger would have been proud of him.

Oskar built a fire using wood chunks obtained from the last abandoned shack they’d passed. While Guinevere warmed up in its feeble glow, he fed the horses and then plucked and skinned the partridge that he’d caught earlier. He cooked it on a spit over the fire, and he and Guinevere ate it with their hands, washing it down with rainwater collected in flasks that they’d set outside.

Afterward, they curled up together by the cave wall, keeping each other warm under one of the Bonecrushers’ fabulously cozy blankets. Guinevere had gotten progressively quieter over the last several hours, and it wasn’t due to exhaustion—an exhausted Guinevere was evenmoretalkative, as Oskar had learned. No, something had begunweighing on her mind as the day drew to a close, and he waited patiently to find out what it was.

“Oskar.” She wouldn’t look at him, her cheek pillowed against his shirtfront. Her voice was a softly wounded thing amidst the melody of the pouring rain that wove all around them like a second blanket. “I…I really want to learn how to control my magic. It frustrates me so much, that I could have saved you earlier—”

“Youdidsave me,” he cut in, holding her tighter. “You broke the illusion spell by tripping over that magician—”

“Not on purpose—”

“Saved me all the same,” he insisted. “And, before that, you stepped in front of me before I got skewered and my head bashed in. Which, by the way,” he added, his own words unearthing a skein of anger along with the chilling memory, “you are not allowed to do that ever again.”

“You just said you would have gotten skewered and your head bashed in otherwise.”

“That doesn’t matter. Always help yourself first, Guinevere.”

“No,” she mumbled even as she burrowed deeper into him. “Travelers help one another. That’s what Nan told us. We are travelers together, Oskar, and I will help you in any way that I can. So I—I will practice more. I will use what Elaras taught me back in Labenda. And perhaps one day I can be of as much aid to you as you have been to me.”

Oskar was torn. On one hand, a vengeful wildfire spirit would certainly come in handy during battle. But the convenience of Teinidh would never justify the cost to Guinevere. She was a gentle, genuinely kindhearted girl. He had no wish for her to end up like him, hardened and embittered by what it took to survive in this world.

“For what it’s worth…” Oskar lifted Guinevere’s dainty wrist to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. “Your magic is not an abomination, despite what your folks say. I would love for you to wield it without shame. But it has to be onyourterms. If you don’t feel ready, then don’t force yourself. Just believe in my ability to keep you safe, because I won’t ever let you down in that regard.”

She was silent for a while, considering his words. Then she wrapped her arms around his waist until they were as close as two people could be in their clothes. He rubbed her back soothingly, and he truly meant it when he said, “Whatever you decide, everything’s going to be fine, and you’re going to be brilliant, Gwen. You always are.”

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