Page 99 of Untempered
I pretended not to notice the bundle of rags in the corner of the stables and the rats scurrying away.
Mayhap there wasn’t too much good fortune, after all.
Isolde led her horse to the mounting block, and I watched as she climbed into her saddle, unsure if the weakness was real or for show. One quick, razor-sharp look from her ended my doubts. Realizing I was supposed to be the lady’s guard, I moved to boost Audrey into her saddle, but she was already taking her turn at the mounting block. I returned to Bliksem as Ylva climbed into the saddle as if she hadn’t spent weeks in captivity, settling in comfortably. She’d been given a La’Angi issue sword and plain shield, which she wore slung over her back.
No one had said anything to me. Was I so superfluous?
The scene in the city remained unchanged, except now clots of people cast glances to the storm on the horizon. Audrey set a pace that bordered on impolite as we hastened out of the city, but the roads were almost empty, and the pressure of the quiet was immense. She never once paused to look back at Ylva or check on her. Isolde wasn’t the only one who played a close game. I’d lived alongside this woman for more than a moon now, and I still didn’t know her. It made me feel oddly hollow.
Audrey didn’t slow until the apple trees sheltered us from the view of the gates. Then she turned to Ylva and said, “Where are we headed?”
She pointed. “To theceiyemmyah pbettra.” And it was said as if Audrey should’ve known that, and also know what the words meant.
I watched as my liege lady glanced at her mentor, a quick, searching look that went unanswered. “Where?” Isolde asked.
“Theceiyemmyah pbettra,” Ylva repeated, frustrated. “Surely you must know them?”
“Possibly,” Audrey agreed. “Under our own name.”
“The stones?” Ylva offered. “Big. Old magic. Pre-dates your shitty, drafty pile of pre-rubble, there.”
I enjoyed the termpre-rubblewhile I saw Audrey glance toward Isolde again. This time, Isolde met her glance.
“Should I stop to change to a proper saddle?” Audrey asked. “Or is it a short ride?”
“It’s not close, but we’ll make it before nightfall.”
Another quick look between the women, and I resented being left out entirely. At least when Thomas was here, he’d look at me. I felt invisible.
“We need to be back by nightfall,” Audrey explained. “Or they’ll send a search party for me.”
“Then go,” Ylva said with a shrug. “I don’t need to be accompanied.”
At least I knew enough of Audrey’s character to predict her terminal curiosity. She shook her head, and they set out in the approximate direction of Ylva’s pointing. “We’ll stop and change saddles,” Isolde said.
That they kept proper saddles stashed somewhere didn’t surprise me. Audrey had been using one, albeit only barely, when we’d first met. But I’d never seen such a swap happen, and mayhap the Duke’s daughter wasn’t the only one who was curious.
At one stage, Ylva pointed and said, “We’re off-course.”
Isolde glanced over her shoulder. “You’ll benefit from hitting our cache. We aren’t far and, we’ll travel faster with proper equipment.”
Of course she had a cache. I’d be surprised if she only had one.
Apparently mollified, or perhaps also curious, Ylva and I followed along until they came to a long-abandoned little home that looked to only provide shelter to animals now. Both women dismounted, and their horses—clearly feeling at home—went to work cropping the grass that had grown undisturbed in the small clearing.
I saw Audrey murmuring something quietly to Isolde, who sent a quick glance toward Ylva. “She knows where it is already,” she told Audrey with a dismissive flick of her fingers. “There’s no point worrying about that now.”
“I’ve a nose for secrets,” Ylva agreed, dismounting.
“If you don’t have a tongue for them, we’ve no issue,” Isolde told her.
Ylva grinned, the scarf down off her face. “No, Sister. I wouldn’t waste my talents on talking.” Impervious to Ylva’s charms, Isolde rolled back what looked like grass but had a pattern-like fabric beneath it, revealing a sturdy wooden door to a cellar. “Odd to see a wolf run so far north,” Ylva mused, hands on hips. “Have you a longbow, Sister?”
“Recurved only, and none to spare. But I’ve knives. Ylva and Chay, remove your insignia.”
I did as I was told, then held the reins of Ylva’s horse while the three of them vanished into the hole. They were only gone a few moments before reappearing with saddles. Isolde set to work swapping them over, and Audrey vanished again.
Horse care was something Icoulddo. Wary of Audrey’s mare, who I’d seen nip at a stableboy who’d been too hasty with her, I helped Isolde ready the animals. Audrey reappeared, and I had to force myself not to visibly react to the change in her.
