Ruby cracked a laugh and everyone spun to glare at her. “She’s right, though. I mean, who’s going to doubt her powers now?”
It took several agonizing minutes, but they finally decided Ruby was right. Chevelle dismissed us to go back to training. As we left, I heard Steed remark in a low aside, “This is really going to piss the wolves off.”
I pulled in a sharp breath. I hadn’t seen the wolves since we’d arrived; I’d thought they were probably outside, guarding us as usual.
Ruby elbowed me as we walked side by side toward the practice rooms. I smiled back at her. We were all going.
Chapter Two
Mission
Within a day, we were gathered, ready to leave the castle. The plan was to go before dawn, draw as little attention as possible. I’d made arrangements with Dree to feed the cats. I silently hoped none of them tried to eat the servants. Except maybe that big one who offered to give me a bath. Gag. A shiver of revulsion ran through me and I realized everyone was staring at me. I smiled timidly and got the standard response – the Frey you’re an idiot look.
I shrugged it off as I kicked my horse up, leading the way out of the castle. Chevelle was beside me in a moment, wearing an amused expression.
“What?” I was defensive. He merely tilted his head toward the others… who were heading in the opposite direction. So much for dignity. I turned to follow them.
We made our way down the mountain on a path that exited the castle from behind. I wondered if we would eventually wind back around to where we had come from, or if we would be headed somewhere new. But I realized it was all still new to me. Such a short time ago, the village was all I’d known, the whole of my world.
I tried to distract myself from the upcoming journey that I’d been so adamant about taking, so sure, not even thinking of what it might entail. I surveyed the bit of land I could see in the dimness but it wasn't much until the haze eventually thinned and light started to peek through from the rising sun, allowing me a better view of the area. I spotted a pen of what looked to be boar in the distance. Ruby had explained to me how the elves here herded the animals and kept them until they were needed. The game on the mountain’s peak was too sparse to keep up with the population and there was very limited vegetation. I hadn’t seen anything I would have called vegetation, but she had assured me it was there. They must have needed many animals for the feasts I’d read about in my mother’s diary. Thinking of it reminded me of an idea I’d had before… if I could keep some animals handy for whenever I’d need to use them… if we were to get attacked…
I shuddered at the thought. We weren’t about to get attacked, we were on our way to find a fight. Why hadn’t I waited until I had trained more? Why hadn’t I kept my big mouth shut? Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“Cold?” Steed asked.
It brought me back. “Oh. Uh, no, I’m fine.”
I realized the conversation I was missing was about the horses and a question popped out without a thought. “Steed, what’s your horse’s name?”
“Oh," he replied casually, "I’ve named her Elfreda.”
I blushed. Well, blushing was putting it mildly. He smiled through tight lips, trying not to laugh. Ugh. Who had told him that I’d named my horse Steed? Probably would have given that a second thought if I’d known how things would turn out.
The way was rough and I found I’d liked riding up better than down. Maybe it was only my nerves, but leaning back all day to avoid being tossed over the horse’s head while being jostled around wasn’t exactly fun. And we had not, as far as my poor directional skills could tell, swung back around toward the south side of the mountain. The stones were darker here, less traveled, and, well, eerie. We finally stopped for the evening and I slid down off the horse, walking around a bit before the dinner around the fire I was eagerly looking forward to.