Reign of Shadows - Deborah Chester [49]
“We’ll be careful,” Caelan said.
“And you be back well before twilight.”
An involuntary shiver swept through Caelan. If all went well, he would never be back. He frowned, wishing he could tell Raul goodbye. This man had taught him how to ride, had saddled ponies for him, had shown him how to oil and mend lack during long winter afternoons.
Caelan wished he could tell all of them goodbye. Anya would never forgive him for leaving her without a word. As for Old Farns, still unconscious in the infirmary .. . Caelan bit his lip and stepped through the gates quickly before he could lose his nerve.
“Wait!” Lea called, struggling with the heavy food basket. She picked it up and dropped it, nearly spilling its contents. “Help me with this.”
Caelan didn’t pause. “You wanted a picnic. You bring it.”
“Caelan!”
That time he did glance back and had to laugh at her dragging the food basket. It made a wavy furrow in the snow. Raul shut the gates with a casual wave, and Caelan’s heart clenched inside him.
He waved back, but the gates were already closed and Raul didn’t see.
Caelan’s eyes stung a moment; then he steeled himself and hurried back to hand the rucksack containing the medicines to Lea. In exchange he picked up the food basket, flinging his cloak back over his left shoulder to free his arm.
At the designated tree, he took the rucksack from her and stuck it in the fork of the trunk for the Neika. Then he pulled up the hood of Lea’s cloak and tied the strings for her. She had on fur-lined boots and gloves and looked like a tiny imp as she skipped and clapped her hands in excitement.
He wished he could take her with him, but that was not possible.
She tugged at his hand. “Come on, Caelan. Come on!”
The edge of the forest curved away from them in a dark green line, a hundred yards away from the walls. Snow lay white and pure, dazzling in the sunshine.
“I’ll race you to the larch tree,” he said, pointing.
With a squeal, she broke free of his grip and ran with all her might, floundering quickly in the deep snow. Caelan gave her a head start, then followed. His pack and heavy clothing slowed him down, but he was able to catch up with her easily. He stayed on her heels, threatening to pass her every time she slowed down. She kept churning, short legs pumping hard, and he let her beat him to the larch.
Dashing into the undergrowth, he caught her by the tail of her cloak and flung her bodily into the soft fronds of a nearby spruce. Snow flew in all directions, and she bounced on the branches gleefully, her laughter ringing around them.
“I beat you! I beat you!” she boasted.
His breath steamed about his face. “Sure. I’m carrying everything like a pack mule.”
She laughed. “I don’t know why you wanted to bring so much. We won’t starve before we—”
“Show me the cave quickly,” he said, switching the subject. “We don’t have all day.”
She took him a different direction than he’d expected, to a part of the woods where he’d never found any ice caves in his own explorations.
Lea walked across a stream, her boots making the ice crack ominously. Caelan jumped it rather than trust his weight on its surface.
She ducked under a fallen log that lay across the shallow gorge and pointed. “Up there. See?”
Straightening beside her and combing twigs from his hair, Caelan saw the mouth of the cave ahead. The entrance was tucked into a tall bank along the frozen stream, where mossy rocks jutted from the earth in a ridge swathed with dead vines and undergrowth. Unlike most ice caves, which had rock entrances and tunnels leading to the ice hidden deep within, this one was frozen to its very mouth. Concealed in the shadows of the bank, it looked murky and cold.
Caelan’s heart pumped faster. “Stay here,” he whispered.
Lea elbowed ahead of him. “It’s my cave. I’ll show you—”
“No! I’ll check it first. You wait until I say it’s safe.”
She glared at him. “It’s safe—”
“Lurkers,” he said in warning, and she subsided.
Cautiously he pushed ahead, his feet silent