of Phaedra.” L shook her head. By now I knew she was nineteen, Haydyn’s age, but she spoke to me like I was twenty years her junior. “Quite a quest. Ye’ve certainly made a muddle o’ it so far, hasn’t ye.”
“L, be polite,” Jonas scolded.
“Just sayin’.”
“I’m doing my best. I won’t stop until I get that plant, even if I have to face a million mountain men to get it.”
I watched L’s eyes glimmer with a hint of respect.
“Well, I be gettin’ an idea,” Sarah piped up. “Our L is as tough as they come, knows these here mountains better than anyone. If ye follow yer magic to the Pool, L will be keepin’ ye safe and right.”
“Although I don’t appreciate bein’ offered up as a guide without my say-so, I do see the wisdom in the suggestion,” L agreed. “I’ll do it.”
I rather liked the idea of having a savvy, crossbow-toting mountain girl with me but I didn’t want to endanger anyone else. “I appreciate the offer, but you don’t have to help me. You’ve already done so much.”
L scowled. “I don’t offer help unless I be wantin’ to. I’m comin’. Isn’t no ‘yes thank ye, no thank ye’ about it. I leave yer lily-white ass to saunter through these here mountains, and Phaedra will be doomed—ye eaten alive by the Aran, and Phaedra fallin’ to nothin’ without that princezna o’ yers.”
Minutes before, I’d thought having her along might be a wonderful idea. Now I grimaced. With L’s obnoxious, superior attitude, I might as I well have brought Wolfe along.
Then I remembered the mountain man.
I eyed L’s crossbow leaning against the wall near the fire.
I pasted on a strained smile. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
We left soon after, both of us outfitted in warm jackets, each with a pack of supplies.
L carried her crossbow, and I carried one of Jonas’s hunting knives. I’d lost my pack and dagger at the stream when the mountain man had taken me.
We took off at a brisk pace, and I marveled at how rejuvenated I was, as if I had never undergone such horror at the mountain man’s hands.
The boots didn’t begin to rub as quickly as my previous pair, but when I did eventually feel a niggle of discomfort, I ignored it.
Our march upward was silent until we broke for a late lunch. Sweat soaked my back already. As we sat to eat the biscuits and bread Sarah provided, L decided she was bored with the silence.
“Ye don’t talk much for a fancy person with fancy learnin’.”
I shrugged.
I thought that would be the end of it, but as we walked again, L encouraged me to tell her about my “fancy” society life. Anything I said or explained was answered with phrases such as, “Well, that just sounds stupid” and “What would ye be wantin’ to do that for?”
Surprisingly, I enjoyed L’s chatter. Her speech may have been of the mountain people but her rough slaughter of our language belied a keen mind and sharp wit. I couldn’t help but agree with her assessments when I told her about the scandalous things society members got up to.
L was pragmatic and straightforward, much as I’d always thought I was. She knew the mountains well, traipsing through them without a care, physically stronger than I. I puffed a little to keep up. She wondered aloud how I’d survived this far without her, especially after I squatted to relieve myself and she saved me just in time from squatting on poisonous leaves.
After that, L pointed out the different species of plants in the forest, what each of them was called and what their properties were. I was amazed by how knowledgeable she was on the subject, and she told me her grandfather had taught her before he died a few years ago.
When we stopped for the night, my magic vibrating through me stronger than ever, L didn’t build us a fire.
When I asked why, shivering in my jacket, she told me it would attract the mountain dogs. My heart had thundered as I remembered warnings from Brint about the dogs. I was glad L said we should huddle together for heat.
We fell asleep with our arms tight around one another.
“Who’s Wolfe?” L asked as I tripped over a tree root I hadn’t seen.
I picked myself up, dusting the soil off my hands. It was early morning, we’d already eaten, and we’d been walking for half an hour.
I glanced sharply at L.
She smirked, her young, fresh face