Chapter 25
Snow was just putting out a recent campfire when Lia awoke. She paused at the grim sight of him with a purpling bruise on his cheek. The sun had just set and Pheobe looked uneasy in the darkening woods as if she was eager for them to be on their way.
“What happened?” Lia asked when he didn’t offer any greeting or explanation.
Snow didn’t look at her as he gestured for the ground beneath his feet to swallow up what was left of the smoking embers.
“We’ll find some proper clothes for you tonight on our way north,” he replied as he turned towards his horse. When he lifted his gaze from the ground, he found Lia before him with her eyes staring into him in the unnerving, unblinking way vampires can stare.
“What happened, Korvinian?” She asked again. Snow couldn’t tell if she was trying to enthrall him. Such magics never seemed to work on him (thankfully). Still, Snow found himself sighing and giving in to an explanation despite the emotion it stirred up.
“The saviors followed us. They cornered me in the tavern and I was forced to make a dramatic exit. My reputation is ruined now for at least the next three years. So, it doesn’t matter anymore if we travel by night or take what we need… within reason.” Snow couldn’t help a scowl as he said it.
Lia’s face softened with the explanation.
“Did you kill them?”
“No,” Snow clenched his hands as he said it, “But maybe I should have.” He turned away from her to check Pheobe’s gear. “Then no one would be hunting us.”
Lia stepped closer again to lay a hand on his shoulder, “But then you’d be seen as a murderer.”
Snow sighed. He wanted to shrug off her sympathetic touch in frustration, but in that moment, he valued having someone who understood his situation. He had yet to ask Lia if she recalled her former life or how she was turned. Snow understood that such questions were not considered polite conversation when it came to vampires. The story often brought up painful memories and was best left to the vampire to reveal in time, but he knew without a doubt that Lia did not ask for her turning and only reluctantly accepted what she was.
Like him.
Snow laid his hand on hers briefly before gesturing to Pheobe.
“Let’s mount up and get out of this swamp. We’ll find clothes and food on the way. I still have a few coins if need be.”
“Where are we going exactly?” Lia asked.
“The province of Vernine is ruled by a young man who will be sympathetic to your situation. I’m sure you can find refuge there for as long as you need it. On the way, though, I want to stop by Lake Ilone. I need to speak with a friend.”
Stolen story; please report.
???
The two found the dark road quiet even as they neared Bellane. The village had very little in the way of guards, but still, Snow decided to take a circuitous route through the network of farm roads and wheat fields.
When it came to the food and clothes, Snow chose a well-lit homestead that looked well enough to suffer a gentle intrusion. Lia wondered why he bothered knocking on the door, but Snow found old habits hard to break and asked her to go along with it. When the patriarch answered the door, he allowed Lia to enthrall him and ask for the needed supplies.
Snow quickly realized that what the vampire lacked in power, she bolstered with cunning and subtlety. Lia wasn’t the strongest enthraller, but she used a sweet pleading voice and wove in a troubled story so the farmer might look on this midnight charity in a positive light. It wasn’t a story any sober man might believe in the daylight, but under the moon and Lia’s sway, the man saw nothing but two wayfarers who had been troubled by highwaymen and only needed a little help. By the time they were walking away from the house, Lia had a new riding dress of deep maroon and Snow had plenty of food and water for his saddlebags.
“He will remember all this in the morning. He could report it to those saviors,” Lia warned.
“It won’t matter. We have enough now. We shouldn’t need to bother anyone else for miles. If we had been caught stealing, it might have turned ugly fast, and the saviors would have certainly heard of it.” Snow knew just how fast ugly news traveled. At least this way there was a chance the man might keep this odd experience to himself for fear of looking foolish.
With both of them astride Pheobe, they continued to take narrow, quiet country roads that led north. Occasionally, they passed through disorientating wheat fields under silver moonlight until they met the main thoroughfare that ran between Bellane and its northern neighbors. They knew they had the right track by how deep the ruts were worn into the road by heavy grain wagons traveling back and forth. Caution wanted Snow to take the long road at a quiet pace, but he knew they’d need reliable shelter come sunrise. Every other hour, he nudged Pheobe into a reluctant trot to help them make it past the sea of grains stretching out for miles.
“You seem to know this land well,” Lia spoke up again as Snow allowed Pheobe to catch her breath with a walk.
“I’ve been traveling these roads for years now,” Snow replied.
“Selling your magic?”
“Selling brief resurrection. I try not to offer much else – things get out of hand easily.”
“People start to ask too much?” Lia asked as her hands moved from Snow’s hips to settling loosely around his waist. She brought her chin to rest on his shoulder. Snow was thankful that her skin was healing so quickly that she felt no pain being so close. The wounds were still discolored but they didn’t shed flakes, nor did they look puffy or wrinkled.
“And they become afraid,” Snow replied. “I prefer they think that raising the recently dead is all I can do.”
Lia paused to consider it before coming to another question. “Do you have a home to return to?”
“Yes. But I don’t go there much. It’s hidden and I like it to stay that way.”
He could feel Lia nod gently against his shoulder.
“And this man in Vernine… how do you know he’ll accept me. Have you done favors for him in the past?”
Snow nodded. “In a way, but I also know he will be sympathetic to you.”
“Why?”
“He’s a vampire too.”
