Bones of the Empire Read Free Page A

control than I do.”
    “Any other surprises?”
    “None yet. If I surprise myself, I promise you’ll be the first to know.”
    They stepped back into the tent, with its mild warmth that did little more than melt the snow that had collected on their clothing and fur. Yoska and Dalania were attempting to sleep. Raeln sat in some kind of meditation, his ears and nose twitching as he struggled with something. Only Turess remained fully awake, his attention on the bracelet he had taken from Raeln. At their entry, he looked up, quickly letting his sleeve fall over the silver cuff.
    “You’re the only one who knows where we’re going,” Estin noted dryly as Turess met his eyes. “I’d love to know what you’ve got planned for us.”
    Turess frowned as Estin spoke, staring intently, as if he could decipher their language through force of will. After a moment, he shrugged and said something in his native tongue.
    “This will be a long trek with him making the choices,” Estin muttered, sitting down on the blankets he and Feanne shared.
    “He is not in charge,” said Raeln in his deep voice, without opening his eyes. “We agreed that I was. He will guide us only as far as we need him to, or until I lose faith in what he’s telling Yoska. Get some sleep and don’t worry about him. He’s my problem.”
    Accepting that reluctantly, Estin curled up beside Feanne, though he knew sleep was not going to be coming anytime soon. All he could think of were the various Turessians he had fought and the people he had seen them kill over the years. Now they were heading into those monsters’ homeland. Sleep was simply not going to happen until he was too exhausted to go on, even with Feanne’s reassuring arm across his chest, her claws resting on the still-healing wound over his heart.
     
    *
     
    Estin sat up, unsure where he was for a moment. Opening his eyes, he looked out over the miles of snowy plains to the mountains in the distance and knew. Rubbing his face, he tried to remember why he was sitting in the middle of the field, his tail growing numb in the snow drift.
    Movement at his side startled him, making him feel as though he were off-balance and rocking somewhat, causing his stomach to churn. He shut out that sensation and saw Feanne was beside him, cradling an infant kit in her arms. From where he sat, he could not see which of the three of their youngest children it was, but he strained to reposition himself, leaning toward her…
    Estin snapped awake as he nearly fell off his horse. He had not even realized he had dozed off, but it was becoming all too common lately. Sooner or later he would drop like a stone into the snow if he continued to try to stay awake each day after barely sleeping each night. Shaking his head to clear the fog of the dream, he saw the others were doing little better. They had been riding steadily for far too long, and everyone looked half-dead in their saddles.
    As it had for the week prior, the travels continued uneventfully for two more days, the horses trudging through snow nearly up to their knees. The first time the group had stopped, Estin had been tired enough that he was the first to hop out of his saddle, with the thought of tying his horse to a tree. But in doing so, he fell into snow up to his waist. Turess and Yoska had chuckled at his expense as he struggled to climb free. Dalania and Feanne had eyed the snow cautiously and moved their horses around to a rockier area where they could dismount without burying themselves.
    They had pushed on each day, rarely stopping long, unless there was shelter or some natural stone or tree formation that kept the area relatively snow-free. Always, they went north, with Raeln, Yoska, and Turess leading the way, and Dalania, Estin, and Feanne followed, watching the horizon for threats. Not that they could do much if they saw threats…they had little that could slow an enemy from afar, and even less that would stop the undead from charging