Sabina swallowed hard. Her shoulders straightened as she adjusted herself in the saddle. The way she bit on her lip made Ry want to lighten up, but she needed to hear him. And above all, he needed to get them off his chest. He'd kept them bottled up since everything had happened. Anger helped nothing, staying calm and rational did.

"Kira fell down the stairs, that's truth. I stayed behind to be with her while she was unconscious. Her aunt had work to do around the farm so I agreed to stay so Emma could go. I never made it home. As soon as we got back to the Glades, Kira's farm and entire life were blazing with fire because of the guards. The last words I said to my mom were 'I won't be gone forever' and yet I haven't seen her since. Instead of getting a new daughter-in-law and the hopes of a grandchild, she gets a fugitive. She gets told her eldest son kidnapped the Princess. Who knows what's happening to her and my family because of that. Knowing my village as I do, they're probably being treated terribly if not outright run out of town. If you'd seen her face when I left with Kira and Emma, you'd know that the day I went to the Coming of Age dance was her proudest day."

"Ry . . ."

"No, Sabina. I don't want to hear how you've lost everything. Save it. I may never get to go home again. Hug my mom, kiss my sisters, teach my brother how to swing a sword, beat up any boy who dares bed my darling sister Jocie as she comes into womanhood—they're all things I'm going to miss because of this. One act, that's all it took. One simple thing that I had nothing to do with and it's taken everything from me. You think you've lost your world? What about me? What about Kira? Her aunt was killed in front of her. Emma, aside from me, was Kira's world. She'd never met her parents, she had to go through life hiding her true ability out of fear of execution, and suddenly she's branded a murder. You're not the only one who's lost something, Sabina. And I know for fact you're not the brat Wilder hater you pretend to be."

"What do you mean?"

"You tucked more of your food into a napkin than you did into your mouth during the dance. Later that night, after one of my escapades in the hay, I saw you. There was a group of Wilder children outside the portcullis. They hung around there, staring at the festivities almost the whole night. I don't know if they were starving or if they just wanted to dance, but you gave them the hidden food."

"You saw that?" Sabina sunk in her saddle.

Ry resumed his trot and continued down the road. "I did. As a Princess stand in I get that you've been raised with certain entitlements, but this is the real world. In the real world, we all have it hard. We've lost and gained, lived and loved, and then some. Out here, you're not a Princess. You're Sabina the Wilder. So stop your bitching and accept who you are now. Maybe someday you can go back to Sabina the spoiled Princess, but not now. I need you to stop being such a baby and help me. Your safety is as much a priority as getting back to Kira, but if you keep acting the way you've been acting, we're both going to get it in the ass."

Sabina sighed but said nothing. Ry stopped talking and kept his eyes on the road. Skies continued to darken with the setting sun and impending snow storm when they reached the fork in the road. The pair followed the split as it turned inland. After a few miles, Ry came across a rock that seemed oddly void of most snow. That alone caught his attention, but the black paint on the rock caused him to stop the horse. He dismounted to get a closer look at the cold, white stone.

Two fingers traced the stone. Black paint dripped with the hastily drawn symbol. It was half a heart, the edges appearing as though it was melting with the dripping paint. An arrow pierced through the heart with a starburst on the tip of the arrowhead pointing to the right. Ry stood up and looked in the direction the arrow pointed. He knew the Wilders wouldn't put up a sign announcing their tribe, but the snow appeared untouched by travelers of any kind, including animals.

"We'll walk the horses. That snow is too thick, even for us. We'll have to cut the path for them."

"You want us to go off the road, in an impending blizzard? Are you insane?"

Ry grumbled. His speech had clearly fallen on death ears. Again he couldn't blame her, it was insane to go off road. If he was wrong about that rock being the symbol the Wilder boy told him about, it would mean they'd freeze to death. His head tilted back to look upward. Black had taken a firm hold of the sky and strangled away the light on the earth. There wasn't much time left to find the Wilder tribe. He cursed himself for not thinking of having the Wilder buy a lantern or something to light a torch.

The horse resisted as Ry tugged on the reins. It knew where his intentions were leading. His knee high boots sunk into the white powder until they no longer existed. His legs became the snow. It deepened the farther off the path he ventured until he could no longer move without having to dig a path ahead of them. He gave the reins to Sabina and had her lead both horses while he dug their way through. Sweat and snow stuck the tunic and pants to his flesh until he no longer knew where cloth ended and skin began.

"I think this is two miles," he said through rattling teeth. He wedged himself closer to the horses, the path he'd made was barely large enough for a single person to push through, let alone two people and two horses. Sabina pulled the animal hide off the horse and handed it to Ry before grabbing the other. They wrapped them around their shoulders and waited.

"And if they don't come?"

"I don't know. Keep your Guardian symbol visible."

"Why?" She shuddered. Ry couldn't make her out in the now consuming darkness, but he was sure her lips were turning blue. "Nobody is here."

"Sabina, please. I'm doing the best I can. Faith, that's what we need right now because we have no other options."

A hand brushed his shoulder before Sabina pressed herself against him. A frozen cheek rested on his exposed clavicle. Ry curled his arms around her and rubbed her back. Ry closed his eyes at the sound of his stomach rumbling, joining with the trembles disrupting his frozen body. He'd give anything for magic. Hell, he'd give anything for fire. Time ticked by. Seconds turned to hours, hours seemed like an eternity, and Ry felt as though he'd never left the prison. Instead of the blood stained walls beckoning for his death, he would fall victim to the snow he once loved.

Tears rimmed his eyes as he buried his head into Sabina's neck and shoulder, trying to block the frigid air from his face. Her body heat dwindled as the temperature continued to drop. Ry was ready to announce defeat and return to the road when a cerulean light floated above the walls of snow. It drifted to his face and hovered in front of his eyes, circling the air like a flake of snow caught in the wind. Ry tapped Sabina's shoulder. She pulled back to look at the light, exposing her bracelet. The light hovered over the Guardian symbol. It shifted to the same lime green color of the non-brass stone before settling back to its cerulean.

Ry watched as the light wandered toward the uncut snow. As it lowered toward the ground, it brightened. His brow furrowed as the light moved upward, leaving behind a colored streak. It curved in an arch before it reached the top of the snow and descended to the ground. The shape solidified into a solid blue mass before the snow melted away, leaving a clear view of a field full of flowers. Ry stood slack jawed as he stared into the opening.

Torches lit the field. Men and woman sung songs, dancing around a campfire. The light squeaked, emanating a burst of a brighter light. It brushed against Ry's cheek as if urging him to move. He grabbed the reins to the horses and led them through the opening. Sabina followed in silence. Ry looked back as the opening closed. Back from where they came was the same rock with the symbol on it. A dirt road weaved through the land with flowers lining either side. They didn't appear to be two miles away, but inches away. It was like they'd just stepped off the road.

"It looks like the same road, only in the spring," Sabina whispered.

"Aye, that's because it is." They both jumped at the sound of the man's voice. "Did ye never wonder why the Wilders can still travel in the winter? Most trade stops except in areas with little snow. Yet Wilders are always there. Come rain or shine, the magic carries us."

"It's so warm." Sabina's eyes widened as she twirled with her arms outstretched.

The Wilder man laughed. His copper beard shuffled with his gleeful noise. One arm waved them to follow him. Two boys ran up and grabbed the of the horses. Ry opened his mouth to protest, but the boys were gone before he could. Sabina linked her arms around Ry's left arm, clinging to him the way a child might cling to a parent.

Flutes created a soft melody joined by the harmonic twang of a harp. Wilders danced around a fire eating at logs. Their hands pressed against each other before pushing a part in a fluid motion. Feet glided among the short grass in graceful sweeps as if carried by wings or pulled on strings. Ry had seen many dances in his life, but none as beautiful as the one the Wilders performed. They were in perfect sync with one another.

"Please, sit. You look ready to collapse," the man said. He motioned to a log lying on one side just outside the make-shift dance floor. Ry pulled on Sabina to guide her to a sit. She continued to cling to him. He wasn't sure what fear consumed her most. That they were amidst strangers or the fact she was 'home' with the Wilders for the first time.

His eyes followed the smiling faces as they twirled with their partners. If exhaustion didn't hold his body in place, he would've gotten up to join them. A woman whose braided dark red hair blended in with her dark skin walked up to hand a plate of food to Sabina. At first Sabina hesitated, burying her head closer to Ry's shoulder. He nudged her, encouraging her to take the food. Her hands shook as she grabbed the plate of steaming food.

Ry licked his lips as the woman offered a second plate to him. The salivating came from both the food calling his name and the beautiful woman delivering it. Ry's eyes tilted for a moment, glimpsing the lacey corset under her canary dress. He brought them back to her face before he was caught. It had taken Ry several years—and several slaps to the face—to perfect that art.

Round, green eyes, crinkled with her smile. Ry parted his lips to show his teeth as his smile widened. Her cheeks were too dark for him to tell if she blushed the way most woman did at the glimpse of his smile. When Ry grabbed the plate from her hands, her fingers slid along his. Ry's eyes followed the sway of her hips while she joined the dancing.

"You're disgusting," Sabina said through her mouth full of food.

Ry plucked a drumstick from the plate and bit into the moist meat. Juices filled his mouth and it took all his strength not to stuff the entire plate into his mouth without chewing or swallowing. His stomach rolled with the joy of food filling the once empty cave. He turned away from the beautiful Wilder and winked at Sabina.

"You call it disgusting, I call it appreciating the beauty the Gods have given this world." Ry went back to watching the Wilder dance, waiting to see if there was a man in the picture. If she continued to dance alone he'd consider her safe for the conquest. While Ry enjoyed the embrace of a woman, he preferred not to have to deal with the embrace of a man's fist at the same time. At least it would pass the time.

He hoped it wouldn't be much longer before he re-united with Kira. Though he continued to worry about her wellbeing, he knew there wasn't anything he could do about it until he found her. His eyes moved from the dancing woman to the food. Hunger won over lust for the moment. Not even his drive could outlast the snarling beast concealed inside his gut.