Blizzard. Impassable. Frozen. The words swirled through Aurum’s mind like snow and ice in a tempest. She tried to focus on the words of the travelers around her, but her heart shook from fear for her family. . She felt cold, but a layer of sweat coated her back and she did not know if it was from the sun or from the anxiety that gripped her. Was the weather hot or cold? Had the blizzard come here? Her head spun, and the food she ate made her stomach churn.
She felt ashamed, too; ashamed that her first concern was for her loved ones, and not for the people. The sun was bright and blinding, blurring the faces of the passersby. The light played oddly over the faces of strangers walking past, so that she kept seeing the faces of her family from the corner of her eyes, their faint flashes of similarity to the people dear to her making her heart leap despite itself. A small child walked by with a head of silvery hair, and she whipped her head around. Argen? But as her eyes focused, she saw the child was much too young to be Argen, and his black hair had simply reflected the sunlight.
Shaking her head, she noticed Alice out of the corner of her eye. Her face was scrunched up in concentration, eyes darting around, clearly listening intently. After a few moments, she stood up suddenly, glanced at Aurum as though to make sure she was still there, then walked slowly through a group of tired-looking merchants towards the water barrel, lingering as she refilled her mug. Aurum felt something warm her inside, like a thawing, and she purposefully ignored the feeling. It was too much like fondness, and she needed to stay wary of Alice. Or so she kept reminding herself. But it was clear Alice was working hard to gather information, even as Aurum sat stewing in her fears, too distracted to focus on the task at hand. And it was such a relief to have someone there to step up as Aurum was stumbling. It was such a relief not to be alone.
After they finished their meals, Aurum and Alice left. Still dazed, Aurum didn’t realize until they found a small quieter space by an alley that she was following Alice blindly. Wake up, Aurum! she scolded herself. Alice took a deep breath as they stopped, turning to Aurum to pin her with a gaze filled with concern. Aurum tensed, unwilling to listen to platitudes or reassurances at that moment, but was surprised when Alice offered none, jumping straight into a report of what she’d learned.
“I did not get much new information. Only that there is a one kilometer stretch near the crossroads after Blenton where the temperature drops and stormclouds have gathered. After that, the path becomes impassable with snow and ice. They talked about how parties who managed to explore a little way into the storm zone saw and heard trees exploding from the cold at the edge of the deep freeze zone, which has been moving slowly closer and closer to Blenton. There is no news from the other side yet, the northern route takes too long for anyone to have made it all around and no one has come here from that direction who knows how far the cold extends towards the capital.”
Her lessons in the witch’s recurring attacks and the disasters they causes flashed through Aurum’s mind. “It’s definitely her.” Alice nodded, not rolling her eyes even as Aurum stated the obvious. “There are records of past generations when the witch caused calamities like this; sometimes freezing rivers solid to dam them and build up to dramatic floods, or causing avalanches in the mountain towns, or even somehow causing the earth to shake and break apart buildings and cities.”
Alice looked surprised. “How old is the witch, then? And how do we know she caused all those disasters?”
“No one knows how old she is. And I was only taught some of what we know; usually there are reports of mages detecting the traces of cold magic, although I think in some cases especially the older accounts there isn’t that same verification. But it’s obvious it’s her. The kingdom has no other enemies, and cold magic is rare.”
“Are there any other cold magic users?” Alice asked thoughtfully.
“No… No, I don’t think so.” Aurum was unsettled to realize just how little she had really learned about the history of the witch. Alice’s questions rubbed her the wrong way – of course the witch was the culprit. She almost started to argue that with the order of spies investigating at all times, there was a wealth of classified information even she didn’t have access too which undoubtedly supported what she had learned about the wirch, but she caught herself just in time. Alice couldn’t know about the spy network.
“Trust me. This disaster is just like one that happened two centuries ago. When that happened, thousands were killed, and famine continued for years afterward. The witch is definitely behind this.”
Alice nodded emphatically. “I know! I know she is. But in the history you learned, did she ever cast spells like what she used on you?”
Aurum felt her stomach drop as Alice voiced what had been bothering her the most about the whole situation. “Not – not that is recorded.” Alice bit her lip as though she were about to say something, but Aurum cut her off.
“I don’t need your fantasy explanation about why she would do this now. And you seem to know very little about the history of this world for someone who supposedly read all about it.”
Alice winced. “I only know what was written. It wasn’t a history book.” Despite her protest, Alice did not push to say whatever she had been about to, and Aurum relaxed slightly.
“We need warmer clothes,” Aurum said. Alice started, looking surprised to hear Aurum break her silence. Her face morphed into an expression of deep alarm.
“No – we can’t go into the blizzard. There has to be another way to start.”
“How else can we start? The blizzard is all we know about.” Her throat constricted. She knew it was reckless, but she really didn’t know what else to do.
“But we don’t have a way to fight the witch! We have no protection from cold magic at all right now. And no money for winter clothes, much less clothes for a cold that bursts trees. We – you need something to protect you first. A way to fight.”
Aurum almost growled in response to that. “The witch has been tormenting this kingdom for hundreds of years. If there was a way to fight her, don’t you think we would have tried it by now?”
“It’s suicide to just run at her like this!”
“What else can we possibly do?!”
“Just – just wait! We can think about this. I brought books – you know that cottage was magic, and maybe it had books and information that was lost before. Let’s just wait a day. One day before we – before you decide.” Tears were filling Alice’s eyes, making the dark brown glimmer like molasses, liquid and clear. Aurum’s rage at her situation deflated slightly. As much as she was overstepping, Alice was honoring Aurum’s request that she not make any more statements about what should happen. Because she doesn’t know, you fool. She’s either delusional or trying to trick you for some reason.
Sighing, Aurum shook her head. “Staying here isn’t safe. You said so yourself.” At that thought, Aurum felt her heart drop, and saw Alice’s face go pale as they realized just how loudly they had been arguing. Looking around in a panic, Aurum was relieved to see no one was paying them any attention, but she knew that was no guarantee they hadn’t been overheard.
“We should move away from here.” Alice nodded in agreement, looking as anxious as Aurum had ever seen her. In a rush, and her attention on her peripheral vision as she looked for any sign of someone skulking behind them or watching them somehow, Aurum turned and walked back into the street. They could leave the town and camp out nearby, away from the majority of the crowds but still near enough to other people that they wouldn’t stand out.
Aurum was so focused on her surroundings she forgot to watch the path right in front of her, and she promptly crashed into someone walking in the opposite direction. They were tall, maybe a head taller than Aurum, and carrying a crate of something which tumbled to the ground as Aurum bounced off, falling gracelessly backwards onto her butt. She looked up, annoyed and ready to chew them out – even as a voice told her the collision was all very much her fault – and saw a silhouette of a man against the sun behind him. All she could see at first was the vague impression of a strong-featured, handsome face and slightly curling hair that was edged with a halo of gold from the sunlight.
“Are you alright?” His voice was deep, and he sounded concerned rather than annoyed, ignoring the crate of potatoes Aurum had upended to crouch before her and extend a hand as though to help her.
Purple eyes, Aurum noticed, her anger fading slightly to just plain annoyance as the initial shock wore off.
Who the hell is this guy?
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