rage and desperate cunning, the wills of so many—each of them with a world within their skull, just as I do. It’s not my story any more than it is theirs.”
Samhain!
Turn away
Run ye back to the light of day
Samhain!
Hope and pray
All ye meet are the gentle fae.
“Where?” he murmured to himself. “I must know
where
.”
CHAPTER FIVE
H ORSE H EAVEN H ILLS
(F ORMERLY SOUTH-CENTRAL W ASHINGTON )
H IGH K INGDOM OF M ONTIVAL
(F ORMERLY WESTERN N ORTH A MERICA )
N OVEMBER 1 ST , C HANGE Y EAR 25/2023 AD
M ary Vogeler winked at her twin sister as they settled side by side into the steep upward slope, a vastness of moon-washed rock and sage and occasional scrub conifer. There was just enough of the light of stars and full moon to make the gesture visible at arm’s length, and to see the way Ritva’s answering grin moved her face under the gauze half-mask that covered the front of her hood.
Behind the Ranger scout party the broad slow Columbia was palely luminescent, and deep shadow lay in the gullies that ran south from the hills towards the riverbank. Chill desert air bit as she drew it in slowly through her nose, not as dry as it would be in other seasons and with a little of the creosote scent of sagebrush and the volcanic dirt in which she lay.
And the wool and leather of her clothing and gear, which had the fusty-sweaty-old-socks odor that was unavoidable in the field.
I’ve been on the move for years now, since the Quest began and a lot of the time before. You know, I would
really
like to spend a while living in places with baths and roofs and windows and fresh underwear, and beds with linen sheets and decent kitchens. Where answering a call doesn’t mean going behind a bush with some leaves in one hand and a spade in the other and then you
itch.
Preferably a place where nobody was tryingto kill me, too, but that may be asking for a little much. I’m not eighteen anymore. I’ve got a man of my own, it’s time to have a home and some kids.
There was time for thought, as long as she didn’t lose focus. They weren’t going to be moving for a few minutes. You took this sort of thing slow, slow and steady, and you tried to
think
yourself inconspicuous as well as hiding physically. Both the Havel twins were good at that…
Thêl vell! Since I
have
to do this, it’s good to be on an operation with Sis again
, she thought.
Though I miss Ingolf something fierce. Granted it’s the best use of our skillsets to have him with that regiment of his and me here, but dammit he makes me
feel
better. The Quest was…well, not easy, all the running and fighting and getting cut up and scared silly and so forth…but at least it was all
personal.
This war is too big. I feel like one spindle in a Corvallis linen mill.
Since Mary’s left eye was missing and covered with a soft black eyepatch, that wink had left her blind for an instant. Before she’d lost the eye to a Cutter High Seeker on the Quest she and Ritva had been so identical that one of their favorite pranks as children had been impersonating each other.
I lost the eye. On the other hand, when we threw for Ingolf a little before that I won and that was a big score. Call us even.
She didn’t count the fact that Ritva had saved her life in the fight with the Seeker; they’d been saving each other’s lives since their mid-teens, not long after they left Larsdalen and decided to become Rangers rather than Bearkillers.
Because Mom was getting just fucking impossible. I love her and Mike Jr. too, but I’d have ended up hating them both the way she treated him like Dad’s reincarnation-in-training. Though it doesn’t help that he
looks
so much like Dad. And he’s not High King, Rudi is. Learn to live with it, Mom! The Music-of-Eru
Powers
chose him! In his cradle, complete with signs, wonders, portents and everything but a certified letter on parchment with a red wax seal! So Mike’s not going to be High King, so what? He’s going to be Bear Lord
Samhain!
Turn away
Run ye back to the light of day
Samhain!
Hope and pray
All ye meet are the gentle fae.
“Where?” he murmured to himself. “I must know
where
.”
CHAPTER FIVE
H ORSE H EAVEN H ILLS
(F ORMERLY SOUTH-CENTRAL W ASHINGTON )
H IGH K INGDOM OF M ONTIVAL
(F ORMERLY WESTERN N ORTH A MERICA )
N OVEMBER 1 ST , C HANGE Y EAR 25/2023 AD
M ary Vogeler winked at her twin sister as they settled side by side into the steep upward slope, a vastness of moon-washed rock and sage and occasional scrub conifer. There was just enough of the light of stars and full moon to make the gesture visible at arm’s length, and to see the way Ritva’s answering grin moved her face under the gauze half-mask that covered the front of her hood.
Behind the Ranger scout party the broad slow Columbia was palely luminescent, and deep shadow lay in the gullies that ran south from the hills towards the riverbank. Chill desert air bit as she drew it in slowly through her nose, not as dry as it would be in other seasons and with a little of the creosote scent of sagebrush and the volcanic dirt in which she lay.
And the wool and leather of her clothing and gear, which had the fusty-sweaty-old-socks odor that was unavoidable in the field.
I’ve been on the move for years now, since the Quest began and a lot of the time before. You know, I would
really
like to spend a while living in places with baths and roofs and windows and fresh underwear, and beds with linen sheets and decent kitchens. Where answering a call doesn’t mean going behind a bush with some leaves in one hand and a spade in the other and then you
itch.
Preferably a place where nobody was tryingto kill me, too, but that may be asking for a little much. I’m not eighteen anymore. I’ve got a man of my own, it’s time to have a home and some kids.
There was time for thought, as long as she didn’t lose focus. They weren’t going to be moving for a few minutes. You took this sort of thing slow, slow and steady, and you tried to
think
yourself inconspicuous as well as hiding physically. Both the Havel twins were good at that…
Thêl vell! Since I
have
to do this, it’s good to be on an operation with Sis again
, she thought.
Though I miss Ingolf something fierce. Granted it’s the best use of our skillsets to have him with that regiment of his and me here, but dammit he makes me
feel
better. The Quest was…well, not easy, all the running and fighting and getting cut up and scared silly and so forth…but at least it was all
personal.
This war is too big. I feel like one spindle in a Corvallis linen mill.
Since Mary’s left eye was missing and covered with a soft black eyepatch, that wink had left her blind for an instant. Before she’d lost the eye to a Cutter High Seeker on the Quest she and Ritva had been so identical that one of their favorite pranks as children had been impersonating each other.
I lost the eye. On the other hand, when we threw for Ingolf a little before that I won and that was a big score. Call us even.
She didn’t count the fact that Ritva had saved her life in the fight with the Seeker; they’d been saving each other’s lives since their mid-teens, not long after they left Larsdalen and decided to become Rangers rather than Bearkillers.
Because Mom was getting just fucking impossible. I love her and Mike Jr. too, but I’d have ended up hating them both the way she treated him like Dad’s reincarnation-in-training. Though it doesn’t help that he
looks
so much like Dad. And he’s not High King, Rudi is. Learn to live with it, Mom! The Music-of-Eru
Powers
chose him! In his cradle, complete with signs, wonders, portents and everything but a certified letter on parchment with a red wax seal! So Mike’s not going to be High King, so what? He’s going to be Bear Lord
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