Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 370

Chapter 370: Untamed
Mia looked across the mountains, feeling disheartened. How much further was it? How many more days through untamed wilderness?

Her memory was fuzzy on just how far into the mountains it would be before they entered the tunnel leading to the wights’ castle. She hoped it wouldn’t be long.

She was weary, dragging, and not mentally prepared to trudge onward.

But she would. Everyone needed her to. She couldn’t give up, wouldn’t give in. Her magic was working, and she could manage to sit on Harper and lead them up the last few layers to the top of the cliff.

The forested mountains would provide better camping, anyway. Grazing for the horses and firewood. Plants to forage and maybe small animals to hunt.

She nodded to herself and turned away. The view from her perch on the cliffside, she realized, was utterly magnificent. She’d been ignoring it, lost in her own thoughts, for some time, but now she let the sight hit her with the fullness of its beauty.

How far they’d come! The forest, and in the distance, the grassland beyond, already appearing to have grown back from the blackened scar it was after the fire tore through the land. Even movement, perhaps wildlife of some kind? It was hard to tell from this far. Colorful, to say the least. Maybe flowers were in bloom.

She wondered if the chimera still lurked within its borders.

The distance was greater than she recalled it being, and she hoped that meant they were closer to the goal than she expected. But that was all wishful thinking. Now, they had a new plan.

The path might not follow her expectations at all now that they were on the hunt for Martin. She still had strongly mixed feelings about seeking the man, but if Uncle Trace told them that’s what must be done, who was she to defy his wishes?

She didn’t even doubt Ford’s word that the dream had told him so. She just didn’t particularly want to face the man, if she could help it.

But she wouldn’t be alone, she reminded herself. Her family, and Ford, would be with her.

Deciding to head back, she made her way by hopping down the shelves and avoiding pools. There was too much to fear in them after what she’d been through already.

Nearing the alcove where her family dwelled, she saw her young cousin tending the horses just outside.

“Morning, Daniel,” She greeted him as cheerfully as she could manage. The walk and the return, or perhaps the elevation, had left her a bit lightheaded. He waved slightly, but cut his eyes over to the entrance where the others were. “What’s going on?”

The boy was not usually secretive, but he seemed to be keeping something from her now. She raised her eyebrows until he spoke.

“Nothing much. How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” She brushed past the inquiry. “You seem a bit distracted.”

“Uncle Seth and Ford are having a talk,” Daniel lowered his voice.

“Oh?” Mia didn’t know why she tried to feign disinterest, but it seemed important in the moment despite her heart rate picking up speed.

“I don’t think I’m supposed to hear, so I stayed with the horses,” The boy explained. “I sure am hungry, though. I want breakfast.”

“Your mom and Ford were making breakfast when I left,” Mia frowned. It should have been ready by now. “I’ll go check on it.”

“Thanks, Mia,” The boy smiled as his stomach rumbled.

At the moment she turned to go in, Anaisa emerged balancing three plates in her arms.

“There you are, Mia!” Her aunt said brightly, and perhaps a modicum too loudly. “How are you feeling?”

“Better, I think,” Mia answered slowly.

“Wonderful. I thought you and I and Daniel could have a picnic out here with the horses, the morning is so lovely and crisp.”

Mia tilted her head in momentary confusion. Why should three of them eat out here?

“All right,” She responded hesitantly, glancing over to the gap in the cliff where the men, presumably, were eating separately from them. “What’s going on in there?”

Anaisa shook her head. “The men are having a chat. Nothing you want to overhear, trust me.”

Mia did trust her aunt, but curiosity was also in her nature. “A chat?”

“Ford didn’t have a father who stuck around to raise him,” Anaisa lowered her voice a little. “Grandpa’s been spending some time with him, guiding him a bit.”

“And now Papa is, too?” Mia sat down, but her concern about the conversation was on the rise.

“Something like that,” Anaisa smiled brightly. “I think it’s very kind of them both to pour into someone younger and help him become the best man possible. There are a lot of street-urchin children in the city that I wish could have mentors as good as our family.”

Mia’s heart ached. On her visit to the capital, she’d seen the odd stray child running in the street and simply assumed they were playing away from home. When Anaisa explained many were orphans or neglected, she’d felt terrible for the children.

Her aunt tried to help those she could, but many were naturally distrustful of adults and didn’t accept anything more than a few coins or some food.

Mia tried to picture Ford as a young boy, working in the mines for enough to eat. That thought squeezed her heart rather tightly, and she cringed away from it.

“I’m glad they’re helping him,” She decided, glancing towards the cave once more. “But why is it so secret? What are they talking about, exactly?”

Anaisa hesitated, and then reached across to pat Mia’s hand gently. “Men like to be a bit mysterious now and then. We should let them. It’s better that way.”

“I’m almost a man,” Daniel complained, “Why don’t I get to go be part of the man conversation?”

“You’ll get it when the time comes, and probably regret you ever asked for it,” Anaisa hid a smile behind a bite of breakfast, and Mia wondered at it.

“Because it’s easier to be a child?” She asked tentatively.

“That, and… oh goodness. I might be vastly overstepping, but has your mother given you a talk on what it means to be a woman?”