The smile she sent him stretched so wide it hurt her cheeks. “Good to see something is getting through that woolly head of yours.”
Their moment didn’t last long before she saw something flicker in his eyes. Consequence. He may be finally understanding that saving all lives mattered, but nothing happened in a vacuum. Caraway’s actions could have dire consequences, and if his convictions weren’t strong enough, then he’d ultimately blame her for any punishment he received as a result of saving this baby.
The Guardians took following orders seriously, and if you failed, you weren’t much use to the Order.
Her smile faded. “I hope you didn’t do this just to make me happy.”
“I thought this is what you wanted? Me getting involved.”
Turmoil swirled in her stomach. “I want you to get involved with things like this because it’s the right thing to do, not because you think it would make me happy.”
The baby started crying again, and Anise tucked it close.
“We can finish this conversation later,” he said and pulled out a portal stone from his pocket. “For now, we’d better get the infant to safety. This is the only stone I have keyed to the Order, but I can get another while we’re there. Unless you had an alternative route back from the Ice-Witch.”
She shrugged. She had planned to shift into a wolf form and use her more weather-proof animal body to trot home. Wolves could travel miles through the snow in one day. Failure hadn’t been an option. But now… now she understood things could go wrong.
Caraway's boss, the Prime, might let him off with a wrist slap for what he’d done, but if Anise let him follow her to the Ice-Witch, and he got into more trouble, she wouldn’t forgive herself. This rebellion thing of his was new to him, despite her harping on about it for years. He needed time to process his actions and motivations. Anise refused to be the one who ruined the life he’d built for himself, not when he’d struggled after leaving his pacifist family behind for the violent life at the Order.
When they arrived at the Order, she would find someone to activate the portal stone to the Ice-Witch, and she would leave Caraway behind. It was the right choice.
When they arrived in the field outside the Order of the Well compound, Anise handed the baby to Caraway.
“I’ll wait for you here,” she said.
He frowned. “Are you sure? Clarke is probably inside.”
As tempting as it was to see her friend, Anise already felt her resolve weakening, and visiting the Ice-Witch had been her sole purpose for half a decade. She couldn’t chicken out now.
“I’m good,” she said.
He raised a brow, but turned and left. When the big compound gates closed after he’d walked through, she turned and pulled out the troll’s portal stone from her pocket. The smooth, warm surface fit in the palm of her hand. She assumed there would be a magical reaction when she touched it—if she held mana within her body. She wondered what it would feel like to be connected viscerally to all the magic in the world, to have her own internal Well that fed from the grand Cosmic Well.
But she didn’t.
And it was because she didn’t that Caraway had already gotten into trouble. The Prime wouldn’t be happy about his meddling, let alone bringing home a stray baby. And if he kept assisting in Anise’s journey to the witch, then she would feel the same as she always did—useless.
The stone could be another test. The Ice-Witch knew why Anise sought her out. She’d have known that Anise couldn’t activate a portal stone on her own, that she’d need help.
If Caraway hadn’t been there, she’d probably have had to barter with the troll to get him to activate it, or to travel to a village and find a high fae to help her.
With a sigh, she faced the guard on top of the wall surrounding the Order compound. He wore a helmet made from hardened leather and a black leather Guardian uniform. A longbow was in his hands, and a quiver of arrows strapped to his back.
“Excuse me,” she said, waving up to him.
He looked down.
“I’m running late for my appointment. Would you mind terribly if you activated my portal stone for me? I’m afraid I’m not as strong as you and lack your power.”
When in doubt, she always found a well-timed ego-stroking compliment worked. He blinked, glanced over his shoulder to the other side of the wall, and then nodded.
“Toss it up.”
Trying not to hide her smile, she threw it. He caught it deftly and pointed to where he was going to activate the portal. Within moments, a bright light tore a slice through the fabric of space. The light grew in size until it became a giant circle, her destination showing through the middle in a brightly blurred scene of snow and ice.
This was it.
Her heart pounded. She experienced a flicker of doubt at leaving her friend, but knew it was for the best. If she couldn’t even see the Ice-Witch on her own, then what was the point of going on this quest?
She tossed a grateful smile at the guard, and then walked through the portal.
Chapter 6
After leaving the child with a Mage, Caraway returned to the gate with an incorrigible smile on his face. Even the Prime’s tongue-lashing about working outside the scope of his station hadn’t ruffled his fur. He’d done something that felt good.
Because of him, this child would have the chance to grow up.
This was why he’d left his family in the first place—to save those who couldn’t save themselves. It was why he became a Guardian. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten that, despite Anise’s urging to do so. Some part of him must have still been locked into an old way of thinking, one where he could only do his job if he colored inside the lines. But life wasn’t ordered. It was chaotic.
“Violence begets violence,” his mother had once said.
“Violence protects. It teaches your enemy to be afraid of you.”
“Well, congratulations, son. We are now afraid of you.”
He shoved the memories down and focused on the one shining light in his life. Anise. He couldn’t wait to tell her what he’d said when the Prime had tried to block him from leaving. He’d told her that if she wanted to keep him as a Guardian, then she’d better get used to him stepping in to help those unfortunate, whether it was Well-related or not. He’d said the Order needed this kind of image boost after the Prime’s totalitarian ways, and then he didn’t stop to wait for the Prime’s response.
Coming up to the gate, he gestured for the guard on top to open it and let him out. When he emerged into the field outside the Order compound, he couldn’t find Anise. At first, he thought perhaps she’d gone inside after all, but he’d barely spent time at the Academy where he’d flagged down a healing Mage. The Prime had accosted him on the way back out. If Anise had entered the compound, she’d have walked straight past him.
He lifted his gaze to the sentry’s post and squinted into the sun.
“Where did the female go?” he asked.
The guard shrugged. “Somewhere snowy, I guess.”
Caraway’s heart clenched. “What do you mean?”
“She asked me to activate her portal stone. Said she couldn’t do it.”