The two strolled through the city, doing their best to look casual—although Angelique knew they weren’t nearly as convincing as Elle would have been.
It was near the midnight hour, so the city gates were closed and guarded, but that didn’t stop Angelique and Quinn, who had become questionably skilled at scaling walls and buildings.
“You know,” Angelique casually tossed a rope into the air, then tapped a tiny sliver of her magic, using a little spell she knew from sewing magic to guide the rope up the salt-crusted city wall and tie itself securely around a merlon—the stone cube that jutted out of the crenelated wall. “I would have thought that as a soldier, you would have been more opposed to all of this breaking and entering.”
“What is there to oppose?” Quinn motioned for Angelique to scoot up the rope first.
For the first week of their…adventure, Angelique’s arms had ached from dragging her carcass up and down a rope. But now she hefted herself with ease, quickly reaching the top of the wall—which wasn’t even taller than the two-story mercantile that created the alleyway they’d been standing in.
“It’s illegal.” Angelique peered down at Quinn before flipping the rope to the other side of the wall and scrambling down, then using her magic to toss it back over to Quinn.
In record time—Quinn’s arms had never suffered as Angelique’s had given that the soldier was more fit than her—Quinn appeared at the top of the wall. “Perhaps. But we’re not stealing anything.”
Angelique snorted. “No. We’re just sneaking in and out of cities without permission.”
Quinn slid down the rope and landed next to Angelique, nearly soundless. “If we’re talking about surprises, I must confess I never thought you’d be legalistic.”
Outside the city, it was dark—with only the stars and moon to light the sky, though the snow that still drifted across the land reflected that light and made it much brighter. Just bright enough, in fact, that Angelique could see the thoughtful set of Quinn’s mouth.
“Legalistic? What is that supposed to mean?”
“Instead of looking at everything through the scope of a moral compass, ‘what is doing the right thing verses what would be harmful to others,’ you focus on what you are allowed or not allowed to do.” Quinn tugged on the rope, reminding Angelique to unknot it.
When the rope slithered down the wall, Quinn coiled it up and hung it over her shoulder. “For example, you worry about the illegal activity of breaking into a city without passing through the proper channels rather than recognize that you’re doing so because we’re fighting against a sect of black mages that have wreaked havoc across the continent and seem to be running free without a care here in Mullberg.”
“Well…” Angelique trailed off, not quite sure what to say in response. “It does sound silly when you say it like that.”
Quinn shrugged as they began to pick their way across the countryside.
The snow, thankfully, was less deep this close to the coast, and it only leaked through Angelique’s boots instead of also soaking her trousers.
“You’ve proven that you’re willing to forsake rules in order to save others,” Quinn continued. “But you question yourself so much over it, it becomes an emotional ordeal. Things like breaking into a Mullberg city don’t bother me because my entire career is about protecting. By tracking the Chosen, I’m attempting to protect the continent. As long as I don’t do harm to others, I frankly don’t care what snooty and useless-against-the-Chosen law I have to break to accomplish it.”
Thinking over her past conversations with Quinn, Angelique trudged ahead. “You’ve said something similar before: that as a soldier, you may have to shed blood to protect innocents.”
“It’s the truth,” Quinn said. “It’s why I’m willing to face down bandits who steal from our most vulnerable on roads. It’s why I went troll hunting and wraith hunting when Farset was being plagued. And it’s why I fought my own squad—my closest companions—to protect the elves.”
And that’s why you broke the elves’ curse.
Angelique mashed her lips together as she thought. I told the Veneno Conclave I didn’t care what they thought anymore because I wasn’t going to answer their summons and waste time. But I never really adopted that attitude fully…I think I was terrified I’d be wholly alone against the Chosen.
Angelique glanced at Quinn, who was peering across the sweeping plains.
But I’m not alone anymore.
“You know,” Quinn said, her voice serious. “I think I might have found the fatal flaw in our plan: we are looking for black animals in the middle of the night.”
Angelique blinked at the unexpected observation.
“I thought we’d be able to find them because they’d stick out on the snow,” Quinn continued. “But I don’t see anything besides snow.”
“That’s easily solved.” Angelique whistled sharply. “Pegasus!”
A thunder clap rolled across the land, and the ground shook as Pegasus streaked towards them, coming from a far-off hill that probably would have taken an hour for them to hike out to.
Quinn clapped in admiration. “I’m still very impressed you can summon Pegasus with a whistle—like a dog.”
“It only works when he’s already on the continent. When he’s in the sky I have a little phrase I have to say. Why?”
“Emerys told me a little about him before we left. The fact that a constellation dotes on you so much is probably the greatest boast you could ever parade before anyone.”
Angelique awkwardly scratched the back of her neck. “I try not to think of it too much, to be honest. It makes my head hurt.”
“Understandably. Ahh—I see a dark shape behind Pegasus. It appears Fluffy heard your summons and chose to come with him.”
“Great.” Angelique ruffled her cloak and locked her knees so she’d stand her ground as Pegasus thundered closer and closer with no signs of slowing down. “Since our mounts can see better in the dark than we can, we should be able to get some good traveling done tonight.”
Angelique squeezed one eye shut and braced herself as Pegasus was nearly on her.
About two horse lengths away from her, he abruptly locked his knees and dug his hooves into the ground. He skidded the remaining distance, his hooves digging deep trenches in the icy ground, which hissed and steamed from the heat his hooves produced.
He stopped just when he was close enough to bump his muzzle into Angelique’s chest. He inhaled deeply, then snorted sparks that glowed in the night air.
Angelique had to snuff out a spark that settled on a fold of her cloak and seemed to contemplate turning into an actual flame, then she threw her arms around Pegasus. “I’m happy to see you, too!”
Pegasus tried to shake her off, but she stubbornly clung to him, greedily sucking up the warmth he shed.
Eyeing his bare back, Angelique shimmied up his shoulder—climbing him like a wall. “I’m so glad you didn’t put a saddle on—your warmth is all mine.” Angelique greedily draped her cloak around her and leaned over Pegasus’ neck. “I’d forgotten just how terrible the cold is.”