"Not going to talk to Seth?" I ask from the safety of Kassam's arms.
"No," he says flatly. "He knows what we plan. He can choose to join us, or not, but if I move any closer to him, my fist will encounter his face. Repeatedly."
Fair enough. I love the look of angry frustration on Seth's face as we ride away.
The two armies move slowly westward, and the cold war between Kassam and Seth continues. After two days of being ignored, Seth finally sends over emissaries to speak with Kassam. A vague sort of deal is hammered out—Kassam and Seth will avoid each other but share information. The wild army will ride ahead, and the human army will follow. Seth's army is impressively uniformed, but much smaller than Kassam's mass of wild creatures. Still, more people trickle in to join with us every day that we travel, every village we pass. At night, when we settle down to rest, I can hear Seth making important-sounding speeches, his voice carrying on the wind. Kassam looks less thrilled, but I point out that a big army for Seth equals good news for us.
I think it would soothe Kassam's wounded feelings if Seth had no army, but I'm not surprised. Con men are always good at talking.
Seth's spies find out that Riekki has an Aspect living openly in a tree city called Hrit Svala. It's conveniently close, and so the slow-moving dual armies head toward the forest. There, more creatures join Kassam's ranks, and there's no sneaking up on anyone. It's going to be obvious for miles and miles around that we're on our way. In a way, that's probably a good thing, because by the time we reach the forests of Hrit Svala, our wild army has doubled in size, though most of the creatures are less impressive than the griffins and mighty wyrms from the deep wildlands. It's deer, and wolves, and woales, and so many birds that they darken the skies as we approach. I try not to wince when I see a deer taken down by a predator, because it's part of the natural circle and I know we need that predator for the upcoming battle. Even so, it's hard on my soft heart.
The moment the first trees of the city come into sight at twilight, Kassam raises a hand in the air, and our army stops. One of the outriders for Seth's army immediately rides back to inform them that we're stopping, and I watch as the army marching parallel to ours ripples to a halt. I glance up at the trees. Spies that run back and forth through our camps have told us that Hrit Svala is a tree city, and I'm not sure what I expected. It wasn't for the trees to be bigger than any redwood, the branches lined with so many bridges and pulleys that it looks a spiderweb amongst the leaves. High up off the ground by several stories, I can see a wide wooden platform twining around the thick trunk, like a frill, and above that, I can see a few small lights, no doubt from houses far above and impossible to see from below.
As I watch, those lights wink out.
"They know we're here," I murmur to Kassam as I clutch at his waist.
"They would have to be without ears or eyes to miss us," he agrees. "But that is not why we are stopping."
"Nighttime rest?" I guess, watching him. Even though I don't need to sleep now (a fact which still wigs me out), Kassam insists on stopping each and every night so he can fuss over me. "I promise I'm fine if you want to keep going."
He shakes his head. "We stop because we are going to make Riekki wonder." A hard smile curves his mouth. "She is going to get word of our army camped outside her domain, and she will fret and worry and wonder what it is we are up to. If we are friends or foes." He puts a hand over mine on his waist even as one of Seth's riders approaches on a snorting, nervous horse, waiting for orders to convey back to his leader. "We will attack at dawn. Until then, we rest."
It's not the worst idea. I'm not sure if I like the concept of waiting to attack, because it gives Riekki time to prepare instead of a surprise. But this is Kassam's revenge, so I'm not going to spoil it for him. I'm going to support him every step of the way, just like he's done with me.
And just like we've done every night we've traveled, Kassam hops down from the griffin, pets its feathers and murmurs gentle words to it, and then extends a hand up to me to help me down. I slide off the griffin's back and into his arms, and he immediately kisses me. "We are near the end, my little light. Can you feel it?"
I skip the zombie-kissing joke I had bubbling and just clutch at his arms, smiling up at him. "You're practically vibrating with excitement."
"I have waited a thousand years for this moment." He gazes up at the trees, full of shadows now that all the lights have gone out. "Tomorrow will be the culmination of my dreams." Kassam's silver eyes practically blaze with excitement. "We will burn her tree city to the ground and leave her nowhere to hide."
Did I just tell myself I wasn't going to get involved? Because I'm going to get involved. I take his hand in mine and tug him forward. "Come on, let's take a walk. I need to stretch my legs."
That immediately grabs his attention. "Do they pain you? Do I need to rub them?"
"I'm okay," I promise him. "I just want to walk it out." I lean on his arm, though, to make sure he stays at my side. Have I been pulling the “slightly weaker than usual” card out when needed? Absolutely. Ever since my stabbing, Kassam has been hovering over me like an attentive husband, which is nice. Even so, sometimes he gets distracted. A glimpse of Seth at the head of his army makes him stiffen with rage, or when one of the poor messengers comes by with one of Seth's always ill-timed updates. He's a bit of a braggart, our buddy Seth, and feels the need to constantly update us with how big his army has swelled, or what news he's found out. He always invites Kassam and me over for a “summit” and we always turn him down. I suspect if Kassam ends up in the same room with him, Seth is going to find himself torn to shreds.
So sometimes I pretend to be a little needy and helpless.
Mostly though, I feel surprisingly well. Other than the gigantic, stitched-up hole in my chest, I feel mostly normal. A little too silent, my fingers and toes a little too cold, and my mouth a little too dry, but otherwise I feel as human as ever. I haven't needed to eat, to sleep, or any other bodily functions that a normal person would, though. And while I'm glad I don't have to constantly poop under a bush while the army crawls relentlessly forward, I worry what it's going to mean when I'm brought back to life.
If I'm brought back to life. I'm trying not to think about that possibility right now, but it's a very real one. Even Death said he couldn't do much for me if I refused him.
I…still haven't told Kassam about that. He's got enough to worry about right now.
And worry, he is. Kassam walks at my side, cradling me gently against him when we need to step over a particularly large tree root or if there's a muddy puddle that needs avoiding. Normally he fusses, making sure my hair is braided back and hasn't fallen loose, or checks my boots to ensure there's no holes. He offers to help me bathe. He offers to get me snacks. He offers to fuck me silly.
I somehow manage to avoid all of them. Not that I don't want snacks, or sex, but…my body doesn't need them. I'm not sure how it'll go if Kassam fucks me when I'm a zombie, so I've asked him to wait if he can, for me to be healed. It means we're feeding his hedonism less, but instead of all-night fuck-a-thons, it's turned into Kassam eating and drinking, and cuddle sessions when we stop.