Will Of The Fates

23.

The sound of the Chief's snicker rang in my ears as I started to wake up. I felt tired as I stared up at the still tent fabric. My sleep had been restless. Good thing we had today off from the dungeon too.

I brushed my hand against the side of the tent, it was extremely cold. But there was no more wind. I think the trees shielded the tents from the snow too. We'd bought these in the nick of time.

I slowly emerged from my blanket. My breath frosted in front of me as I reached out blindly for the tent flap. It opened, and let in a burst of chilly wind. I shivered and grabbed my cloak as I forced myself out of the tent. It was dark outside. Pitch black, with one source of light- the campfire by Hanna.

She turned her head slightly to the side as I got out of the tent and walked up to her. Snow crunched under my feet, it seemed to be a thin layer. She nodded at me, I nodded back. The lower half of her face was covered up- I saw a slight mist form as she exhaled.

"Hey." I mumbled as I covered my own lips and nose, and sat down beside her.

She shifted closer to me and sighed. "The wind stopped just an hour ago." Surprise crossed through me as she rested her head on my shoulder. "You're warm."

"The blankets will still be warm too if you want to go in the tent now."

"No. I'm in the mood to watch the sun rise."

"Last I checked, we can't see that here."

"I don't care."

I sighed. "Give me a moment. I'll get the blankets from inside."

I waited till she'd leaned away before I head back to the tent. It was still considerably warmer inside. I almost felt bad that I had to leave it the second time as I returned to Hanna. I threw the cloth around my shoulders before I sat down and let Hanna slide up against me again. She wasn't normally this touchy.

"Emerys." Her voice was soft, dull with exhaustion.

"Hmm?"

"Tell me about you."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean..." She sighed. "What do you know about me?"

"You have six brothers, you're close to all of them. Your mother wants to marry you off, your father doesn't like the idea. You want to help run your father's business like your brothers, but you can't read numbers because they seem to float. Uh... you really like apples."

"What do you know about Pippa?"

"She's always wanted a little brother, but her mom's health isn't good enough to try again. Both her parents are healers. They have two cats at home. She does gardening. Chief Yui is her favourite person ever. Chief Yui also lets her take care of the medicinal herbs at their training ground." I paused. "What is this f—"

"Pyr?"

"Two dads, a dog, likes vegetables a lot, and only grapes. She went bald like you a year back and has only just been able to grow out her hair this much. Hanna, what is th—"

"My turn." She pulled her head away from my shoulder, her eyes on the fire. "You use two swords, switched from the longsword. You like cheese, and that dish your mom makes- I found that out last night. You really like to train. You're always up in the morning. You like animals, but you've said they don't like you. You cook well. You're good with knives, a longsword, and the staff..." She paused. "Wait, what weapon aren't you good with?"

I shrugged. "I've never done archery."

She gave me a dry look. "What a tragedy."

I laughed softly. "Let me try it in the morning. Maybe I won't be as good at it."