Fragile Hearts (TID - Will Herondale fanfic)

Chapter 60: First Days of a Long Journey

Will sat bolt upright in bed, his heart slamming against his ribs. He glanced to his side, just to make sure it was a dream.

He let out a small sound of relief when he saw that Nora was there, her eyes shut, her breathing even.

Their room at the White Horse was half-full of moonlight, which clearly outlined the unfamiliar shapes of the furniture: the washstand and side table with its unread copy of Fordyce's Sermons to Young Women, the overstuffed chair by the fireplace, in which the flames had burned down to embers. The sheets of his side of the bed were cold, but he was sweating; he swung his legs over the side and walked to the window.

There was a stiff bunch of arranged dried flowers in a vase on the sill. He pushed them out of the way and unlatched the pane with aching fingers. His whole body hurt. He had never ridden so far or so hard in his life before, and he was weary and saddle-sore. He would need iratzes before he started out on the road again tomorrow. It was a good thing Nora made rather good ones.

The window opened outward, and cold air blew against his face and hair, cooling his skin. There was an ache inside him, under his ribs, that had nothing to do with riding. Whether it was the separation from Jem or his anxiety over Tessa or even the dream he had of Mortmain killing Nora, he could not say. He had never been one to believe in the prophetic meaning of dreams, and yet he could not undo the tight, cold knot inside his stomach, or regulate his harsh breathing.

In the dark pane of the window he could see the reflection of his face. He touched the window lightly, his fingertips leaving marks in the condensation on the glass. He rested his cold head on the glass, squeezing his eyes shut.

"What did you dream about?"

Will opened his eyes and turned to look at Nora. She was still lying down, but she was watching him with her beautiful blue-green eyes. Her auburn hair was on one side, away from her face.

Will shook his head. "I'd rather not bestow that on you."

"Come here, Liam," Nora smiled sadly at him.

Will listened, lying down beside her once more. Nora wrapped an arm around him, laying her head on his chest.

"You need to rest," said Nora. "If you have any more nightmares, wake me up."

She leaned up and kissed him at the jaw. Will brought his arm around her, holding her to him.

He closed his eyes.

~

The next day was terrible, which of course put Will in a terribly foul mood. The day had dawned foggy, wet, and dreadful. He had woken feeling tired still, and had only barely been able to choke down the rubbery eggs and cold bacon the landlord's wife had served him in the stuffy parlor; every part of his body had hummed to get back to the road and continue on his journey.

Bouts of rain had left him and Nora shivering in their clothes despite a liberal use of warming runes, and their horses disliked the mud that sucked at their hooves as they tried to make speed along the road, Will grumpily contemplating how it was possible that fog might actually condense upon the inside of one's clothes. They had at least made it to Northamptonshire, which was something, but they had covered barely twenty miles and Will had flatly refused to stop, though Balios looked at him entreatingly as they passed through Towcester, as if begging for a warm room in a stable and some oats, and Will was almost inclined to give it to him. A sense of hopelessness had invaded his bones, as chill and inescapable as the rain. What did he think he was doing? Did he really think he would find Tessa this way? Was he a fool?

One glance at Nora and he could see how cold she was. She got cold easily, after all. But she showed no signs of stopping.

They were passing through a disagreeable country now too, where the mud made the rocky pathway treacherous. A great cliff wall rose on one side of the road, blocking out the sky. On the other side of the path, the road fell away dramatically into a ravine full of sharp rocks. The distant water of a muddy stream glinted faintly at the ravine's bottom. Will kept Balios's head well pulled in, far from the drop-off, but the horse still seemed skittish and shy of the fall. Will's own head was down, tucked into his collar to avoid the cold rain; it was only by chance that, glancing for a moment to the side, he caught a glimpse of bright green and gold amid the rocks at the edge of the road.

He had pulled up Balios in an instant and was down and off the horse so quickly that he almost slipped in the mud. The rain was coming down more heavily now as he approached and knelt to examine the golden chain that had become caught around the sharp outcrop of a rock. He picked it up carefully. It was a jade pendant, circular, with characters stamped upon the back. He knew well enough what they meant.

When two people are as one in their inmost hearts, they shatter even the strength of iron or bronze.

Nora came up next to him and he heard her sharp intake of breath.

Jem's bridal gift to Tessa. Will's hand tightened around it as he stood.

"Tessa!" he cried out suddenly, his voice echoing off the rocks. "Tessa!"

He stood for a moment, shuddering, at the side of the road. Nora had her arm wrapped around him. He did not know what he had expected-an answer? It was hardly as if she could be here, hiding among the sparse rocks. There was only silence and the sound of the wind and rain. Still, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was Tessa's necklace. Perhaps she had torn it from her throat and dropped it out the carriage window to mark the path for him, like Hansel and Gretel's trail of bread crumbs. It was what a storybook heroine would do, and therefore what Tessa would do. Maybe there would be other markers too, if they kept on their way. For the first time hope flowed back into his veins.

With new resolve he strode toward Balios and swung himself up into the saddle. Nora was quick to get onto Xanthos too. There would be no slowing down; they would make Staffordshire by evening. As he turned the horse's head back toward the road, he slipped the pendant into his pocket.