‘We made good progress today,’ said Mirage. She always started the night with small talk. ‘In four or five days we’ll be near Nith.’
‘We won’t be going through Nith,’ said Lukien. ‘We’ll go around.’
‘Around? That’ll take us time, Lukien.’
‘Nithins don’t like outsiders.’
Mirage shrugged. ‘Maybe they won’t see us.’
‘Maybe. But if they do they’ll question us, and if they find out we’re heading to Liiria they’ll have us arrested.’
Mirage nodded, because she knew the story. When he had gone through Nith, King Akeela had ravaged the principality. ‘Thorin has days on us, that’s all I’m saying.’
‘We’re going as quickly as we can,’ said Lukien, blowing on a forkful of stew. ‘Anyway, I should think you’d want to take your time. There’s no rush for you to get to Liiria, is there?’
Mirage stopped chewing and stared at him. ‘I am not a child, Lukien, despite what you think. If you were not here I would make it to Liiria on my own.’
‘Perhaps,’ said Lukien. ‘But to what end? What is there for you in Liiria these days? If it wasn’t for Thorin, I wouldn’t be going at all.’
‘And if it wasn’t for Minikin I wouldn’t be with you. Is that what you’re saying?’
‘All right, I shouldn’t tease you,’ said Lukien. ‘I don’t resent you being with me, Meriel.’
‘Mirage,’ she said crossly.
‘I just want us to understand each other. We won’t be on the road much longer. A week, maybe, and we’ll be in Liiria. You should think on what you mean to do when we get there.’
The girl turned her wounded face from the fire. She was quiet for a long moment before replying, ‘It’s obvious to you what I want, Lukien. And now you make me feel a fool for it.’
‘No,’ said Lukien gently, ‘but you have to understand. I did this as a favour, both for you and for Minikin. She was worried about you, and I was going north anyway. That doesn’t mean I wanted you to come with me.’
Mirage lowered her plate sadly. ‘I understand. When we get to Liiria I’ll be on my own.’
‘Unless you want to come back with me to Grimhold, yes?’
‘Or unless you want to stay with me in Liiria.’
She glanced back at him, but Lukien slowly shook his head.
‘No, Mirage.’
She gave a flirtatious shrug. ‘We’ll see. I know you, Lukien. You care about me. You won’t be able to leave me in Liiria.’
Lukien put down his fork. ‘Do not bait me, girl. I’m going to Liiria to find Thorin and save him from that cursed armour. And after I do that I’m going home — with or without you.’
His tone made Mirage retreat. ‘All right, but what about that? If we’re so close to Liiria now, you must at least have a plan.’
‘For what?’
‘For saving Baron Glass! He’s not just going to take off his armour and come home with you. You don’t know the Akari, Lukien. Once they bind with a person they can be very powerful. And an Akari like Kahldris won’t just let go. He wants to control Thorin.’
The statement ruined Lukien’s appetite. ‘I know. But there is a way. Amaraz said so.’ He looked down at his amulet. ‘I have to trust him.’
‘Trust him? He won’t even speak to you.’
‘True,’ said Lukien bitterly. ‘But I trust Minikin, and if she tells me Amaraz is wise and knows what he’s doing, then I have to believe.’
‘That’s it?’ asked Mirage. ‘That’s your plan?’
‘Have you a better one?’ snapped Lukien in annoyance.
‘No,’ Mirage admitted. ‘Except to hope that Thorin will listen to us. If we appeal to him, perhaps we can reach him.’
Lukien grinned. ‘That might work. After all, you’ve always appealed to Thorin.’
Mirage nodded as she picked up her plate again. ‘I know. He’s a good man. He always cared about me.’
‘Yes, he did,’ Lukien reminded her. ‘Even before you changed your appearance.’
‘Why are you talking this way to me tonight, Lukien?’
Without looking at her Lukien returned to his meal. ‘Forget it,’ he said softly.
They stayed like that for a half-hour more, neither of them speaking, Mirage toying with her food while Lukien devoured more than one plateful. As time progressed the moon got larger, bathing their camp in eerie light. Mirage stared into the sky, counting the stars through the thickening clouds. She was never afraid of the darkness or what it might bring.
Because she has been through so much, Lukien supposed, stealing a glance at her. He tossed his empty plate aside and leaned back to rest his stomach.
‘Might be a bad night,’ he said, breaking the silence at last. ‘Might rain.’
‘I suppose,’ replied Mirage without interest.
‘Might attract garmys.’
At last she looked at him. ‘No. Do you think?’
Lukien didn’t think so really, but he liked teasing her about the creatures, the mention of which always made women cringe.
‘Hard to say.’ Lukien looked around, as if on guard for the manlike reptiles. ‘They like the woods and the wetness. And they’ll eat anything.’
‘Stop playing with me,’ said Mirage. ‘There aren’t garmys this far south. Besides, the fire would keep them away if there were.’
‘You’re probably right. Still, I’d be careful sleeping if I were you.’
‘Lukien, stop!’
The knight laughed and smiled at the girl. ‘I’m jesting, girl. There aren’t garmys around here.’
‘How do you know? Oh, I wish you hadn’t even mentioned them!’ Mirage wrapped her arms around her body and slid closer to the fire. ‘Disgusting creatures.’
‘Have you ever seen one?’
‘No, and I don’t care to, thank you very much.’ She looked at him. ‘Have you?’
‘As a matter of fact, yes,’ said Lukien. It was almost two decades ago now, but he remembered the day well.
‘Really?’ said Mirage, instantly intrigued. ‘Tell me about it. Was it very ugly?’
‘Ugly? Grotesque would be a better word. And when I saw them there were three of them.’ His eyes narrowed in thought. ‘At least I think there were three.’
‘Three? Great Fate, what happened? Did you fight them?’
Lukien hesitated. ‘I don’t think we should talk about this, Mirage. The circumstances were. . strange.’
She looked at him curiously. ‘Oh?’
‘It was a long time ago. We were heading back to Liiria from Reec.’
‘Reec? Ah, you mean with Cassandra.’
Lukien nodded. ‘I was taking her to be married to Akeela. I don’t think you want to hear the rest.’
‘No, Lukien, I do,’ Mirage insisted. ‘I want to know.’
‘About the garmys?’
‘Don’t play games. About Cassandra.’ She looked at him gently. ‘We never finished our talk about her. Do you remember? We were down in the prayer chamber. You told me she was beautiful.’
‘Yes,’ said Lukien sadly. ‘Very beautiful.’ His mind filled with a picture of her, raven-haired and smiling, kept forever young by the same damned amulet he wore now. He still blamed himself for killing her. ‘I don’t know what you want me to say. I miss her. In all my life I never found a woman like her, not before or since.’ Catching himself, he grimaced. ‘Forgive me. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.’
Mirage stayed very still as she stared at him. ‘And you don’t think you ever will?’
Lukien refused to look at her. ‘I cannot. She haunts me, and that is how I want it.’
‘You waste all your life then, Lukien,’ said Mirage. ‘You will never be happy. But I can make you happy. I know I can.’ She slid closer to him. ‘If you would just forget her for a moment.’
Her body felt warm, warmer than the fire. So close was she that he could smell her hair. But all it did was steel him. He could never forget Cassandra. To Lukien, forgetting was betrayal.
‘No, Mirage. You don’t understand. .’
‘I do,’ Mirage insisted. ‘I know you pine for her. You love her memory. But that’s all she is, Lukien — just a memory now, and I’m here for real, in the flesh.’