"I can petition to have the lordship nullified," says Silverdun. "Yield everything to the Crown. You'd end up with nothing."
"And you'd be a commoner, with no money, no skills, and no friends. Do you think your companions at court will so much as look your way if you do such a thing?"
Bresun leans forward at his desk, looks Silverdun in the eye. "Don't try to bluff me, brat. I will destroy you."
"This isn't over," says Silverdun.
Back in the City Emerald, Silverdun sits in his sumptuous townhouse and weighs his options. Is everything Bresun told him true? He imagines it was. Bresun is a clever, careful man.
Is he truly willing to yield his title? One look around the townhouse answers that question.
He sends a message sprite to Gleia canceling the wedding, and avoids her usual haunts, and in a few months the whole thing is all but forgotten.
Honestly? He's relieved. He never wanted to get married in the first place.
The next day dawned foggy and wet. The mountains were no longer visible. It was chilly and breezy, and the fire had gone out during the night. Everything was damp, and Silverdun was forced to conjure up witchfire because there was no dry wood. Witchfire was hot and gave off light, but food cooked on it always had a strange taste, and spending too much time in its warmth became unpleasant.
There was no good humor in camp that morning. Je Wen, who seemed unflappable, gave them all a wide berth, packing up camp on his own while the others stamped around in their boots trying to fend off the chill.
"It will grow warmer during the day," he said.
Silverdun tried to catch Sela's eye, but she studiously avoided him, making idle conversation with Ironfoot whenever he came near her. Timha said nothing at all. Only pulled on his elegant, impractical boots with a grimace and stood waiting.
The second day was slow going. In places it became necessary to climb, and neither Timha nor Sela was an expert climber. Silverdun thanked whatever gods had provided him and Ironfoot with their newfound strength. He'd never felt better. At least, not physically.
As Je Wen had promised, the day grew warm, and the fog was entirely gone by midday. They walked and climbed, falling into a rhythm that lulled Silverdun into the mirage that this was the whole world. That life was just this. Everything else seemed far, far away.
After the sun went down, they found a comfortable, dry cave to sleep in. It turned out that Ironfoot and Je Wen knew some of the same tunes, though with vastly different words. They sang anyway, Je Wen in Arami and Ironfoot in Common. The bawdy words of the Seelie versions made Je Wen laugh, and his laughter was contagious. Even Timha was persuaded to join the chorus of one that he knew as well. Silverdun had no aptitude for singing, but listened contentedly, happy to have something to take his mind off of things. When they reached Elenth tomorrow, they would be rejoining the world, and all the troubles that came along with it. The call to war would still be resounding in Corpus. The Einswrath would still be a threat.
And there was the matter of their near capture in Preyia. It was too reminiscent of what had happened in Annwn. They'd been expected; in both circumstances, someone had alerted the local constabulary of the Shadows' presence.
The singing continued into the night. He watched Sela watch Ironfoot and Je Wen, studiously avoiding his gaze. She smiled, but he could still feel an echo of their connection, and he knew that there was no mirth behind that smile. Whatever contentment he'd felt earlier in the evening had been drowned out by worry, and when Silverdun finally slept, it was against the protestations of a troubled mind.
The next morning was cold again, and the fog had become a light rain. A few minutes after they stepped out of the cave they were drenched, and all of the previous evening's bonhomie was washed away. They continued to climb.
Just when Silverdun was certain that Timha was about to give out entirely, Je Wen stopped at the top of a steep embankment. It was midday, and the light rain had given way to a flat, glaring sunlight that warmed them somewhat but didn't entirely remove the chill.
"There," said Je Wen. "Elenth."
Silverdun looked down and saw a wide valley. At the base of the mountain upon which they stood, tilled fields reached out toward a small city nestled against the hills on the other side of the valley. The valley glowed in the sunlight. In the distance Silverdun could see farmers dotting the fields, tiny wagons and horses coming in and out of Elenth. He realized that they hadn't seen anyone other than the Arami in three days.
"Civilization at last," said Silverdun. Part of him wished there were another three days still to go.
"Quiet!" snapped Je Wen. It was the first time Silverdun had ever seen him not looking placid. He had his head cocked to the side, listening intently.
"What's happening-?" started Timha.
"I said quiet!" snapped Je Wen.
Everyone stood still. Silverdun looked at Ironfoot, who shrugged.
"We must move," said Je Wen. "Quickly. We must get down from here."
"What's going on?" asked Ironfoot.
"A quake is coming," said Je Wen. "A big one."
Silverdun looked around him. They were in a narrow pass between two thick boulders on a wide, uneven ridge. Loose rocks were everywhere. The slope downward in front of them was steep and rocky. It would require them to pick their way with care.
"Come!" shouted Je Wen. He started down the slope without looking back.
For a minute it seemed as if Je Wen had been wrong. They picked their way down the mountainside with no hint of anything awry.
Then Silverdun pitched into the air as if he'd been thrown. He heard shouting. There was dust all around him. Sela screamed.
Something roared beneath him, bellowed, rattled the air. Silverdun landed hard, smashing his hip and shoulder against solid rock. The pain was numbing, vibrating through him, matching the vibration of the earth below.
Another ear-splitting bellow, and now the ground fell away beneath him only to let him crash onto it a second time.
"Silverdun!" came a voice through the roar. He felt a hand on his shoulder, saw a face. Je Wen was reaching across to him. "Jump to me!"
Silverdun looked down and saw the dirt at his feet shake and disintegrate, pouring downward into darkness. He leapt toward Je Wen and landed on a narrow ledge that swayed but didn't topple.
"Where are we?" shouted Silverdun. "We have to find the others!"
"This way!" Je Wen called back.
It was nearly impossible for Silverdun to find his footing; every time he found a place to step, it jumped away from him. Je Wen didn't seem to have this problem; he stepped where the ground was heading, not where it was.
Sela screamed again, and Silverdun lurched forward. He saw her hair before he saw the rest of her, a gold swirl in a maelstrom of dust. She was hunched beneath an overhanging boulder as rock and dirt poured down around her.
"Come with me!" shouted Je Wen. He reached for Sela and pulled her toward them. He thrust her into Silverdun's arms and pointed. "Go that way! "
Je Wen stepped forward. The ground lurched beneath his feet, and he dropped to his knees. A thick slab of a boulder slid down on top of him with an ugly thud. Sela screamed; Silverdun wanted to.
Je Wen was dead, his chest crushed.
"Run!" shouted Silverdun.
They carefully crawled past Je Wen's body onto a solid, level place. With a final crash, the ridge rumbled and then fell still. Dirt and rocks cascaded around them from higher up the peak, but the ground had stopped moving. The quake was over.
Silverdun and Sela sat down hard on solid rock, both gasping for air. Dust had settled in Sela's face and hair, and tears streamed down her cheeks. They sat that way, staring at each other, for a long moment.
"Help!" came Ironfoot's voice, cutting through the dust. "Silverdun! Sela! Je Wen!"