"Following the road across the Wastes," Beatrix said.
"Then so will we. I'll need you to gather what you can while I conduct a quick ritual for the dead.
They deserve more than that, but it's all the time we can afford."
As they left the barn, Ashyn remembered she needed to warn them about Ronan. When Gregor saw that she'd brought the exile, armed, he would--
Before she could explain, she saw paper pinned to the barn wall. A note? Ashyn hurried over and pulled it down.
The characters were written in a neat, precise hand, almost as good as her own. Not Ronan's, then. Most of the empire was illiterate, leaving books and writing for the priests and scholars. She read the note. Blunt and simple, despite the perfect calligraphy.
Follow the road. Take care.
It was signed Ronan. She read it twice, to be sure, as if there were any mistaking his intent. There was not. She'd freed him. He'd repaid her by helping her find other survivors. Then he'd left.
Ashyn crumpled the note. As she did, though, it made her think of something she should do before they left the village.
Moria
Seventeen
Moria ran into the forest chasing her sister. She could still make out Ashyn's and Tova's forms, but they were getting fainter.
Blast it, how could they be pulling away? Ashyn wasn't nearly as sure-footed as Moria, and Tova was as graceful as a newborn calf.
Daigo glanced back, his yellow eyes glowing. Then he let out an unearthly wildcat scream.
"Well, they ought to hear that," Moria murmured.
"Stay there," she called, as loudly as she dared. "I'm coming."
Her sister seemed to stop. With every few steps, Moria would lose sight of Ashyn, and her heart would pound, but then she'd catch sight of her again.
Then, without warning, she plowed into something. Her hands hit soft, sleek fur.
"Daigo? Blast it! Don't do that."
He didn't chirp an apology. Moria moved up beside him as he stared at the pale forms of Ashyn and Tova.
"Ashyn?" Moria called softly.
No reply.
A little louder. "Ashyn?"
The figures just stood there.
What if that's not truly Ashyn? What if she's become . . . ?
Her mind refused to finish the question.
But why else would Ashyn run into the forest? In all the time Moria had been chasing her, she hadn't paused to wonder that.
Moria crept forward, gaze fixed on her sister's face. She could see the shape of it but not the features. Not enough to know that it was still her sister's true face.
"Tova?"
Daigo let out a soft snarl, as if also calling the hound.