When Ice Breaks, When Gold Cracks

The storm finally subsided two long hours later. By then, night had fallen, and Unda was too weary to even stand, much continue walking to the next scroll piece—one Foliis informed him that Aurum's threads had found deep in the moors on the outskirts of Calistie's woods. Far, far away from their camp outside the human village's remains.

Despite Stellae's protests, they had agreed to bed down for the night and allow Unda the chance to rest. He hated that he was halting their progress again, but there was little to be done. Now that the jitters of adrenaline had worn off, his head was beginning to ache and swim all over again, and his very bones were sapped of energy. Even his reserves of magic had run dry.

He dozed against Foliis's shoulder until he was awoken in the dark by Ignis, offering him the leg of whatever beast she had caught and roasted. It was dry and tasteless, nothing like the carefully prepared food they were served in the temple, but it filled and warmed him all the same.

He must have dozed off again because the next time he awoke, his head was resting against Aurum's lap, and he was draped in his brother's heavy black cloak. A little ways away, Foliis and Ignis were tucked together at the edge of their camp in a clearing of trees, sleeping beneath a shared blanket woven with golden threads of Aurum's magic. Even Stellae, sitting against a spindly birch, was asleep, his chin tucked against his chest.

In front of Aurum, a small fire blazed, hissing and spitting sparks into the air. Its weak light washed his face in an amber glow, enhancing the dark circles beneath his weary eyes and the lines in his face when he looked down and smiled dimly. His hand, which had been resting atop Unda's head, lifted. "How do you feel?"

"Better." Unda sat up slowly, touching the place where his hair was matted with blood. It was clean now—Foliis's handiwork, he guessed, as he thought she had been stroking and washing it while he drifted in and out of sleep. It didn't hurt anymore either, and the hazy pain was finally gone, allowing him to breathe deeper. The cut on his chin had also vanished.

"I owe you an apology," Aurum murmured, and he bowed his head to press his fingers to his temples. "I was stubborn and refused you the opportunity to help when you were right—you probably would have made a better negotiator. And had I brought you with me, maybe then the elf wouldn't have stolen you away."

Unda tightened his jaw and looked away. He twisted the end of his scarf, its azure fabric tainted brown from lying in the dirt. "It's not all your fault. I didn't listen when you told me to stay put. I didn't keep my ears covered. I argued with you." He sighed, burying his face in his hands. "Everyone's right. I should have stayed behind. I'm not cut out to leave the temple, and I'm only delaying you."

"It's a punishment, Unda, not an urgent mission." Aurum snorted. "A punishment you imposed yourself on, I might add."

"It's not just that anymore!" Unda snapped, raising his voice as he jerked his gaze up to meet Aurum's. Cold though it was, anger surged through him, dragging frost to the tips of his fingers again and turning them white like his knuckles. "That elf was Vivian, the very same I saw in the pool. If she was hunting the scroll pieces, then finding the unicorn is more important than Selini made it seem."

Aurum's expression remained the same, his lips pressed into a firm, thin line and his brows knitted slightly. Shakily, Unda turned to face the fire instead as whispers of Aurum's secret conversation with the golden goddess crept up from the recesses of his memory. It is not a dangerous task unless you make it so, she had said. Do not make it so, Aurum.

He lowered his voice. "You already knew, didn't you?"

Silence stretched between them, wriggling beneath Unda's skin until he couldn't stop twisting and stretching the end of his scarf. If he prodded Aurum, would he snap?