Chapter 3 - Kenna (Part 2)
The sun cresting the mountaintops did nothing to warm the ache deep in Kenna’s bones. Her breath puffed out of her in a silver cloud and hung suspended in the air as if it, too, could not believe how cold it was.
Her beloved horse, Maple, trudged through feet of snow; her head low as they ascended the mountainside. Kenna nudged her left, trying to get her to follow in the snow packed down by the group ahead. Maple nickered in response, and Kenna patted her neck for doing so well.
Kenna turned and looked at Collins riding behind her. He had tucked his head against his chest to ward off the cold. She offered him a wry smile. “Considering burying that spear in my back for making you do this, aren’t you?”
He quickly lifted his head and adjusted his posture. “How’d you know?” he asked, but the jest sounded half-hearted at best. Moments later, he whistled, the shrill sound piercing the frozen air. “Recess!”
They maneuvered their horses off the mountain path and onto the bank of the river they’d been following. Ty and Collins were the first to dismount. In a discordant fashion, they started stomping through the thin layer of ice coating the river, and the horses lowered their heads to drink.
Kenna hopped down from the saddle, the many feet of snow cushioning her landing. Enough snow had fallen that some got into her boots and soaked her to the bone. Her teeth chattered.
Collins crouched next to the horses where they lapped up the river water. He furrowed his brow like he was in pain. Careful not to disturb him, Kenna edged around him and came to stand next to Ty. Wordlessly, he passed her his water. She took a sip before asking, “What exactly is Collins doing?”
“Our maps indicate that this riverbank marks the edge of three different bears’ territories.” Ty rubbed his hands together and huffed warm air into them. The bite in the air brought out the rosy hue in his cheeks and made the green in his eyes sparkle.
Those eyes gave Kenna a sideways glance. “It’s mating season right now. If any female bears are walking down the river looking for a place to burrow and mate, it will draw all three males to the edge of their territories. And they’ll fight each other for the female’s approval.”
She looked back toward Collins framed against the snow-capped pines that were littered across the surrounding mountains. “That’s a great strategy.” She looked at Ty again. “Was that your idea?”
His green eyes seemed even brighter in the snowy landscape. “Fights over mates are always brutal. It’s almost guaranteed that the winner will lethally injure the loser. And as far as the great goddess is concerned, that’s dying of natural causes—just what we need.”
“There are no footprints or signs of bears here. Let’s move upriver.” Collins’ booming voice was like a vase crashing to the floor. Jolting and unexpected.
Ty broke eye contact first, and a flush crept up his cheeks from a gust of wind. Kenna’s heart pounded, and she wanted to say more. Maybe thank you? Or good work? But Ty was already gone, gathering the horses and leading them up the river. With a final sip of water, Kenna quickly followed.
It turned out there were no footprints or signs of bears anywhere. They followed the curve and bend of the river for hours. Eventually, they abandoned horseback and continued on foot as the terrain got rougher and the elevation steeper. Collins and Ty deviated from the path. They went deep into the woods and thickets on either side of the river, searching in vain for any sign of a bear nearby. Kenna and Audra—Collins’ wife and second-in-command—strolled along the riverbank, guiding the horses. The two had been talking at first, mostly about how Audra was finding motherhood and how her darling baby was doing, but had since fallen silent.
Kenna stared at her feet as she walked, trying to ignore the numbness creeping in. The second she let on how cold she actually was, the hunt would be over. They paused their meandering, and Kenna knocked the snow off her boots against the rocks lining the path. Audra did the same.
As Audra began brushing the freshly fallen snow off the horses, Kenna looked over at the woman walking beside her. She’d known Audra for the majority of her life. Audra had come to Kevva with Ty as her personal guard from the Beyond fifteen years ago. She’d become Collins’ second-in-command quickly enough, but their marriage announcement five years ago had been the real surprise. And it wasn’t that Kenna hated it, per se; it was just that she had no idea the two of them had any romantic interactions at all. They had always been so professional around her and Ty, and the rest of the guard—she never would have guessed at the affair brewing within her own court.
Kenna’s gaze drifted past Audra and landed on the lone figure on the other side of the river. Ty brushed snow out of his path with a giant pine branch he had found twenty minutes ago. He had said it was to help him spot tracks frozen in the mud, but she thought that was only part of the reason. She suspected he enjoyed waving around the behemoth, if his smile was any indication. He must’ve felt the weight of her eyes on him because his head lifted and found her gaze across the river. His fur hood fell back as he hefted the stick high and waved obnoxiously. Kenna smiled and waved back.
“So, do you think you’ll marry him?”
Kenna’s head snapped to Audra. She was sitting on one of the boulders and scraping mud off the soles of her boots, not even looking her way when Kenna asked, “What?”
Audra looked up at her through lowered lids. “Your little beau, dear. Your little forbidden fling.”
“Oh, Samael.” Kenna’s heart dropped out of her chest. Obviously, she meant Sam. She pushed the forbidden thought of Ty’s smile to the darkest recesses of her mind. “Yeah, I mean, maybe. I like him a lot.”
“Oh, Samael,” Audra mimicked, and Kenna’s ears reddened for a reason unrelated to the cold. She pulled her hood lower over her head, hoping Audra mistook the red in her face for the cold, not shame. “Funnily enough, my dear, I said the exact same thing about Andrew the night before he and I were wed.”
Ty’s voice filtering through the ring saved Kenna from responding. “Coming back over.”
They both turned and saw him wading through knee-deep frozen river water. Kenna hoped his snow gear was enough to block the river’s sub-freezing temperatures. Not that Ty would ever complain if they weren’t. He wouldn’t draw attention to himself like that on an important day like today. She’d been trying to keep her eye on him to make sure the freeze didn’t get to him. If he wouldn’t advocate for himself, then she would.
Every step looked like it weighed a thousand pounds as he climbed up the bank. “These snow pants are shot,” he ground out once within earshot. “I ripped them on something, and now there’s water between the layers. They’re cold and wet and impossible to walk in.”
He braced his hand on Kenna’s shoulder and began peeling the thick outer layer off. Kenna’s boots slid through the snow and mud as she took on all his weight. She steadied herself against the boulders and ignored the snow sliding down her back and into her boots from the contact. She held his wrist to steady him and gasped when her hip brushed up against him. “Why are these so soaked? I was watching you; that water was only knee deep.”
Ty peered down at her. “Yeah, well, I might’ve slipped on a few rocks once or twice the first time I went over.” He hopped from foot to foot, trying to shake the frigid pants off as they caught and bunched on his layers underneath. Kenna gritted her teeth as more snow melted onto her. Audra grabbed Ty’s other shoulder for support as he said, “These are too cold and heavy to carry. I think I have to sacrifice them to the woods.”
Kenna caught Audra’s eye behind his back. The snowflakes caught in Audra’s eyelashes did little to soften her haggard features. “And you aren’t worried that some mountain beast will come across them and sniff its way over to us?” Audra’s voice was low. “Or some other skilled tracker?”
Ty looked at his mentor. “I hope a blue bear does exactly that.” Another shimmy jump, and Kenna grimaced as his grip tightened on her shoulder. “As for a mountain beast or elk or whatever else you can imagine—” he cursed under his breath. His suspenders were flapping in the wind and whacked both him and Kenna on the arm. He grabbed them and shoved them down. “I’d like to see one of them try. The horses will alert us as soon as one gets within a hundred yards. And I have enough pent-up frustration at these stupid bears that I’d love to have a go at something. You can boot me back to the Beyond, Kenna, if an elk bests me. It would be the least I deserve.”
Kenna shook her head, readjusting so his arm was around both of her shoulders instead of bearing down on just one. “And to think Sam wanted to come and witness this.”
Ty pulled back and half-stepped, half-stumbled toward Audra as his booted foot finally ripped free. Audra caught him gracefully. Kenna pushed off the boulder and barely fought off a full-body shiver. Her entire backside was soaked through with snow. Excellent. She set about wiping whatever she could off her coat and legs.
Ty crumpled the snow pants into a ball, taking care not to let the trapped water drip onto his gloved hands. Keeping his eyes on his task at hand, he asked, “Why did Sam want to come?”
Kenna clapped her hands, now more numb from the wet snow than the cold. “He just wants to be included more, that’s all.” Guilt stirred in her stomach. It was wrong to air out his dirty laundry like this when he was not here to defend himself and explain his thought process.
Audra nodded sympathetically. This was not the first time she had heard about Sam’s desire to be included. It would not be the last. Ty still had his back to them as he folded the clothing as neatly as the thick coating of ice would allow. He took off toward the tree line, and Audra and Kenna followed with the horses in tow. Snow crunched underfoot, but Kenna welcomed the sensation. It forced the blood to keep moving through her extremities. The wind picked up, howling through the trees louder and louder. Ty asked again, “Do you not spend every night together? How is that not enough for him?”
“Okay, but it’s more than that. He just wants to see what it’s going to be like, after all our secrecy is through.” The wind caught Kenna’s hood and ripped it off her head. She grit her teeth and drew it back up before snowflakes could land in her hair.
“After. Right.” Ty’s voice was so quiet she almost missed what he had said. She drew the hood tighter around her face.
“So, you do think you’ll marry him, then?” Audra pressed gently. Her warm brown eyes studied Kenna with the kind of concern she’d like to imagine her mother would share.
Ty chucked the snow pants into the woods as hard as he could. A flock of birds took off from a distant tree.
“And you are entirely positive that non-blue bear trackers won’t find us from that?” Kenna eyed the birds’ flight through the overcast skies as apprehension rose in her like the hair on a cat. Another gust of wind ripped her hood back, and this time she couldn’t keep the frustration off her face. The cold had reached her last nerve.
“Yes, I am.” Ty finally looked at her. “Are you entirely positive that your hands are not freezing off at the fingertips?”
She wrenched her hands out from where she had stuffed them under her armpits. A spark of annoyance licked down her spine before the breeze snuffed it out. “Yes, I am.”
He followed her movements, his eyes rising to her face. “Take my gloves.”
She scoffed. “You already lost a perfectly good pair of snow pants and a whole layer of warmth. I’m not taking your gloves, too.”
He began peeling off the fur-lined leather gloves. “I’m warm. Take them.”
“Ty—”
“Hey!” There was a shout from deep within the underbrush. Branches rustled, and Collins appeared, covered head to toe in snow and sap. His cheeks and nose burned red, even in the forest’s shadow. He beckoned them. “I found one.”
“Remember, be light with your footsteps.” Audra tightened the satchel secured to the inside of Kenna’s cloak. “The bear should already be dead, but who knows what other scavengers found it before we did. You do not want to get caught by surprise with your back to the wall.”
Kenna nodded, and Audra squeezed her shoulder with affection before walking back to her husband. She and Collins wouldn’t be venturing into the bear’s den with Kenna and Ty. Audra had always been very claustrophobic—she had once stepped foot inside a carriage and threw up the one day she had resolved to try. Collins wasn’t coming because he didn’t fit inside the cave, plain and simple. The rocks that had originally hidden the entrance from their prying eyes made it too tight a fit for a man as big as him, much to his chagrin and annoyance.
He and Ty were deep in conversation a few feet away, but they fell quiet as Audra and Kenna approached. Ty was completely decked out for what was to come. He had two carving knives on him, one strapped to each leg. The tip of a crossbow was visible over his shoulders. He cinched a sack of something closed before Kenna could glimpse inside.
Audra stepped around Kenna and pulled her husband to the side. She whispered in his ear, and a heated conversation followed.
Kenna bent to pick up a quiver of arrows and dusted off the snow from where it clung to the worn leather. She studied the arrows inside. “That’s a lot of cross bolts for an animal that’s already dead,” she remarked.
Ty stepped closer, giving Audra and Collins privacy as their conversation grew more animated. There was intent in his steps, and his voice was low and measured as he said, “I am about to crawl into a feral predator’s den with my queen by my side and little else. Dead or not, I’d say it’s not nearly enough to protect you.”
Kenna forced herself to meet his gaze. He towered over her, and her hood fell again as she craned her head back. “If a dead bear bests me, you can boot me back to the Marsh Kingdom. It’d be the least I’d deserve, no?”
His gaze pinned her in place, and he didn’t smile at the slight jab. Right. He was in hunter mode. He had tucked the version of him that was her best friend far away in his mind. Indeed, it seemed that he was looking right through her. His eyes had glazed over, almost as if his mind was elsewhere. With a gentleness that challenged the snowflakes falling around them, he reached behind her and lifted her hood, fitting it securely and tightening the drawstring.
Her breath caught. What was he doing? Before she could muster the courage to call him out, to say that he shouldn’t, he cleared his throat and grabbed the quiver from where it hung limply at her side. He turned away and fastened it to the bow at his back.
That was weird. And different. He had never done anything like that before. The thin mountain air must have gotten to him. She chewed her lip with worry. She needed him to be sharp on this hunt, not made woozy by the environment. Maybe she should call it all off and plant him in front of a fire in a sitting room in the palace. Maybe it would help if Sam brought him the honey biscuits that always revived her after a hard day. She would ask.
But first, she needed to make sure he was good to go on. She reached out and squeezed his arm reassuringly. Though she wasn’t sure he could feel it through the thick layers of fur, she hoped the warmth in the gesture would travel. She said to him, hoping it would revive his spirits, “Hey. I trust you. We got this. One bear down, only two more to go.”
He continued to say nothing, his face red from the light flurry of snowfall. The evergreens far above their heads seemed to bend closer under the weight of fresh snow, caging them into the little clearing. A chill snaked down her spine as she cast her gaze around. Their footsteps were the only disturbance in the snow, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was out there, watching them. Tracking them. She knew it was the paranoia from Ty’s discarded snow gear, but the sensation still chased her. She would feel better after the hunt was over and they were back inside the safety of the palace walls.
At last, Audra and Collins concluded their argument, both looking unhappy. They came back over, and Audra grabbed Kenna’s hands and squeezed. “With your permission, my queen, I think it would be wise for Andrew and me to go ahead while you two skin this bear.” Audra squeezed Kenna’s hands again, refusing to meet her gaze. “I think it would be a better use of our time than standing here waiting.”
“Unless, of course, you would feel more comfortable if we waited for you and protected the mouth of the cave.” Collins’ voice sounded hopeful, as if that was what he had argued for.
Kenna said, “That sounds like a really good idea.” At the same time, Ty said, “Absolutely not.”
They looked at each other with shared exasperation, and Audra’s head dropped back with a muttered plea to the goddess.
“We only have so much sun left in the day,” Kenna argued before Ty could say anything. He crossed his burly arms and leveled her with an unimpressed stare. She barged on. “We still need to find two more bears. Think of how long it took us to find this one. Time is not on our side, Ty. If they can go ahead and find one by the time we catch up, that would be so good for us.” Not to mention that it would end the hunt sooner, which in turn would get them down the mountain and back into the safe and sensible arms of the palace. It was the perfect plan.
“I’m confused why this is even a debate, Kenna.” Hearing him say her name like that, in that annoyed tone, had her mind flashing back to the first heated disagreement she’d had this morning. Ty continued, “I will not have the only people out here to protect you going off on their own.”
“Okay, but we do not have the luxury of time on our side right now, Tiberius.” Kenna’s discomfort made her lash out meaner than she’d intended, and Ty raised an eyebrow at her. “We need to have a successful hunt, and we need to get this done today. The decision is ultimately mine to make.” She held up her hand to stop his protests before he could even utter a word. “Collins and Audra, see us inside the cave and then go.”
Collins looked mutinous, so she tacked on, “I trust Ty with my life unequivocally. Unless I am wrong to do so?” Silence. “Then this is done and decided.”
Crawling into the blue bear’s den was perhaps the worst thing she’d ever experienced. She was flat on her belly, pulling herself along by her elbows. The furs and heavy woolen cloak that had been her savior on the snowy mountainside were now her greatest enemy. The frozen dirt dragged and caught in the fur-lined sleeves on her forearms. She had her hood over her head to keep the dirt from falling into her hair, but the hood kept getting snagged on the low dirt ceiling and yanking her head back.
“How’re you doing back there?” Ty’s voice floated into her mind through their shared rings.
Kenna looked up and just narrowly avoided getting kicked in the face by his foot. They were going at a snail’s pace because his shoulders kept getting stuck between the tight walls. The first time it had happened, she had tried to lighten the mood by joking that if a bear could get through there, then surely, he could, too. His grunt and abrupt curse in pain when he had wrenched his shoulders free kept her silent afterward, though.
Now, she tapped his leg that had pinned her arm between it and the wall. “Currently losing circulation, but only having your ass to stare at might be what kills me.”
“Words every man prays he hears.” With a heave, he yanked himself forward, and her arm was freed. It thudded to the dirt with an explosion of pins and needles. “Is your hand okay?”
“Yes. Just keep going.”
His whole body disappeared into the darkness, and she shimmied forward, making easy work of the spot that had snagged him. All at once, the oppressive tunnel opened into a giant cavern lined with mossy boulders. The smell of dirt and death was overpowering. She stood on weak knees and braced her hand on the nearest boulder, not even registering the slimy feeling as she tried not to gag. It was as dark as night in there, but that was probably for the best. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see the thing responsible for the stench.
“We’ll be quick.” Ty stood before her, quick as a flash, and eased the satchel off her still numb shoulder. His hand lingered at her elbow, as if there was something else he wanted to say. Kenna could feel his gaze on her, but she could only focus on the blood rush to her head and the stench invading every pore.
With a hand over her nose, she asked, “How long do you think this will take?”
“I’ll be fast. The cut isn’t going to be pretty, since I can’t see, but I’ll get us out of here as quickly as I can.” His voice was quiet, but it echoed in the enclosed space. “You don’t have to help if you don’t want to.”
“You know I want to.” Squinting as her eyes slowly adjusted, she used the boulders as a guide as she made her way over to the dead beauty lying against the far wall. She kneeled, careful not to touch the beast. For its sake, she hoped it died of old age, and not for any other malicious reason.
The bear was huge. In the dim light, she thought it was just another boulder in the cave at first. She could only see the faint outline of the creature as Ty kneeled next to her. “Hold this,” he said, handing her the satchel. For the next however long, she became his assistant as he expertly skinned the creature. She handed him tools and acted as a second set of hands. They worked in silence, aside from the occasional request or correction from him.
She wasn’t sure if the cave grew darker because of the sun setting outside, or if it was her sanity slowly slipping its leash. She watched Ty work, following the movement of his shoulders, arms, and hands in the low lighting. The ground was hard and slightly damp beneath them, but he never uttered a single complaint, not even about the knee she knew must be giving him hell.
How she hated putting him in this position. She knew he was uncomfortable and cold and achy. She knew his knee must be hurting like hell after a day of riding, hiking through snow, and now kneeling in the middle of a damn cave. All day, she had been inside her own head bemoaning the cold without giving enough thought to how he must be feeling. As soon as this was over, she would do everything short of demanding he rest. She couldn’t bear the thought of being responsible for any more of his discomfort.
At last, he sat back on his heels and let his hands dangle limply at his sides. He cracked his neck. “It’s your turn now.”
Mutely, she lifted a portion of the bear’s skin to her lips. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see exactly what state the pelt was in after their—his—blind carving. She tucked her chin and lowered her voice, even though she knew Ty already knew what she was about to say. He was the only other person in this kingdom who knew the phrase and how to wield it, yet he let her do the honors and complete the ritual.
She whispered into the hide, “Renascere.”
A flash of blue light illuminated the space, and they shielded their eyes with their hands. When Kenna’s sight returned, albeit with more spots than before, she saw the pelt transformed.
A soft blue light pulsed from the newly spotless fur. The rough edges and the tricky remains of its owner were now smooth lines and a leathery base.
She weighed the kingdom’s newest article of Sacred Nature in her hand, light as a feather despite being big enough to cover them both.
Ty said, “If that hadn’t worked and the bear hadn’t actually died of natural causes, I might’ve lost my mind.”
She laughed weakly. He helped fold the pelt and stuff it into the satchel beneath her cloak. It folded as easily as a blade of grass into a lumpy square that took up no space.
The journey back through the tunnel was much quicker than the first time, now that Ty had already muscled through the imposing walls once. As they slid out of the cave’s tight mouth, Kenna thought she might never have been so happy to see snow in her life. Ty reached out a hand and helped her to her feet, and she brushed as much snow and dirt off as possible. But her poor cloak might be beyond saving at this point.
Once they were ready, they hiked north, following the rough path Collins, Audra, and the horses had left in their stead.
Ty seemed to be following a second set of invisible tracks in the snow, turning and moving at what felt like random. Kenna was trying hard to figure out what he was seeing when she heard it. The sound she learned to recognize when she was just a child.
The cocking of a gun.
About the Author
Madeline is a third-year student at the University of Iowa. When not focused on classwork, she can be found catching up on her tv shows and enjoying a mug of coffee. Madeline loves hanging out with her friends, reading anything fantasy-related, and is inspired by TikTok edits and cheesy Pinterest posts.
Instagram: @Madeline_hussey , @madelinehusseywrites
Cover design made using Canva design tools.