Page 30 of Beyond the Winter Kingdom (Faeted Seasons #2)

Meera

I woke up from the blissful haze of my dream to the weight of a fat cat on my chest.

“About time,” he said lazily, shifting his body and making it harder for me to breathe.

“Off,” I said through a strangled groan, and I rolled to the side as he reluctantly toppled over, before sitting up. I turned my ankle to see if it felt better. It was tight, but it wasn’t throbbing anymore. That was a good sign.

Sadie was braced against the cave wall, asleep, axes in hand. Damon rested on the other side of the cave entrance, sleeping in a similar fashion. Vareck lay next to me, his breathing steady and soft. A rush of panic surged through me. We had all screwed up on keeping watch.

As though he could read my mind, Corvo sauntered around and sat next to me. “I took the last watch. They’ve only been asleep for a couple of hours.”

“You did something nice for Damon?” I asked, raising a brow at him.

He snorted and wiggled his whiskers. “Uh, no. I did something nice for you. And I expect payment in return.”

“Well, I’m fresh out of tuna, so I don’t know what you want from me.”

“You can get me some fresh salmon.” His little tongue darted out, licking up the front of his nose and then off to the side. “I’ve had a craving lately. I found some canned, but alas, I need a human can opener.”

I looked around the cave. “Corvo. I’m stuck in hell, in case you haven’t noticed. Unless you happen to bring me some, I can’t help you.”

“Oh, I did. The canned one, anyway. That’ll hold me over. You owe me a big, giant fresh filet when you get home.”

“If I ever get home,” I muttered, wiping the sleep from my eyes.

“Oh, about that,” he began, then he trotted to Vareck’s ear and let out a long, loud, obnoxious meow. Vareck’s brows scrunched and his eyes shot open.

“Gods, you stupid cat,” he groaned, sitting up. “Why do you do that?”

“It amuses me,” he said with a feline shrug. He shrunk down into a loaf and curled his tail around himself. “It’s also payback for that pill you crushed into my tuna three months ago. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

“It was medicine, you twat. You may be a god, but you’re stuck in a cat’s body. You can get worms and other parasites.

“He is a parasite,” Damon grumbled. He and Sadie were apparently awake, giving death glares to Corvo for his loud performance.

“Now, now,” he said, flicking his tail in annoyance. “You keep being mean to me, and I won’t tell you what you need to know.”

“Stop,” I begged, reaching over to scratch him behind the ear. “It’s too early in the morning, or night, or whatever time it is.”

“It’s a doozy, right?” he purred, closing his eyes and leaning into my hand.

“What is it we need to know?” Vareck rubbed at his temples.

“The plan!”

“Devil cat,” Sadie said quietly, shaking her head. She stood up, reaching her arms above her head to stretch.

“Thank you.” Corvo looked as though he were smiling. “But enough of the compliments. This is about the plan.”

“Stop saying that,” Vareck growled.

Corvo took a breath in what seemed like another attempt at annoying everyone in the cave. Before he could be an asshole further, I stopped petting him and just said, “Didn’t you say you brought canned salmon for me to open?”

His golden eyes lit up, and he dipped his head pointing at a pile of things he’d brought. “Yes. Breakfast is a good idea. I always do better when I’ve been fed.”

“History would suggest otherwise,” Damon said as he also got up. “I’ve fed you plenty, and yet ...”

I ignored all of them. Corvo was a cat, and I had no idea how long he’d been that way. God he may have been, but he fully embraced the lifestyle of a pampered house pet. As such, he needed to be treated like one so he would be at least somewhat agreeable.

I tossed a piece of fruit and a protein bar to Sadie and then the same to Damon.

Vareck got up and grabbed breakfast for himself and I made sure to open the can and set it down for Corvo.

The moment he got wind of it, his little pink nose began to twitch as he scented the air.

Hopping up, he ran to the can and began to gobble his precious treat.

Sadie began to talk around a mouthful of food, but I held my hand up to shush her while I shook my head. She shrugged, and we all ate in silence, waiting until his royal pain-in-the-ass was finished with his fish.

After smacking his lips and licking all around his mouth, Corvo let out a little sigh. “That hit the spot. My stomach thanks you. Which reminds me ... what does your food supply look like?”

“Slim. Some basic protein bars, fruit, and bread are all we have left. We need something shelf stable and lightweight.” I hummed in thought, considering what would work best for him to bring.

“What about those survival meal kits?” Sadie asked. “Like military supply stores have.”

“That’s a good idea. Corvo, can you bring us some? If you can find one of my brothers, they can show you where to go. They’ll be at our gym. And bring another sturdy backpack. We should have more than one.”

“I can figure it out,” he said, and he started to sound sleepy. “Might be after a post-breakfast nap though.”

“Corvo,” I said firmly, raising my brows at him pointedly. “No napping. We still need to know where we’re going.”

“Ah, yes. The plan.” Vareck rolled his eyes. “You need to head in the direction you’ve been going. There will be a portal waiting for you in the Fold. You’ll find it just beyond the purple waterfall.”

“That’s not even remotely helpful,” Damon argued. “Is the water purple? The rocks? The trees?

“It can’t be that hard to find. How many purple waterfalls are there, water, rocks or otherwise?” Sadie asked, winking at Damon. “You telling me you can’t find something that’s obviously different from its surroundings? That’s so disappointing.”

Damon huffed in derision, and I just sighed. “I need more information, Corvo.”

“Fae just have no sense of direction, do you?”

“I think you’re confusing us with humans.”

“Oh yeah? Which direction are you heading now?”

None of us could properly answer. We had two moons guiding us, and I had yet to figure out any measurement of time or moon cycle.

The truth was, I don’t think any of us knew how many hours had passed, much less how many days.

And worse, we could be walking in circles, and we wouldn’t know it.

We had been mostly hoping our gut instinct was leading the way, and we felt like we were heading in the opposite direction of the things that wanted to eat us.

I needed to start paying better attention.

Half-assed measures weren’t going to work.

“That’s what I thought. You’re heading north right now. Keep doing that.”

“Genuine question, Corvo. How do we know? This is the land of eternal moonlight. No setting and rising here.”

“Finally, an intelligent question.” He waited for me to pet him, and when I did, he finally continued. “The blue flowers that grow here in Evorsus? They face north. Always.”

“Why is that?” Sadie asked.

“They’re looking to Noxathra. It may not look like it to you, but they are facing that way.

As long as you keep an eye on those flowers, you will know which direction you’re going.

Just don’t pee on them. They take it personally and release a smelly mist that sticks to you like sap.

” He wiggled his whiskers and flared his nostrils in disgust. “Ask me how I know.”

“You didn’t mention this earlier,” Vareck said, crumbling his wrapper and stuffing it in the backpack before he took out a canteen and drank from it.

He seemed to quickly realize he needed to amend his words, so Corvo didn’t go off track.

“Not about the pissing on flowers. About the flowers facing north.”

“Nobody asked,” he replied simply. “Besides, I didn’t know you didn’t know. You’ve been here before. Meera here is the one who asked the good questions. I left and told you all not to get eaten. You’ve done a fine job of it. Congratulations. Now keep heading north.”

“For how long?” I frowned, wondering how long it had already been. I sort of didn’t want the exact answer.

“Hard to say. I can check in on you from time to time. Bring you food as you need it. Some canned salmon too. Drayden won’t open them for me, the stooge.

” He mumbled in cat, clearly displeased.

“The passage of time is weird here, as you’ve noticed.

You’ve got a few days at minimum, assuming the land doesn’t go topsy-turvy on you. ”

“The Fold is dangerous. I wonder if there was any way to bring the portal to us,” Damon mused, crumbling up his protein wrapper and stuffing it in his pocket. Sadie looked at him curiously. “What? It feels weird to litter. Just because this is hell doesn’t mean I need to leave my trash here.”

She shook her head and shrugged. “I got nothing. I actually agree with you.” He smiled cautiously, right before she added, “Probably won’t happen again any time soon, of course. Sort of shocked that a princeling knows how to throw away his own garbage.”

“There she is,” he muttered.

Corvo tsked. “Damon. I see you reading in the libraries. I’m assuming you read and aren’t looking for picture books.” Vareck studied his nephew intensely.

“Libraries? Plural?” he questioned, crossing his arms. “You’ve been in my library?

“Is this really the topic of conversation we need to be having right now?” Damon shot back defensively before he addressed Corvo.

“I understand the complexities of this realm. I was just thinking out loud. Problem solving? Wondering if the portal can be made to follow you, the demon god cat, so you can bring it to us, but obviously we cannot.”