Every bit of Ivy hurt. Her butt was sore. Her thighs were on fire. The soles of her feet chafed against the stirrups with each trot of the wretched beast beneath her. Her back felt like someone had stabbed her a hundred times over. And forget about her hands. She wished she didn't have them anymore, yet at the same time, she wouldn't dare let go of her vise grip on the reins. If only she could still stand to wear her furs for the extra cushion. As they made their way further south, the weather had changed far past the point of Rhune clothing being practical.

And Raenin had pushed her far past her comfort zone on the horse the very first day. The days, nights, and weeks had blended together following their departure. She had no reference for what "riding hard" meant, but if this wasn't it, she didn't want to know.

The horse under her was maybe the tenth of their journey so far. She had lost count sometime halfway through. It jostled against her aching body again and again and again as they sped down an unmarked dirt road through dense forestry. Despite having ridden for weeks already, she had little idea of where exactly they were. They should be close by now, which meant this had to be the woods North of Atrican's walls, but nothing looked familiar.

With her eyes watching the horse’s back and neck just in case it decided to do something she didn’t like, Ivy almost didn’t notice that Raenin had reared up his horse and blew right past him.

“Ivy!” he called out. “Stop!”

She yanked on the reins, causing both her and the horse to cry out as the beast tried its best to come to an abrupt halt. The maneuver nearly sent her toppling over its furry mane. After a few moments of struggling and praying, they both managed to settle down, and she spun the thing back toward Raenin, who had also trotted his way over, laughing the whole way.

“You had better not say anything,” Ivy said. His smile disappeared and he nodded. Huh. That…wasn’t right. He must have stopped them for a good reason if he wasn’t even going to poke fun at her. “Well, what is it?”

He just made a confused face at her and shrugged.

“You stopped us for no reason?”

Once again, he said nothing and rocked his head side to side a couple of times.

“What’s wrong with you? Say something!” It was her own words that reminded her of what she had said just a moment ago. She had ordered him not to say a word, and that was exactly what he was doing. The bastard was playing with her the whole time. “I literally hate you,” she said.

His smile returned. “Awe. I’m fond of you as well.”

Ivy couldn’t do anything except roll her eyes.

“Why did we stop?” she asked. “Please tell me there’s some bandits up ahead.”

He raised an eyebrow at her.

“You want to be ambushed?”

“If it will get me off this damn horse.”

“You are a strange woman.”

“You’re a strange man!” She just about rode on without him but had to try one more time. “What are we doing here?”

Raenin held up a hand and then pointed to his left ear.

“Do you hear that?”

“Hear what—”

It hit her before she could finish her question. A splash of water: far away, yet powerful. It came a second time, and a third. The rhythmic pulsing was almost hypnotic for her. They had reached the Great Sea.

“The forest will thin soon,” Raenin said, and Ivy opened her eyes that she hadn’t realized she had closed, “we can’t be on horseback when it opens up into the plains.”

“Right.”

“And there’s one more thing we have to deal with first.”

Great. She could only imagine what would come out of his mouth next.

“Okay,” she said, “but if this is another one of your—”

“A scout has been tracking us for a few hours.”

Ivy flinched. She hadn’t noticed a thing. “Oh. Wait. You’re just telling me this now?!” Her hand went to the hilt of her dagger.

“Wait. Please.”

“For what?”

“I just want to make sure you’re not going to run off like you did in Rhune. I’m not looking for Stabby to come out and play.”

It took every bit of her willpower to ignore the stupid nickname. “Are you worried about me? It’s one guy.”

Raenin sighed.

“Okay, so you turn and ride at him. In no time he sees you coming at him and doubles back. Then what?”

“He can’t outrun me.”

He nodded.

“So, you use your power. Maybe catch him.” Ivy scoffed but let him continue. “After, can you find your way back? Do you take his horse and ride? Do you have enough strength left to do whatever it is you do? Maybe there’s a paladin nearby that senses you.” Ivy stayed quiet. “Or…you can just wait here for him with me. It’s quite easy, actually.”

She scowled at him. “Ugh, you’re so—”

“Handsome and intelligent?” he asked.

“…No.”

She couldn't deny his reasoning, however, and started her horse toward the trees, off of the narrow path. Yet the terrain soon made it necessary to dismount and lead the animal, as Raenin already was. She sat there for a moment, debating, but really had no other option.

Her cheeks burning, she called out to him, "Raenin. Help me down?"

He grinned and strode over to the side of her horse. Every time she asked for help dismounting, she meant for him to provide a place for her to step down upon, similar to how he would help her get atop the beast. If she could use the top of his head to step on, that would be ideal. But just like all the other days, he wrapped his hands around her waist and plucked her off like a delicate little flower.

Her face heated beyond what it had reached at her asking for help, and just like before, she was too embarrassed to say anything. She swore to herself she’d figure out horses the first chance she got once Atrican was safe.

The two of them led their horses through the forest, the calming sound of the murmuring waves the only noise between them. After several minutes, Raenin stopped, tying his Reins to a tree. Ivy followed suit, though he checked her knot after. Bastard.

On the way back to the path, he unslung the crossbow tied to his back for the first time since their journey had begun.

"This one's mine," Ivy said.

He cranked back the string as they walked, not looking at her.

"You got more of the witch hunters," he said.

"That's because I'm better than you."

"Think so? Should we have a spar?"

"Yes."

Please, yes. Smacking him around a bit was just what she needed. She had to redeem herself after the first time they fought. Except, he just laughed at her.

"You're cute," he said, "I can almost feel your need to...do something to me." He smiled wide. "But unfortunately, we have other problems right now."

Ivy didn't back down.

"It will only take a second."

His grin only grew.

"I'm confident I can last longer than that."

Her face scrunched involuntarily.

"Are you really married?"

"Of course," he placed a hand on his chest, "what are you thinking about? Don't get any weird ideas."

"I hate you so much."

Once they got back to the road, they huddled together in a thick brush just off the path and waited. And waited.

"Why are you so close to me?" Ivy asked at Raenin's back.

"Why are you so close to me? You think I like this any more than you do?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you do."

"Oh, don't be too sure of yourself, you stink."

Ivy recoiled.

"What? You're the one who smells. I wasn't going to say anything, but--"

"We both smell."

She stood from her hiding spot.

"I do not stink!"

"Lower your voice and get down," he said in a harsh whisper, "what are you thinking?" His gaze never left the road. Reluctantly, she went back into her hiding place wrinkling her nose at him on the way down. "We've been on the road nonstop for weeks. Just because you're pretty doesn't mean you're not human."

"I'm not human, I'm a witch," she said.

At that, he finally turned toward her. "What?"

"I…I'm not sure why I said that."

Years ago, that very same thought had terrified her. Made her feel less than. An abomination. But now? It strangely felt natural.

Raenin shook his head and brought his attention back to the road.

"About time," he said.

Over his shoulder, Ivy spied a dust cloud approaching. Above it, a horse ran at a trot down the dirt path.

"You want to make a bet?" Raenin asked.

"No."

"Really? Even if it will stroke your fragile ego and prove to yourself that you're better than me?"

"I can do that by killing you."

"Ah, never mind. You're too slow anyway."

He rose from their hiding place to just above the brush and fired. Ivy snorted at the gall of such a shot. The distance was ridiculous. Who was it that had the ego again? Whatever. It would just give her the opportunity to deal with the nuisance.

Yet when she took another look at the approaching rider, the horse was galloping forward on its own. Impossible. Raenin had actually hit the scout from that far out? As if to mock her incredulity, Raenin removed himself from their spot completely, moving toward where they had stashed their horses. Ivy followed, still a bit stunned at his marksmanship.

"N-nice shot," she said, "did you kill him?"

"He'll be dead soon, if not already."

"Shouldn't we have questioned him?"

Raenin stopped, turned around, and laughed in her face.

"I'm sorry, are you giving me a lesson in restraint?"

"We don't even know why he was following us!"

"You don't," he said, turning back around and resuming his march forward.

Ivy caught up to him and fell into step on his left, struggling to keep a safe footing amongst the forest floor, where he seemed to not notice the rough terrain.

"And are you going to tell me?"

They reached where they had tied the horses and Raenin let out a long breath. As he began to untie them, he opened his mouth again.

"It's easy to forget how young and...dare I say stupid?" he said. A few months ago, and Ivy's dagger would have already been drawn. These days perhaps she would give me a chance to explain before she killed him. "Maybe naive is the right word. How naive you can be sometimes."

"Do you have a death wish?" she asked.

He, of course, ignored her question.

"You're powerful enough the secret queen of witches fears you and you kill without a bit of remorse," he slapped the butt of one of the horses, and it ran off in the direction they had come. The relief at seeing the damned beast run off was unfortunately overshadowed by Raenin running his mouth. "Yet you are so unworldly. Why else would there be a scout less than half a day’s walk from a besieging army? He was with the church. There is no doubt."

Daphne was scared of her? That was news to Ivy. She locked that bit of information away for later. For now, she still had this annoying bastard to deal with.

"How am I supposed to know where we are? You never tell me anything!"

"You tell me to shut up whenever I talk." He slapped the second horse.

"Because you bark nonsense like a dog all the time!" Uurrgh. She wanted to pull her hair out. The man was simply not right in the head. She should cut her losses and just take off into the witch world, leaving him.

"Oh, come on. Stop pretending to be so angry."

"I'm not pretending."

"Let's face reality, Ivy," he said, "me and you, we're a good team. And I think we get along just perfect." He began walking through the forest again, though not back to the path.

"We are not. And we do not," she said, though continued to follow him.

"Uh huh," he said, and quickened his pace through the woods.

What the hell? That was it? Raenin began whistling as he walked, Ivy still following behind him. For some reason, she didn't leave like she had planned to. His words kept repeating over and over in her head. They made a good team? Well, yeah. Maybe she could give him that. Their assault on the witch hunter safe-house had gone well. And she may not have made it out of there without his help. Her shoulder still ached from the wound she had taken from the hunter's blade.

But get along with him? With Raenin? The very thought of it made no sense. Then why couldn't she get it out of her head? The foliage at her feet slowly faded away as they walked, and the trees began to thin. A different cacophony of sounds joined the ocean's rhythm. The sounds of battle.

Raenin stopped in his tracks and held up a hand.

“Get down,” he said.

Without a reason to object, she crouched low ducking behind one of the few larger trees that still stood before them. Just a couple dozen paces ahead, the woods gave way to the vast fields surrounding Atrican. More men than she had ever seen in one place surrounded the city. A swath of blackened earth stood out like a scar between the church’s army and the walls, but it did not stop the assault. Much of the church’s army was funneling toward a collapsed section of the city wall, while others stormed the north gate. Several massive trebuchets slung house-sized boulders at the walls, the impact of which she could feel from where she crouched.

Yet despite everything she saw playing out in real-time, Ivy was still stuck in her head. Why couldn’t she get his words out of her mind?

“Raenin,” she said. He turned to face her. “Do you really think of me as a friend?”

He leaned back a bit, rubbing the scruff of his growing beard with one hand, “Well, yeah.”

She wanted to say, “Then why do you piss me off so much?” but it came out as just, “Why?”

“Is this the best time for this?”

“I need to know. Please, Raenin.”

He rubbed his face again.

“Awe man. When you ask it like that, with a face that cute, how am I supposed to refuse?” Her eyes narrowed, but she kept waiting patiently. For now. “It’s simple really. You’re honest with me.” Huh? That couldn’t be all there was. Seeing the confusion on her face, he kept talking. “It’s not so small a thing. You spend so much time insulting me, that I know your praises are truly heartfelt. It makes it all that much sweeter.” He raised his tone, imitating her, “N-nice shot.”

Slumping all the way down, she rested her back against the tree and shook her head.

“You are unbelievable,” she said, but there was a wisp of a smile on her lips. It was a good shot, and she had meant it. Everything he said made sense. For once. She thought about the people in her life and if she really could trust what they said to her. Anemony, maybe. Probably. But sometimes it felt like the girl put Ivy up on a pedestal where she didn’t belong. Anemony was stuck with all those older witches, and almost needed Ivy to like her. Beyond her, there was no one else that Ivy could admit to herself that she trusted.

Except…somehow her thoughts circled back around to Raenin. The very first time they met had been all lies. And yet now, she never really considered that he wasn’t being honest. There was no expectation hinging upon their relationship. No hidden agenda. He was just kind of there, being the dumbass that he was.

“Okay,” she said, “fine.”

Both of his eyebrows shot up, along with his grin.

“Fine, what?”

“Nothing. I still don’t like you.”

“You’re smiling.”

“And I’m also telling your wife about all your teasing and flirting with me.”

Finally, he stiffened up.

“Wait, that’s not fair.”

“You deserve it.”

“But you don’t know who she is.”

“I’ll find her.”

Raenin glanced over his shoulder at the city.

“Let’s save her, first.”

Ivy nodded. “Right.”

She had no idea how the two of them were supposed to stop an army, but sure. Raenin kept low to the ground creeping forward until he met the dense brown grasses around Atrican. They stood tall enough to cover them in a crouch, so he pressed forward. The only problem with their approach is that Ivy couldn’t see anything either. She pulled her dagger from its sheath and kept close to Raenin. Eventually, he turned and pointed up. A great wooden arm towered above them at least a hundred feet up.

“The city won’t survive a second breach,” he said. Ivy nodded; his plan evident. “No magic.”

“Huh?”

“This is a church army. Do you want to be swarmed by paladins?”

“What am I supposed to do?” He mimicked a stabbing motion with a closed fist. “Do I look like a swordsman to you?”

Raenin frowned.

“You kind of look like a princess whose carriage overturned and then got lost in the woods. But don’t worry. I’ll distract them.”

In one fluid motion, he stood, pulled the crossbow from his back, and fired. Not a second later he tossed it aside and drew the longsword belted to his hip. With a bellowing war cry, he charged forward like a maniac.

Ivy kept low, staring after him. A lost princess? Unbidden, her mind drifted to thoughts of Virian. Prince Virian. His lover—his wife—would be a princess. Her nose wrinkled at the thought of a princess at his side. Nor did she think of herself as one either.

A clash of steel brought her out of her useless mind, and she peeked her head over the grasses. A flattened section of dirt sat just ahead, the huge siege engine pulled back and waiting to be loaded. A body with a crossbow bolt sticking out of its chest lay face up and lifeless, while another bloodied man struggled to crawl away, a deep gash opened in his belly. Raenin was backing away from four armed soldiers in a wide arc around the trebuchet, keeping them from flanking him. Two more crewmen were standing at the sling of the machine, but they too were watching the wild-eyed Raenin with undivided attention.

Ivy hustled over on the balls of her feet to the unarmed soldiers manning the trebuchet. Neither of them saw or heard a thing when she clamped a hand around the first’s mouth and dug her blade deep into his throat. She guided his heavy frame down as gently as she could, but he still made an audible thud. The second man wheeled on her, but she was already moving. His eyes bulged as her dagger plunged into his gut, and then between his ribs. He too fell before the men chasing Raenin were positioned to see any of it.

Fresh blood coated her hand, and she smeared it over her torso and face. The trick was getting the right balance of pathetic but not terrifying or disgusting. Her goal was to appear as a victim, not a killer. She let out a scream at the top of her lungs, hiding her dagger behind her back and faking a tremble. The soldiers engaged with Raenin turned their heads to her instantly, one being cut down at the distraction. Two of them immediately remembered the threat of Raenin and renewed their pursuit, but the furthest from him gave his full attention to Ivy.

“Little lady,” he said, “what’s happened? What are you doing here? We are under attack!”

“I—I don’t know!” she cried out. The man began to approach, though his sword was still raised. “I just came to see…to see—” she looked down at the corpse of the man she had just killed. “I’m with the camp followers. We were to be married.” She hid her face, staring at the floor to avoid much scrutiny. Her fake crying face probably wouldn’t hold up that well.

“That bastard Terick had a woman?” the soldier said. “Sly dog.”

Ivy continued her tale, “A crazed man came running out of the grass like a rabid dog! He killed them! He killed my Terick!”

She kept an eye on the approaching man out of the corner of her eye. His sword arm drooped the closer he got, and reached out a hand toward her. The moment he was within her range, she sprung to life. She thrust the tip of her blade straight up, and the point pierced the soft underside of his jaw, burying itself up to the hilt. Her smile reflected in his dying eyes as she ripped her weapon free of him, and he crumpled into the already red-stained dirt.

Raenin was still fighting the last two and she rushed over to them, no specific plan in place this time. One of them saw her coming and turned a swing at her. Without thinking she dropped into the witch world to sidestep the blow. She rematerialized in the normal world at the soldier’s side and opened up his gut with a flick of her wrist. The man’s thin leather cuirass proved no match for her hardened alaricite relic. Raenin had also dispatched his opponent by the time Ivy’s had fallen, clutching his wound.

“We have to hurry,” Ivy said.

“I saw.” The two of them turned back to the siege engine. Raenin ducked under the tree-trunk-sized support beams and began climbing the siege engine. Once near the top, he started hacking at the counterweight mechanism. “Sever the sling and pulley ropes!”

She sprinted back over to where the arm had already been pulled all the way back, ready to fire. Her dagger cut through the sling as easily as it did anything else. The loading ropes fared no better. After the last one broke, the arm flew back into the sky, the counterweight nearly bludgeoning Raenin to death. Now that it was lower to the ground, he jumped back down and resumed his sabotage. Ivy started to move to help but froze when she saw a group of five horsemen converging at them a full gallop. Each man was clad in full dark steel armor, weapon raised.

“Raenin,” she said. No response. “Raenin! We need to go!”

He looked up from his work and saw what she had.

“Damnit! Oh well. Good enough. Come on.”

He started to move back toward the forest, but she knew they wouldn’t make it.

“Grab my arm,” she said.

“What?”

She held out her left hand.

“My bracelet. Hold on tight. And close your eyes.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Just do it!”

He actually listened and gripped the alaricite bangle gifted to her by the beggar witch. The metal heated to a singing burn as Ivy poured power into it, but Raenin did not let go. Just before the first paladin could cut them down, she pulled them both into the witch world.

“Don’t let go!” she said. “And don’t open your eyes!” She recalled the guardsmen whom she had taken into the witch world and even Rose’s vehement response to the place. The last thing she needed was Raenin looking at her like that.

Ivy dragged him along, letting instinct guide her through the chaos of not only the witch world but also a field filled with battle. They emerged at the site of another trebuchet.

“Go!” Ivy yelled, and Raenin opened his eyes.

“Whoa!”

And then Ivy called on her power again, this time by herself. She skipped past a pair of soldiers and let the witch world take her to the sling of the second siege engine. Once again, the engineers working it had no chance. They went down in a flurry of stabs and slashes before they knew she was there. A few cuts later and the trebuchet was disabled. Off to the side of the stone-thrower, Raenin was fighting more soldiers. She used her power to blink behind them and executed two as Raenin ended the third.

Without warning she grabbed his hand and placed it over her bracelet again.

“Close.” He obeyed, and she took them back under her power.

“Question,” he said. Ivy didn’t answer. “What happens if I—”

“Don’t!”

She pulled them to a third siege engine. And a fourth. The paladins stayed ever on their tail, but they could not keep up with the speed of the witch world. They managed to disable a fifth and sixth trebuchet, but Ivy’s power was waning. Taking herself had almost become second nature these days, but the drain of the bracelet was too much. Raenin himself started to look a bit haggard as well, having suffered a few minor wounds in his skirmishes.

“No more,” she said, standing over the corpses of the latest siege engine crew.

“What,” Raenin said, taking a deep breath, “you tired already?”

“Shut up.”

He simply closed his eyes and held out a hand. They were both covered in blood, dirt from the road, and exhausted.

“Take me away, princess.”

“I thought I told you to shut up.”

“Save me from the scary paladins!”

“I can’t.”

He opened one eye, and Ivy kept her face grim.

“What do you mean?”

“I used up everything I had carrying your lazy ass around. We did what we could for the city. It’s over. They’ll remember us as heroes.”

Both eyes were open now, and he smiled.

“Too obvious,” he said, “‘They’ll remember us as heroes?’ You’d never say that.”

Ivy shrugged and sat down amongst the bodies of their victims.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I’ll only ask that you kill me first so that the church can’t torture me.”

“Ivy,” he still wore his grin, “come on. This is embarrassing. You’re trying too hard.” She said nothing, and the hoof beats of the paladins’ steeds grew ever nearer. “Ivy…Ivy? Ivy! Stop this! Get us out of here!”

A dozen paladins were maybe ten seconds away before Ivy broke. She stood up and offered her arm to him.

“Were you scared?” she asked. “You should have seen your face.”

“That wasn’t funny.” He gripped the bracelet tight.

“It was. Close eyes.”

She let the remainder of her strength flow into the absorbing metal and fell into the witch world just as the paladins reached them. It took her maybe twenty seconds of hauling the big oaf through the twisted lines of her broken world to reach the top of the south wall of Atrican. She dispelled her power and they found themselves amongst a brigade of royal guardsmen. In an instant, twenty swords and half as many longbows were aimed at them.

“One of you make yourselves useful and find Prince Virian,” she said, then collapsed against the stone, back to the parapet.

Raenin joined her, letting out a long sigh. Neither of them paid any mind to the guardsmen around them, weapons at the ready.

“I’m going to be in trouble,” he said.

“With your wife?”

“And my father.”

“Oh. How childish.”

He grunted. “It’s true. I likely won’t ever get out under his thumb.”

They stayed quiet for several minutes, but Ivy had to check.

“You never once looked,” she said.

“You told me not to.”

“I tell you not to do lots of things!”

“You sounded serious.”

“I—uh…ugh.” Ivy deflated. A few more minutes passed before she spoke again, “You really trust me. I almost killed you in Rhune. I wanted to kill you.”

Raenin grinned.

“That was before you got to know me.”

Before she could respond, letting him know that only made her want to kill him more, a voice broke through the crowd of soldiers.

“Ivy!” She recognized the voice, of course. “Is it really you?”

The guardsmen parted, and she looked up at the handsome face standing over her.

“Hey, Virian.”