Page 264 of Salt Between the Wolves

Somewhere beyond them lay White Pass, beyond that Frostvein, and beyond that Silverwake.

For a moment, he found himself wondering what Eira was doing—whether she was still angry, whether she was sleeping, and whether she had found whatever answer she had been searching for.

The thought lingered longer than it should have, and then he let it go.

Morning would come soon, and Vargan was already moving.

At dawn, the gates of Ironfang opened, and Soren rode out at the head of the first column as the fortress disappeared behind them and White Pass waited ahead.

The third day brought snow, not a storm, but just enough to soften the mountains and erase yesterday's tracks.

The column moved steadily through the pass, winding between dark cliffs and frozen pines while scouts ranged ahead and behind. No one complained or questioned the pace; Ironfang had marched through worse.

Soren rode at the front, as he always did.

By midday they stopped beside a narrow stream cutting through the rocks. The horses needed water, the men needed food, and the pause would be brief.

Soren dismounted and crossed toward a ridge overlooking the valley. Below them, the pass stretched south in a pale ribbon between snow-covered slopes, still empty for now.

He studied the terrain automatically—distances, approaches, possible ambush points, possible retreat routes—more habit than effort.

A sharp pulse of pain spread suddenly through his chest, not enough to stagger him but enough to make him stop. The sensation vanished almost immediately, leaving only the familiar exhaustion beneath it.

Soren rested one hand against the cold stone and waited. A few breaths later he straightened.

When he turned around, Kael was standing twenty paces away, watching, as he always did.

"You hide it badly."

Soren continued studying the valley. "I wasn't aware I was hiding anything."

Kael snorted. "Everyone else believes that."

"Then perhaps I am."

"No." His second crossed the remaining distance. "You just spend all your energy making sure they don't notice."

Soren said nothing, and the silence lasted long enough to become an answer.

Kael folded his arms. "How bad?"

Soren's gaze remained on the pass below. The question irritated him, not because it was unreasonable, but because he no longer knew the answer. Some days were better, some worse; the healer had given him no certainty, only warnings.

"I am still here."

Kael stared at him. "That wasn't what I asked."

"No."

Another silence followed as wind moved through the pines somewhere below, the horses shifted behind them, and a few men laughed near the campfires—ordinary sounds that felt strangely distant lately.

Kael looked away first. "You're impossible."

"So I've been told."

"Repeatedly."

That earned the faintest hint of a smile, but only for a moment before it disappeared.