Very much delayed, I know, but if I work on a new chapter tonight I might be able to post a new one tomorrow to make up for it.

Chapter 35

"We need a force to retrieve Baed Cormac." General Eirnin announced. "He has been captured by the Etterites, but they won't be expecting us to rescue him in the dead of winter. It will be an extremely dangerous mission, which may not even be successful."

Shainin was standing next to me. He shifted on his feet, and his arm brushed mine. A jolt ran through my body. I quickly stepped back and tried to keep my face from reddening. Shainin glanced at me, the hint of a smile on his lips.

I redirected my attention to the general, who had never stopped talking. "-will need to be flexible and creative in finding ways to reach the baed. Brute force may not be beneficial here. Because of the nature of the task, you are permitted to deny the assignment."

General Eirnin pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and began to read off the names. "Soldiers Faolan, Pearse, Gadhra, Magoad, Cante and Macarth. Captains Tiernay and Raith. Major Shainin."

The men and women all leaned forward, seeing who else had been called.

I shifted in my seat. Most other people in the room had been given assignments, but I hadn't been.

"I'll go." I volunteered.

"It's not what I assigned." General Eirnin said. "We need you here."

"I'm not doing anything." I countered.

"We need you here safe and sound."

I laughed. "Out there, I'm the least likely to die of anyone. Here, I might die of boredom."

"I can give you things to do." The general offered.

I leaned forward. "General, without me, they have a slight chance of coming back alive with Baed Cormac in tow. With me, the task seems somewhat probable. I can keep them warm, protected, and headed in the right direction."

"With all due respect, Mage," One of the women bowed slightly. "You are from a different land. We know how to stay alive in blizzards."

I bowed back. "That I believe, Major, but you cannot deny that my services would not be of use out there."

"Alright, you may go." General Eirnin grumbled. He turned to the soldiers that he had called. "You'd best keep her safe."

"Thank you." I grinned.

"Captain Brodiewill help you to choose supplies." General Eirnin ordered.

"Yes, sir." I answered happily.

"And you will need to leave as soon as possible." General Eirnin told all of us. "In thirty minutes, we'll send you off. Don't worry about horses, we will prepare them for you. Meeting adjourned."

Everyone around the table stood, talking excitedly about their new assignments. Brodie made her way towards me. "We'd best hurry then, if you're too leave that soon."

We rushed to the supply room. Brodie chose me a high quality leather pack with ample room.

"I wish I could go." Brodie held my bag as I filled it with things from supply shelves. "The general has me training recruits with Ula. You need twice as many socks."

I did as she said, filling the bag with more socks.

"And you'll need special boots." She reminded me.

"Those are boots?" I looked at the shaggy, furry things.

"Don't make fun." Brodie selected a pair. "These'll fit?"

I inspected them. "They'll fit."

"You'll take one change of clothes." Brodie instructed. "Take care of them. You'll change socks, to keep them dry, and undergarments, when you have to. For your monthly, you'll have to wash your pads in the snow, then bury the snow so the blood can't be seen. You'll have a hard time taking care of your hair. Some of the women will probably cut theirs off. Do you want that?"

I ran my fingers through my hair. I'd never thought it was very pretty, being straight and not curly or wavy, but I really didn't want to cut it all away.

Brodie smiled at my hesitancy.

I sighed. "Alright. How short?"

"To your neck, at least." Brodie showed me, touching her own hair. "It'll grow out again."

"I know." I nodded, trying not to complain. "I'll do it."

"Alright, I think we've got everything we need." Brodie tossed me the bag. "Let's go back to our room to change."

I pondered over the decision to cut my hair. It was simple, really. I needed my hair cut so it would be easier to care for. It should be that simple, really, but all the women I'd known growing up had had long hair. It was greasy, of course, and sometimes not all that attractive, but we still had long hair.

"Come now." Brodie caught me with a frown on my face. "Surely it's not that bad?"

"No." I shook my head. "I was thinking of something else."

"Sure you were." Brodie laughed. "Don't worry, I'll make it look good."

Brodie pushed open our door and I squeezed through with my pack. I dropped it one someone's cot and began to undress. Brodie closed the door and started to sort through my pack. Once she had ordered everything and I had undressed down to my underclothes, she crossed to a shelf at the front of the room and retrieved a pair of scissors.

"Sit." Brodie pushed on my shoulder, draped a blanket around my shoulders and began to snip away at my hair. I watched the pieces float to the ground as my head grew lighter and lighter.

Someone knocked at the door. "Adda?"

"Come in." I called back.

Eilis stepped into the room. "I just heard."

"It's alright." I reassured her. "We'll bring him back."

"No, Adda." Eilis smiled at me. "I'm worried about you."

"Well," I shrugged. "We'll bring me back too. Don't worry."

Eilis took in the scene before her. "You're cutting your hair?"

I nodded, and Brodie hissed at me and held my head still. "So it'll be easier."

"Oh." Eilis watched curiously.

"There, done." Brodie snipped one last time and threw the scissors down on the bed.

"Can I see?" I asked, twisting around.

"No," Brodie hastily stepped in front of the mirror. "We'd best hurry."

I decided that if it was that bad, I probably didn't want to see anyway.

"Put this on." Brodie handed me a set of long underwear.

I shivered as I removed my own underclothes. "Am I supposed to take those off everytime I need to relieve myself?"

Brodie snorted. "That's what the flap is for."

"Ooh." I quickly put them on. They were very warm.

"Back when our country was filled with nomadic tribes, we would have no protection from the elements but for what we wore." Eilis told me, helping me to figure out which garment went on next.

"I feel like a bush." I complained, pulling on the bearskin pants.

"Awww." Brodie smiled at me and pinched my cheek as if I was a child.

"This next." Eilis helped me to wriggle into the heavy vest.

The door opened and Shainin entered, stepping casually into the room as if he had been invited. He was similarly dressed head-to-toe in his warmest clothes.

"You didn't knock." Brodie disapproved. "She wasn't dressed a moment ago."

"And it would have been so awful to see Adda-" Shainin noticed Eilis. "Good morning, Baede."

"What do you want, Shainin?" Brodie fastened my hood over my thick woolen cap.

"I came to fetch Adda." He explained, his eyes widening. "Your hair."

"Do you have something to say?" Brodie shot back defensively.

Shainin chuckled. "You let Brodie cut your hair?"

"It looks fine." Eilis reassured me quietly.

"I let Brodie cut my hair once." Shainin continued. "Girls wouldn't look at me for a year."

"You had awful hair to begin with." Brodie raised her eyebrows, turning to me and Eilis. "He did."

"Here, put this hood on." Shainin pulled the furry hood tight around my head. "There, now no one can tell."

I pushed him away. "I think it looks fine." I told him, although I hadn't seen it yet.

"In any case," Shainin's smile dimmed a little bit. "We've got to leave soon."

"You can have her now." Brodie looked me up and down, making sure I was dressed to her satisfaction. "Take care of her."

"I can take care of myself." I hugged Brodie. "Bye."

While we were hugging, Brodie whispered into my ear. "I pack you some antipregnancy herbs."

I pulled away, giving her an incredulous look. "You knew?" I choked out.

"Of course." Brodie smiled. "Thank me later."

"Be careful." Eilis clasped my gloved hand between her hands. "Please?"

"I will." I promised, swinging my leather bag over my shoulder. "I'll be fine. Take care of our little prince. Alright, Shainin, I'm ready."

Shainin snuck looks at me through the corner of his eye as we walked down the hallway. He seemed to smile like he was amused.

"What?" I finally demanded.

Shainin looked over at me. "I've never seen you so...bundled."

"I've never been so bundled." I raised my eyebrows. "So?"

"I think it's cute." Shainin couldn't help the smile that crossed his face, just like I couldn't help the ridiculous flush that spread across mine.

"Don't be embarrassed." He squeezed my should comradely. "Lots of women are cute. That redheaded soldier in Ula's division, the new captain, Brodie...and you."

"I'm not embarrassed." I protested. "I'm just not used to being described as cute."

"Well, you are." Shainin put his arm around my waist flirtatiously. "Can I kiss you?"

"No." I stepped away. "Someone might see."

"Oh, I remember." Shainin laughed. "We mutually decided not to let anyone know we've been sleeping together. Because we're both equally embarrassed of who we've chosen to do it with."

"Don't say it so loudly." I warned him.

"It's time people know." Shainin teased, placing a quick kiss on my cheek. "I know you volunteered because you couldn't bear to be away from me."

"That's it." I jabbed his ribs. "You've got me all figured out."

"Ow." Shainin rubbed his ribs with a wounded expression on his face, then efficiently put me in a headlock.
"Ow!" I yelped, even though it really didn't hurt. I twisted away and tried to glare at him.

"And by the way," Shainin reached out and brushed the short tendrils of hair from my face. "I love your hair."

"Yah, whatever." I scoffed at him.

We had reached the stables. The stable hands were holding the reins of tall, shaggy ponies, already packed with food supplies, tents, and the blankets we would need. The men and women chosen for the task stood near General Eirnin. We joined them.

General Eirnin looked around the circle, checking that all the group was there. Then, he nodded solemnly. "Ride east until you reach the coast, then head south. May good fortune be with you all."

The stable hands stepped forward, calling out names and handing us the reins of our ponies. I secured my pack on the back of my pony, noted his sturdiness, and mounted.

And then we rode out.

I grimaced as my legs shook on the cold snow. I removed the saddle from my pony and set it on the ground. I stretched my legs briefly to get the kinks out, then shifted through my pack to get the grain for my pony. We were going to have to figure out a better way to get feed for our mounts, but for now we would have to use our supplies.

"Alright?" Shainin asked as he tended to his pony.

"Fine." My voice cracked with misuse. I cleared by throat. "Just tired."

"Who do we take orders from?" A young, shy soldier looked over at us, almost afraid to meet our eyes.

"Nobody." Shainin answered. "We're all equals on this mission."

The girl nodded. "Where should we set up the tents?"

"Where do you think?" Shainin questioned the soldier.

She assessed the area. "Doesn't matter, sir."

"Pick a spot." Shainin suggested.

I helped the soldier set up the tent. She looked to be about my age, only a little shorter, and a lot prettier. We dug deep into the snow, probably about three feet down, until we had a small, flat space. Two of the men started to do the same about five feet away from our space. Then, we lay the tent down in the hole and propped it up with the rods we had carried with us. The rods were made up of three shorter rods with hollow insides that fit together with short, thinner sticks.

After we had finished, the soldier offered me her hand. "I'm Brevan Pearse."

"Adda." I shook her hand. It was more like a slap of the hand, since our thick mittens wouldn't permit a proper handshake.

I fetched my mess kit from my pack and went to the fire. The other woman had made some thin soup, with some rice, jerky, and melted snow. I sipped at it, so grateful for the warm liquid that it was easy to ignore the taste.

One of the men hobbled the ponies together in a clump, so they wouldn't wander. We moved our packs into the tent, stomped out the pitiful little fire, and moved into the tents.

There were four women in the tiny tent, but I was glad, because with all our bodies pressed up against one another, it got toasty inside the tent.

"Move your elbow." One of the elder women grumbled.

"How we supposed to know who's elbow that be?" The other shot back.

Brevan moved to the side to avoid conflict, just to bump into me. "Sorry."

"It's alright." I shivered, my eyes drooping. I breathed deeply and let it out slowly.

"Move your elbow!" The woman snapped, then sighed sheepishly. "It's my pack. I get cranky when I'm tired."

"We can tell." The other woman drawled.

"I'm Tallulah." The cranky woman introduced herself. "And you don't have to pay me any mind when I put on a fit."

A call came in from the men's tent. "Will you women stop chattering away and let us get some sleep?"

We fell silent for a moment, then someone shifted over and a new wave of grumbling and rearranging took place. I lay my head against my pack and closed my eyes.