p class="MsoNormal"strongPart 4: Katsa and I Cross Grella's (Impassable) Pass/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"When I woke the next morning, I studied first Katsa's face, and then Po' style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"We're leaving you then," I said to style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHe style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Here?" Surely Leck would find him and kill him in such an open place./p
p class="MsoNormal""No, cousin," Po style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"When morning comes, we'll search for a hiding place."/p
p class="MsoNormal"I kicked at the ground style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI did not want to leave him either, though I knew we style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI crossed my style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"What will you do in your hiding place?" I asked bitterly./p
p class="MsoNormal""I'll hide and recover my strength." I did not like this plan./p
p class="MsoNormal""And when you're strong again?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I'll join you in Lienid, or wherever you are, and we'll plan the death of King Leck."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Here was my cousin, still promising to kill the king for me, even when the king had nearly killed style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI looked at him a while longer, then finally uncrossing my arms, nodded, and said, "We'll look for you, style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI thought I saw Po style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI was cold as I helped Katsa gather the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanMy blanket was threadbare and I had no style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWinter was style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt was only going to get colder./p
p class="MsoNormal"So despite Katsa's reluctance to do so, we left Po at the cabin he'd style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa went off to catch dinner and I got Po set up, gathering firewood (something I'd gotten quite good at) getting water and whatever else my cousin might style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou know, after the strange things Po said after Katsa hauled him out of the water, I've begun to wonder if maybe there is more to Po's Grace than he's letting style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHow he can always see things that aren't there, like his hiding place in the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanMaybe mind-reading or style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanJust as I've been thinking this, Po glanced up at me sharply, but as soon as he'd noticed I'd seen him, he made it seem as if he'd been meaning to do that all style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanVery odd, Po's style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanBut I still trust him./p
p class="MsoNormal"People despise mind readers because they feel that they steal their style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWhen I was very young, I had a Graced style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanMore of a companion, for I was ever so style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanBut I loved her eyes – one sunny yellow and the other a reddish style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAnezka always seemed to know exactly what I was thinking and how I was feeling, and that made her very easy to be with because she was such an understanding style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWhen they discovered that she was a mind reader, they took her style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI still miss her to this style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe was so understanding because her Grace made her feel the same emotions as the people around her, so she always knew em style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"exactly/em how I was feeling because she was feeling it herself./p
p class="MsoNormal""Cousin, don't let her run the horse ragged," Po instructed me as we prepared to style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"And be sure she sleeps and eats every once in a style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe'll try to give all the food to you."/p
p class="MsoNormal""As you have done," I pointed style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanPo smiled./p
p class="MsoNormal""I've tried to give you most of the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa will try ot give you all of it." He turned to Katsa. "They'll be on your style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou must not let them get close enough to talk to style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanThink about disguising style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou're dirty and bedraggled, but any fool would recognize either of style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa, I don't know what you'll do about your eyes, but you must do something."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa seemed to think at Po, pleading silently, em style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"come with us! /em/p
p class="MsoNormal"Po ignored style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Bitterblue, you must help Katsa if she's confused by any words she style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou must help each style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanDon't trust any style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanDo you understand?span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou mustn't trust anyone who may have been touched by Leck's style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanDon't think for a moment you can defeat him, style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYour only hope is in style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanDo you understand?"span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHe paused. "Katsa? Do you understand what I'm saying?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"A tear tricked down Katsa's check, and Po reached to wipe it style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHe got down on one knee and took my small, cold, style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Farewell, cousin."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Farewell," I said style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"Po stood style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"You've always intended to leave me," he said jokingly to Katsa./p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa's voice was choked with style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"You know this isn't what I meant!" she style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanPo held her close and whispered to her, call her his style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAnd then he kissed style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanJust like in all those fairy style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI'm not sure whether to sigh in romantic happiness or shield my eyes from the disgustingness of it all./p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa clung to me tightly as we set out for Sunder as fast as we style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt was getting cold and I knew that winter was coming style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWe HAD to get over the mountain and into Sunder before the cold and snow of winter style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanBecause if I knew the Monsean mountains in winter at all, even a Graceling would not survive the mountain's wintry wrath./p
p class="MsoNormal"Soon we came to Grella's Pass. Katsa insisted that we cross the mountains – the mountains that divide Monsea and style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanNo one passes those mountains, not eve in summer! And we couldn't take the main road, for fear of Leck's soldiers finding style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanSo she wanted to take Grella's style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanem style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"Grella's Pass! /emGreat hills!span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanThat Katsa…that Katsa…!span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanGrella's Pass was named after the guy who discovered the pass – and died on style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanNo one – I repeat, no one – survives Grella's Pass./p
p class="MsoNormal"All we had was Katsa's dagger and my knife – no tools, no warmer clothes, nothing that would help us on the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWe'd never survive!span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanBut she style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanLady Katsa can be a very convincing person you know, so knowing I would die a more slow and painful death at the hands of Leck than at the mountain's, I agreed./p
p class="MsoNormal""You should know something else, Bitterblue," Katsa said as we began trekking upwards. "My Grace isn't just style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanMy Grace is style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI will keep you safe." Those words style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanNo one could keep me safe, not with Leck after style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanBut you want to know the really strange thing? I believed style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWell, at least a little more than I had when she'd said those five words to me in the tree trunk, anyway./p
p class="MsoNormal"We kept hearing all these wolves at night and I had nightmares constantly, and not just about style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAbout my style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAbout style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanOne night, Katsa told me about her friends, about Prince Raffin, the medicine man, and her only friend Helda, who reminded me a bit of Anezka, but thought only of marrying her off to some lord, and about the time she rescued my grandfather and scuffled with a stranger in Murgon's court – a stranger who'd turned out to be style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHow Katsa and Po became friends, and how Raffin nursed Grandfather to health, and how they'd ended up in Sunder to find the real reason behind Tealiff's kidnapping, and how they followed the clues that lead to Monsea and the king, and eventually, me./p
p class="MsoNormal""You aren't really like the person in the stories," I said, suddenly aware of the truth of the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"The stories I heard before I met you."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa tensed and seemed a bit haunted by style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"The stories are style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI am that person."/p
p class="MsoNormal""But how can you be?" I style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"You wouldn't break an innocent man's arm or cut off his fingers!"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I did those things for my uncle, at a time when he had power over me," Katsa style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe paused style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Don't worry, Bitterblue, I will keep us alive."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Soon it became impossible to keep the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWe took his saddle and bridle and bags and sent him on his style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI had good boots on, but I kept tripping over my dress, if you could even call it style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt was in style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanSo Katsa cut it apart and made it into trousers like the ones she style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt made things a lot less style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa used the saddle leather to make leg shields to keep me style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanSoon food became scarce and more and more snow fell the higher we style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI still thought her mad, but if I wanted to survive, I must listen to whatever she style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanSo I style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa gave me nearly all the food. span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanEvery morning, Katsa checked my feet for blisters and my fingers for style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanEvery time we stopped, Katsa made me drink water from our style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWe stopped often, I suspect just so she could check and make sure I was still style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI was as silent as death./p
p class="MsoNormal"I get the feeling we kept each other alive, just as my mother and I kept ourselves safe from style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa fed me and kept me warm, mad as she was, and style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI kept her sane and focused on her style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWithout her, I would die, and without me, Katsa would likely exhaust herself and style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt was good we had each other./p
p class="MsoNormal"One day, during a mild snowstorm, the first real one we'd had, we made camp in a crevice of the mountain and Katsa went off to hunt while I gathered style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe took a long time, and I was beginning to worried about style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI stood watch at the front of the crevice, straining my eyes against the white of the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI was beginning to wonder if she was lost or style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanem style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal"She can't be dead!/em I willed style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanem style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"If she's dead, I'm style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI'll die without her! /emShe came back, bloody and staggering, dragging a dead animal, and I ran up to her, calling her name that came out a choking style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe was hurt, like Po, and now there was no one to protect me from style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"I'm all right, child, it only scratched me," she assured style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe was mad!/p
p class="MsoNormal""You're covered in blood!" I pointed out, getting ahold of myself./p
p class="MsoNormal""Mostly the cat's blood," Katsa said, and I knew she was talking about the mountain lion behind her./p
p class="MsoNormal"I wasn't convinced and I pulled at the rips in her coat, shaking my style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Great seas!" I said, dismayed, when I saw the tears in Katsa's style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Great seas!" I saw the gashes in her arms and style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"We'll have to sew some of these cuts style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanLet's clean you style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI'll get the medicines." em style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"It only scratched her? /emI thought incredulously as I busied myself tending to her style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanThat night, I cooked cat steaks and froze the rest, and Katsa dried the pelt for my new coat and worked on her style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe'd been working on the bow for some time now./p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa groaned as she tried out the bow, saying, "If this is what it feels like to be hurt, I'll never understand why Po loves so much to fight me, not if this is how he feels afterwards."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't understand much of what either of you do."span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI didn't understand style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanNot at style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa notched an arrow in her bow and pulled the string style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanThe arrow wizzed and stuck into a nearby style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Not bad," she said, obviously style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe retrieved her arrow and we got to talking about what it would be like when we finally got to an inn and had a real meal with carrots and potatoes./p
p class="MsoNormal""You're not acting particularly injured," I observed as she came in from reclaiming her style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAnd the wind howled outside./p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa's cat wasn't the only one to attack style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt seemed every minute of every day was full of wolves and mountain lions trying to kill style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa always got them with her bow, but even that didn't make me feel any style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe used their hides fro a scarf and mittens for me and I knew I moved much to slowly for her style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanThe path was steep, cold and rocky and it would only get style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa began making snowshoes while I slept, before the trees ran out./p
p class="MsoNormal"One day, after a storm, we saw style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa still had her arm around me, as she always did during the mountain style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAnd in front of us was a sky so searingly blue that it nearly blinded style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAnd below that – style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanA simple white path, a rise into that blue style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanGrella's style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa got me into a halter and fastened me to her style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI was tired, but I trusted her to take me to style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanMaybe I could finally rest…/p
p class="MsoNormal""Bitterblue," It was style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Bitterblue, you must stay alert."span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHer voice had a tone of urgency that pulled me out of my style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"I'll carry you, but only because we have to move style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou've got to stay style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIf I think you're falling asleep, I'll put you down and make you style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanDo you understand?span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI'll make you walk, Princess, no matter how hard it is for you."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm tired," I whispered style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa grabbed my shoulders and shook style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"I don't care if you're tired! You'll do what I tell style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou'll put every ounce of strength into staying awake!span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanDo you understand?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't want to die," I said style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI should have just let Leck kill me!span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI cried a single tear, which froze before it got past my eyelash./p
p class="MsoNormal""You won't style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI won't let you die," Katsa told me, hugging me style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa took the water flask and told me to drink its cold style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI didn't want to, but I style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe took off all her packs and her wolf furs around her shoulders and wrapped them around me like a blanket./p
p class="MsoNormal""You've lost your mind," I told her, my voice shivering from the intensity of the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe was going to run up Grella's Pass with me on her back and no coat?span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanSounds crazy to me./p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm about to engage in some serious style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI wouldn't want to overheat," she style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWe're at the top of a mountain in the middle of winter and she's worried about em style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"overheating?!/em Someone, send this lady to the crazy house, please!span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa took the water flask, now empty, filled it with snow and nestled it inside my style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe settled me onto her back and gave me instructions to keep my fists in her armpits and my face in her neck, not to let my feet get so cold I couldn't feel them, and to stay style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAnd then Katsa ran./p
p class="MsoNormal"The wind style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa was yelling things to me that I couldn't style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI struggled to stay awake and screamed things back to her. Meaningless style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAbout warmth and style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa gripped my hands and feet and tried to keep me style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI told her stories about Monsea and my mother and Anezka and fairy tales, positively anything, just to keep style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanThe talking kept me awake, helped Katsa move onward and upward, up the slope that seemed to always stay the same distance style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt stopped snowing and the sun set, and Katsa kept style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanThe sun sank on a horizon that now lay below style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt took Katsa a moment to register that we'd crossed the top of the mountains and were heading down – into Sunder./p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa shivered uncontrollably and did not seem to think it was style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe reached for my boots to rub feeling into my toes, unaware that she was the one style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Katsa!" I screamed at style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Katsa!span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou'll kill yourself!" I hugged her neck fiercely, bringing warmth back into style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa was so mad, she started style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe checked her hands, cursing under her breath when she saw the white style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe ran down the mountain again, and to the place where the trees began./p
p class="MsoNormal"When we finally arrived, I got myself out of the harness on Katsa's back and worked the snowshoes off of her frostbitten style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt warmed my very being to see that she was much more concerned for my safety than her own, and I remembered her saying, "I will keep you safe."span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIf she said those words now, I would not doubt her, not for a style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHere was a Graceling who would kill my father for me, who would die before she let me get style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWho would leave her best friend just to keep me style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHere, at last, was someone I could trust and count on as long as I lived./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in" /p
p class="MsoNormal"When I woke the next morning, I studied first Katsa's face, and then Po' style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"We're leaving you then," I said to style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHe style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Here?" Surely Leck would find him and kill him in such an open place./p
p class="MsoNormal""No, cousin," Po style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"When morning comes, we'll search for a hiding place."/p
p class="MsoNormal"I kicked at the ground style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI did not want to leave him either, though I knew we style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI crossed my style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"What will you do in your hiding place?" I asked bitterly./p
p class="MsoNormal""I'll hide and recover my strength." I did not like this plan./p
p class="MsoNormal""And when you're strong again?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I'll join you in Lienid, or wherever you are, and we'll plan the death of King Leck."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Here was my cousin, still promising to kill the king for me, even when the king had nearly killed style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI looked at him a while longer, then finally uncrossing my arms, nodded, and said, "We'll look for you, style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI thought I saw Po style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI was cold as I helped Katsa gather the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanMy blanket was threadbare and I had no style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWinter was style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt was only going to get colder./p
p class="MsoNormal"So despite Katsa's reluctance to do so, we left Po at the cabin he'd style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa went off to catch dinner and I got Po set up, gathering firewood (something I'd gotten quite good at) getting water and whatever else my cousin might style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou know, after the strange things Po said after Katsa hauled him out of the water, I've begun to wonder if maybe there is more to Po's Grace than he's letting style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHow he can always see things that aren't there, like his hiding place in the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanMaybe mind-reading or style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanJust as I've been thinking this, Po glanced up at me sharply, but as soon as he'd noticed I'd seen him, he made it seem as if he'd been meaning to do that all style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanVery odd, Po's style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanBut I still trust him./p
p class="MsoNormal"People despise mind readers because they feel that they steal their style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWhen I was very young, I had a Graced style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanMore of a companion, for I was ever so style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanBut I loved her eyes – one sunny yellow and the other a reddish style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAnezka always seemed to know exactly what I was thinking and how I was feeling, and that made her very easy to be with because she was such an understanding style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWhen they discovered that she was a mind reader, they took her style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI still miss her to this style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe was so understanding because her Grace made her feel the same emotions as the people around her, so she always knew em style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"exactly/em how I was feeling because she was feeling it herself./p
p class="MsoNormal""Cousin, don't let her run the horse ragged," Po instructed me as we prepared to style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"And be sure she sleeps and eats every once in a style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe'll try to give all the food to you."/p
p class="MsoNormal""As you have done," I pointed style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanPo smiled./p
p class="MsoNormal""I've tried to give you most of the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa will try ot give you all of it." He turned to Katsa. "They'll be on your style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou must not let them get close enough to talk to style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanThink about disguising style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou're dirty and bedraggled, but any fool would recognize either of style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa, I don't know what you'll do about your eyes, but you must do something."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa seemed to think at Po, pleading silently, em style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"come with us! /em/p
p class="MsoNormal"Po ignored style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Bitterblue, you must help Katsa if she's confused by any words she style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou must help each style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanDon't trust any style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanDo you understand?span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou mustn't trust anyone who may have been touched by Leck's style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanDon't think for a moment you can defeat him, style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYour only hope is in style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanDo you understand?"span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHe paused. "Katsa? Do you understand what I'm saying?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"A tear tricked down Katsa's check, and Po reached to wipe it style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHe got down on one knee and took my small, cold, style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Farewell, cousin."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Farewell," I said style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"Po stood style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"You've always intended to leave me," he said jokingly to Katsa./p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa's voice was choked with style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"You know this isn't what I meant!" she style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanPo held her close and whispered to her, call her his style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAnd then he kissed style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanJust like in all those fairy style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI'm not sure whether to sigh in romantic happiness or shield my eyes from the disgustingness of it all./p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa clung to me tightly as we set out for Sunder as fast as we style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt was getting cold and I knew that winter was coming style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWe HAD to get over the mountain and into Sunder before the cold and snow of winter style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanBecause if I knew the Monsean mountains in winter at all, even a Graceling would not survive the mountain's wintry wrath./p
p class="MsoNormal"Soon we came to Grella's Pass. Katsa insisted that we cross the mountains – the mountains that divide Monsea and style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanNo one passes those mountains, not eve in summer! And we couldn't take the main road, for fear of Leck's soldiers finding style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanSo she wanted to take Grella's style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanem style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"Grella's Pass! /emGreat hills!span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanThat Katsa…that Katsa…!span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanGrella's Pass was named after the guy who discovered the pass – and died on style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanNo one – I repeat, no one – survives Grella's Pass./p
p class="MsoNormal"All we had was Katsa's dagger and my knife – no tools, no warmer clothes, nothing that would help us on the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWe'd never survive!span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanBut she style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanLady Katsa can be a very convincing person you know, so knowing I would die a more slow and painful death at the hands of Leck than at the mountain's, I agreed./p
p class="MsoNormal""You should know something else, Bitterblue," Katsa said as we began trekking upwards. "My Grace isn't just style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanMy Grace is style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI will keep you safe." Those words style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanNo one could keep me safe, not with Leck after style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanBut you want to know the really strange thing? I believed style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWell, at least a little more than I had when she'd said those five words to me in the tree trunk, anyway./p
p class="MsoNormal"We kept hearing all these wolves at night and I had nightmares constantly, and not just about style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAbout my style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAbout style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanOne night, Katsa told me about her friends, about Prince Raffin, the medicine man, and her only friend Helda, who reminded me a bit of Anezka, but thought only of marrying her off to some lord, and about the time she rescued my grandfather and scuffled with a stranger in Murgon's court – a stranger who'd turned out to be style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHow Katsa and Po became friends, and how Raffin nursed Grandfather to health, and how they'd ended up in Sunder to find the real reason behind Tealiff's kidnapping, and how they followed the clues that lead to Monsea and the king, and eventually, me./p
p class="MsoNormal""You aren't really like the person in the stories," I said, suddenly aware of the truth of the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"The stories I heard before I met you."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa tensed and seemed a bit haunted by style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"The stories are style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI am that person."/p
p class="MsoNormal""But how can you be?" I style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"You wouldn't break an innocent man's arm or cut off his fingers!"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I did those things for my uncle, at a time when he had power over me," Katsa style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe paused style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Don't worry, Bitterblue, I will keep us alive."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Soon it became impossible to keep the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWe took his saddle and bridle and bags and sent him on his style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI had good boots on, but I kept tripping over my dress, if you could even call it style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt was in style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanSo Katsa cut it apart and made it into trousers like the ones she style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt made things a lot less style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa used the saddle leather to make leg shields to keep me style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanSoon food became scarce and more and more snow fell the higher we style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI still thought her mad, but if I wanted to survive, I must listen to whatever she style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanSo I style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa gave me nearly all the food. span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanEvery morning, Katsa checked my feet for blisters and my fingers for style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanEvery time we stopped, Katsa made me drink water from our style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWe stopped often, I suspect just so she could check and make sure I was still style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI was as silent as death./p
p class="MsoNormal"I get the feeling we kept each other alive, just as my mother and I kept ourselves safe from style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa fed me and kept me warm, mad as she was, and style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI kept her sane and focused on her style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWithout her, I would die, and without me, Katsa would likely exhaust herself and style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt was good we had each other./p
p class="MsoNormal"One day, during a mild snowstorm, the first real one we'd had, we made camp in a crevice of the mountain and Katsa went off to hunt while I gathered style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe took a long time, and I was beginning to worried about style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI stood watch at the front of the crevice, straining my eyes against the white of the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI was beginning to wonder if she was lost or style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanem style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal"She can't be dead!/em I willed style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanem style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"If she's dead, I'm style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI'll die without her! /emShe came back, bloody and staggering, dragging a dead animal, and I ran up to her, calling her name that came out a choking style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe was hurt, like Po, and now there was no one to protect me from style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"I'm all right, child, it only scratched me," she assured style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe was mad!/p
p class="MsoNormal""You're covered in blood!" I pointed out, getting ahold of myself./p
p class="MsoNormal""Mostly the cat's blood," Katsa said, and I knew she was talking about the mountain lion behind her./p
p class="MsoNormal"I wasn't convinced and I pulled at the rips in her coat, shaking my style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Great seas!" I said, dismayed, when I saw the tears in Katsa's style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Great seas!" I saw the gashes in her arms and style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"We'll have to sew some of these cuts style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanLet's clean you style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI'll get the medicines." em style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"It only scratched her? /emI thought incredulously as I busied myself tending to her style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanThat night, I cooked cat steaks and froze the rest, and Katsa dried the pelt for my new coat and worked on her style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe'd been working on the bow for some time now./p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa groaned as she tried out the bow, saying, "If this is what it feels like to be hurt, I'll never understand why Po loves so much to fight me, not if this is how he feels afterwards."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't understand much of what either of you do."span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI didn't understand style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanNot at style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa notched an arrow in her bow and pulled the string style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanThe arrow wizzed and stuck into a nearby style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Not bad," she said, obviously style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe retrieved her arrow and we got to talking about what it would be like when we finally got to an inn and had a real meal with carrots and potatoes./p
p class="MsoNormal""You're not acting particularly injured," I observed as she came in from reclaiming her style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAnd the wind howled outside./p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa's cat wasn't the only one to attack style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt seemed every minute of every day was full of wolves and mountain lions trying to kill style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa always got them with her bow, but even that didn't make me feel any style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe used their hides fro a scarf and mittens for me and I knew I moved much to slowly for her style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanThe path was steep, cold and rocky and it would only get style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa began making snowshoes while I slept, before the trees ran out./p
p class="MsoNormal"One day, after a storm, we saw style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa still had her arm around me, as she always did during the mountain style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAnd in front of us was a sky so searingly blue that it nearly blinded style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAnd below that – style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanA simple white path, a rise into that blue style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanGrella's style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa got me into a halter and fastened me to her style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI was tired, but I trusted her to take me to style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanMaybe I could finally rest…/p
p class="MsoNormal""Bitterblue," It was style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Bitterblue, you must stay alert."span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHer voice had a tone of urgency that pulled me out of my style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"I'll carry you, but only because we have to move style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou've got to stay style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIf I think you're falling asleep, I'll put you down and make you style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanDo you understand?span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI'll make you walk, Princess, no matter how hard it is for you."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm tired," I whispered style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa grabbed my shoulders and shook style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"I don't care if you're tired! You'll do what I tell style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou'll put every ounce of strength into staying awake!span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanDo you understand?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't want to die," I said style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI should have just let Leck kill me!span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI cried a single tear, which froze before it got past my eyelash./p
p class="MsoNormal""You won't style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI won't let you die," Katsa told me, hugging me style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa took the water flask and told me to drink its cold style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI didn't want to, but I style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe took off all her packs and her wolf furs around her shoulders and wrapped them around me like a blanket./p
p class="MsoNormal""You've lost your mind," I told her, my voice shivering from the intensity of the style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe was going to run up Grella's Pass with me on her back and no coat?span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanSounds crazy to me./p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm about to engage in some serious style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI wouldn't want to overheat," she style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWe're at the top of a mountain in the middle of winter and she's worried about em style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"overheating?!/em Someone, send this lady to the crazy house, please!span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa took the water flask, now empty, filled it with snow and nestled it inside my style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe settled me onto her back and gave me instructions to keep my fists in her armpits and my face in her neck, not to let my feet get so cold I couldn't feel them, and to stay style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAnd then Katsa ran./p
p class="MsoNormal"The wind style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa was yelling things to me that I couldn't style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI struggled to stay awake and screamed things back to her. Meaningless style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanAbout warmth and style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa gripped my hands and feet and tried to keep me style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanI told her stories about Monsea and my mother and Anezka and fairy tales, positively anything, just to keep style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanThe talking kept me awake, helped Katsa move onward and upward, up the slope that seemed to always stay the same distance style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt stopped snowing and the sun set, and Katsa kept style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanThe sun sank on a horizon that now lay below style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt took Katsa a moment to register that we'd crossed the top of the mountains and were heading down – into Sunder./p
p class="MsoNormal"Katsa shivered uncontrollably and did not seem to think it was style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe reached for my boots to rub feeling into my toes, unaware that she was the one style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Katsa!" I screamed at style="mso-spacerun:yes" /span"Katsa!span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanYou'll kill yourself!" I hugged her neck fiercely, bringing warmth back into style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanKatsa was so mad, she started style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe checked her hands, cursing under her breath when she saw the white style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanShe ran down the mountain again, and to the place where the trees began./p
p class="MsoNormal"When we finally arrived, I got myself out of the harness on Katsa's back and worked the snowshoes off of her frostbitten style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIt warmed my very being to see that she was much more concerned for my safety than her own, and I remembered her saying, "I will keep you safe."span style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanIf she said those words now, I would not doubt her, not for a style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHere was a Graceling who would kill my father for me, who would die before she let me get style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanWho would leave her best friend just to keep me style="mso-spacerun:yes" /spanHere, at last, was someone I could trust and count on as long as I lived./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in" /p