Chapter 43

Lien squinted against the blinding glint of the sun on the pure white snow, her breath making little clouds as she trudged back to the house. She tightened her fingers around the straps of the carrier she was using to help haul branches and sticks from the tree Hak and Shin-ah had felled in the woods. Kija had carried the majority of the tree back to the inn on a sled, but there were still a lot of smaller pieces to pick up.

Lien and Yona had volunteered to carry back the limbs and other bits while the others split up other parts of the work the elderly couple wanted them to complete. Yoon had tried to join in outside as well, but Da-som had snatched him by the ear, demanding he help her with work around the house. She had found out that he could sew, which meant that he had a lot of work to do with the elderly couples' clothing that needed mending. Da-som's eyes weren't what they used to be, she complained.

At first, there had been some discussion about someone joining in with Lien and Yona to protect them in case someone was lurking around the forest. That had been swiftly squashed when Yona grabbed her bow and arrows and Lien lit her hands on fire. The time they had spent traveling and training hadn't been for nothing, after all. Besides, the place where the tree had been wasn't too far from the house.

"I think I'm going to go blind," Lien said with a laugh, holding her hand above her eyes to see if that helped. No, not really.

"It is really bright," Yona said. She moved past Lien, carrying own bundle of sticks as she stuck to the path they had made through the snow. In one hand, she was still carrying her bow, and she had her quiver tied to her belt. "But at least it stopped snowing."

"I'll be glad to say goodbye to winter," Lien said. "It's snowed too much this year."

"We always had a party to celebrate the coming of spring," Yona said, a note of nostalgia in her voice. "It was in my garden, when the flowers were really starting to bloom."

Lien hurried and caught up with Yona. Her bright eyes were glistening, but after a couple blinks, the tears were gone and the princess forced a smile.

She wasn't sure what to say. Did she did deeper into Yona's memories or change the subject? She didn't want Yona to cry— "The Kai Empire is nice in the spring," Lien said neutrally, "Many of the towns have festivals, if you still wanted to go to a kind of party. Not that it'll be the same, but…yeah…"

"Do you think we'll be there that long?" Yona asked.

Lien bit her lip. "I don't know." She offered Yona a small smile. "At this point, I'm just following you. So if you want to be there in the spring for a festival, I'll be there."

Yona returned her smile with a similar one. Beneath their feet, the compacted snow crunched. "I don't know exactly what I want except to keep Kouka safe. I…that's what I'm trying to do. At least for now."

"Then that's what I'm doing, too," Lien said. Technically she was supposed to be helping a great ruler. Kirins were heralds of such. But if Yona decided she didn't want to rule, Lien didn't mind. She had never really considered what life would be like for her inside of a castle or a palace, and she liked traveling. It was in her blood as much as the fire was.

"Are you happy? Doing that?"

"What do you mean?"

Yona shifted her pack farther up her back. "I mean, I don't want you to feel like you have to follow me, even if your instincts tell you to do that." Lien lifted her head and paused, watching the princess. Yona looked at her steadily, some of her red hair falling in her face. "I don't want any of you to feel like you have to stay with me."

Lien wanted to answer quickly, to make sure she didn't hurt Yona's feelings, but she could see that the princess wanted a truthful answer. She thought about everything they had been through so far and where they were going and what might happen to them. It was a lot to process.

Slowly, she started to walk again, making her way to the wood pile. Off closer to the pile, Hak and Jae-Ha were cutting firewood with a couple long-handled axes while Kija and Shin-Ah put the pieces on the pile. Zeno was gathering the smallest shards and building a strange kind of pyramid. Hmm, she would never understand him.

She had been traveling with them for weeks now, and it had been eventful, to say the least. Far more so than it would have been if she had stayed with her clan and family. But…

Turning around, she walked backward, meeting Yona's eyes. "I don't regret anything," Lien said, a soft smile tugging the corner of her mouth. "I am happy to be here, helping you. And them." She gestured over her shoulder at the men. "I mean, I'm not a huge help, I know, but I'm glad to be of service where I can be."

Yona reached out and took her hand. The two of them stopped, and they squeezed each other's fingers through their gloves. "You can leave any time, if you want," Yona said.

Lien laughed. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Good," Yona said, a touch of relief in her voice, "I want you to stay, but I don't ever want you to feel trapped."

"I'll let you know if I ever feel that way," Lien said. Playfully, she tugged on her friend's other hand. "But right now, I just feel like my shoulders are going to fall off if we don't put this wood down."

"Right," Yona said with a snow-melting smile.

The pair of them headed for the wood pile and dropped their loads not too far from Zeno's odd pyramid. Lien tilted her head to the side as she tried to figure out what he was doing. "Zeno…"

"It's kindling," he said cheerfully, "A kindling mountain!"

"Uh-huh…" Well, at least the elderly couple would have plenty of wood for their fires. Some of the wood that they were gathering was being set aside for the shed they would have to build. Most likely they were going to wind up staying at the couple's inn for another couple days, but it was sort of nice there.

Zeno helped Yona with the pack on her back, trying to take the sticks out even while Yona attempted to put it on the ground. Lien reached up to tuck her fingers under her own pack straps, but the weight left her shoulders. Glancing back, she found Shin-Ah behind her, holding the pack up.

"Thank you," she said, sliding her arms out of the straps.

He nodded and set the stick carrier on the ground. For a moment, he gave her a long look and she offered him a small smile. "They're not that heavy, it's fine," she said, knowing he was asking if she wanted help. Shin-Ah's fingers brushed hers as she began to unload the carrier, and she noticed his own hands had scratches on them.

"What happened?" she asked, taking one of his hands and turning it over, holding it gently. Her gloved fingers explored the edges of a couple of the shallow scratches.

"Thorns," he said. Ao leaped from his shoulder to hers, nuzzling against her cheek before dashing down her side and running off to jump on Yona.

She looked up and realized he was watching her. She could feel his eyes through his nearly ever-present mask. A blush darted across her cheeks. "What thorns?"

Shin-Ah pointed toward the direction of the wood pile. "They grew there. But not anymore."

"Did you tear them out with your bare hands?"

He was silent, and she frowned at him. "Okay, well, maybe next time you use your gloves…"

"I will."

She lowered his hand and shook her head at him. "I have to unpack these sticks, but then we should go see if Yoon has a salve."

"It's fine," he protested, but he didn't pull his hand out of hers.

"For now, but it can't hurt to put something on them that'll take the sting out," she said. Bending down, she started to unpack the carrier, leaning out of the way as Zeno dashed past with his arms haphazardly full of sticks. Yona followed at a slower pace with a smaller bundle as Hak came over to grab the majority of the sticks to set them on the pile. The two of them started bickering amiably, exchanging glares and insults.

Shin-Ah nodded again and helped her unpack her own sticks and small branches. Along with Zeno's littler kindling and the actual logs the guys were splitting, these pieces could also help the elderly innkeepers keep their fires going.

When they were finished, Lien looped her arm through one of Shin-Ah's and headed for the inn. She knew that if she didn't insist, Shin-Ah would most likely ignore the scratches and go back to work, but this way, he couldn't escape. Not that it seemed he wanted to.