Path

Lydia shifted her gaze to the unrolled blanket Ahmad was holding up. Then she followed his gaze before scanning their surroundings.

Nothing seemed off, so she turned in his direction.

He was now covering the horse's back.

After stroking the horse's neck several times, he brushed off the snow on top of two rocks and invited her to sit.

'Does this mean everything is fine?' she thought as she sat. 'He looks calm, so maybe, yes?'

'Besides, he sat down too.'

For additional confirmation, Lydia eyed the horses.

'Hmn... they do not seem bothered or on alert, so maybe there's nothing wrong after all.'

'Then why did he suddenly pause to scan the surroundings? He seemed bothered by something too…'

'Ahh… I don't know.' Lydia gradually moved to the other side of the rock so she'll be closer to Ahmad. 'There, the distance between us is smaller now. If something happens, it will be easier to run and hide behind his back.'

'Since he's carrying a… what do you call that?' Lydia thought as she peeked at the hilt of a sword sticking behind his back. 'Dual sword… paired sword, twin blade, something like that. Well, I don't know what they call them, but since he's carrying swords, he could probably fight.'

'I hope I can rely on him if something unexpected happens since it's even hard for me to catch a fly, much less kill one.'

Lydia sighed before looking around once more.

Then she wrote her name on the snow using the stick to distract her self from imagining the possibilities that could happen while they are heading to the palace.

Once her mind cleared, she drew the stick back and watched the snow flurries fall.

'Beautiful,' she mumbled, making Ahmad look at her. 

When she extended her hand to catch snow flurries, his eyes widened.

He never expected she was referring to those.

After all, from what he had seen and heard, it would be easier to conclude she was referring to her jewelry or clothes.

He did hear her kingdom was untouched by snow, so her fascination for it might be an exception to the norm.

Ahmad turned away, but when he caught a glimpse of the letters written on the snow, his eyes narrowed.

The shapes and strokes were similar to the ones he saw floating around in her room. The only difference was, those were written in blood.

Ahmad stared at the letters for a bit thinking they were an unactivated spell. Then he looked away.

As time ticked, he couldn't help but wonder what was he even doing there.

When Lydia asked him if he could accompany her home, he thought she had something to say, so he agreed. 

However, until now, she hasn't mentioned anything about that day. She had not warned or threatened him either.

Ahmad glanced at Lydia through his side vision.

He wanted to know what's on her mind.

When she appeared near his home. It was clear no one was watching over her from the shadows. 

There were no guards with her too, so he assumed she escaped the palace to do something in secret.

If it has nothing to do with eliminating or warning him. Then she must've entered the forbidden region near his village to gather resources that could only be found there.

Still, that doesn't explain why she asked for his company.

Since she came out of the forbidden region alive, she surely doesn't need his protection. 

'Just what does she want from me?' Ahmad thought as he watched her erase the letters using her stick.

After pondering about it more, he gave up and stood. He just wants to send her back, ask for her verdict, ensure his family's safety, and return home. 

"Shall we set out now, your highness?"

"Very well."

…

Lydia yawned as the horse continued to gallop.

It was not like they hadn't rested after the first one, but it turns out traveling by horse was more tiring than she thought.

Besides maintaining her balance, the weather was draining her energy.

'Grr, so cold,' she thought while staring at the forked path ahead.

Since she doesn't know the way, she slowed down and let Ahmad lead.

However, when he turned left, her pupils constricted. 

She felt like they should take the path on her right, but he's the one who knows the way, so she followed behind.

However, when the wind seemed to have gotten stronger, and the subtle whisper at the back of her mind grew louder, she halted.

"Where does the other path lead to?"

Ahmad stopped. "The palace, your highness, but, if we take that route, we will arrive there by midnight instead of sunset."

"That path is narrow and unsuitable for horses. Although the thick vegetation probably thinned out due to the weather, it would still be hard to spot beasts and monsters due to the terrain. Besides, the giant leeches there enter dormancy much later due to the abundance of beasts they could feed on."

'What?'

'Wait, wait, that escalated quickly.'

'Did he just say beasts and monsters?'

'There are monsters here?'

'Just what kind of creatures was he referring to?'

'I hope they're just big predatory animals, not like the grotesque ones in books and movies, but… but still predatory animals are dangerous too…'

'Plus giant leeches?' Lydia shivered as she imagined one.

'No, no, I'm not going that way… never, ever, never, never.'

'Yeesh, why does it seem like this world suddenly became scary?'

'I… what was that feeling then? If that path is dangerous, why did I feel like taking it would be better?'

'Maybe because I'm hungry again, so my intuition became haywire.'

'I'll just go with the path he chose. He's the expert, after all.'

Lydia fixed her hood before meeting Ahmad's eyes. "I see. Let us proceed with this route, then."

"Understood, your highness," he replied before leading the way.

The further they go, the wider the road became. The winding path also became linear, making it easier to travel.

Despite those, the nagging at the back of Lydia's mind only grew stronger.

'Why?'

'This is clearly the better choice.'