Part Four

LEAVING SKIN EXPOSED wasn’t so bad when the sun was up. Corey knew in the areas of the tundra with shallower snowpack they would have visible ground by now and that ground would be getting to the point where it would be possible to till it. In fact, if Corey were still back home, living in the barn loft with his aunt and uncle, that would be exactly his job for the day. To test the soil to see if it was unfrozen, to get it turned over, and to gauge when it would be safe enough to plant without worrying about it freezing again overnight. They had to plant early enough to allow for full growth before the cold started creeping in with Star Season. It was a gamble, and it was one Corey didn’t honestly miss. He missed his aunt and uncle, and he missed the simpler life he had led then, but having to take that gamble—which could affect people’s lives if they didn’t have enough food to store for the winter—was a heavy one he didn’t think he would ever miss again.

The other towns and villages needed to invest in greenhouses like the Tower. Maybe not as big, but big enough they could grow small plants indoors. They could double the growing season by doing that.

And Corey had no idea why he was thinking about something like that at the moment. He was four days out on a sled pulled by the fluffiest dogs he had ever seen, squished on the narrow platform with Elda and Ward. John had remained behind at the Tower this year, but his second in command, Oster, was guiding a second sled with another woman and the majority of their bags. Two more sleds with three people each trailed them.

It was impossible to talk to anyone on the sleds. Elda was behind and above them on the steering platform, concentrating on the dogs. Ward was strapped in on the lower level with Corey, but he was also sitting behind him with their bedrolls between them. It was still too cold for Corey to dare take his thick gloves off, so he couldn’t even read the book he had brought. That left Corey alone with only the company of his thoughts that at this point were wandering aimlessly.

Corey glanced behind, first at Elda who was somehow managing to hold onto the reins despite the thick gloves she was also wearing. Corey knew he certainly couldn’t have done that. He looked at Ward next, who was not only wearing the same thick fur coat they all were but had wrapped at least three additional blankets around himself. For a man who had been living in the tundra for who knew how many centuries, Ward certainly wasn’t acclimated. It was almost funny, and it was certainly cute. Every once in a while, Corey caught a glimpse of Ward’s eyes bravely peeking out before the cold got to him and he bundled back up.

It made Corey laugh, but it also explained the multitude of blankets on Ward’s bed back at the Tower. And he had willingly given Corey one of those blankets every time Corey had come to visit. That almost said more about Ward than his power or his position. The thought made Corey’s heart thump and his fingers tingle.

A blazing certainty was growing every day in Corey’s mind. Sitting on the sled with only his thoughts for company, Corey’s mind kept returning to this same subject. Ward was his friend, yes, and his confidant. Corey definitely appreciated that. Yet there was more. Or, at least, Corey wanted more.

He knew better, though. Ward was the Sentinel. Brother to the Oracle and tasked with the all-important duty of keeping the land safe from Sin. He didn’t need some kid fawning all over him like a lovesick puppy. Ward needed someone to talk to, someone to help his endless days pass a little quicker, and Corey wasn’t about to ruin that for Ward by revealing his feelings.

Corey faced forward on the sled before Ward peeked out again and noticed him looking. At least the view ahead of them was actually interesting, instead of just endless snow. Their destination had been visible from the ground when they had stopped to camp last night, but it had taken them almost all of today to get close. Corey could see the trees were massive, even from the distance they still had to travel. He hadn’t been able to tell just how large they were from Ward’s Tower, but they kept looking bigger the closer the dogs pulled the sleds.

Corey breathed the chill air and closed his eyes, remembering those dark days in the heart of Star Season. His aunt’s surety that they needed to make the trip, his uncle’s calm even as the temperature continued to plummet. It had been dark, so dark, as he slowly slipped to sleep. And it had been so very quiet. Looking back now, Corey knew the moment he had stopped hearing his uncle’s breathing, when the creak of snow and hiss of wind had told him he was utterly alone in the middle of the tundra.

Even with his eyes closed, the brightness around him reminded Corey that this was a different trip. The cold, the sled, and the traveling might all be the same, but the sun and Ward’s shivering behind him was all Corey needed to keep his newfound lightness in the forefront of his mind. He would enjoy this trip, Corey told himself firmly, no matter what memories it dragged up.

Elda called a halt about an hour later. The sun was touching the horizon, but they could have traveled another half hour before they ran out of enough sunlight to make camp.

“Tomorrow morning we’ll walk the last bit,” Elda explained as she moved past him to start unhooking the dogs from the sled.

Corey nodded to show he’d heard before heading to the baggage sled to start unpacking the tents. That explained why they had stopped early. They weren’t quite in the shadow of the trees, but apparently a morning’s walk would get them there in time for the ceremony.

While Corey and some of the others began to set up the tents, Oster unearthed the packed fuel and the large, flat stone they used as a base for a fire. They took the thick furs from the sleds and covered the tent floors with them. A few other furs were set around the crackling fire for people to sit on. Ward, still bundled from head to toe, settled on one of those furs as close to the fire as he could get without lighting his blankets. Elda bustled around him with the bag of food in hand and started putting out the supplies she needed to prepare dinner. They would eat and head to bed quickly. Once the sun was fully down, it would be bearable out if they stayed by the fire—it was Sun Season after all—but far warmer in tents that blocked the wind.

That first night of the trip, Corey had thought he wouldn’t be tired. He had only sat on a sled all day, but the second he lay down he was asleep. Something about traveling and the cold exhausted him. Now at the end of the fourth day of travel, he was still looking forward to dinner and bed tonight too, although his bedding raised a different set of issues.

The first night he had followed Ward unthinkingly, knowing they all had to share a tent with someone, and he had shared Ward’s bed in the Tower during the day often enough. Ward hadn’t said anything; in fact, he seemed to welcome the extra warmth of another body, but the looks Corey had gotten in the morning had been pointed. Ward apparently slept alone. Yet the next night Ward had beckoned, and Corey headed to Ward’s tent again. Tonight would no doubt be the same.

Corey knew he was tired from the long day and would fall asleep quickly, but something about the idea of sharing a tent with Ward had his heart beating faster. He felt his cheeks heating up as he screwed the tent stake deep into the snow to keep the tent secure in case of wind. He wanted… Well, no, he wasn’t allowed to want that. It had been made abundantly clear to him by the narrow-eyed looks and disapproving frowns from everyone except Elda that he was a strange interloper invading Ward’s private space. Ward was their god, and no mere mortal like Corey should be allowed to touch him.

But Corey wanted to touch him. He wanted to know what Ward’s skin felt like with all the blankets and furs pulled away. He wanted to know what Ward sounded like in the dead of night when only the stars could hear them. Corey wanted so much from the man who had taught him to breathe again, and the answer was clear: Don’t even try. Don’t think about it. It was sacrilege of the worst sort to even be having these kinds of thoughts. Yet, every time Ward’s eyes crinkled when they peeked out of the cocoon of blankets, Corey’s thoughts went spinning away again.

And Corey could guess what Ward would say about his feelings. To Ward, Corey was just another kid in need of a little guidance. Ward would see puppy love or hero worship. He wouldn’t be dismissive of Corey’s feelings, of course, but there was no way he would ever reciprocate.

Corey let out a heavy breath and stretched his arms over his head to release any residual pressure in his spine. He would have to figure out a way to get over these feelings before he ended up hurting their friendship.

He took a quick lap around the tent to make certain everything looked good before eagerly heading toward the fire where a pot was starting to steam. Ward was sitting on one of the furs spread around the fire, his toes just a hairsbreadth away from actually being in the flames. Corey sat next to him to wait for dinner to be served.

One by one, the rest of their party finished their own tasks and came to warm themselves by the fire. They chatted among themselves, but it didn’t take long for Corey to notice that they never engaged Ward. They also never said anything to draw Corey into the conversation. Corey couldn’t help frowning unhappily at that. His first few months at the Tower he had either been too ill or too depressed to really make any friends, and now that he had made one friend he was losing the opportunity for more. Were they so afraid of Ward they were avoiding Corey too? He wouldn’t give up his friendship with Ward for anything, but he didn’t enjoy being ignored either.

Whatever, Corey told himself firmly. There were hundreds of people living in the Tower complex. He would find someone. Until then, he did have his friendship with Ward. The quiet of Ward’s room, the ease of spending time with Ward, was better even than the friends he had left behind when he had come to the Tower. He didn’t really need more than that.

“So,” Elda called, her firm voice easily cutting through the other conversations. She waited for everyone to turn their attention to her before continuing. “Some of you have been here before, but most of you haven’t. I want to go over how tomorrow will go now, so listen up. We’ll be up with the sun like usual, and after breakfast we’ll walk to the temple. Our Sentinel”—she gestured toward Ward—“will lead us in the solstice ceremony, after which we will walk back to camp. We’ll pack up and have a quick lunch and see about getting half a day’s head start back home.”

“Why the rush?” a woman to whom Corey had never been introduced called from the other side of the fire.

“Because it’s really cold out here and we all have duties we’re neglecting right now,” Oster replied easily. “The ceremony must be done at the temple, so we make the trip each solstice, but this isn’t a vacation. It is a sacred duty, and I expect you to treat it as such.”

No one had a reply to that, so Elda nodded to the group and then turned to stir whatever was in the pot.

“Get bowls and spoons out. This is ready.”

They ate in the lengthening shadows of the setting sun, and by the time Corey was done eating he had to use the firelight to see as he scooped snow to wipe out his bowl and return it to where they stored the dishes. The wind was picking up and the temperature was dropping, so he gladly followed Ward into the tent where their thick sleeping bags and the hide-walls would get them through the night.

“Is there anything I should know about tomorrow?” Corey asked as he pulled off his heavy boots and tucked them out of the way near the door Ward had just finished lacing shut.

Ward dropped a handful of blankets onto the top of his sleeping bag and then knelt to take off his own boots. “It’s a strange place, but you’ll see that when we get there.” He paused while he tugged on the heel of one boot to pull it off his foot. “Sin is inside, but the protections we’re renewing are outside, so there’s no reason we’ll see him, but we might see one of his priests or priestesses.”

“People live there with him?” Corey asked. He couldn’t believe someone would choose to live out in the middle of the unforgiving tundra with the god that had tried to destroy the world.

“Humans inherently carry a little sin in them. It’s part of your nature and why Sin was able to come into being. Some humans carry a little more sinful intent than others, and those humans are called by Sin’s powers. He corrupts their minds even further and keeps them here for his own amusements, and he uses what limited power he still possesses while inside his prison to keep them alive even in the cold and without food as long as they continue to entertain him. They have come to the ceremony before to beg for Sin’s release, or to attack us to try to stop the ceremony, or simply to watch and bring back news to Sin.”

Corey lay back in his sleeping bag and pulled the flaps up so it covered everything but his face. He still couldn’t believe Sin had people he kept there.

“We can’t save them?” Corey couldn’t help asking, hopeful despite the fact that he already felt safe in assuming the answer was no.

Ward sat down next to his sleeping bag and stuck his feet in to begin sliding inside. “Ugh. I wish I could warm this by the fire first. No. We tried once, a long time ago. One killed three people, another tried to destroy one of our greenhouses in the darkest part of Star Season. It was decided not to try again.”

Corey grimaced, but he wasn’t surprised.

“Don’t feel bad for them,” Ward added softly, and Corey looked over to see Ward smiling gently at him. “They were given a choice to join Sin; he doesn’t kidnap them.” Corey could only nod in reply. That smile sent his heart thumping again. He wanted to scooch his sleeping bag closer to Ward’s so he could see that smile another time and maybe taste it on Ward’s lips. He knew better than to do that though. Instead, he curled up so the bag covered the lower half of his face.

He thought the chances of his falling asleep after that were slim, but as Ward’s breathing grew slow and even with sleep, Corey felt his own eyes sliding closed. The long day took its toll as Corey fell asleep.