Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 3)

Pratik hesitated. It looked like she had more than one. “I wouldn’t mind an extra. Are you warm enough?”

Ada had wrapped the second blanket around her torso now so she had a head and chest covering, but she picked up the last blanket. "I'm fine. My fingers are chilled but you two look like you could use another one."

Pratik nodded and maneuvered his horse near enough to take the blanket. "Thank you... are you holding up alright?"

"I'm fine," she said firmly, though she was shivering slightly. "How much farther to the village?"

"A little under an hour, I would guess," Pratik answered. He spread the blanket across his lap and pulled it up his torso a bit. It also helped with the utter misery of the cold. "Maybe less. We've been making good time."

"Good." Ada squared her shoulders. "We're going to make it."
"I like your spirit," Rickard said encouragingly, and she scowled at him.

Pratik smirked a bit, deciding to cover his right hand with the blanket, still holding on to the reins. He couldn't risk losing the use of his hands from the cold.

"We will make it," Pratik confirmed. "I've got a contact there who will give us a room and some additional supplies. We'll only stay a few hours -- I want to be on the road again before dawn. But it'll let us rest a bit."

Maybe that would make Ada less prickly. Though he wasn't going to hold his breath.

"You're very well organized," Rickard said in surprise. "How long have you been planning this?"

Since before I got in that cage.

Pratik was silent for a moment, trying to think about how honest to be with them. It was far too dangerous to be honest with them. At least until they got to Serpent Keep -- and maybe after that, too.

"I'm good at making friends," Pratik said gruffly, not actually answering the question. "Been planning long enough to make it work."

Ada pursed her lips but said nothing. Rickard nodded, impressed. "I wish I had your courage."

"It's not courage if you have nothing to lose," Pratik said with a shrug. He remembered his fictional daughter a moment later, so he continued, "Besides, you have plenty of courage. You're the one who decided to climb atop this horse with me. You could have run straight to Tarr."

Well, that wasn't properly true. Pratik would have stopped him -- but he would have then felt guilty about having to hurt the old man. This was a much better solution.

"That would have made him notice me," Rickard pointed out with a shudder. "I'm not the sort to try and grab the attention of my masters." He rubbed at his neck where the collar was chafing the skin. "I've learned many lessons about that over the years, none of them easy."

(He's about 46 by the way. So he's been a slave for 42 years. Not super important info but just a tidbit)

(Ahh, good to know! I wasn't sure -- but Pratik would probably still call him old haha but it helps to have a better mental image)

Pratik glanced at Ada involuntarily, then looked back over his shoulder at Rickard. She certainly had ended up in the center of Tarr's attention -- and though no fault of her own. But he didn't need to bring attention to it. "I'm sure," Pratik agreed. "People who pretend like they own other humans have no soul at all. It's best to avoid them."

Or, kill them. But he needed to bide his time on that one.

(He definitely looks like an old man; his hair's gone gray and he holds himself like an old man.)

"Easier said than done." Rickard rolled his shoulders, wincing as joints popped. "I've heard horse-riding is a recreational pastime in some places. Have the riders taken leave of their senses or just lost any sense of pain?"

(Poor guy ;-;)

That was enough to earn a small laugh from Pratik. "I believe it's more enjoyable when you're not running for your life."