I pressed my palm to the earth. A slight tingle rolled along my fingers. Was it going in any certain direction? Concentrating, I thought it might be coming from my left. Which didn’t help since I couldn’t crawl because he’d hear me. I needed to stay on my feet. Of course!

Sitting down, I pulled my boots and socks off. I stood, cringing as my soles touched the cold ground. After my skin adapted to the temperature, I felt that tingle pointing to the left. I’d have to find him before my feet froze and lost all sensation.

The vibrations intensified as I walked. I covered a good bit of ground before the tingle stopped. Which probably meant Kerrick had seen me with bare feet, figured out what I was doing and ceased using magic, or my feet were numb.

Kerrick must be close. I turned in a circle, scanning the forest before remembering he wouldn’t stand out. Frustration swelled, but I shoved it down. What were my options? I couldn’t use sight, touch or sound. What’s left? Taste and smell.

Not about to taste the dirt, I sniffed the air. The cold damp scent of earth with a slight rotten taint filled my nose. With no other options, I returned to the cave and did sweeps again, but instead of listening, I drew in deep lungfuls of air. Ten, twelve, fifteen, twenty, twenty-three sweeps later, I caught a hint of spring sunshine. Like a hunting dog, I followed it, sucking in so much air I was dizzy.

The scent increased and I focused all my energy into staying with it. It led me to a huge briar full of thorns. I remembered when Kerrick had rolled me right through the underbrush. But then he had used his magic. Of course, he could have pulled power to get inside, then stopped. Except his scent wasn’t coming from the patch, but seemed to surround me. Odd.

I circled the briar a few times, puzzling over the inconsistency. No brilliant solution came to mind. I’d lost him. That one word—lost—jolted me. Yegor the bull had lost his horns. I scanned the trees above my head.

Kerrick lounged on a limb. His amused half smile grew into a full-blown grin. “What took you so long?”

“Well, I napped a couple hours this afternoon so the boys would believe they were hard to find.”

“Ah, yes, the fragile male ego. Always good to keep it intact.” Kerrick swung down from the limb and landed beside me without making a sound. “So what gave me away? My magic?”

“At first, but you stopped using it.”

“Once I realized I’d connected to the forest, I had to stop. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been fair.”

“Uh-huh. Keep repeating that, and maybe one of us will eventually believe you.” Now that the game had ended, I relaxed and woke to other sensations. The cold air assaulted my exposed skin. My hands and feet were numb. I retraced my steps to where I’d left my boots.

Kerrick followed but kept quiet as I pulled on my wool socks. I shivered. My cloak was back at the cave. Of course Kerrick had gone the farthest.

We headed back “home.”

After a few minutes, he said, “You didn’t answer my question. How did you find me?”

I feigned confusion. “I didn’t answer? Odd. Doesn’t sound like me.”

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because if you tell me, I might change something and you won’t be able to find me next time.”

And I was too embarrassed to tell him I sniffed him out. I shouldn’t know he smelled of spring sunshine, shouldn’t care and shouldn’t tell him a damn thing. But, knowing him, he would pester me for an answer.

I asked, “Remember when Belen was injured by the mercs?”

“Hard to forget.”

“You distracted them while Flea and the monkeys positioned themselves up on the rocks. It was a good strategy. People don’t usually look up. When I lost your trail, I remembered it.”

“Interesting.” He didn’t say anything else for the rest of the trip.

The others waited for us outside the cave. Their expressions remained uncertain as they looked from me to Kerrick and back, searching for some hint of what had happened. They hoped I’d failed. After all, they had boasted about Kerrick’s superior forest skills.

Finally, Quain asked, “Well?”

“You were right,” I said before Kerrick could open his mouth. “I couldn’t find him.”

I endured a few “told you so’s” from the monkeys and Flea. They whooped and were obnoxious. Belen, though, gave me a shrewd look. I met his gaze without flinching or glancing down. I’d learned to lie while on the run. My life had depended on it. Funny, my mother didn’t even have to see my face to know when I’d been lying.

Once the boys were done crowing, they returned to the cave for a special surprise. I grabbed my cloak and moved to follow, but Kerrick clasped my shoulder, stopping me.

“Explain,” he ordered.

“I couldn’t disappoint them.”

“That makes no sense. I let them down. Not you. Besides, it’s just a silly game. And they won’t let you forget it. You did boast you were Queen Seeker.”

“It may have been a silly game to you, but not to them. You’re their leader. They have complete confidence in you, which they should. Any doubt, no matter how small or silly, can be detrimental to their trust. You’ll be ordering them to risk their lives, not the Queen Seeker.”

Kerrick stared at me so long I grew uncomfortable and wondered what he was thinking about. I almost swayed in relief when he glanced away.