Chapter 9: Doing Anything Was Better Than Doing Nothing

This was not what she wanted.

The entire situation she was in: possibly dead and transmigrated into a dating sim, was not what she wanted, but being in charge of a group project was even lower on the list of things she wanted. She spent years at a job planning and plotting various projects, calculating costs, scheduling deliverables, and making sure multi-million-dollar projects were completed on time.

She did not want to relive high school and be a project manager again. She wasn’t even being paid.

Yet, there she was. The morning chill lightly penetrated her Lycée du Soleil embroidered cloak as she slipped out of the dorm to get to the Lycée library when it opened so she could find a map to reference.

The day before, her new group had huddled in one of the study rooms on the ground floor of the east dorm until near curfew in order to properly plan what they needed to buy and do, and when they’d do so. Taking into consideration the various resources the group had, Tori assigned them action items that needed to be in motion by that weekend.

Henrik was the merchant guild leader’s son and had the knowledge and resources to source supplies and get their pricing. Ewan was to help him check the quality of the supplies, as he had experienced camping with his siblings in the past. The twins, because their mother was a cook, were in charge of procuring the food for the excursion.

After some debate, they decided to go with the easiest and most convenient choice of pre-cooked food: bread, smoked meat, some hard cheese, and fruit that wouldn’t easily be crushed in their bags. A sort of camping charcuterie board.

Ilyana was raised in a large town and had never been camping nor knew how to cook, but she had one of the most important resources of all: money. She and Tori were paying for the bulk of the supplies; the agreement was that afterwards, they’d just keep the items and resell them.

Tori was in charge of acquiring the map. When she told the group, she tried to make it sound as if it were an important task. To an extent, it was, but if she was being honest, it was also a task that didn’t require her to run around. Ilyana had to go with Ewan and Henrik as the ‘treasurer’ of the group and pay for their supplies.

Tori just had to go to the library, get a map, copy the map, and do a little research on what to expect of the terrain and topography.

Still, this was more work than she wanted to do. Being in any leadership position didn’t just mean planning, but also checking to make sure people were doing their part. Tori just wanted to be lazy, but now people were depending on her, and she hated herself for being weak to responsibility.

Then again, she also didn’t want to die on the excursion, so the part of her that needed to be in control kicked in. What could she do? She was a planner by nature and now she had to plan for a group of six.

As she reached the large library that was to one side of the school’s central courtyard, a middle-aged librarian was unlocking the doors for the day.

“Good morning!” Tori smiled as she jogged up the steps. “Is it open?”

“Just opened it.” The man gave her a kind smile in return. “Come in, come in. First year?"

“Yes, sir! It’s my first time here.”

“Well, what took you so long?” The librarian laughed. He lifted his arm and the dark library was suddenly illuminated by rows of glowing white crystals that let out a gentle light. Tori lifted her head and smiled as she looked up at the vaulted ceiling above the foyer and the walls of books reaching them.

Rows of massive bookshelves were neatly arranged and she could see how the second and third floors were open to the ground floor with desks for students to use against the dark wooden railings. She could smell the scent of old books and parchment and bit her lip. She didn’t think that in a gaming sim school library she’d be able to smell that familiar, comforting scent.

There were narrow windows to let in the light and in the very center of the library, just in front of a walled off area marked as ‘staff only’, was the librarian’s counter. He walked behind it and put his bag underneath before motioning for her to come forward.

“So, then, young lady,” he said as he watched her keep her head up and take in the rows upon rows of books. He smiled, pleased to see her look so impressed. “How can I help you this morning?”

Tori swallowed and took a deep breath. She stepped towards the counter, trying to calm herself. She was always a sucker for libraries, galleries, and museums. There was something about being surrounded by accumulated knowledge that excited her.

“I am looking for reference material to Alpine Valley, a day’s travel north,” she said as she faced the librarian. “Is a detailed map available?”

The librarian's earnestness faltered. “Is this for the First Year Excursion?”

Tori nodded. “Yes.”

A complicated look reached his face. “I am afraid you’re too late, young lady. All our books referencing the Alpine Valley and maps of the area have been checked out.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped. “Already?” It hadn’t even been a week since the syllabus for the excursion was released and they were informed of the location.

The library nodded. “Yes, as soon as the location was revealed, we had several students come in to check items on Alpine Valley. The last map was checked out the day before yesterday.”

He couldn't hear her, but she was internally screaming.

She knit her brows together and shook her head to focus. “When will they be returned?”

“We have a check out period maximum of three weeks for books and two weeks for maps, catalogs, and periodicals.”

Tori squinted. Even if someone returned their map on time, that wouldn’t give them any time to prepare. This week was to organize a group. The next week was to prepare supplies. The week after that was the excursion; they’d leave at night to arrive on the morning of the first day of the hike.

She closed her eyes and bit her lips. They only had one library on campus. If she couldn’t find a resource here, she’d need to try elsewhere. There were at least a dozen bookstores within a three-block radius of Lycée and even more surrounding the Academic Quarter. She didn’t want to have to run around, but it looks like she had no choice.

She opened her eyes. “Then can you recommend books that are suitable for referencing Alpine Valley?”

Tori left the library with seven or eight titles, along with suggested map makers to look for. If she could get her hands on a map by the Imperial Cartographers, it would be best. Still, aside from a slip of paper, she left empty handed, and an anxious feeling knotted in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t help but think this wasn’t an isolated problem.

“So, what are we going to do?” Ilyana’s pretty face fell as she lowered her spoon. Her little bowl of oatmeal was half finished by the time Tori found her eating breakfast in their dorm commons. Tori sat across from her and slumped against the chair. She lifted an apple to her mouth and bit into it with a bitter expression.

“What else can we do?” she said as she glared blankly ahead of her. “After school, I’ll go around the bookstores in the area. Librarian Hawthorne gave me a list of books to look for and suggested two particular bookstores nearby.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” Ilyana asked. Tori shook her head.

“No, you keep with the plan and go with Ewan and Henrik. The bookstores are close, so it’s fine for me to go alone,” she said. “Anyway, don’t forget to ask for receipts and invoices.” Ilyana nodded and finished her oatmeal.

Their homeroom class was across campus from them and by the time they arrived, most of the students from the nearer west dorm were already seated and talking amongst themselves. From their seats in the far corner, they had a good view of the rest of the class. As Ilyana preoccupied herself with a map of the seventh district in preparation for her purchasing trip that afternoon, Tori casually looked towards the game’s protagonist.

Aside from the first day, when her seat was taken, she and Alessa hadn’t spoken. Tori wasn’t sure when they had first contact in the game, but in this reality, she was purposely steering clear of Alessa. Contact would mean greater risk of conflict. However, that didn’t mean Tori didn’t want to know what Alessa was up to. Know thy enemy and all that.

Alessa was seated in the front row, at the desk that Tori originally claimed, and was talking to Dimitri, who was leaning back against his desk, which was right behind Alessa’s. Tori pretended to check her pencils to see which ones needed sharpening as she tilted her ear in their direction.

“That’s a relief!” Alessa said. “I didn’t know everyone would get such an early start.”

“It’s understandable you wouldn’t know,” Dimitri told her. “But for students native to Horizon, Lycée’s First Year Excursion is famous. As soon as the location and tasks are given, everyone starts to gather supplies.”

“I would think they’d start forming groups first.”

“It’s very naive to form a group first, as there is a chance the full group of six won’t be made in time and you could risk being assigned to a random one. It’s smarter to get your supplies in order before you finalize your group.”

Tori clenched her jaw. Dammit, Ewan.

Then again, as energetic and enthusiastic as Ewan was, planning ahead was clearly not his forte. As for the other three, while they were all raised in Horizon, they weren’t exactly from the upper echelon of the city and they, like Ilyana, were the first in their families to go to Lycée. Even if they heard about the excursion, they didn’t necessarily know how to prepare for it.

It made sense that Dimitri, the Prime Minister’s son, and others like him, had an advantage. And Tori couldn’t really hold that against him. She and her group were caught unprepared; it was a learning experience.

But she was still bitter.

“Your Highness!” Tori heard Alessa’s voice raise, and her eyes flickered back across the room. The protagonist rose from her seat and gave Gideon a smile and a little curtsy. Gideon was walking down the aisle and gave her small grin, lifting his hand and giving her a shake of his head as Fabian followed behind him.

“Miss Hart, I told you already. We are classmates. Please call me Gideon,” he said in a pleased voice. Tori narrowed her eyes; he clearly enjoyed the respect his title garnered. What was with the modesty? “How are you two this morning?”

“We're great! And you should call me Alessa if I'm going to call you Gideon." Alessa lifted a hand and playfully poked his arm.

The second prince laughed. "All right, it's a deal."

"I was just discussing the excursion with Dimitri,” Alessa said. “Since you're from Horizon, you must’ve long prepared your supplies.”

Gideon nodded. “Yes, it was just a matter of waiting for the location to be announced.”

“Did you get your map already?” Fabian asked.

Dimitri grinned with confidence. “As soon as the location was revealed.”

“Dimitri!” Behind him, someone leaned over the desk. “You already have a map? Where did you get it?”

“The library.”

Motherfucker! Tori tilted her head up and bit her lip. Of course. Of course, one of the love interests would get a map before her.

The student behind Dimitri groaned, envious. “You’re so lucky! All the maps on Alpine Valley are checked out already.”

“Not only that,” a girl who sat behind that student said. “All the bookstores in the area are also sold out.”

Tori sliced off a larger chunk off her pencil than she entended to and stared at the exposed graphite.

“Tori?” Ilyana looked over at her and knit her brows.

“My hand slipped.”

“Be careful. The sharpener is small, but it’s still sharp.”

“Hmm....” Tori quietly returned to evening out the pencil tip.

“I have a recent map of the area by the Imperial Cartographers.” The second prince seemed to casually mention this.

“From the Imperial Cartographers?” Alessa gasped. “You’re so lucky! A reference like that is invaluable.”

“It’s difficult to get a copy,” Gideon said. “There were two and one is being used as a reference for reprinting. I’m afraid I can’t lend this one out.”

“Hmm...then...would you be able to join our group?” Alessa asked. Tori raised a brow. Wasn’t there a limit to how many people could be from the same class?

“There isn’t any rule that prohibits two groups from working together,” Dimitri said, looking interested. “We already have six people on our side, including two other girls.”

Alessa nodded. “My roommate and her classmate are from another class.”

“What do you say, Gideon?” Dimitri asked as he extended his hand and smiled. “I think we’d make a great team.”

This reverse harem is happening faster than I expected.... Tori saw the second prince glance at Alessa as she put her hand on his arm and nodded her head encouragingly.

“Sounds good,” Gideon said. “The rest of our group are from classes five and six; they were invited for swordsmanship. They can help carry any additional supplies for the girls.”

Tori rolled her eyes. She listened to them discuss getting together to look at the map while Dimitri ‘graciously’ lent out his copy of the map to the classmate behind him. Everyone else seemed to beg for a chance to at least look at and copy the map, as several more people reiterated that the nearby bookstores no longer had any copies.

“I didn’t expect this.” Henrik pushed up the glasses on the tip of his nose as they gathered by the gates after classes. First years would not be required to attend any after school activities until after the First Year Excursion, so she, Ewan, and the twins had time to prepare.

Sonia was frowning as JP narrowed his eyes.

“They said all of the bookstores are sold out?” JP pressed. Tori and Ilyana nodded.

“At least all the ones nearby.” Ilyana took a deep breath. “This isn’t a good sign.”

Tori pursed her lips. “Let’s not dwell on it. You go with Henrik and Ewan, as planned. See if you can get the items on the list. If you can’t buy it immediately, pay for it in advance and we’ll pick it up within a few days.”

“We should hurry out then,” Henrik said, giving her a decisive nod.

“Should we bring what we buy back to you?” Ewan asked as they began to walk away.

Tori nodded. “Ilyana and I share a room, so we can store our supplies there temporarily.”

“What about any food we get?” JP asked.

“Mom still has to make some of it, so it may take a few days to be ready,” Sonia said. “We should have it by next weekend, though.”

“What about the items your mom can’t make in time?” Tori asked.

“She knows plenty of suppliers. She’ll be able to direct us to at least one who can sell us some cheese.”

“Perfect. I’ll leave all the food related things to you two.” Tori gave them a nod and watched them leave. In terms of locals, the twins lived furthest away from Lycée, by the Imperial Stables, where their father was a groom. Their mother lived part-time at the palace, but came home every few days. They were hoping to catch her while she was home in order to ask for some food.

Tori and Ilyana, of course, insisted that they pay for the trouble. The twins said they would get back to them.

Now that she was alone, Tori unfolded a piece of paper with a simple map she doodled during her break. She marked off the various bookstores in the seventh district and took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Okay, Tori...let’s do this.”

She set off from Lycée, walking through the gates brimming with determination.

It was well past sunset when she walked back through them, filled with frustration and moderate rage.

There were nineteen bookstores she had crossed off her list. Nineteen. And not a single one had any reference material on Alpine Valley left. Not a single map, cartography book, guide or reference book was left. It didn’t make sense to her.

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180 students in groups of six should’ve only made thirty groups. The only thing she could think of were that students in the same group hoarded reference material. But so soon? Was there some sort of fixed limit to resources in the game that kept her from getting one damn map?

The day after next was the weekend. She supposed she could use that time to go out further, to other districts, and try to find reference material. Of course, no other area had a concentration of bookstores like the Academic Quarter and it would take much more time to visit them.

Horizon had a city library near the palace. That was a possible option she would need to look into. Tori lifted her hand and ran it down her face as she climbed up the stairs to her dorm room. Maybe her Auntie Lucia had a map? The chances were slim. Her aunt was essentially an office worker.

She creaked open her door and kicked off her shoes before stumbling to her bed. She spread out her arms and fell face first onto her blankets and let out a groan. She remembered this feeling of utter exhaustion when faced with a roadblock at work. It was a given that things didn’t always go as planned.

No matter how well she prepared, how straightforward her requirements, how set the schedule, there were always issues that appeared. Sometimes, they were an easy fix. Fill out a form, reference some email. Other times, they were more complex, requiring multiple meetings, escalating requests to executives, and physically finding people in the office to sign off on documents moments before they got off of work for the day.

Tori had to be able to adapt. She could not panic. Despite herself, she couldn’t be overwhelmed and do nothing when faced with a problem. Doing anything was better than doing nothing.

She rolled over on her bed and stared at her canopy. She had five other people depending on her.

She took a deep breath and pushed herself into a seated position. Tori got up and walked to her desk, pulling the chair out and sitting down. On the small shelf in front of her, she had a little wooden carving of the Guevera family coat of arms: a shield separated into three parts. On the top right, a lion on its hind legs with teeth bared: strength and valor. On the left, a lamp with a flame: knowledge and wisdom. On the bottom, oak tree: virtue and family.

In the center, where all the parts met, there was a little stone fortress with a sword going through it as a general reminder of the Guevera Mark and its military contributions. The ribbon below was engraved with ‘We Do Not Yield’. We as in the family.

Tori narrowed her eyes and plucked a pen from her pencil cup. She wrote down names of possible resources her family told her to reach out to.

Auntie Lucia was first. Then Uncle Maurizo. Then Axton and finally Piers.

She stared at a list as she placed her comcry on her desk and tapped the names. After some thought, she crossed out Piers’ name. Even if her brother insisted that she reach out to him if needed, it was still awkward for her to contact the first prince of the empire for a mere map. Also, she had issues with his brother and didn't feel like now was the time to bring them up.

She then crossed out Uncle Maurizo; he spent most of his time in his lab and greenhouse. She’d have a better chance with Auntie Lucia.

Before she could decide who to call, the door swung open and she jumped in her seat. She turned around and watched as Ilyana lumbered in, a pitiful look on her face.

“Ilyana?” Tori rose from her seat. “Are you all right?”

The door closed behind Ilyana and a small click was heard as it locked. The pretty, second ranked student lifted her eyes and met Tori’s.

“Sold out.”

“What?”

“Everything...bedrolls, tents, bags, even a small ax for getting wood for a fire....” Ilyana sat down on the edge of her bed, as if all life was sucked out of her. “They’re all sold out.”

Tori’s eyes crinkled up. “That can’t be right. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of adventurers and mercenaries and hunters that go through this city every day. There must be a stock of equipment somewhere.”

Ilyana shook her head. “We went to nearly all the stores registered with the merchant’s guild that would have those items. The stores we couldn’t get to, Henrik had some people from the guild check for us. Everything is gone. It’s like someone swept through and bought all the basic supplies!”

Once more, Tori’s mind ran through the math of 180 students. Were things just made to order here so there wasn’t a pre-made stock ready? Did she fail to take that into account? Tori wracked her mind.

“You guys checked stores, but what about craftsmen directly?” she asked.

Ilyana shook her head. “We didn’t, but several stores say that they wouldn’t be getting stock from their sources for at least another two weeks.”

“Two weeks!” Tori wanted to flip her table.

“We also ran into the twins on the way back....” Ilyana looked pale and Tori’s stomach sank.

“More bad news?”

“Their mother has been assigned to food preparation for a two week scheduled meeting with envoys from Prevak and Nazria. She wasn’t even able to come home as planned today.”

“Then...food-wise....”

“They’re trying to contact her to see if she can recommend some places to source food, but people at the merchant guild told us ready-made food for travel is in short supply and is usually ordered ahead of time. We’re going to have to look into ordering dried goods this weekend if we want to have food to bring with us.”

Tori slowly sat back down. “I can’t believe this....” Fuck this stupid game!

“I know,” Ilyana said, lowering her eyes. “At this time of the year, many people are leaving to do the last hunts before winter. We don’t know how long it’ll take to get food prepared, let alone all the other supplies. Ewan almost got into a fight over a blanket at one of the stores!”

“It’s the same situation with the maps,” Tori said, irritated that she had to break the news. “None of the bookstores in the area have any left.”

Ilyana bit her lips. “Henrik saw some classmates of his while we were shopping and asked if they had a map we could copy.” She looked at Tori with discomfort on her face. "They refused us.”

“Because...?” Tori squinted. Ilyana looked at her silently. “Me?” Her roommate nodded and Tori took in a sharp breath.

Ilyana’s eyes crinkled up. “It seems a lot of people know that you’re in our group....”

She should’ve known her bad reputation wouldn’t leave her group unharmed. Tori shook her head as one hand gripped the edge of her desk. While the lack of supplies wasn’t necessarily their fault, the fact that she was part of the group made the situation worse. And she hated that.

“Tori....” Ilyana sounded as if she were going to cry. “What are we going to do? We can’t go on the excursion without supplies. We can use our bookbags, but I don’t think they’re big enough. And our blankets...will they be enough? Ewan said he’ll ask his siblings this weekend if we can borrow any supplies they have.”

Her first ever friend in this world sounded absolutely defeated and Tori couldn’t stand it.

She was the leader and as the leader, she needed to make a decision. Tori lifted her hand, closed her eyes, and brought her finger down on the list of names. She opened her eyes and looked.

She picked up her comcry and slid her finger across the smooth, clear quartz. The crystal began to glow and Tori lifted it towards her mouth.

“Call Axton du Nassaun.”

Once more, Tori was outside of her warm, soft bed at dawn, this time draped in her lamb leather cloak, and waiting outside the main gates of Lycée. The first weekend since school started and instead of sleeping in, she was standing in the morning fog, having eaten nothing that morning and only fueled by bitterness and spite; the true breakfast of villains.

The day before, she spent her time after class consoling her group mates and listening to them venting about the ridiculous lack of resources. Henrik said that he’d heard many other groups having similar issues; it wasn’t just them. The school itself only gave a list of ‘suggested’ supplies. None of it was technically mandatory, so students were left on their own.

How Spartan.

As much as Tori would’ve liked to solve their problems within the group, they were limited in ability. The four Horizon kids were commoners; they couldn’t spend large amounts of money to acquire necessary supplies nor did they have enough resources at their hands to do so. This included Henrik, who was arguably the wealthiest and most resourceful of the four.

Ilyana was just wealthy and came to Horizon without knowing a soul. Even if she had the money, she didn’t know where to go to spend it.

In the end, Tori was their best bet and after watching her group members be ignored by other groups, and generally looked down on, she was determined not to let her group regret making her the leader.

Alessa’s resources were the young men she’d encountered who had taken a liking to her. That was part of the protagonist’s halo; that luck at the right moments.

Well, Tori had young men she’d encountered - although not through her own effort, too!

Axton picked up almost immediately when she called him and, considering how the last few days had gone for her, she was surprised.

“Good evening, Tori. How’s your first week so far?”

She had forgotten how nice his voice sounded and she looked towards Ilyana, who could faintly hear his voice from the comcry. Ilyana looked a bit surprised.

“It’s been...interesting. Do you have a moment to talk?”

He laughed and Tori bit her lips. Across from her, Ilyana blushed and she almost wanted to nod in agreement. Yeah, it is a sexy laugh. You should see him in person.

“For you, of course. What’s wrong?”

“Classes are going fine. I’m understanding the course work and my elective instructor has been very helpful. I’m actually calling regarding the excursion.”

“Oh....” Axton’s voice lowered. “So, you haven’t found a group.” The way he said it made it sound as if it were expected and Tori narrowed her eyes.

“No, I have a group,” she said in a firm voice. “It’s a really good one. My roommate is part of it and one of my fellow fencers from the sword association is in. It’s just that we got together late.”

“Ah...and all the supplies are sold out.”

“You guys didn’t warn me about this.” She didn’t mean to accuse him, but they had given her so much information about Lycée and the excursion in particular. It was a bit annoying that the limited resources part was left out. “Did this happen to you?”

“I heard it was fairly common, but Piers was in our group and he can get anything.”

Tori made a blank face. Of course he can, he’s the first prince. “My group and I checked all the surrounding stores for maps on Alpine Valley and supplies for the excursion. Everything is completely sold out. We also still have to put in orders for dried goods to bring with us to eat.”

“I see...so you are calling for help.”

“That’s what my brother said to do,” Tori told him. She sighed. “I don’t want to bother you, Axton. It’s just that my group is out of options.”

“I get it,” he said. “Then, what do you need from us?”

Tori glanced at Ilyana, whose face lit up with hope when she heard that.

“First, I need a map,” Tori said. “Then, I need a horse.”

With that, Axton agreed to meet with her the morning of the first day of the weekend, with a horse so she could travel faster around the city and get her errands done.

From the morning mist, she could see two dark shadows approaching on the large oval driveway leading to the school’s gates.

“Good morning, Tori.” Axton, wearing a dark blue riding cloak to keep him warm, sat atop the gray-ish blue speckled horse she’d seen him riding when they first met. The horse seemed to chuff in greeting, as well.

“Morning!” Tori stepped forward and lifted her hand to the horse’s nose so he could smell and nudge her. “Good morning, Blue River.”

“You’re not going to say good morning to me?” Just behind Blue River was a white horse with gray points. She was a bit smaller, with a light gray mane and big, dark eyes that looked just as disinterested as her rider.

Tori lifted her eyes from the horse to the cold-looking man riding on her. “Good morning, Your Highness.”

“I said you can call me Piers.”

“Sure.” Tori glanced away. In front of her, Axton dismounted. “Am I going to ride Blue River?”

“Yes, he’s a patient horse.” Axton said as he stepped aside and held the reins. He passed Tori and patted the side of Blue River’s neck.

“Thanks for coming out to help me today. I didn’t expect both of you to come,” Tori said.

“The horses needed to be ridden,” Piers said, indifferent. Tori rolled her eyes. She didn’t call him for help, anyway. He just came with Axton.

She walked to the side of Blue River and Axton held the horse steady. “Do you need help getting on?”

Tori narrowed her eyes. “I can get on a horse by myself.”

Victoria easily could and Tori had at least three lessons. She could get on the saddle well enough. She raised her leg, pleased that she wore pants she was saving for fencing that day, and put her booted foot on the stirrup. She grasped the saddle and with a jump and a pull, lifted her body and dragged it across the leather seat, then wiggled forward and threw her other leg across to the other side.

This body was a little taller than her original one, but her mounting the saddle was still nowhere near as graceful as movies would make it out to be.

“Move forward a bit more,” Axton told her. Used to getting instruction from her riding instructor, Tori moved forward on the saddle. “Move your foot.” She wiggled her foot off from the stirrup.

Suddenly, her body was tilted to the side as Axton pulled himself up. His legs brushed against hers on either side of Blue River as his body pressed against her back.

Tori’s eyes went wide as her heart shot to her mouth. “What are you doing!?” His arms appeared on either side of her and held the reins.

“Riding the horse,” he told her, calm. “Senior Kasen told us that you fell off a horse this summer.”

“I...but....” Tori stuttered as she crinkled her eyes. “That wasn’t my fault! I mean....” Oh, fuck it. “It was my fault, but it was because I was being impatient and the horse wasn’t ready to be ridden!” Axton ignored her and gently kicked his heel against Blue River, signaling the horse to go forward. “I am perfectly capable of riding a horse to the twelfth district by myself!”

She looked ahead of them, her face red as Axton’s body could be felt gently grazing at her back. Even if it was just for a moment, she could feel not only how firm it was, but the heat radiating off of him. This was awkward.

“We only have two horses, so you’d have to ride with one of us.” Axton’s low laugh rolled behind her and Tori looked over her shoulder, at Piers; her only other option that she really didn’t want.

He met her eyes and almost seemed to shrug. “Snow Queen doesn’t like other people riding her. Not even Axton.”

Tori let out a low grumble and lifted her hands to pull up her hood over her head. If anyone saw her, they’d think she was in the protective embrace of mister-romance-novel-cover-model. She crossed her arms defiantly over her chest and slumped in the saddle.

“Just take me to Daybreak Garden.”

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