Chapter 158: Dead Daughter

Chapter 158: 158: Dead Daughter

Lucard did not return through the passage Aldren had used.

That path was no longer clean. Even if the baron kept his men quiet, the smell of them remained in the stone. Boots had crushed the wet dust. Red Hook blood had touched the ground. A few guards had leaned against the walls while waiting. If better hunters or Velkhur dogs came later, they would read that passage first.

Lucard opened the old Stoneford map under the faint red light of his blood circle and studied the marks.

Elowen stood beside him, still holding the silver token and her mother’s ring in both hands. Her eyes were red, but she had stopped crying loudly. The tears still fell now and then, but she wiped them away quickly, as if she was ashamed of making sound.

Lucard ignored the tears.

Tears were not useful unless they softened an enemy or washed poison from the eyes. Hers did neither right now.

"There is another exit," he said.

Elowen looked up. "Where?"

Lucard pointed to a thin line near the upper side of Moonwater Hollow. "Behind the white trees. It leads to an old hunter path above the ridge."

She came closer and looked at the map. "That path is marked with a broken moon."

"What does that mean?"

She swallowed and tried to remember. "In the records, a broken moon means the path is not always safe. It may be open during dry seasons and dangerous after rain. Some paths with that mark had weak stone or hidden drops."

Lucard folded the map halfway. "Better than meeting your father’s men again."

She looked toward the dark passage where Aldren had left. For a moment, her face twisted as if she wanted to run after him after all.

Lucard said, "If you go back, he gave you up for nothing."

That stopped her.

Elowen lowered her head. "I know."

"Then walk."

He moved toward the far side of the hollow.

The white flowers closed slightly as they passed, as if they did not like his blood. Elowen noticed and looked pained, but Lucard only found it interesting. Pure flowers, pure spring, pure unicorn. All of it reacted to him like he was a stain entering clean water. That was not wrong. His blood carried death, hunger, and divine violence from a world far crueler than this valley.

Still, the valley had value.

He marked its position clearly in his mind. If the unicorn returned another season, its blood would be useful again. If the spring could heal pure beasts, it might also hide more secrets. The old Stoneford map had already repaid the trouble of carrying Elowen.

Behind the white trees, a narrow crack opened between two pale stones. It was hidden well enough that most men would walk past it even in daylight. Lucard sent a blood thread inside first. The thread touched damp walls, loose rock, old roots, and a faint current of air.

Open path.

He entered.

Elowen followed with difficulty. The crack was narrow, and her dress caught on sharp stone twice. The second time, she nearly stumbled. Lucard did not help. He only stopped and looked back.

She pulled the cloth free with both hands and whispered, "Sorry."

"Do not apologize to me. Fix it faster next time."

Her face tightened, but she nodded.

The passage rose little by little. It was not like the cave stalker tunnels. This path had been shaped by human hands long ago. Steps had been cut into stone, but many had cracked or sunk. Roots had entered through the ceiling. In some places, cold night air slipped down from above.

Elowen breathed hard after a while.

Lucard continued walking.

After another turn, she said, "Can we stop for a moment?"

"No."

"I cannot walk fast in this dress."

"Then remove what slows you."

She stared at his back. "I cannot just remove my dress."

"I did not ask for your dignity. I asked for speed."

Her face became red with anger and embarrassment. "You speak like nothing matters."

"Many things matter. Your dress is not one of them."

Elowen looked down at the torn skirt. After a few breaths, she took out a small knife from her mother’s storage ring. Her hands shook as she cut the lower part of the dress shorter. The sound of tearing cloth echoed softly through the narrow passage. She looked miserable while doing it, but when she finished, she could move more easily.

Lucard watched without expression. "Better."

She held the torn cloth in one hand. "This was my favorite dress."

"Then it died bravely."

Elowen looked at him.

For one strange moment, she almost laughed. It came out as a broken breath instead. Then she wiped her eyes again and followed.

They reached the upper exit near midnight.

The crack opened under a fallen stone arch on a ridge above the old border fort. From there, Lucard could see the ruined fort below, the black mouth of the cave entrance, and the distant road back to Stoneford. Small lights moved far away along that road. Aldren’s group was returning, or perhaps another group was already coming.

Elowen crouched beside the stone and looked down.

"They will really say I died," she whispered.

"Yes."

"My father will have to look at people and say it."

"Yes."

Her hands tightened around the silver token. "Will they believe him?"

"Some will. Some will not. But most will accept the useful answer."

"What does that mean?"

"It means people in power often prefer a convenient lie over a troublesome truth. Your death solves a problem. Your survival creates one."

Elowen looked at him. "For Lord Garrick."

"For your father too."

She looked hurt.

Lucard did not soften it. "Do not look surprised. Your father loves you, but your survival near Stoneford endangers him. He let you go because he thinks I can protect you, and because calling you dead may be the only way to stop Velkhur from taking you. That does not mean your return would not destroy the lie he is building."

Elowen lowered her head.

"I know," she said quietly. "I just did not want to hear it."

"Then you will dislike traveling with me."

"I already know that too."

Lucard looked away from the road and studied the old map again. The Blood Pit mark sat north of their position, beyond two ridges and a dry riverbed. It was not directly on the safest route out of the Maw Range. The old noble writing around it warned against camping there. It mentioned red soil, sick beasts, and a hollow that swallowed wounded animals.

That sounded promising.

Elowen noticed where he was looking and frowned. "You are not thinking of going there, are you?"

"Blood Pit."

"That place is forbidden on the map."

"That is why I am thinking of going there."

She looked at him as if he was insane. "Forbidden means dangerous."

"Dangerous means useful."

"Not always."

"Often enough."

Elowen hugged her arms. The night wind on the ridge was colder than the hollow. Her torn dress no longer protected her legs properly, and she was beginning to shiver. She noticed him looking and quickly said, "I can keep walking."

"You will slow down if you freeze."

She looked offended. "I am not that weak."

"You are exactly that weak."

Her mouth closed.

Lucard pointed to her ring. "What is inside?"

Elowen touched it. "I do not know everything yet. My father said there were gold coins, medicine, and letters."

"Open it."

She looked uncertain. "I have not used storage magic before."

"Then learn quickly."

"It belonged to my mother. I was afraid to look inside."

"Your fear is not useful."

Her jaw tightened, but she focused on the ring. After a few failed attempts, a faint silver light moved around the ring. A small folded cloak appeared in her hands, along with a pouch of gold coins and a leather packet of medicine.

Elowen stared at them.

"My father prepared these," she whispered.

"Or your mother did."

The words hit her differently.

She held the cloak against her chest for a moment, then put it on. It was simple and dark, not a noble cloak. It had likely been used for travel. She looked smaller under it, but less like a runaway noble daughter.

Lucard pointed at her hair.

Elowen blinked. "What?"

"Cut it."

Her eyes widened. "No."

"Then go back."

She gripped her cloak. "My hair has nothing to do with this."

"Your father’s men know it. Stoneford servants know it. Velkhur may know it from marriage talks. Long noble hair is easy to remember."

She touched her hair with trembling fingers. "There has to be another way."

"There is. Dye it, hide it, or cut it. You have no dye. Hiding fails when wind moves. Cutting remains."

Her face became pale again. "You make everything sound simple."

"It is simple. Not easy."

Elowen stood in silence for several breaths. Then she held out the small knife. "I cannot do it evenly."