We put several miles between ourselves and Aunt Cordelia's manor before the sun even started turning the eastern sky from black to charcoal grey. The morning fog was cold, wet, and heavy, clinging to our cloaks and sticking to our eyelashes like glue.
We also had an immediate practical issue, which Kai pointed out before we got anywhere near a main road.
"We cannot walk into any real settlement looking like this," Kai said, stopping near a bend in the dirt trail where pine trees grew thick on both sides. He gestured over at Orisyl. "No offense, my lady, but you look like an ancient marble statue that woke up and decided to go on a hike. You stand out like a bonfire in an empty field."
"He is right," Pearl said, hitching her travel pack higher on her shoulders. "You have that whole towering, radiant goddess presence going on. People are either going to drop to their knees to pray or call the local town guard to lock us up, and neither option is good for staying quiet."
