The silence hung heavy over their first day back, thicker than the forest canopy above them.
Lena moved with her usual hunter's grace, not saying a word unless she had to give orders. Lysa was much the same, only she never gave orders, and the way she looked at Reidar was even colder than Lena's.
Torren was the only one Reidar felt a little bad for. He'd been friendly at first, just like Jorik, but now he kept his distance.
Only Jorik walked beside him, his broad shoulders occasionally bumping Reidar's as they went through the uneven terrain.
"You know," Jorik said, "my boy used to collect rocks. Had boxes full of them under his bed. Quartz, granite, even fool's gold. It drove my wife crazy with the dust she had to clean every time he came back from an excursion."
