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replied. "Events could have turned out better, or much worse. What matters is that we will definitely put an end to the problem now, though I fear it may grow to be large enough a problem I will need to fetch further reinforcements."
    Grete smiled faintly. "Clearly going with a local witch was not your brightest idea."
    "I have no regrets," Adamina said, leaning in slightly, smiling when Grete met her halfway, lips soft and warm, fingers feather-light where they slid along Adamina's cheek before running over her close-cropped hair and cupping the back of her head. She kissed with confidence, none of the hesitancy that Adamina so often encountered from people who could not stop seeing her as a Huntress.
    Adamina moved to settled across Grete's lap, sinking her fingers into all that lovely hair, catching on the rattling wooden charms. Her side flared in protest, but she stubbornly ignored it, far more interested in lapping at Grete's lips, pressing her tongue in deep to taste every bit of that warm, sweet mouth. Hands slid along her back, wrapped around her waist, pulling them flush and making Adamina moan. Far, far too long since she'd enjoyed such pleasures, and the last few had been easy met, easy parted. Grete seemed like a memory that would last, a memory that would call her back to make new ones.
    She blinked when Grete drew back, pouted at the reproving look on her face. "If you tear my stitches I'll be cross with you the rest of this trip."
    "Yes, ma'am," Adamina said, but stole another quick kiss before climbing off Grete's lap. "So I guess our plan is to find the rapunzel and destroy it—or at least ascertain the severity of it so I can bring in suitable reinforcements. Do you remember the location of the tower? That seems the best place to start."
    Grete worried her bottom lip; Adamina looked away before she made an offer that would earn her another stern look. "I think I can find the way again. There are certain landmarks easy enough to find, and once we reach those I can find my way back to the tower." She sighed. "There are some things you can't forget even when you try."
    "I know the feeling too well." Adamina gave her another quick hug, then stood up to tend the fire and make certain it would last through most of the night. Dusk was quickly falling around them. "Should we take turns on watch?"
    "Not necessary," Grete replied, and lifted her hand, making the magic around them shimmer briefly into visibility; it faded out again as she lowered her hand. "It won't do more than warn us, but that should be all we need. I'm sorry I cannot do more; a Sorcerer would be far more useful right now."
    Adamina shrugged. "You've no need to apologize. Without you I would be dead. Most of the time when I'm on my hunts, I spend my nights strapped in trees as high as I can climb. Being on the ground, and with an alert in place, is a luxury." She settled back down on her bedroll, tired now the thought of resting had occurred to her. The wolf woofed softly, stretched out alongside her back. "Goodnight, witch."
    Grete smiled faintly. "Goodnight, my lady." Grete quickly settled into her own bedroll on the other side of the fire. Once she had gone still, Adamina let her own eyes fall shut and quickly fell sleep.
    *~*~*
    "It's a shame these woods are so broken," Adamina said when they stopped for a break beside a stream, gesturing to the rundown millhouse a short distance away. "That is the fourth home I have seen today, so obviously these woods thrived once upon a time. A pity we'll likely never know what turned it into the Broken Forest."
    "Mmm," Grete agreed. She took a sip of water from her skin, then ate a handful of nuts—brought from her home, thankfully. Neither of them wanted to eat more of the poisoned forest than was absolutely necessary. "People love to spin rumors. Some say it was severed by the king who first created this country, long before the Great Queens saved it and made of it a worthy place. Others say it is broken