Ileus smiled smugly at her. "I have my ways of getting things done."

Once again Anastasia had a thousand questions. But she found herself saying, "Sure you do have ways. You got close to Maple."

"That I did," he chuckled without sounding remorseful.

The urge to elbow him hard was now too strong and she elbowed him. However, it didn't do a thing to him. "I didn't know one could get so jealous. What will happen to you if I tell you about my affairs when I was much younger?"

"Oh god! You are just too horrible!" she blurted. "Besides even if you go harping on about them, I don't care." And how could she forget that Darla was his childhood friend who said that he belonged to her.

He sighed. "That is interesting."

Kaizan came right next to them. "Anastasia, if you want to know about his affairs, you can ask me. I know all about them."

"Oh sure," she said gritting her teeth. "You must tell me all about them!"

"So eager," Kaizan said. "Well let me start with the time that they had a threesome."

Anastasia's head whipped in his direction. Her eyes became wide with shock.

"It was almost like o-"

She pressed her ears hard. "Ucuti!"

Kaizan laughed hard and then went ahead of them. He joined Gourhal.

Ileus bent down to whisper in her ear, "Are you sure you don't want to listen?"

"I am certain I don't want to listen." This man was shameless. She wanted to smack him. He was despicable. Once she reached Óraid, she would just slip away. Then she would never see him again. Her anger was roiling her guts. She sat straight and the cloak slipped down her chest. A gust of wind left her quivering to the bones, but the coldness did nothing to smother her anger.

"There was no threesome," he said. "Kaizan was joking."

She stilled. All her anger evaporated immediately... just like that. Out of everything that Kaizan joked about, this is what he chose? A smile tugged on her lips and she started laughing at the whole situation. Once again she relaxed in his arms and he pulled her close to him. "You might want to cover yourself with the cloak again," he said.

Suddenly Guarhal shouted, "There's a clearing ahead!"

The entire line picked up the pace. Half an hour later, they reached the clearing only to find that the place was covered with a thick layer of snow already.

"If this goes on, we are all going to freeze to death!" Nyles commented. "M'lady is not even used to this kind of harsh cold."

Darla had trotted her horse next to Ileus's. "What do you think Ileus?" she said as she watched Anastasia from the corner of her eye. She was sitting pretty comfortably and Ileus gathered her in his arms protectively.

Anastasia ignored her looks. The conversation she had had with her was so unpleasant. And every time she saw her, 'He is mine', repeated in her head. She took in a deep breath and looked away from her.

He didn't reply at first. "There is not really any option left other than to move forward," he said, feeling exasperated. Snow had formed a line on his eyebrows and upper lips. "If it doesn't stop snowing, we will have to keep walking. We won't rest. I hope this doesn't become a blizzard..." His voice trailed off and he heaved a sigh.

Anastasia narrowed her eyes as she stared in the opposite direction. She had a strong feeling that there was a cave where she was looking, though she wasn't sure. It was as if it was calling her. She could hear the humming sound all over again. She closed her eyes. Not again. Her stomach churned at the unknown. Her skin flushed and she felt as if her life would go downhill if she didn't go to the cave. She wanted to unite with the energy. Why was it such a strong call? What was it that magnetized her to the portal? She hid inside the cloak and took a deep breath. Every instinct in her body was screaming to unite with the energy. She held the horns of the saddle so tightly that it hurt her hands. She dug her nails in it to stop thinking about it. She whimpered. The sound only grew louder when she closed her eyes. She shook her head. "I d-don't want to go," she murmured under her breath.

At one side there was this urgent need for them to stop and find a place of stay, and on the other side she knew of the cave but couldn't go there.

"What did you say?" asked Ileus.

"N- nothing," she replied, horrified as hell. The buzzing sound grew so loud that she closed her ears.

Ileus removed the cloak from her face and found her face flushed. She had closed her eyes and was shivering. He checked her forehead but there was no fever. "What is it Anastasia?" he asked again.

Ignoring the call of the portal was so difficult for her that tears streamed out of her eyes. "It's nothing," she said. But she sounded agitated, panicked and too anxious.

"It is the portal," Nyles said. "M'lady, how long will you ignore the call?"

"Don't!" she shouted. "Don't speak about it."

Ileus jerked his head back and scanned the surroundings, but there was nothing in the vicinity. "There is no portal Anastasia," he said softly.

"It is there," she replied. "It is in the cave there," she said pointing in that direction because she wanted to go there.

All the men brought their horses closer to that of Ileus. They were shocked to listen to Anastasia.

"Cave?" asked Aidan. "How can that be? We don't see anything."

"You don't see anything, but she is the princess of these lands. She feels its energy, its vibrations. Her body is in sync with Vilinski and Sgiath Biò," Nyles interjected.

The men became alert. The sun was setting fast and the horses were too tired. If there was a cave then they should go there but they were unsure about Anastasia. The situation became extremely complicated.