Ever since her plan fell apart, Ranni felt she had done a lifetime's worth of worrying.
Even the winter winds of the Lands Between were not as cold as her heart.
She had even thought of joining forces with Miquella, yet it had never occurred to her to contact Zhao Si or admit her mistake to Radagon.
Of course, the latter was considerably harder than the former.
"How is that knight of Miquella's doing?" Ranni suddenly asked.
Blaidd found this rather difficult to talk about. "Unexpectedly, that lad has done quite well for himself. He became Miquella's Knight. He's quite famous around the Mountaintops of the Giants now."
"Then does Rykard's stupid plan have any chance of succeeding?" Ranni asked a question she need not have asked.
Blaidd shook his head gently. "Absolutely none."
"What on earth should we do?" Ranni leaned against the back of her chair, feeling utterly drained.
Blaidd thought for a moment. "I could go find Miquella's Knight too."
"Wouldn't that be humiliating?" Ranni pursed her lips, not particularly approving of the suggestion.
Once again, Blaidd did not know what to say.
"Speaking of which, someone spotted the spectral steed Torrent," Blaidd said, remembering something else. "They didn't recognize Torrent, but from their description, it should be that spectral steed."
Ranni perked up at this. "Who's riding Torrent?"
"A brown-haired girl, apparently." Blaidd recalled the intelligence. "Delicate features, one eye. Never seen her before."
Hearing this, Ranni seemed to lose her strength again and slumped in her chair.
She vaguely remembered her teacher, the Snow Witch, mentioning something: one day, someone would ride Torrent to meet her. He would clear the obstacles from her path and become her lord.
Ranni had still been rather naive back then and had not taken it particularly to heart.
She