Ethelia smirked at his response. "I'm pretty great at it, thanks for noticing."
She cursed under her breath as he quickened his stride, the pain in her ankle worsening slightly. It wasn't broken, possibly a minor sprain but she assumed she pulled a muscle, or at least she hoped so. She managed to quicken her own stride so she was at Lyo's side. She kept her gaze on the floor as Lyo stopped in front of her. She quickly lifted her gaze to his as he scolded her like a child.
"You're calling me an animal with half a brain? Have you seen yourself? I wasn't the one dumb enough to make a deal with my father. Do you have any idea how that's going to go? He's going to find out your little tips and tricks and the next thing you know, all of you will be hanging from the gallows, and he'll have all of your equipment to himself. He won't even have to lift a finger." She took a deep breath and continued, "I've seen it happen. A group of merchants made a deal with him. My father would get a big cut of their earnings if he would give them safe passage anywhere. They only lasted two weeks, and all of their ships were in his possesion." Her temper rose as her power crackled under her skin. She took a few calming breaths until the sensation dissipated.
Ethelia kept walking. If they really wanted to get out of here, they had to get moving. The cave they had slept in was still visible, now only a speck in the distance. She didn't even notice Lyo until she was already flung over his shoulder.
"What the fuck is your problem?" She hissed as he kept walked, arm braced over her legs. She knew struggling would be pointless, although it would annoy him, which might be worth it. What was it with the carrying lately? She wasn't a child, she could walk on her own.
She supposed a well-timed kick to the balls would be effective, and hilarious, but that might be enough motivation for him to kill her, which wasn't the outcome she wanted.
She decided to stay were she was. She propped her elbow on his back and rested her chin in her hand, her other arm lying loose.
Boredom kicked in soon enough, and she decided to at least work on some target practice, since it was obvious from last night's events that she needed it.
Small rocks and boulders littered the floor of the ravine, and Ethelia locked her eyes on one as she summoned her power, using her free hand, and fired. The blast hit slightly off center, but at least she hit it. This was how she entertained herself for the next few minutes of silent walking. Or in her case, carrying. She aimed at small sticks and rocks, her aim improving slightly. She worked on bending the ice, maneuvering it in different ways.
But of course she soon grew bored of that.
This was going to be a long, long trip.
Then she had an idea. Since she couldn't entertain herself with physical harm without potentially getting murdered, she decided to entertain herself with Lyo's anger.
She summoned her power again and blew a sheet of frost over his curly black hair, barely holding back her laughter as his hair turned gray with frost. Now this was fun. She did the same thing to the back of his neck and behind his ears, only enough to tickle and pester. She quickly let her arm drop and stared at the ground, trying her best to act innocent. This made being carried like a sack of grain slightly more fun.