CHAPTER 28
Sakura
“How much longer do you think she’ll sleep? You can’t stay up all night, or we’ll have to let you sleep half the day tomorrow.”
Sakura drifted toward wakefulness, her ears transferring a foggy version of Kagemori’s voice to her brain. Now Oliver, a little clearer.
“We would put him on my horse.”
“You know perfectly well I’ve never ridden a horse before,” Keenan’s voice rumbled under her ear.
“Who said you would be riding?”
As she adjusted her grip on the blanket, she faintly wondered if she’d ever heard the older guard tease before, even in such a perfectly straight tone. It wasn’t a very thick blanket, and it smelled faintly of wood smoke, maybe a bit of pine, just like Keenan always seemed to.
“You’re going to wake her up.” Wait, why was Keenan’s voice rumbling through her pillow?
“Is that a bad thing? I mean, you’d have to put her down, but at least you’d be able to—ouch!”
The ground gave one small shake before the younger guard cut off with a yelp. And with it, his words registered. The rumbling voice under her ear. The thin blanket that felt much more like a coarse shirt.
The comfortable warmth across her back and around her waist.
Sakura’s eyes flew open as she shoved herself upright. Kagemori stood over her with his arms crossed and a laughing smile on his face. Oliver and Kasumi sat a few yards away around the merry flames of the fire. And Keenan…
Keenan’s smirk was barely two feet away, his arm sliding off her waist. “Good morning, sleeping beauty. How do you feel?”
Heavens, she was sitting on his lap. What would Mother say?
Actually, given Mother’s instructions, she might be pleased. But what would Sakura’s friends back home say?
Releasing an undignified squeak, she scrambled to her feet. Keenan laughed, but his hand steadied her when she tripped over her skirt and stumbled forward. “Careful; Oliver may be able to stitch you up if you crack your head open on a rock, but that doesn’t mean he wants to.”
“I would prefer to avoid it,” the older guard said calmly.
Her stomach squeezed, but the minor mention of stitches wasn’t enough to set it twisting. Yet.
Carefully extracting her hand from Keenan’s, she smoothed her skirt and straightened her back. She gave him a mild nod of gratitude as she surveyed her dimly lit surroundings. “Would someone explain to me what is going on?”
“You collapsed from exhaustion,” Keenan said evenly, watching her with those brilliant blue eyes of his.
She remembered her intense fatigue. “Yes, but why am I not in my bed? How did I come to be—” She waved her arm vaguely in Keenan’s direction.
“Snuggled up in Keenan’s oh-so-willing arms?” Kagemori supplied helpfully.
A splash of heat spread across Sakura’s cheeks, but she kept her face expressionless as she nodded.
“You refused to let me go.” A hint of amusement brightened Keenan’s eyes.
“Begged him to stay with you, if I remember correctly,” the young guard added with a grin.
She swallowed. “Did I say anything else?”
“A few things.” This time, the weapon-smith’s half-smile looked a little sad.
Slowly clambering to his feet, he stretched his back before snatching his dagger off the ground and replacing it in its sheath.
“Kasumi kept some soup warm if you’re hungry, and your tent is set up. Your bed is ready whenever you are.”
She nodded regally and turned toward the fire. Perhaps if she acted like it never happened, maintained her perfect facade, they would all forget about it. She could still pretend everything was normal, couldn’t she? Hide the cracks until she could find a way to patch them?
A warm hand grabbed her wrist, and she spun to find Keenan behind her.
“Hey,” he said softly. “You didn’t say anything you can’t take back.
It’s fine. Besides, you were verging on delirium.
” He gave her wrist a little squeeze. “So don’t stress about it, all right?
I don’t have any expectations. I’m just glad you’re feeling better. ”
Giving him a tiny nod, she turned away. He probably deserved an answer. But princesses weren’t required to give answers, and she didn’t have one right now anyway.
As she accepted a bowl from Kasumi and settled on the ground, she stole a glance at Keenan. He knelt by his pack, one hand holding a balled-up shirt and the other rubbing his neck.
She glanced up at the dark sky. It had been mid-afternoon when she asked the way-finder to take her to the nearest stream, giving her the excuse to dismount before she fell off Aya’s back.
Had Keenan maintained the same position for hours so that she could sleep more comfortably?
It didn’t look as if it had been comfortable for him.
Had he only done it in acquiescence to a princess’s will? Just as when he helped her to mount and dismount?
But that wouldn’t have required using his shirt as a pillow. He’d gone out of his way to make her more comfortable.
Her brother would have done it. Daichi might have. But she couldn’t think of a single one of her nobles who would have troubled themselves like that, even for their princess.
Sakura was afraid she wouldn’t be able to sleep after her surprisingly restful nap, but Oliver gave her a cup of steaming liquid that he promised would help.
It slid down her throat with a pleasant tingle that spread through her stomach and into her limbs.
When she snuggled into her bedroll, she drifted off more easily than she had since leaving the winter castle.
But as sleep claimed her, her mind filled with a warm arm wrapped loosely around her and a soft touch on her cheek that felt like the memory of a dream.