Chapter 29 #2
Perhaps neither of them had taken into account that being Flame-born didn’t automatically mean she couldn’t have friends among the ashlings who stood by her. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be the end of them.
“Come on, let’s find somewhere to rest before Nyla alerts the Guardians-know-whom and comes after us all over again.” Aiden straightened, picking up Lory’s bag in the process.
Lory noticed only then, neither of them was carrying a pack.
“Thal took our things to a small cave half a mile northeast,” Aiden responded to her silent question. “It’s got a stream and enough protection from the elements without needing to go in deep.”
A cave—Khayrivven had warned her of those. And how Aiden had known about the cave to begin with was a discussion for another day.
“We ate before heading out, so we won’t need anything before morning.
Think of it as a base camp for team Lory.
” Tabi gestured in the general direction of the cave.
“Thal should be nearby there, too. The plan was to check the perimeter for you in teams—two would search while one stayed. Odds are he’s devoured our supplies and gone to sleep. ”
Aiden shot her a sharp glance. “We’ve talked about this, Tabitha. Thal is the only one who can use the water near that cave as an actual weapon. He’ll watch over our things until we get back.”
With a shrug, Tabi stood beside Aiden, picking up the bag of berries and the cheese Lory had spilled from her bag while searching for the antiseptic.
“I doubt Nyla will go back to the cave. She has no qualms with perfect Thal.” Her tone dripped with artificial sweetness.
“She probably didn’t even notice him disappearing from our group when we split in the thicket.
Or she purposefully let him get away. She only attacked me because I got in the way when she snuck up on Frost.”
Aiden patted her shoulder, the calming gesture of an unlikely companion, and guided her back onto the road, handing Lory her bag with the other hand. “I don’t care how perfect he is, as long as he’s alive. Would be a shame to find him dead now that we’ve worked out the splash and freeze maneuver.”
“Splash and freeze?” Lory prompted, slinging her bag over her shoulder in a swing that should have been effortless, but her body was still tired and her muscles still sore.
Aiden shrugged, already moving in the direction the cave supposedly was located. “Water and ice complement each other.”
Surprisingly, it was Tabi who praised Aiden with more than an appreciative nod. “Thal throws a thin wave, Frost ices it over. Trust me, you’ve never seen a blade as sharp as what they create together. It’s mesmerizing.”
Surprisingly, Lory didn’t find any stars in Tabi’s eyes as the ashling marveled at her fellow students’ skills.
“Let’s hope we won’t need a demonstration tonight.”
A faint smile on his lips, Aiden inclined his head at both of them. “Let’s hope.”
The cave entrance was small enough to fit a desert wolf at the most, even when Lory wasn’t certain, in this part of Sen Dunai, such animals existed.
No one had lurked in the darkness when they’d hiked in a winding line between the rocks peeling from the mountains’ greenery, and when they’d stepped off the beaten paths, Lory had drawn her sword, once more grateful to have a blade to defend herself.
And there, by the edge of a narrow cave mouth, curled up on his side, lay Thal, his soft snores keeping a curious night owl on a low-hanging branch at bay, its head cocked as it assessed him like he could present a particularly tasty meal.
“Damn it, Thal.” Tabi was there in a heartbeat, toeing his side with her boot and snorting a laugh as he darted upright, fumbling for his sword.
“Can’t leave you alone even a minute.” Bending over a row of small bushes, Aiden shook his head, retrieving one of the packs Lory had seen in the provisioner’s building and digging out a canteen of water.
Wordlessly, he shoved it into Lory’s hands while Thal gathered his bearings, sheathing his blade at his hip, a miserable expression on his moon-kissed face.
“You look better than I’d expected,” he eventually noted with a quick, assessing glance up and down Lory’s form.
“No injuries, no knives sticking out of your back.” He paused, chuckling at his joke.
“Judging by the number of people signing up for this hunt, I would have expected to find you with at least five.”
“Not funny.” Tabi nudged him aside with a grumble, reaching for her own pack and pulling out a fresh shirt before gesturing at the boys to turn around while she changed.
None of them informed Thal of the injuries Tabi had healed after taking care of herself and Aiden.
Now, a handful of bruises on Lory’s legs and ribs were the only proof of Nyla’s assault.
Sitting down in the wind-shielded corner where Thal had slept, Lory uncorked the canteen and drank deeply. “Good to see you, too, Thal. Thanks for coming.”
Thal merely sat down next to her, holding out his hand for her bag.
“Any canteens in here? I can fill them up for you.” He waited for Lory to hand him the bundle, then flicked his fingers and listened as the sound of churning water emerged from between folds of fabric—apparently, splash and freeze wasn’t the only thing he’d been working on.
“Ah, there it is.” With quick fingers, he extracted her canteen, opened it, and gestured behind him with his hand, where a soft gurgling announced the presence of running water.
While he summoned a string of liquid, Tabi recapped their encounter with Nyla and their plan to spend the night by the cave, and once more, Lory wondered if ignoring Khayrivven’s warning was such a smart idea, no matter that Aiden had disregarded it when she’d told them about it.
“I’ll take the first watch,” Thal announced eventually, catching the bag of berries tumbling from Lory’s blanket as she spread it out over her tired legs. “What’s that?” He eyed the bundle with suspicion.
“Berries.” Lory leaned her head against the rock behind her. “Don’t eat them. Khayrivven said they weren’t in there to help me.”
Thal paused the bag halfway to his mouth, eyeing her sideways. “What are they for, then? Are they poisonous?”
Aiden was sitting down next to her, providing his massive shoulder as a pillow and a glance and invitation for Lory to make herself comfortable. “I wouldn’t put it past them to rig the trials. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“What do you mean?” Lory leaned sideways, cheek resting on Aiden’s shoulder right where his insignia should have been, but his uniform didn’t show even a trace of a square—blue or otherwise.
With a glance at Tabi and Thal, Lory confirmed that the two ashlings were wearing their ranks like any other day.
“Just saying, the Triad apparently is ambivalent toward your survival. It’s almost like they are leaving it up to fate rather than killing you themselves. Almost like your survival or death might prove something.”
“You’re speaking in riddles, Frost,” Tabi mumbled, already curled up on her side, head resting on Lory’s thigh. “Shut up. I need to sleep.”
Lory didn’t ask Aiden what he meant this time. Khayrivven’s hints and the prophecy came back to her, keeping her mind busy, and when she drifted off, this time, it was the Flame-born captain’s voice she woke up to.
“Didn’t I say don’t close your eyes?”
Cool sunlight filtered through ceiling-high windows, one of them opening toward a large balcony overgrown with lush, wild greenery.
Lory inhaled a deep breath, the humid air a balm to her lungs.
She was sitting at a carved, round table at the center of a white, marble-tiled room, her cream cotton clothes soft and comfortable like in that one dream when he’d shown her his torch branding.
In front of her, a steaming cup of tea was waiting alongside three plates with one piece of fruit-topped cake each, and above it, Khayrivven’s storm-gray eyes were studying her with a hint of disapproval.
“This is a dream.” Lory held up her hand before her face, watching the light trickle over it like a slow waterfall.
Khayrivven’s lips twitched in and out of a half-grin. “Obviously. And you being here means you’ve disregarded all my warnings. The mountains are dangerous enough for the waking.”
With a frown, Lory picked up the gilded fork beside the plate closest to her and cut into one of the cakes.
“I’m not alone. Aiden and Tabi found me.
Thal’s here, too. I have a sword now, too, though the brooch probably saved me—” She paused as Khayrivven met her gaze across the table. “Thank you for that.”
With an incline of his head, he waited for her to continue, but breathing had become hard at the way he was looking at her, hope and anguish mingled in those usually so cold eyes.
Not a single one of the words she’d been hoping to speak came out—no demands of what he’d meant by dangerous or why he hadn’t told her Aiden would be there.
And certainly not that small voice screaming at her to tell him how she felt.
Khayrivven’s gaze dropped to the cake. “Criu specialties,” he commented, gesturing at each of the cakes. “Plum, orange-cream, and berries.”
Lory eyed the bite of cake on her fork—berries.
“Speaking of berries,” he continued. “The ones in your bag aren’t deadly. They merely slow down your body—call it a sort of muscle relaxant that will prevent you from outrunning your enemies.”
Lory set down her fork, earning a grin from Khayrivven. Guardians, the way the light kissed his face… She wanted to reach across the table and brush those silken strands back, wanted to let her fingers linger on his skin, to trace his cheekbone, his jaw, the supple curve of his mouth.