Chapter 30 #2
At the time, she wouldn’t have wanted the witch hunters to come anywhere near her. She bit back the words and stared at Daris. She was not to blame for this mess. He stared right back at her.
Casrian ignored them and pointed at the map again. “We’re here.” He ran his finger from that spot to the fort. “Is it a straight shot to the fort? Do you know of any obstacles in our path?”
She shook her head. “I never came this way.”
She found the spot where they’d camped last night by the swamp. “We moved to higher ground from here, but basically followed the river south until we could see the fort at the top of the hill.”
Casrian looked at Daris. “It might be safer to backtrack.”
Daris grimaced. “It seems a waste of time. If Asher is still alive, every second counts. And the witch might not have lured him directly to the fort. We encountered the group of familiars here.” He indicated a spot halfway between them and the fort.
“We can at least get that far. It’s hilly.
Lots of brambles in the gullies. But it’s crossable.
Sol will need a horse. If she walks and he rides, that still leaves us down two. ”
Casrian started to respond to that but then looked at her and shook his head.
“Go rest. We’ll figure this out.” He pointed to the tall, skinny man tending to the fire.
“Lew will get you something to eat. Just let him know if you need anything else. An extra blanket or more water…anything we have is yours.”
“We’re going after the witch before the reinforcements get here?”
Casrian shook his head. “You’re taking Sol to the church in Sulen. He’s injured and won’t be able to keep up when we go after Asher.”
He was abandoning her.
It didn’t even matter that she’d be safer riding away from the witch than toward her. Her stomach went queasy at the thought of walking through the woods by herself with an injured witch hunter to take care of. And what about the job she’d promised to do?
“You hired me to get you to the fort.”
A muscle tightened in Casrian’s jaw. He was all careful restraint again. She’d won this fight just that morning. Would he try kissing her again to distract her? She didn’t think so.
“You’ll be paid,” he said, sounding irritated. Good. He deserved a little irritation. “You’ve already earned your bonus.”
Daris scoffed and leaned back to make some other note on the map. She could feel Kenet looming behind her. The message was clear. He had his men now.
She held his gaze. “You still need me.”
There were too many bad spots between them and the fort to avoid them anymore, but she still had a better chance of getting them through the woods safely than they had on their own.
Casrian’s expression softened subtly. “We’ll make it to the fort without you. It’s safer this way, especially for you. I’ve already placed you in enough danger bringing you out here.”
Something in Casrian’s tone drew Daris’s attention. He frowned at his friend a moment and then looked at her. “You should take the money and get out while you can. You don’t want any part of what’s coming.”
She frowned, not looking away from Casrian. “It’s better if we stick together.”
He shook his head. “I need someone to direct the reinforcements to the nest in case something goes wrong. Sulen will send the soldiers to your village and they’ll need direction from there. We’ll get you a copy of this map to give to them. You won’t need to do anything but hand it over.”
She rubbed her hands on her thighs and bit her tongue against arguing with him. It wouldn’t get her anywhere, she knew. It sounded like his mind was made up. It might even be the right call, she didn’t know, but it felt like a rejection. Another one.
“That’s what it comes down to then? Four hundred cord.”
The muscles around Casrian’s eyes tightened in the faintest of flinches, but he nodded. “You have more than fulfilled your end of the bargain.”
More than fulfilled…
Was he talking about the sex? He was talking about the sex, wasn’t he? Like it was some sort of perk he was paying her for as part of her services.
She opened her mouth and closed it. She wasn’t going to ask. She wouldn’t be like Rina at the tavern, clinging to every man who decided they were through. She might only be an outcast from Toam, but she still had some pride.
She climbed stiffly to her feet. “All right then. I suppose the money is all that really matters.”
Hadn’t she been saying that from the beginning? When had she forgot it?
That was sympathy on Daris’s face as he gave her a faint smile. She turned away from it. Turned away from Casrian, the captain, the witch hunter, who wasn’t looking at her anyway because he’d already turned back to the map.
She gathered up every last shred of her tattered dignity and walked toward the campfire.
There were three men there now. The tall one with the thoughtful expression and quiet air of a scholar who introduced himself as Lew and two brothers who were about her age, both of them with curly brown hair, a similar lean build, and the exuberant energy of puppies.
She asked for food, hoping for something other than dried mutton. It turned out that Lew had snared a rabbit that morning, tied it to his saddle before they were attacked, and set it to stew as soon as they had a fire.
It smelled delicious and her stomach rumbled while she waited for Lew to finish praying over the food before he served it.
When he handed her the steaming bowl, she eyed him skeptically. “Are you a priest then?”
One of the brothers snickered. The one who’d introduced himself as Zac, she thought.
Lew only smiled mildly. “They don’t send priests out on patrol, though it wouldn’t be a bad idea. I almost did enter the Church. Do you need a priest?”
She snorted. “I’ve never needed a priest in my life.”
“That can’t be true.”
The only priest she’d ever really had contact with was the one in Jarn who’d basically been the mayor’s pet, fed at his table, whispering gossip, voting in the town council as he was told.
It hadn’t left the best of impressions. There was the priest in Sulen who’d seemed kind the few times she met him, but she’d done well enough without.
Rather than answer, she took a sip of the warm broth and sighed contentedly. “It’s delicious. Thank you.”
He seemed genuinely pleased. “You’re very welcome.”
He passed out mugs to the brothers before taking one for himself.
“I should have asked,” she said, after a moment. “Do any of you have injuries you need tended? At the very least we should clean them.”
“I twisted my knee when my horse went down,” Zac said. “But Daris wrapped it.”
“Do you need anything for the pain?”
He grinned, a flash of straight white teeth. “I wouldn’t mind whiskey if you have it, but the captain would probably object.”
“Does he keep you on a tight leash?”
“Nah,” Ty answered. “He’s not a bad sort, but he’s got rules. No drinking on a hunt for one. If we stop in an inn while we’re traveling, that’s fine, so long as we can ride the next day.”
“Does he join you?” She tried to picture that, the stiff and proper captain drunk off his ass.
“I’ve seen him indulge twice that I’ve known him,” Lew said. “And I’ve ridden patrol with him for five years. Both were after particularly bad kills. I suspect if we survive this one, it’ll make three.”
She shrugged off her uneasiness at that. “I don’t have any whiskey.” She looked at Zac. “I do have willow bark if you need it. I can make a tea or you can chew it, though I’d only recommend that as a last resort. I’ll check your leg in the morning when there’s light.”
He nodded his thanks, and she went back to drinking her soup. When she got to the bottom, she scooped the meat out and sucked the juice off her fingers. She looked up to find the Cardis brothers watching her with bemused fascination.
She slowly lowered her hands. “I suppose women don’t eat with their hands where you come from.”
Zac blushed and looked down at his soup.
Ty shrugged. “They don’t hunt witches either. I can’t imagine any of our sisters setting foot in the woods, not even on the family estate.”
Estate. She wiped her hands on her pants, because why not? “How many sisters do you have?”
“There are twelve of us together,” Zac said. “Three girls. Nine boys. I’m number seven, and he’s eight.”
Lew took a sip from his mug. He had long slender fingers that she associated more with a musician than a soldier. “Do you have siblings?”
“No. It’s only me and my mother.”
He nodded, a touch of sympathy in his pale eyes. “Is she a healer as well?”
“She was until she went blind,” Rowan answered him. “I suppose she still is a healer, though it does limit her a bit.”
“Well, we’re fortunate that you came,” Lew said. “With Asher gone, Sol wouldn’t have made it without you.”
She hoped Sol made it. The cut to his side wasn’t deep, but she remembered the fever that had taken Casrian.
She didn’t know if it was rot or magic that had caused it, but she didn’t trust the claws of the familiars to be clean.
She’d done her best to flush the wound, but she wouldn’t be happy until after he made it through the next several days.
They needed to get him out of the woods.
It made sense for her to take him, but she still couldn’t help but feel like she was being dismissed for bad behavior.
Daris and Casrian came up to the fire, Daris chuckling at something Casrian had said. He clapped him on the shoulder and went to fill his cup with some of the stew. Casrian stood beside her, but he didn’t say anything, just stood there. Close enough to touch. Miles and miles away.
She stood, leaving her mug in the dirt. She couldn’t be here.
Lew’s brows rose. “Do you want more food? There’s plenty.”
She shook her head. “Thank you though. It was delicious. The best I’ve had in days.” She felt Casrian’s eyes on her, but she turned away. “I need to go check on Sol.”