8. Foraging and Waterfalls #2
Darion seemed entirely unfazed by his own arousal. “You coming out of the water?”
“Yeah, just a moment. I missed a bit of dirt.” I was spotless, but I didn’t dare leave the water in my current state. Darion shrugged and then headed for some large smooth boulders baking in the sun.
The first trick was turning away so Darion’s body and general sexiness stopped turning me on.
I made a show of washing my armpits, all the while trying to occupy my mind with unsexy things, such as recounting every herb and reagent in The Guide to Potions and Tonics, first alphabetically, then by toxicity, then both in reverse.
That did the trick.
I turned around to see Darion lounging on a boulder, basking in the sun and gazing up at the sky.
Trying hard not to look too closely for fear of having to start this entire process over again, I made it safely to the boulder next to him without any mishaps.
Then I stole a glance at him as I was getting situated and noticed he was entirely naked, all his clothes drying on the boulder next to him. This man had no inhibitions.
I hesitated. Not because I didn’t want to join him or because I was particularly shy.
I had been naked around plenty of men. But this felt different, more vulnerable.
Then again, I was wet, the sun was warm, and he wasn’t looking my way.
So I shut off that part of my brain, stripped naked, spread out on the rocks, and thought of shoveling horse manure to help quell any stray urges.
We both looked up in quiet reflection at the puffy white clouds floating in the sky.
“You’re different out here,” Darion said softly. “Less…sharp.”
“Look, I’m sorry about the knife to the throat.”
Darion laughed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant it as a compliment. I like this version of you.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I said nothing.
After a while, Darion asked, “You ever want to drop everything and just run away? Leave it all behind?”
“All the time. Except in my dream, I run away to a farm and take my family with me.” I shouldn’t have said it. That dream wasn’t for other people. I had told no one about the farm I imagined. Darion was the first.
“That sounds wonderful.” Darion paused to think. Then he said, so softly I almost didn’t hear it, “Except maybe the family part.”
I looked over at him in shock. “You don’t like your family?”
“Not really.”
“Why not?”
Darion turned away and looked out at the trees, his jaw tightening. “It’s complicated. My parents are…my parents are gone.”
I felt a tightness in my chest. I knew his pain.
“I lost my parents too,” I said. “What happened to yours?”
For a moment, it felt like there was something he wanted to say. But then he swallowed and smiled. “A story for another time. Speaking of time, your sister is probably wondering what happened to you.”
“Oh no, Elena! We’ve got to go. She’ll be worried sick.
” I scolded myself for letting my guard down, losing track of time, and oversharing.
I scolded myself for this entire thing. I couldn’t let myself be distracted like this.
It had happened with Bren, the boy next door, back at the farm when I was eleven.
And look what it had cost me. Never again, I had vowed.
I reached for my locket, only to find that it wasn’t around my neck. A splash of panic hit me, and I fumbled for my buttoned trouser pocket. The locket was safely tucked away. I quickly put it around my neck.
On the way back, Darion and I chatted about nonsense. We told off-color jokes and made fun of the Royal Guards. Like me, he had no love for the kingdom. Agreement on that subject was important—a deal-breaker, in fact—so I was happy when he joked about the king and his noblemen.
I talked a bit about Elena, but I didn’t mention my evening profession, my early childhood, or anything else unpleasant. I didn’t meet new people too often—especially handsome men whom I liked—and was struck by how much of my life I needed to keep secret.
But Darion didn’t complain when I steered around a subject. It seemed he had topics he wanted to avoid as much as I did. He never talked about his family or his profession, and I didn’t press the issue.
Overall, the whole afternoon was…nice. And although many of my alarm bells were ringing, beneath them, a part of me wondered if a simple life could be enough. Maybe I didn’t need to do the Trials. They were enormously dangerous and risky. Maybe it would be enough to have this simple happiness.
As we entered the Citadel Market, the fourth bell began to ring.
I approached the cart, watching Elena’s reaction like a hawk.
At first, when she caught sight of me, she looked purely annoyed, standing with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face.
But when her eyes drifted to Darion beside me, that scowl transformed into a smirk.
“It’s about damn time. I was worried sick,” Elena chided as I walked up. “But when this guy”—she gestured to Darion—“didn’t show at the time he said he would, I figured something was up.”
“Sorry, that was my fault,” Darion said, raising a hand. “I ambushed him on the way to the forest.”
“And by that, he means he brought me food.” I paused for a moment. “And shoved me into a pond.”
Darion playfully scowled at me. After all, I’d left out the detail that I’d started the mud fight and had it coming.
Elena’s eyes widened as she watched us chat, a smile on her face. “I’m glad you two had a wonderful afternoon swimming while I stayed here and worked.”
“I’m sorry, Elena,” I said. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“You will.” She smiled slyly. “You can count on it.”
Now that we were fully stocked with goldvein, we filled the rest of Darion’s order. After quickly double-checking to be sure I hadn’t missed anything, I handed him the supplies, and in return, he gave me a small stack of coins.
“I didn’t charge you for the goldvein, of course,” I said. “Thanks for helping.”
We said our goodbyes, and Darion walked off into the crowd. The moment he was gone, I realized I had no way to contact him. And perhaps that was for the best.
I shouldn’t have hoped he would come back. Hope was dangerous. It could get you killed. I knew that from experience. But I hoped anyway.
With Darion gone, Elena turned toward me. “Details! Tell me everything.”