Three People, One Tent
The day started out fairly easy, but the real struggle began once we got into the deeper part of Restless Mountains.
The ground was unsteady, so we had to pick our way the best we could, stopping often to make sure those walking could keep up.
Many of the group switched out at intervals to give those walking a break which helped to keep people from getting too tired.
I was the only one who had to stay on horseback because none of my guardians would let me walk on this unreliable footing.
Even Ballard threatened to tie me up like a sack of potatoes if I didn’t comply, so I helped by letting some of the older kids we had with us ride with me.
By the time the sun faded to the point we had to find shelter before it got too dark, I struggled to keep my eyes open.
Even with the help of the beans Alto gave me, my body was exhausted and was going to force me to rest whether I liked it or not.
Thankfully, we’d just made it over a ridge and into a fairly flat pass before the next mountain slope we had to cross over.
It gave us a place to rest for the night.
The weather was much colder now that we were higher up in the mountains with snow lightly drifting around us.
I was thankful to whoever packed my bags because wrapped up with my bedroll was a fur-lined cloak that kept most of the chill at bay.
The group was silent as we set up our meager tents, struggling to pound in the stakes to keep them up.
Some just tied the lines to rocks instead.
We didn’t build a fire since we each had our ration packs of dried meat and hard tack bread that softened in water.
Once everything was set up, I tumbled into my tent and wrapped myself in my blanket, missing Vasin’s warmth.
Even if he were back by now, it wouldn’t have made a difference.
The pass was too narrow for him to land with everyone else here.
What surprised me was when Cole and Gavin showed up outside my tent just as I was on the verge of falling asleep.
“Cassarah, you awake?” Gavin called.
Groaning, I peeked out of the tent, blinking up at them. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, well… we didn’t have enough tents like we thought for some of the families, so we gave up ours,” Cole explained.
“Wait, does that mean you don’t have a place to sleep?” I asked, my tired brain struggling to keep up.
Cole and Gavin looked at each other then back to me. “See, we were hoping we could bunk with you…” Gavin hedged.
I blinked at him a few times as my brain registered what they were asking. “You want to sleep in here with me in this tiny tent?”
“Hey, more bodies make for a warmer night’s sleep,” Cole pointed out. “We would have found somewhere else, but there isn’t room. You wouldn’t want us to sleep out in the cold and chance freezing to death, would you?”
Scowling at him, I crawled back and flopped on my mat. “Hurry up before I change my mind.”
They both scrambled to get in at the same time, making them mutter at each other as they didn’t fit.
Cole shoved Gavin back, entering first. He settled on my right but cursed at Gavin.
He accidentally stepped on Cole as he got situated on my left side.
The tent was really meant for one person, maybe two.
With the three of us all packed inside, I was pressed up against Cole’s chest while Gavin was at my back.
Even though I felt exposed, we were fully dressed with cloaks and blankets between us.
But my brain had been trained at a young age that this was inappropriate, and I couldn’t seem to relax.
“Goodnight, mouse. We’ll make sure no one else bothers you tonight,” Cole whispered, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead.
I grunted my acknowledgment of his words but still couldn’t seem to relax even though I was much warmer than I was before.
A hand started to drift up and down my back in a soothing motion as Gavin started to hum some song I knew but couldn’t place.
Finally, my tired body won out over my worried mind, and I drifted off to sleep, dreaming of a dance I’d seen Miranda and her men attend right after they’d married.
The whole night, her face had been beaming with the love she had for all her men who took turns twirling her around the ballroom in the castle.
Could I really love more than one man that much?
I knew I didn’t want to lose any of them, and even though Paxton had only been around for a day or two, he seemed to fit the space his brother hadn’t been able to.
Even Zan, who’d come from another kingdom, had managed to find his place among my men in a way that just seemed to work.
But could they each be okay with sharing me with each other?
Soon enough, even my brain gave up trying to fight sleep, and I sighed into the warmth surrounding me, feeling safe and cared for.
Gentle fingers brushed along my cheek as I nuzzled into the warmth I was lying on, which made it hiss as my nose touched skin. “Damn, mouse, your nose is freezing,” Cole muttered.
I froze as his voice rumbled under my ear, making me realize I was sprawled out on his chest with my face buried in his neck.
Something shifted against my back as an arm and leg pulled me tighter.
I got a cold nose to the back of my neck, followed by a deep sigh of warm air hitting my skin.
Gavin had managed to wrap himself around me as I’d done to Cole who was practically bearing the weight of both of us.
Carefully, I maneuvered my hand so I could push myself off Cole, but he didn’t seem to like that idea very much and pulled me back down.
“Nope, too cold for you to move,” he said, brushing my hair off my face. “Besides, you’re kinda cute when you sleep. Did you know that you are an extremely aggressive cuddler? Once you were out, you latched on to me like a dog would a bone with meat still left on it.”
“Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy every moment of it,” Gavin voiced, lifting his head to peer over my shoulder. “She tried to roll over to snuggle with me, and you wouldn’t let her. I don’t want to hear you complain about shit.”
“Oh, sounds like the prince is a little jealous about that,” Cole taunted.
Gavin grinned at him and shook his head. “Nope, I have a whole new appreciation for Cassarah’s assets and how they seem to fit in all the right places.” Cole tried to smack Gavin, but he ducked behind me, using me as a shield.
“Well, that’s my cue that it’s time to get up,” I announced as I wiggled out from between them. “We’ve got another long day ahead of us, so make sure you guys get the tent packed away once you’re done arguing.”
They looked at me, stunned, making me chuckle to myself as I slipped out of the tent.
The sun was still hidden behind the mountains, telling me we hadn’t slept in too late.
As much as I wanted to get to Sheca, everyone needed their sleep.
Showing up to Sheca half dead wouldn’t do us any good in the long run.
If we took longer than three days, so be it.
The whole point of this was to keep my people safe.
Pushing them to the limit wasn’t doing that.
Taking in a deep breath of the cold morning air, I stretched, feeling far more rested than I should have for the condition I was in.
Others were up and getting things packed away while kids huddled together, still wrapped in blankets, gnawing on their dried meat.
A fire was lit this morning, but it was only to melt the snow so we could fill our water bags and give some to the horses.
I made my way over to Inali, brushed her down, got her ready for another long day, and packed my things before I ate my meager breakfast. A shadow cast over the camp, making me look up.
I saw Vasin and the next wave of dragon riders swooping in, making the children jump to their feet and wave excitedly.
Tahir and Jade landed in a precarious space long enough for Jade to hop off before Tahir took flight again.
Jade took a moment, scanning the area until his eyes landed on me.
A smile grew on his face as he headed in my direction.
“Good morning, little bird,” he greeted. “We’ve come back with another hundred dragons to take the rest of the kids and others without horses.”
I moved forward, intending to hug Jade, having realized how much I missed him, but Paxton took that moment to fall out of the sky and land beside us, spooking Inali in the process. She reared and let out a shrill whinny, unsettling the other horses as they responded to her distress.
“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” Jade snarled at Paxton.
“Making an entrance, of course,” Paxton said proudly. “I figured I would take a page out of our Queen’s playbook and leap off my dragon instead of having her land, and it worked out quite well if you ask me.”
“Seems like nothing has changed about you after all these years,” Cole snapped as he walked up to Inali with a bag of grain, trying to settle her. “Always thinking about yourself, not giving a rat’s ass as to who or what it might hurt in the process.”
“Glad to see you are the same self-righteous asshole. Is Grandpa Ballard still greasing the wheels to get you the best jobs?” Paxton countered, a grin plastered on his face.
Cole dropped the bag of grain, but Abbott grabbed his arm, shaking his head. “It’s not worth it, Cole.”
“Ah, I wondered when the abandoned orphan of the Bronze Reapers was going to show up. Speaking of which, where is the lug and his cousin?” Paxton asked, looking around.
“You looking for us?” Dayson called, whipping a snowball at Paxton, dodging it at the last second.
“Now the gang’s all here,” Paxton cheered.
“My apologies. I didn’t get a chance to greet all of you properly after saving our new queen from my twin.
You see, the clan leaders needed their pound of flesh first, and then our lovely spitfire decided we needed to be on the run.
Just so busy, busy, busy, but I have been looking forward to the warm greeting from you all after coming back from the dead and all. ”
He talked so fast that my brain had difficulty keeping up with everything he was saying, but it seemed everyone else was tracking just fine.
None of them seemed thrilled to have him back from the grave, dashing my thoughts that things were going well between them.
Had they been playing nice for my sake up until now?
What changed from yesterday to today? Or was I the one who didn’t see their true feelings until now?
“Wait, what did you say about the clan leaders?” I asked, cutting off whoever was going to speak next.
Paxton turned, giving me his full attention. “You didn’t know? I thought for sure you asked them to interrogate me after you clocked me in the face to teach me a lesson.”
“What did they ask you about?” I pressed, not liking that they would go behind my back and question one of my guardians.
Sure, Paxton might have some history with the clans, but once he bore my mark, he was mine.
They should have known better. They didn’t do that with Zan, so why would they with Paxton…
because of his father and brother? Still, why didn’t they tell me?
“The typical… where I was, how I was not dead, did I plan to betray the clans and turn them over to Creisal since I’d been hiding out there.
Oh, and they also wanted to know how I acquired Ninnat since she’s a golden female and all,” Paxton shared with a shrug.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I honestly thought they would have told you what happened. ”
My hands balled into fists, wondering what else they might have done behind my back.
The clan leaders had been spending a lot of time with King Edward and Queen Mary while Gavin hung out with his brother, Philip, who’d gone with the first group of dragons.
It wouldn’t do me any good to have this battle here.
Once I was officially crowned in Sheca, I could restructure how things would work, blending the two groups together.
“Is there anything you told them that I should know about?” I inquired, rubbing my hand over my forehead.
Paxton dropped his gaze and kicked a stone with his foot before answering. “I was a spy for the Creisal, gathering useful information about the other countries. I knew about Henry and his movements before he infiltrated Norden.”
My eyes widened. “Are you telling me that we could have avoided what happened at the castle if you’d actually come to find me right when you got your guardian mark?”
“I didn’t know what it was at first,” Paxton argued, trying to defend himself.
“Once I did more research, I figured it out and then came to find you. But I was in Errit, talking to an old mercenary about it. I was too far away to get back any sooner than I did. You have to admit, it was pretty perfect timing too.”
“Why can’t things ever be simple?” I demanded, tossing my hands up in the air.
“Vasin, can you come get me? I need some space and advice.”
“I can do that, Cass. Give me a moment to find a place to land.”
Grabbing my rations, I marched off without giving any explanation to the guys.
I felt someone following me and peered over my shoulder to see it was May.
She kept a few paces back and didn’t try to stop or talk to me, just keeping an eye on me.
Vasin was in the air wheeling, looking for the best place to land which was easier now that most of the tents had been packed up.
Once he was safely on the ground, I sped up.
Reaching him, I hugged him, relieved to be able to escape everyone just for a bit.
“Can we fly around for a bit just until the other dragons have picked up the people they are going to take?”
“You may stay with me for as long as you like. I will never turn you away.”
I climbed up and was strapping in when Paxton came running up. “Cassarah, wait. Please let me explain things to you better.”
“Not now, Paxton. I just need a little space,” I answered.
He tried to push the issue, but a snarl from Vasin stopped him dead in his tracks. “Cassarah, I’m sorry. I fucked up. You’re right. I did know what the mark meant, and I ran from it. But I won’t anymore. It’s why I’m here with you.”
Meeting his gaze, I could tell he was being earnest about his words, but I just needed some space.
No matter what I was dealing with, it just seemed like the hits kept coming.
Flying with Vasin helped to ground me. He was a wise sounding board who wasn’t trying to manipulate me.
That is what I needed right now. Paxton must have seen that in my look because he backed up and hung his head in defeat as Vasin took off.