Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
B itty and I don’t stay out much longer, both of us yawning excessively within the hour. We’re sharing a room as there were only four available for the five of us. In an exhausted silence, we use the cleaning powder to scrub our teeth and then collapse into our tiny—but extraordinarily comfortable—cots.
I wake to Bitty opening our door. They’re getting something from outside, and I realize it’s our breakfast as it’s already morning. In their arms is a basket, one filled with double servings of everything: still warm sweet bread rolls with a twist of sticky cinnamon paste, a small bowl of roasted faegel berries, a big plate of scrambled eggs with what looks like chunks of smoked meat through it, and a big jar of noni juice to share.
I didn’t think I would be hungry after eating so much last night, but Bitty and I devour our breakfast, a fight almost breaking out over the last faegel berry. Sitting on the floor, rubbing our bellies, we argue over who has to wash first. It’s a trade-off because getting to wash first means you get the cleanest water, but neither of us wants to get up yet .
In the end, I go first because Bitty claims they got breakfast, so I owe them. Our room is small, with only the two cots we slept in and a table with a built-in basin. A fresh jug of water was delivered with our breakfast. The basin has a drain that clears the water down and out of the room, so I pull the chained plug to get rid of last night’s dirty water.
Bitty cleans up our breakfast and then rests on their cot while I wash. One of the downsides of sharing a room is not getting to wash my hair because I don’t want to sully the water even more for Bitty. There is a light knock at the door and an attendant hands us another jug, apologizing they didn’t have enough earlier. I take the Divine hint that I should wash my hair. Bitty is thanking the attendant when I call out to see if they have any shears I can borrow.
“Of course,” the attendant says with no hint of curiosity. “I’ll be just a moment and bring them back for you.”
Giving me a skeptical look, Bitty asks why I want shears.
“Can I ask a favor?” I ask Bitty, grinning.
Reluctantly, Bitty cuts my hair for me, and the relief is immediate. It had grown a bit these last few weeks—moons—traveling, and the Erdu heat makes it uncomfortable.
Not surprisingly, traveling with an inch less hair is much cooler. I can leave my hair out without the back of my neck getting too hot or needing to tie it up and feeling stifled.
“Nice hair,” Riley teases, flicking my wild, golden blonde strands and making me jump.
The rest of the group is farther ahead, with Beans leading and Tovi carrying Bitty on their shoulders. Bitty is demonstrating something dramatically in the air with their hands, and though Tovi wouldn’t be able to see, her laughter is no less enthusiastic.
Meaning: Riley and I are alone. Again. The thrill sends the rage clawing in my chest into a frenzy .
“You’re an incorrigible flirt, Riley,” I declare, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Maybe I just like to see you squirm.” He leers, adding, “Your hair does look nice though. I like being able to see your neck.” He showers me with a handful of yellow petals that I didn’t realize he’d been picking.
“ Incorrigible! ” I yell, glowering at his back as he races off to annoy Tovi and Bitty next. I stuff a handful of the petals in a pocket. I’m not sure why.
It’s already dark by the time we finish our lackluster dinner. We opt to clean our dishes the next morning so we can get to sleep early. Beans takes the first watch, and the rest of us don’t complain as we settle into our bedrolls, exhausted from a long day.
When I’m woken for my watch, it’s earlier than I expected. Beans grimaces and leans back on his haunches.
“Bitty is unwell and has been vomiting for an hour. They’re alright, but are in no state to stand watch,” he says with a quick glance at Bitty’s huddled form.
I gladly take their place and extend my watch to cover them.
In the morning, Bitty is still not well. They are queasy and nauseous, so Beans suggests we should stay to give them a day to recover. They spend the morning in their bedroll, only moving to vomit a small distance away.
It’s a hot day. Beans takes Bitty to an almost dry creek bed nearby to cool down and wash away the sick. Tovi, Riley, and I throw a sheathed knife like it’s a hot potato, trying to cure our boredom while it’s far too hot to spar, even in the shade. We keep adding rules to our makeshift game. First, you can only catch the handle, then everything is one-handed, and you can only hold on to it for a second before you have to throw it, and it can be to any one of us.
With lots of swearing and giggling at how silly our game is, Bitty and Beans eventually return, and we settle down. The former still looks green about the gills and immediately returns to their bedroll.
Restless, I announce I’m going for a walk. I walk aimlessly for half an hour, not caring where I’m going, but I keep a clear idea of where I am and how to get back. This is why, when I come across something incredible, I race back to camp easily.
“Does anyone feel like coming to see something awesome?” I ask, breathless and excited.
Bitty gives me a sad shake of the head, and Beans pats them softly and also declines. I look to Tovi, hoping she will come, but she chirps a “no thanks,” offering what looks like an actual smile. Riley, however, agrees before I even look at him. Earning himself a pointed look and raised eyebrow from Tovi, he responds with a rude gesture that I catch out of the corner of my eye. So, I lead the way, hesitantly.
“How the fuck did you find this?” Riley asks excitedly, stripping off his clothing and weapons.
Before us—after following a very narrow canyon, more like a wide crack in the mountain—is an oasis feeding into a cave. If you crouch and look along the water, you can see the cave opens up at the top, further down. The water is fed by a small waterfall along the top of the canyon into the open cave. Not waiting for my answer, and already down to his undershorts, Riley dives in. He springs out of the water, flicking it everywhere. Then looks at me like I’m the mad one.
“Are you getting in?” he purrs, stroking backward deeper into the cave to reach the open area. The small smatter of freckles across his shoulders sparkle with the water, and the light fuzz on his chest draws my eye. Rage springs into my throat.
This is not a good idea. This is a bad idea. I repeat this over and over, as I strip off my leathers and weapons, taking off most of my clothes but leaving my tunic on. Riley watches me very carefully from the edge of the darkness in the cave. His eyes snag on the pile where my pants are, as if he’s now deliberately not looking at my bare legs.
I step into the water, not wanting to dive in, and then wade toward Riley. He takes the cue and we both swim deeper into the cave. When we finally reach the alcove, it’s even more stunning than I’d imagined.
The size of a small room, a deep pool of crystal-clear water shimmers around us. Every wall surrounding us is immense, covered in all manner of plants breaking through with a handful of short ledges dotted about. Riley has that stunning smile again, and just like the first time, I can’t see anything else.
I have to tread water as it’s too deep for me to stand, unlike Riley, who is not only standing, but the water is only halfway up his chest. He splashes me without looking and then dives under the water. Despite the clear waters, I don’t see him until he’s under me and lifting me up and out of the water.
He throws me, and I emit a squeal before I hit the water.
“Bastard!” I splutter, splashing him angrily as his unfettered laughter echoes around us.
He dives down again and I growl, swimming away from his sneaky bulk moving through the water. I can’t hide my smirk as he pops up on the opposite side of the pool. Down he goes again, and again I dodge, but eventually he catches me and throws me again.
When I catch my breath, I decide it’s my turn. I dive and speed swim under the water like an eel. He tries to dodge, but I can hold my breath longer than most, and I slip behind him. I surface with a splash and launch myself up to bring him back down into the water with me by his shoulders.
I dunk him, and he comes up spluttering and coughing, and then laughing.
For the next hour or two, we play this weird game of tag. Not really talking, only exclaiming that the other cheated or whooping that we got the other best.
The next time Riley catches me, instead of throwing me, he pulls me in close, holding my legs at mid-thigh and moving to position himself between them. Close to a ledge, my back bumps into it, before he steadies me against it.
My hands brace against his chest, rising and falling with his heavy breathing. Mine is likely the same, especially as the familiar crashing begins against my ribs, so hard I’m sure he would be able to hear it if he listened. He lifts me slightly, so we’re face-to-face, my legs around his waist in his grip.
“What would you do if I kissed you right now?” he asks huskily, eyes flicking between my eyes and my lips. His long, dark lashes still sparkle with water droplets.
“Probably headbutt you. Perhaps a knee to your favorite appendage. Might bite you. Fucking anything to stop you, really,” I say in a fast whisper, hoping my voice won’t betray me.
My hands now grip his lightly freckled shoulders. A smirk spreads across his face, and he leans further against me as his hands slide along my thighs, stopping before his fingers reach my ass.
“I’d almost risk it. For one taste.” He leans closer, and closer. “But I’ll wait,” he says to the place where the corner of my lips meets my cheek. His lips brush my skin as he speaks. “It’ll be worth it.”
He throws his body back in a splash, taking me with him. Again, I come up spluttering curses at him as his laughter trails off down the cave to the exit.
Tovi curses at me when we return as Riley describes the swimming hole. “If I’d known it was something like that , I would’ve come!” she says, her violet eyes blazing.
I laugh, reminding her that I did say it was amazing.
She huffs in derision. “I thought you had just found the beetleberry bush and gotten all excited. You are often strangely excited by food and plants.”
I narrow my eyes to argue, but… “Wait, you found a beetleberry bush ?”
Tovi rolls her eyes and signals for me to follow her in a dramatic display, feinting a punch to Riley’s ribs as we pass.
“Beetleberries!” Tovi announces in a flourish in front of a huge bush after a few minutes of walking, which earns her a squeal that sounds like it came from a child.
Tovi stands there with her arms folded not hiding the self-satisfied smile on her face, proving her point that I get way too excited about food. But…beetleberries!
They’re not exactly rare, but certainly hard to grow. The berries are dark green to red, depending on their ripeness. Earning their name from the shape of the berry, they look like a beetle without legs. The outside flesh is firm and creates a delectable pop when you bite into them.
I fill my pockets and then gesture to Tovi to fill hers as well, which she does reluctantly.
“Divide and conquer!” I tell her, instructing her to go to the other side of the bush.
Well, my intention was to fill our pockets with ripe berries and return to the camp triumphant. That was until Tovi throws an overly ripe beetleberry at me, and it splats directly in the center of my forehead, her musical laughter following in its wake.
“I thought you were nearly thirty! Or was it…thirteen?!” I yell, using berries from my pockets as projectiles and hammering her with them in quick succession.
The shriek and laugh I hear from Tovi make my heart spin, and my rage follows not long after. I ignore them both.
It’s an all-out battle, with no winner (or maybe we both won). We return to the camp with only a handful of beetleberries, sticky and overheated.
Riley licks Tovi’s face as she struggles unsuccessfully to get away from him. “Delicious!” he announces, as he grabs for me to do the same.
Tovi picks me up and throws me over her shoulders, running toward the creek, screaming. “I’ll save you!”
This group is weird, but maybe I’m weird too.