Chapter two #2
A distant and dusty part of my mind reminded me I was in company and should eat with a little more dignity. It’s just Bray, the hungrier part of my mind shot back.
His chestnut eyes fell on me in amusement, and I gulped down my half-chewed bite. Without thinking, I brushed the crumbs off his cheek.
“Bray Whitlock, you can’t be brought anywhere in civil society. Can you?”
But as soon as I’d touched his face, I groaned internally. Too familiar. Too much.
I wrapped my hands around the mug of ale to do something else with them.
My blonde hair spilled from the sides of the cloak and glowed in the flickering lights as I sipped the warm ale. I pulled my face back with a grimace at the sour taste.
“How do you drink that?” I asked, eyeing him as he upended his mug.
But he ignored my question and instead took my hand across the table.
The contact was my own fault, I supposed. But I couldn’t stifle the stiffness that solidified in my bones.
“How many have you had?” I asked, despite knowing he’d only had the one, and I pulled my hand back, but he held it tight.
Tension curled in the air between us.
My hand felt warm in his work-hardened hand; the calluses and grooves of his skin were rough from his labour on his family’s farm.
The hearth crackled, and the din around us rumbled.
Bray’s eyes lifted, the deep brown of them searched mine. For what, I wasn’t sure. But I saw something different in them.
“I’m grown now. I’m a man.”
He said it out of nowhere, and I actually laughed.
“Of course you are. What are you talking about, Bray?”
“I’m saying. If you—if you need anything. I can provide it.”
Unease curdled in my stomach.
I didn’t want to have this conversation. Not now. Not having difficult conversations had been part of why I hadn’t explained that I was leaving.
“I’m fine, Bray. I don’t want anyone to look after me,” I said, trying to pull my hand away. But his thumb pressed into the back of it to stop me.
“Maybe it’s not only about what you want,” he said with an edge.
My skin pricked as Bray insisted on keeping the grip on my hand. Like a rabbit in a snare, I was trapped in the warm tavern. There were eyes on us, ale between us, and my hand was still latched to his.
He didn’t let go.
But I forced a smile and put a hand over his.
“I want to show you something.” I tapped lightly on his hand and pulled my other free.
Curiosity got the better of him, and he shook off whatever he’d been feeling.
“I can take care of myself.” I winked, trying to defuse the tension, and pulled out a shard of the adamyte from the satchel at my side.
Bray let out a long whistle at the sight of the moon-white shaft. Its needle point looked like a streak of lightning in the dim light.
Snatching it, he brought it to the candlelight, turning it over until the planes of the piece shimmered in the dank tavern.
“Where did you get it?” There was genuine awe in his voice. Shock, admiration. Disbelief even.
“I …” My voice dried out as I hesitated.
Did I want Bray to know where this crystal could be found?
Could I share that with him? Could I trust him with that?
The climb alone was something I wasn’t sure Bray could make.
I wasn’t about to put his life in danger for this.
Bray would attempt the climb even if he wasn’t sure he could do it. It was just how he was.
Bray’s eyes had fused to the milky crystal, the facets caught the light from the flickering candles. It was beautiful to watch the crystal move back and forth over the candle, making the light beams dance.
“We can use it to buy more supplies. For the village. You can take this tomorrow,” I said, throwing my eyes to the piece he still held.
“Gen …” His eyes were still wide with surprise.
“We could use it to get so much more for the village.”
I didn’t know how he’d manage to carry everything back by himself. The forest between here and Shadowfall was largely impassable for horses, and the longer way around would take a week to trek. The Barring Sea to the north that separated the Western and Northern Corners meant you’d need a boat too.
A twinge of guilt wriggled in my gut like a worm at that thought. He would have to make that journey alone.
Something like confusion coloured his face. “Why would you use this for the village? They don’t even like you.”
Ouch. My chest clenched at his words. Bray’s bluntness could be jarring.
I was used to being kept on the edge of society, but it just hurt a little more to hear it from Bray.
I took the crystal back from him. “I don’t. It’s for Leesha,” I scrambled. I hadn’t planned on needing an excuse. I hadn’t planned on showing Bray the adamyte, let alone giving him one.
“You really retrieved that?” He eyed the crystal in my hand as though he was itching to touch it again. “On your own?”
I just looked up from my lashes and held his gaze.
Was it really so hard to believe that I could do something like this?
I didn’t bother telling him that I had done it several times since the first find.
I had to keep going back. Crystals this size were beyond rare.
They were unheard of, and merchants were willing to pay for them.
I didn’t know what they did with them, but that wasn’t my concern.
“I’d put that away, luv,” an older alewife said in a hushed tone as her wide frame blocked our table from the view of anyone else. “Lest you attract the wrong sort of attention.”
At her caution, I whipped my hand back and tucked the crystal safely under the satchel’s flap. The woman put the pitcher of ale to rest on the table’s edge and lifted Bray’s mug to refill it. I quickly flattened my hand over mine, refusing the refill.
Bray was already swallowing down what had been poured and held out his mug again. I wanted to sleep tonight, not watch the sun come up with bleary eyes.