Chapter 15 #2
But I still felt they were hiding something from me, and I didn’t like it.
Not because I thought they intentionally meant me harm, but because unknowns in Crystallese on a trail could get you killed. And I spent far too much time and energy on staying alive.
I heard the captain tell the others the watch schedule, with very brief shifts, barely long enough to feel the cold settle in, and no more than a short rest for those sleeping. I waited to be called on since we had an odd number, and it made sense for me to contribute.
I wasn’t.
I was also fed up with the exclusion.
“I’ve been keeping watch in this kingdom longer than most of you have worn gold breastplates.
” My voice was low and steady, and I knew they heard me.
I kept my gaze on the flames. “I also know what to look for in the night. What snow means a deathstorm. What animal footprints mean fresh food nearby or a psychotic monster.” I looked up, and my eyes met the captain’s.
“And somehow, I’m the one you want to sleep through the night. ”
Captain Marson swallowed. “I guess you have a point—”
“You’re also the one who sneaks out of inns and knows how to vanish in a land of ice.” Nicco’s voice was cool as he spoke, his attention fixed on the horizon, or what he could see beyond the firelight.
“That was one time.” Hating the sound of protest on my lips.
He turned his head, with his hood pulled low, and his face wrappings not clear of his chin. He looked foreboding in the flickering light of the campfire. “The watch is to protect the camp from threats outside and in.”
I held his stare, anger welling within me. “I am not a threat.”
He smirked and turned away. “I’m not yet convinced.”
Silence settled, and it was not only awkward but deafening. I looked around, and anyone who met my gaze quickly looked away, except Baxley. He smiled at me and winked. I glared at him, and he grinned even wider.
I watched him get to his feet, slide his hood off, and push his messy, short dark hair back.
“I’ll take watch with the trailfinder.”
Larana looked up from her knives. Nicco didn’t turn his head from his vigilance.
“Bax—”
“She’s fine, Nicco,” he said, and I heard his voice soften slightly. “Amarya has been solid since we left the first town.” He looked at me. “Would you have known what the storm was last night before it hit?”
I nodded, too stunned at him defending me to talk.
“Would it have saved the horses?”
I shook my head. “No, they should never have been with us past Skallfen, but…” I remembered the Frosttaken. “But we couldn’t leave them there.” I got back to his question. “The skarveld would have scared them too much. They’d have kicked and fought and possibly trampled us in the process.”
Baxley nodded. “You’re on watch with me.”
“Okay.”
Talk among the others resumed as he turned his attention to his pack. I kept staring at him until a particularly loud screech of whetstone against blade made me look away and meet Larana’s gaze.
Shit. I hadn’t figured out whether any of them were together, but with the look she was giving me now, I was thinking there was a history there, maybe even a present.
How did I tell her I wasn’t interested in her man? Men? I wasn’t subtle. I was terrible at diplomacy, and this was going to be very freaking awkward.
I decided to ignore it. If she had a problem, she could ask me. Until then, it wasn’t my concern. If she was worried that her man, or men, would be interested in someone like me while they were with someone like her, well, that sounded like a trust issue they needed to work out themselves.
I wrapped myself in my cloak, shut my eyes, and went to sleep.
A rough shake of my shoulder woke me up, and I opened my eyes to Nicco staring down at me. Instinctively, I pushed myself away, and his grip tightened.
“Your watch, bunny. Try to behave.”
I was going to kill him in his sleep. My face must have told him exactly what I was thinking because he grinned.
“Not even on your best day, Amarya,” he murmured. He hauled me to my feet and then patted me on the head like I was a pet. “Go watch, and don’t fuck up.”
I made my way over to where Baxley already stood. His cloak wrapped tightly around him, his hood up but not over his eyes, keeping his peripheral vision clear.
“Your boss is a dick.”
I caught a quick flash of white as he grinned. “Not my boss.”
I huffed a whatever and checked my pockets for my gloves. I hadn’t realized I’d taken them off. I never took them off. I turned and glared across the camp, not sure which one Nicco was in the dark.
“What have you lost?” Baxley asked me quietly.
“Lost? Nothing. Your non-boss has my gloves.”
I saw him grin again. “Want to go get them?” Baxley turned to look, then back at me. “He’s lying with Rana, and she’s not happy when she’s interrupted.”
Interrupted? Doing what?
My cheeks flushed, and I dipped my head in embarrassment. I heard his low chuckle.
“Her sleep,” he clarified. “Don’t mess with that woman’s sleep. She’ll gut you.”
“She picked the wrong job,” I muttered, moving away from him. “I’ll be over there. You’ll know if I need you.”
“Same.”
My watch was the one before dawn, the shittiest shift.
You slept the longest stretch, then woke, did your watch, and could snatch a little more rest afterward.
But that last scrap of sleep could undo all the good of everything that came before it.
So if you had sense, you stayed awake, and your day was longer.
I had traveled with so many who didn’t have sense.
Either way, it was going to be a crappy day once we started.
The silence had been heavy for a long time. My attention had been on the landscape when I heard it.
A whimper.
I stopped breathing, my head turning slightly toward the camp. I heard it again. A gasp. Oh gods, surely they weren’t…
I focused on the noise, on the movement.
A groan.
I turned toward the camp. That wasn’t a groan of passion. I made my way over to the injured soldier. With my hand on his head, I felt him burning up.
“What is it?”
Nicco was at my shoulder, and I really wanted to ask him if he had slept or stayed awake just to make sure I wouldn’t run.
“He’s got a fever,” I told him. “He’s likely infected by the Hulgrim attack.” I loosened the soldier’s cloak and began untying the laces of his shirt.
“And your plan is to what? Undress him?”
I glared at Nicco over my shoulder. “My plan is to see how badly he’s hurt to know if we can save him.”
Nicco made a face. “Or leave him?” He waited for my nod. “Fine. I say leave him, and we split his rations.”
I scowled as I worked on the straps of the leather breastplate.
Of course he’d say that. Nicco was as cold as Crystallese itself, and he didn’t hide it. Or apologize for it.
And I wasn’t sure if I admired that or loathed it.