After him, it was another storyteller, then another. I lost count. Just as I lost count of how many times that boy filled my mug. I felt warm and soft and good. Like the mead, the food, and the stories had created a thick blanket around my heart, keeping away the cold, dark feelings.
Soon, a cry rose, “Another song! Another song!”
I cheered, looking around for the next performer, when Aiden rose to his feet with a slight sway. The cheers grew louder, people stamping their feet and clapping.
“Aiden! Yes, Aiden! Sing! Sing!”
I hiccuped and shouted along with them. When in Dagriel, right?
Aiden stood in front of everyone, his cheeks flushed and his eyes bright. My heart beat faster. I’d only heard him sing once, through a door, at a horrible moment, and it’d made me sob. What would he do to me this time?
He opened his mouth, and instead of a sad song, he sang a bawdy drinking song. The crowd roared with approval andjoined in. Maz stumbled to his feet and staggered up to Aiden. They slung arms around each other and swayed, singing.
I gaped.
Yarina leaned against me, her eyes wide as well. “Is Aiden drunk?” she asked in a slurred whisper.
“I think he is,” I said in awe.
“Henevergets drunk. Fucking Four, I’m going to enjoy this.”
She clambered to her feet and joined her brother and Aiden, who kept singing. Even drunk and singing about a man who got drunk, couldn’t find his own tent, then made love to an innkeeper, his voice plucked at my heart.
All around me, people were getting to their feet to dance and sing along. The drumbeat picked up, and the dogs started howling in harmony. Laughter bubbled out of me. Gods, when was the last time I’d laughed?
Aiden’s gaze shot toward me as if he’d heard it, and his face lit up with a smile.
I had to catch my breath. My chest felt too tight.
Maz roared my name and beckoned me over. I went without hesitation, letting him tuck me under his sweaty arm. We swayed in a big group. I caught on to the chorus and belted it out with the rest of them.
My singing was awful, but nobody seemed to care as the mead continued to flow and the world grew ever brighter.
One song led to another. The swaying turned to dancing, where I found myself twirled and passed along between strangers who laughed and showed me the steps.
But then the crowd began to disperse. Couples snuck off to tents. Others cuddled and kissed in front of the fire. Some fell asleep right where they stopped dancing.
Nikella had long since disappeared. So had Jek. Together?
Aiden had vanished. Sigrid and Davka were also gone. A tall woman towed a flushed Maz into a lodge. Yarina was in the lapof a handsome Dag man, her lips fused to his. The sight awoke a strange fire in my belly.
Was Aiden also enjoying eager company somewhere in the village?
Suddenly, I needed coolness and air.
I lurched away from the fires. Away from the tents. One of which I hoped held a bed for me.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I stepped further into the meadow. The cold night air had a bite to it I wasn’t used to. But it smelled of leaves and grass and... was that the pine Maz had mentioned? Gods, it was delicious. And so clean. I could cleanse my lungs with this mountain forest air.
The soft whicker of a horse drew my attention to the fenced-in part of the meadow.
A dozen horses flicked their tails and grazed in the darkness. A man leaned on the fence next to one of them. He was watching me.
My feet brought me to him of their own accord.
His words echoed in my mind from another night in the woods.“Lately, it seems I can’t run in any direction that does not lead me to you.”
I halted a few steps away. His expression gave away nothing. He merely waited.
