“Oh, no!”She struggled to sit up and Kes appeared out of the darkness to lift her from her chair.“I have clothes, they don’t fit right now anyway.And believe me, no woman wants to be stuck in the same outfit when air conditioner is a thing of the past.”
I remembered Jessa’s cool, comfortable spa and wondered if there was some way of getting Amy there.It probably wasn’t wise to have her traveling long distances in her condition though.
Amy waddled away from the fire, and I tagged after her.Sal had fallen asleep and I carefully moved him to the basket of supplies, silently praying he wouldn’t relive himself on Jessa’s food.
“What is that?”Amy whispered, her eyes bugging out when she spotted him.
“A percer spawn,” I said, lifting the basket so she could see him.
“It's so little,” she cooed, then straightened abruptly and cradled her belly.“Aren’t those things vicious killers?”
“The females are, but this one is male.”
She squinted at me and shook her head.“I’m torn.Hormones are screaming ‘cute baby animal’ but my survival instinct is a little worried.”
“Jessa is very attached,” I admitted.It was going to be a battle to get the camp to accept a percer running loose, I only hoped he remained as docile as he was currently.
“Happy wife, happy life,” she chuckled, leading me into the dark building and towards the makeshift room Kes had created from shelves and draped fabric.She flicked on a lantern sitting on a nearby shelf and rifled through a basket of clothes.
“Is she roughly my size?”she asked, waving a hand over her head.“The size I used to be, I mean.”
I cocked my head and compared the two females’ heights in my head.
“Yes?”
Amy huffed out a laugh.“Men.Stretchy fabrics and erring on the big side then.There’s nothing worse than trying to stuff yourself into a shirt like a sausage.”
A minute later I had an armful of clothes, and I was struggling to balance the basket, bucket of water and Amy’s borrowed outfits without waking Sal.
Vret let out an annoyed sound and grabbed the clothes from me.
“I’ll carry these, and leave you to your groveling.”
I’d already been away from Jessa longer than I planned, so I moved quickly back to my tent, Vret lagging a bit behind.He stopped at the front of my tent and handed me the clothes.
“Find Adak early or I will wake you,” he warned me.“I know you left out details and he will need to hear it all.”
I nodded and clapped my hand to Vret’s shoulder.
“I missed you, brother,” I said warmly.“I am glad you weren’t with me, but it would have been easier with your mind to help me.”
He shoved my hand away.“Say what you like, we both know I would have just been another weak body for you to drag along.”
I didn’t comment on that, but made a note to check on Jiith as soon as possible.I’d told Kahlu that he was a friend and not a prisoner, but I doubted the syto would be comfortable surrounded by strange turochs in his weakened state.
Ducking inside the tent, I found Jessa sound asleep.I set the basket down, and settled on the floor to stare at my female.Dried tear tracks stained her face, and she was curled into a tight ball, shivers wracking her frame every few seconds.
She was tired and needed sleep, but I wanted to give her the chance to clean up, and selfishly I wanted to apologize to her before I slept.
“Jessa,” I shook her shoulder gently and she startled awake.
“It’s me,” I assured her when she darted a panicked look around my dark tent.“I brought you water to wash with and fresh clothes.”
“Oh.”She sat up and rubbed her face.“I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”Her voice was a hoarse croak and I handed her the cup I’d taken from the supplies and offered her the bucket.She dipped the cup and drained it, surfacing with a deep sigh that told me I was right to wake her.
She needed food and water, and I knew the dress she wore had scraped her arms raw.
“Wash, and change,” I told her.“Sal is sleeping and you can eat when you’re clean.”
