Looking up from the stream where she was washing laundry, Ursula lifted up the sodden mass of cloth and wrung it. “What time tomorrow?”
He looked at the sky and his hands stilled during the pause to calculate the distance and travel time. “Afternoon.”
Ursula’s eyes lit up with hope. “You’ve heard from Bran?”
“No, from Gil.” That light in her eyes dulled. Zul wanted to flinch at the pain he’d unintentionally caused and rushed to fix his error. “Bran lives,elska’adir. Helives.”
She sighed, inferring from his emphasis on “lives” that Bran was in imminent danger of dying. “But he’s not well.”
Zul refused to lie because his mate was stronger than he’d originally assumed. She preferred truth, even if it hurt. “No, he is gravely injured.”
He lifted a hand to give her a reassuring touch, but realized she probably wouldn’t appreciate being smeared with lizard blood.
“He needs us,” she said.
Zul agreed. “We are stronger together.”
Ursula finished wringing the shirt she’d been washing. Rising to her feet, she snapped it free of the tight twist and draped it over a bit of scrub to dry. As she dunked the next piece of clothing in to soak it and begin scrubbing, she said, “How are we getting home? Can Suvesh somehow summon the wyverns?”
Zul looked at the carcass and peeled the scaly hide from the body. “We’re going to the capital, not home. Gil is sending transportation. Not the wyverns.” He rinsed the gutted and skinned carcass in the stream.
“A flying brick?”
Zul paused, giving her an incredulous look. Then he began to chuckle. “Flying brick indeed. Hah! That’s an excellent description.”
“How does he know where we are?” Ursula lifted Suvesh’s shirt from the water and began to wring it out.
Zul pondered for a split second whether to give her the technical answer or the easy answer. Making his decision, he simply said, “Because I know where we are.”
She scoffed. “Oh, that’s not vague at all.”
“Trust me,elska’adir.”
“I do.” She finished wringing out the shirt, flicked it free of the tight twist, and draped it close to the other shirt to dry. She looked at her hands roughened with the evidence of primitive living. “It will be nice to get back to civilization and modern amenities.”
Zul lifted the dripping carcass. “I’ll spit this and get it cooking.”
She gave him a wry grin. “Mmm, more barbecued lizard. Yummy.”
He shook his head and grinned at her sarcasm. He knew the comment was not an indictment of his culinary ability or his effectiveness as a provider, but merely an indication of tiredness. They were all weary of living in such primitive conditions and eating only what he could catch and kill. Luckily for them, Zul was an apex predator. Even the persistent and always-hungry yirklas had quickly learned to avoid him and those he protected. The kodos were not so wise.
He left Ursula kneeling beside the water and headed toward their small campsite where Suvesh had readied the spit with a freshly peeled and sharpened skewer. Glancing at the castratus, Zul admitted that he’d been impressed with Suvesh’s resourcefulness and capability. Ursula’s, too. She hadn’t complained or whined about their circumstances. Instead, she’d risen to the occasion, showing a resilience and toughness he would never have expected from a delicate, pampered human hybrid, particularly a female.
The rest of the day passed as had the ones before. At supper, Zul announced their impending journey and added, “We’ll be going to the capital, not home.”
Ursula’s hands immediately went to patting her hair, and she looked at her clothing which was definitely the worse for wear. “We look like savages.”
Zul nodded. He hadn’t considered a female’s desire to look presentable. He reassured her, “A hot bath and appropriate garb will be available.”
She nodded and did not question him as to how he could make that happen. She remembered the journey from the capital to Fangrys had taken days. She knew they were even further away from the city, but she had no way of knowing just how much. She sighed, silently remonstrating with herself for not better familiarizing herself with Uribern’s geography.
As she lay in Zul’s arms that night, he stroked her hair with a light touch and opened the triad bond. He found the insubstantial barrier weakened by Bran’s own terribly weakened state and easily passed through it. He found the thin turquoise thread that represented the connection to Gil and plucked it.
What is it?Gil asked.
Ursula has questions.
Speak.
