The skullcap slipped from her fingers, forgotten.
“Taavin!” She knelt at his side. The man’s chin was slumped to his chest. His arms hung heavy, palms up. The last person she’d seen in such a state had been dying from the White Death. “Taavin wh—”
“I was merely resting.” He lifted his head with a start, giving her a thin smile. “No need to fret.”
Vi searched his face.Lying. He was lying through his teeth. There was plenty of reason for her to fret.
“You’re not okay, are you?” she whispered.
“I will be.” Taavin looked toward his feet, seeing the skullcap she’d dropped. “I see you found some.”
“I did.”
“Good. I’ll just need the buds… two for now. Be careful to pinch them off so that you don’t get any stem. Here, like this.” His hands reached out, covering her fingers lightly. Vi split her attention between what he was showing her and his haggard expression. Even now, even after all that had transpired, a certain grace clung to him and wouldn’t let go.
“Here, let me do the next.” She focused on the task at hand and tried to replicate his motions.
“Perfect.” Taavin took the bud from her fingers, chewing it thoughtfully before swallowing. With that, he leaned back, settling himself once more.
Vi shifted to face him. His feet were at her side, hers at his. Her eyes landed on his hands—folded over his lower stomach and slowly running over a golden bracelet Vi had never seen before. Had they been outstretched, she might have gathered them in her own.
This was the first quiet—and fully conscious—moment they’d had since meeting in person, she realized.
Suddenly, despite all that had transpired, she felt marginally awkward. Her hands couldn’t seem to find a good place to rest. How had she been so comfortable around him before? How had she touched him like it was nothing? Vi ended up mirroring his pose.
“How long will it take for you to get better?” she asked.
“With enough rest and any luck, a few days at worst.”
“A few days…” she repeated, her mind already turning over the implications of the thought. “I’ll need to forage some sustenance for us.” He’d said the Twilight Kingdom and Forest were the lands of the morphi, and the last thing Vi wanted to do was slay an animal that was secretly a person. Her thoughts wandered back to the dark bird—it was a good thing she hadn’t killed it.
“Do you know what plants are safe to eat?”
“I was going to look for ones I recognized. I realize I’m far from home, but there’s likely a few common varieties—Meru and the Dark Isle aren’tthatfar apart. Certain mushrooms grow across the whole Dark Isle… I assume they’ll be here too. Maybe some fruits or nuts that you can help identify?”
“Brilliant thoughts. Forgive me for forgetting how capable you are.” A small, sad smile crossed his mouth. “I sometimes think of our captivity as the same. In reality, you were able to explore far more than me.”
The aching and longing in his voice kept Vi from arguing. She hadn’t ever really been able toexplore. Not in the true, untethered sense of the word. But she had been awarded some freedoms. She’d had teachers who wanted her to know how to survive in the wilds if, or when, she needed to. She suspected none of them ever thought she’d have to put theory into practice—but here she found herself, somewhat prepared to face this newest challenge.
Even if she hadn’t realized it at the time, she’d had luxuries Taavin had only dreamed of.
“When you’re better…” Vi straightened away from the wall, resting a hand on his thigh. “I’ll show you every edible plant I can find, and how to harvest them. I’ll even show you the ones that I had to taste-test to find out if they’re edible or poisonous.”
“Don’t you go taste-testing possibly poisonous things.” His hand covered hers. “I don’t want anything happening to you.”
“Nothing will.”
Taavin gave a dark chuckle. “You say that, when clearly so much has.” Vi searched his expression as he effortlessly held her gaze. “You’re not the same woman I first met.”
“No one stays the same,” Vi murmured.
“True… Then, you’re not the same woman I stood next to on that balcony.” Taavin’s fingers worked to lace with hers. Vi’s hand remained limp, giving him no encouragement. Yet she couldn’t find it in her to pull away either. He was the only comfort she had in this strange world.
“Maybe you never really had a good measure on me to begin with,” Vi contested as discomfort worked its way underneath her skin like maggots.
“Truly?” He arched his eyebrows. “You think I don’t know you by now? You think I haven’t spent my life learning your mannerisms? Memorizing your face?”
“You memorized a woman in a dream. I am not that woman. It was likely my grandmother, remember?”
