Hadewaye and Alveye erected the tent while Blackmane and Tatum went to see if they could scavenge anything to eat alongside their food rations. While Roul was lighting the fire, Eda fed and watered the horses, then went to the stream for a wash. She returned with a few large rocks, which she placed in the fire. They would help to keep the tent warm overnight.
Blackmane and Tatum returned with some lemon sorrel and aureate grubs. Tatum sank down beside Eda and opened his hand, revealing the grubs.
‘I brought you dinner.’
Eda looked down at the squirming insects, then reached for one, tossing it into her mouth and chewing. ‘Thanks.’
Alveye’s eyes widened. ‘I really didn’t think you’d eat that.’
‘How do you think I survived locked in the merchant borough with no food?’
Tatum looked impressed as he handed the grubs to the others.
‘What was it like stuck in there for all that time?’ Hadewaye asked.
Eda shrugged. ‘You smelled the corpses from the nobility borough, did you not?’
Roul looked at the fire. He had arrived in Chadora prepared to play whatever role he needed to for the sake of his family, but he had not been prepared for the fallout of King Oswin’s death. He had done what he could, collecting mussels for the children and tossing them through the port gate. But it had not been enough. He had not been acquainted with the Suttone family at that time, but he saw the impact their suffering had on Harlan.
Blackmane stared at Eda across the fire. ‘You telling me your family survived on insects?’
‘Insects and blind hope.’ She picked up the lemon sorrel and dropped it into a small pan with some of the butter from their rations. The wilted leaves did not amount to much, but combined with some salted pork, they had a meal.
Roul noticed that Eda gave herself the smallest portion of everything. ‘That’s not enough for you,’ he told her across the flames.
She shrugged. ‘I’m half the size of the rest of you.’
He tore off a portion of his pork and held it out for her. ‘Here.’
With a sigh, Eda took it and ate.
With their stomachs no longer growling, they settled into a comfortable silence, enjoying the warmth of the fire as the temperature continued to drop.
‘Blackmane,’ Hadewaye said. ‘Why don’t you tell us a Morrigan story?’
The defender’s gaze slid to the youngest recruit. ‘I’m not your fucking governess, and you’re too old for bedtime stories.’
Tatum and Alveye stifled a laugh.
‘I wouldn’t have picked you for the storyteller of the group,’ Eda said.
‘His grandfather was Irish,’ Tatum said. ‘He knows every myth and folktale from that part of the world.’
Hadewaye nodded in agreement. ‘The Morrigan was a goddess who could change form and influence wars.’
‘Before he passed, my father told me the story of the battle between Tuatha Dé Danann and the Fomorions,’ Eda said, looking back at Blackmane. ‘Do you know it?’
Blackmane let out a resigned breath and sat up a little straighter. ‘The Morrigan prophesied that the Tuatha Dé Danann would win the battle but that their victory would come at a terrible price. She foretold that she would slay the Fomorion king Indech and bring two handfuls of his blood and kidneys to the River Unshin.’
The group listened as Blackmane spoke of how the gods gathered for the Second Battle of Moytura. ‘Lugh asked the Morrigan what she’d brought with her.’
‘Pursuit, death, and subjugation,’ Eda said quietly.
Blackmane nodded, then continued with details of the bloodbath that followed, how the Morrigan’s grandfather Nuada was slain, and her husband, the Dagda, was mortally wounded. Finally, the Morrigan joined the fray, ending the battle with her prowess and a poem. ‘The Fomorions fled from her and perished in the sea,’ he finished.
The group sat contemplating the story in the dark, the only light that of the flames now. Eda was hugging her knees in an attempt to keep warm.
‘All right. Story time is over,’ Roul said. ‘I’ll take first watch. Blackmane, you’ll take the second. Then Tatum, Alveye, Hadewaye, and Suttone.’
