“What arm?” Derren asked, frowning as he looked me over. “What happened?”
Heat crawled up my spine. “I cut it in the bathroom last night.”
Lexie nodded like that was all that had happened. Like she hadn’t seen me standing over a dead man with blood pooling around him. But she’d helped me without asking questions, and she wasn’t mentioning it now. I was grateful for that.
“I’m a midwife.” Fara got up and came closer, water dripped from her short hair, plopping on the ground. “Can I look?”
I nodded.
She knelt beside me, her hands gentle as she tugged my arm from my tunic sleeve, exposing the saturated dressing I’d applied this morning after bathing. Fara made a tutting sound as she carefully unwrapped it, tilting my arm this way and that to examine the cut inthe scant daylight remaining. It would be dark soon. I suspected we’d have to shelter here for the night.
“It’s red. Looks sore. Could be infected.” She pulled out her water flask and used some to cleanse the wound. Then she tore a strip from her wet tunic and wrapped it around my arm, securing the ends in a neat knot. “This should help, but keep it clean.”
“Thanks.”
She helped me tug my tunic back on, and I settled back against the wall.
Maddox opened his pack and rifled around inside, tugging out one thing after another to eat. Dried meat, bread, and fruit, stuffing it all in as if we’d walk out of this nightmare within an hour.
“Maybe save some for tomorrow?” Jaxon asked. He could be joking, but real concern came through in his voice.
Maddox grinned. “Maybe I’ll take yours, runt. Better watch out.”
Jaxon’s face reddened, but instead of his usual nervous laugh, he lifted his chin. “Don’t even try.”
Tension shot through the air. Maddox stopped chewing, staring at his brother. For a moment, neither of them moved.
“We should stay here tonight,” I said. “It’s getting too dark to travel, and we shouldn’t split up.”
“Agreed.” Bryson continued to stare out into the storm, smacking his stick against his palm. “Better to rest than stumble around in the dark.”
Kerralyn shifted, clutching her journal she’d shielded with her body from the rain. The edges of the leather appeared to be curling, however. “From my research, although I’ll point out, I didn’t find much, I learned some things about the Rite of Bonds.”
She paused, looking around at us all.
“I worked as a scribe in the library in my village,” she said. “My mother was a scribe too, and she trained me. When my magic started making pencils write by themselves…” Her wry smile rose. She stared at the journal she’d laid on her lap, stroking the cover. “Mother told me tocome here. She saidifI survived, there was a chance I could return home with better control. Enhanced abilities.IfI was able to form a bond with a beast. She never told me what would happen if I didn’t.”
“Fates, you go on and on and on and you say nothing,” Maddox grumbled. “Make your point or shut up, would you?”
“Youshut up.” Jaxon jerked up into a sitting position, glaring at his older brother. “Leave her alone. She’s only trying to help.”
Silence followed.
Jaxon shook from the effort it took to hold back everything else he may have wanted to say. He turned away first, his jaw locked tight.
Surprise flashed across Maddox’s face, and he appeared stunned. Confused. Sad. Then angry—the emotion that remained. His brother joking was one thing, but this was different, a side of Jaxon he probably hadn’t seen much, if ever at all.
“Tell us more,” Jaxon told Kerralyn, his voice softer now. “Please.”
Her fingers twitching on the journal, she watched Maddox for a moment before swallowing. With a lift of her chin, her gaze met mine before moving to Lexie and Derren. “There isn’t much information, not even in the library, and we have more volumes than most in our kingdom. They keep all of this a secret on purpose. But from what I found,ifwe survive the trials, we get the chance to bond with magical companions. The bonding might involve a test too, though I only found hints of that. No true confirmation.”
“Of course,” Derren muttered, pulling Lexie closer.
“That’s just wonderful.” Sarcasm dripped from Maddox’s voice. “Are we going to have to avoid weapons for thistestas well? I don’t like it. I need to be armed. Food’s great. I love to eat. But those plants in the jungle…” A shiver rippled through him, and he shook it off with a wiggle of his shoulders. “I’d rather face them with something other than a rock.”
Which he’d lowered to his side.
“I don’t believe those we might bond with would welcome weapons,” Kerralyn said softly. “But you do what you feel is best.”
