Erin’s hand stilled for a fraction of a moment. She swallowed and then made another stitch into his skin.
“It was after the Plague,” he added.
Erin didn’t look up at him. She had the odd sense that if she did, it would make him cold again.
“What made you leave?” she asked softly, leaning closer to his side.
“Too many things. Things I have no wish to speak of now.”
Erin recognized his words for what they were: an apology. An olive branch, even. It was probably the closest she’d ever come to an ‘I’m sorry’ from him.
“And you settled here,” she commented. “In the north.”
“Eventually,” he said.
“You lived somewhere else before here?”
He was hesitant now. “Tev.”
But he didn’t say where and Erin wouldn’t press him.
Baby steps, she thought.
“You must understand something,rixella,” he said, just as she reached the last stitch. She made it quickly, relieved that the wound was finally—mostly—closed, that the stitches were tight and clean.
Erin looked back up at Jaxor, despite her better judgment.
“I have lived here on my own for a long time. I have become accustomed to the silence of it and to my own way of life. I have my routines because they keep me sane. Most importantly, I do not trust anyone,” he said, those blues eyes burrowing into her.Even you, was what he implied. “What I am trying to say is that it has been a long time since I have simply talked for the sake of talking. I am not certain I know how anymore.”
Whatever Erin thought he was going to say…well, it hadn’t been that. It was a strangely vulnerable, somewhat heartbreaking confession.
Jaxor himself seemed surprised by the omission. He didn’t quite flush, but he made a deep sound in the back of his throat and looked down at the wound, at her handiwork.
Changing the subject, he noted, “You did well, female.” Then he added, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she said quietly, tucking an invisible strand behind her ear, only to realize, belatedly, that her fingers were covered in blood and it now smeared her cheek. “Um…can you stand? You should probably rinse the blood off in the rain before I put that salve on it.”
Her eyes sought out the clear pot. He’d used it yesterday on her foot, so she figured it couldn’t hurt.
Jaxor nodded and pushed off the cave wall, using it to keep himself steady as he rose. Erin dropped the needle and thread on the ground and followed him the short distance to the entrance. They both stepped out into the downpour together.
Erin tipped her face back to the rain, refusing to look at thekekevirbelow. Then she scrubbed at her hands, rinsing and rubbing off the last reminders of his blood. It had even gotten underneath her fingernails.
When she glanced over at Jaxor, his chest was clean of blood, though she knew it wouldn’t remain like that.
“Do you have any spare bandages?” she asked, raising her voice so he could hear her over the rain. “There’s no more in the chest.”
He shook his head, leaning heavily against the rock wall. Erin worried about the amount of blood he’d already lost from the attack.
“I have clean tunics, but not in the cave,” he replied.
“Where are they?” she asked, her eyes already surveying the base below.
He shook his head. “I will get them.”
“Jaxor,no,” she said. “I’llget them. Where are they?”
He was already walking towards the edge, obviously intent on doing it himself. Why? Because he was embarrassed he neededhelp?
