Nathan stopped and spun, looking down at her and her pretty face in the warm glow of the firelight. Her eyes were the color of freshly grown leaves in spring, bits of brown and yellow that only showed in the firelight like this. Her ginger hair was wild around her face where the unruly curls had broken free of the braid that ran down her back. A light smattering of pale freckles ran over her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. They matched the ones on the backs of her capable hands and up her forearms. He could have guessed they were in a fair few other parts of her body as well.
Not the thing he needed to be thinking about when he was attempting to leave her side.
He saw the moment she realized he wasn’t going to back down. Irritation and a temper of her own sparked over her face as she turned in the small space and started gathering things fromaround her. She kept moving as she pushed cloth and bandages into her medical basket before grabbing other items from a trunk she pulled out from under her bed.
“What dae ye think ye’re doing?” Nathan asked.
“Well, if ye are determined to leave, then I am coming with ye.” Freya answered easily, as if it were the most obvious thing in the entire world.
“What?” Nathan placed a hand against the wall to keep himself upright as she gathered food and other supplies.
“Ye are just as likely tae get yerself killed out in the wild there without me, so I cannae very well allow ye tae go and ken that something bad is going to happen if I could have helped ye with it, can I?” Freya explained in an eerily calm tone as she produced not one, but two large dirks from the same trunk and handed one to him.
It felt more comfortable in his hand than anything else that had happened in the last two weeks. It was proof enough to him he was indeed the fighter she had suspected he was all along. She perhaps should feel wary, given that he had no idea who he was. “And if ye come with me, and me memory returns and I’m a bad man… then what? Ye’ll be stuck in the wild with the dangerous man yer village wants me tae be.”
Freya laughed at him.
Laughed.
“I think I can handle meself,” she said. “Besides, me motivations arenae wholly selfless as ye might think them to be.”
“What dae ye mean?”
Freya paused, setting her things on the bed and rolling up her blanket for the pair of them. It was almost shocking just how easy and quickly she was able to pack up all of her belongings without a single bit of hesitation. “I mean I have long since outgrown this island anyway.”
“And what of yer people?” He inquired gently.
She paused, lingering as something he couldn’t name crossed over her features. “Well. They clearly dinnae trust me any longer… who kens how long it would be before they turned on me too.” She lifted her pretty eyes up to his own green ones. “Me maither brought us here tae the island when I was very, very young. I was never supposed to be stuck here… but I found people who needed me and I allowed meself tae be pulled intae all of it.”
“Are ye certain?”
“Ah, at least ye’re nae going tae fight me on it any longer, if nothing else.” She smirked. “This might be me only chance tae leave. I shall nae allow meself to second guess me choices. I have made up me mind, and I am coming with ye.”
Her resolute attitude warmed something inside of him that was intimidating. “Well, I appreciate yer candor.”
Freya nodded. “Then ye should be very clear ye will nae change me mind on this either.”
“Then I suppose it is in both of our best interest that I agree tae help ye tae the mainland.”
“Make nae mistake of who of us is going to be helping the other.” Freya smirked. “I’ll go and find us a horse then. Be ready tae leave when I return. The more of a headstart we can get between now and the moment those soldiers return, the better.”
CHAPTER NINE
The one horse between the pair of them wasn’t ideal. Even more so when she realized just how stubborn the pair of them truly were. As his healer, she had been insistent that he ride on the horse while she walked, and he claimed that he couldn’t call himself any sort of man if she didn’t ride while he walked. So, they were wedged up on her horse together, making very slow progress on the overladen beast.
“We’re going tae need a second horse,” Nathan said as the sun started to come up over the rolling emerald hills. It was a stunning sight of pinks and oranges as the sunlight filtered in through the clouds. The reins were second nature in his hands as Freya leaned back into his chest. She was half asleep in his arms and he was enjoying the feeling of her in his arms. Freya’s eyes were heavy as she hummed her assent. “Is there another village nearby?”
“Mm,” she said softly, forcing her eyes open.
He hated to disturb her, but they were going to have to stop for a rest. The horse would need a break and water, and they would also need to rest.
“Where’s the next village?”
Freya roused herself, glancing at the horizon and orienting herself. She turned in his arms, and pointed toward the east, where he easily guided their horse. It was another few hours before they spotted a large farm with a few houses located on the land. He imagined that her village was likely the largest on the island, and that they were unlikely to find many others aside from the sparse farms scattered over the land.
They approached slowly, as the farming family was just starting to work on their morning chores. The night’s long ride had left the pair of them sore, but Nathan was still sorry to have her leave his company. Once again he noted how he rather liked the warmth of her back cradled against his chest in that way. There were certainly plenty of horses in the barn, and they only needed but one.
He helped Freya off the horse as best as he could, easing her onto her weary feet before she turned and rustled through one of the saddle bags to produce coin. “I have a reputation here; I’ll be right back.” She assured him.
