And I was too damn tired to shrug.
We’d not madeit very far before falling asleep the night before. I woke on the ground next to the cooking fire. Harri’s arm was slipped beneath my head, and I must’ve spent most of the night with my nose buried in his armpit.
Embarrassing.
Bran had curled up behind me and slung his arm across us both.
When I sat up, Gareth was nowhere to be seen.
And that fourth dragon, the one with the cobalt glare, hadn’t come back.
My body was stiff from sleeping on the ground, sure, but also everything that preceded it. My arms ached. The small of my back popped when I stretched. The muscles in my thighs and calves protested with every movement.
What the hell did my calves have to do with anything?
Surely, I’d feel better after a bath. It’d wake me up, at least, and I smelled ripe.
I shook Harri’s arm. “Where do you bathe?”
He grumbled without opening his eyes. “Hot spring.”
“Where’s that?”
“Past the river delta where the rocks turn black.”
All right, that wasn’t much to go on, but it was something. I’d find where the river hit the ocean and go in from there until I saw black rocks.
I just wasn’t going to go hiking naked. It was cold, and the terrain past the campfire was uneven, so I slipped on my boots, but there was no sense getting dressed while I was covered in sweat and come. Instead, I wrapped one of their cloaks tight around myself and bundled my trousers and shirt together in front of me.
My armor was missing. Sword too.
My signet ring, as well, seemed to be missing from my pocket.
That was a problem for?—
For not now. Now was bathing, and a hot spring sounded like just the thing. I’d been prepared to splash off in a cold stream, and even that would have been a luxury.
Slowly, picking my way through the uneven terrain with every achy step, I made my way up from their camp, considering what I’d do next.
I couldn’t return to the Spires, and I didn’t know where else to go. With humans, I’d always be looking over my shoulder. Clearly, Evander had some vendetta to work out against me, and if I couldn’t have a proper brother, I had no intention of letting him kill me.
That was one thing I could say about the dragons—I didn’t think they’d hurt me, which was better than I could say for anyone back in Atheldinas.
Why bring me to their camp if they meant me harm? The sapphire-eyed dragon could’ve killed me with a little more motivation.
And last night, the others hadn’t seemed intent on causing me harm.
What if I stayed? I’d be leaving behind the luxury I was accustomed to, but my stomach was full, and I rather liked?—
Well, they certainly hadn’t been cruel.
It didn’t take as long as I thought it would to find the spring, and I kicked my boots off on a nearby rock before laying out the cloak and piling my clothes on top of it.
I stepped into the water gingerly. The stones beneath were slippery, but the water was just the right amount of steamy against my sore calves.
If I stayed out here, at least long enough to let the worst of winter pass, it might not be so bad. The spring was nice. I’d developed a fondness for dragon cock. They didn’t seem to intend to let me starve.
I sank down into the water with a sigh.
