It’s a temporary situation, and I don’t want to think beyond this bowl of food, beyond the way it warms up my belly and eases the pangs of hunger in my stomach. The taste is rather bland, no salt, no spices, no herbs, but it’s the best thing right now, although the unknown greens are slightly bitter, and the meat is gamey.
Honestly, I couldn’t care less. I finish the food so fast I feel sick. I give the empty helmet back and swallow hard to keep it all down.
The raven hops closer to the nest. “Are you all right? Is she all right? She looks green in the face. What did you feed her, Ro? You should have gone with a nice chunk of raw meat?—”
“I’m fine.” I wave a hand at him, hoping the contents of my stomach don’t make a reappearance. “No raw meat for me, thank you. The broth was… good.”
Roane doesn’t deem this feeble attempt at politeness worthy of a reply, apparently, because he grabs the helmet and refills it, then follows my example and drinks the broth, then fishes out the meat and greens with his fingers to eat.
“Don’t you need a bowl for yourself?” I ask, once I’m certain I won’t be throwing up. “Or some utensils? You do live here, right?”
His gaze slides to me, sharp and narrow. Sometimes I still wonder if he’s deaf, because he takes so long to reply, or doesn’t reply at all.
“He usually eats straight from the pot,” the raven says in his stead. “But eating cooked food is rare. He usually eats whatever is at hand. Not much cooking gets done around here. Raw meat, raw grass, raw roots and raw?—”
“Tal,” Roane rumbles, “that’s enough.”
“He isn’t used to civilized food,” the raven whistles, “is all I’m saying.”
“I’m not used to being aroundpeople.” Roane frowns even more darkly, probably catching my incredulous look. “What?”
I lift my hands. “Nothing.”
Yet he knows how to cook a soup, so he must have lived with people once. His mystery tugs at my mind, sinking hooks into my thoughts.
“Are there more inhabitants?” I decide to ask. “I thought only the librarian lived here, but this is an entire world.”
“I live alone,” he says.
“Excuse me,” the raven croaks and flutters his wings. “What are we, chopped liver?”
Roane’s scowl doesn’t waver. “Tal, why don’t you go hunt like your friend and leave me in peace?”
“Oh, touchy today, are we? Fine, then.” The raven flies off. “See you later, people.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
NOT ALONE
ADELINE
Dreams plague me. I don’t know when I dozed off again. Somewhere between the raven flying off and Roane finishing his soup, I must have fallen asleep on the blankets and furs that smell like him.
It’s no big surprise, I tell myself. He’s the only familiar creature in this place, the only one that isn’t an animal or a monster. And he’s the one who took care of me both times when my body gave up on me, carrying me in his arms and feeding me his bland broth.
Yet when I wake up, unsure of what sound pierced my dreams, and find him crouched beside me on the bed, I jerk away with a gasp. In that brief moment between sleep and waking, he’d been made of shadow, merging with the shapes of the goblins we fought earlier.
He stays still, his sharp gaze fixed on me. His dark brows are drawn together. I don’t recall a moment since I met him when he wasn’t frowning.
“Sorry.” I gather my wits and my limbs, shoving a hand through my long, messy hair. Olm’s book lies beside me on the furs, the sight of its dark leather cover also familiar andsomehow reassuring. “I got startled, that’s all. I’m tired. The past few days have been rough.”
He gives a slow nod. His eyes watch my every movement, tracking the way my legs bend, the way I push myself up to sit, pulling my dress down to cover them. Wary. A hunter watching his prey, or the hunted making sure there is no danger?
I jerk a little when he lifts a hand to my face and grips my chin, the strength in those long fingers bruising.
“Roane…” I hold my breath, wondering what he’s doing. His dark frown makes it seem as though he’s wondering the same.
Then his grip relaxes, fingertips tracing my cheek with feather-light touches. He tugs on a strand of my hair, then gently tucks it behind my ear.
