He pressed a soft kiss to my lips, coaxing my mouth open to taste me gently. “I’ll always be with you. That’s a promise.”
I settled against him, my cheek to his chest. I don’t remember if he said anything else, my mind drifting as I listened to his heart beating steadily beneath me, lulling me quickly into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter 20
JESSAMINE
“Are you Shearah?”I asked, standing inside the communal cave next to the entrance flap.
There were only two people moving about. One was an older female kneading dough on a table set against the wall. I hadn’t noticed last night, but there was storage there for baskets of wheat, barley, and beans. I recognized the saddle bags folded alongside the sack of grain we had carried from Hellamir.
The other female was very pretty, with long, black hair tucked behind her tall, pointed ears. She was chopping some sort of vegetable on another wooden table set high for cooking preparation, and turned to face me when I spoke.
“Yes, I am Shearah. You must be Jessamine.”
“I am. I don’t want to impose, but I learned quite a bit of cooking when I worked at a tavern in the Borderlands.”
Her hazel-orange eyes widened. “You worked in the Borderlands?”
“Yes.” I smiled. “I told my story to the council back in Vanglosa.”
“I don’t usually attend the kella’mir gatherings. To be honest,” she ducked her head, continuing to chop the purple root vegetable known as delly root, “I don’t listen to much of anything going on. I keep to myself.”
She was a no-nonsense kind of female. I liked her already. I especially liked that she didn’t listen to gossip.
“Well, I’ve heard of you. Leifkyn bragged about your stew when we were on the trail here to the camp.”
She looked up with those wide eyes again, a blush coloring her perfect heart-shaped cheeks. “Leifkyn did?”
“Yes. He seems to admire you a good deal.” I wasn’t sure if I was overstepping, but I was certain that Leifkyn liked her. It couldn’t hurt to help them along.
She smiled down at her vegetables as she chopped faster.
“Again, I hope I’m not intruding, but I would like to help in the kitchen, if I can.”
“Of course, you can. It’s usually just me and Gweeda.” She gestured to the older female who looked up. “Gweeda, this is Jessamine. The light fae staying with us through the winter.”
I wasn’t about to correct her that it may be a bit longer. Quite a bit longer. That was for Redvyr to address with his clan.
Lifting my hand in a friendly wave to Gweeda, I said, “I absolutely love the bread you bake. It’s all I’ve eaten since I’ve been with the group, it seems.” I smiled amiably.
Gweeda stared at me a moment, grunted, then nodded and went back to her kneading.
Shearah giggled. “I think she likes you.”
“How can you possibly tell?” I joined her at the high table where she worked.
“She looked up from her kneading for a whole minute. She’s not very friendly but she’s extremely helpful in the kitchen. She works fast and efficiently. Every now and then, one of the other women help me out, but mostly they can’t abide Gweeda’s roughdemeanor.” She shrugged, scraping the purple sliced vegetable into a bowl. “I prefer it. It’s almost like working alone.”
Already there was a stack of loaves in a basket next to Gweeda. Over the giant open fire in the middle of the cave, there was a tripod spit holding a cauldron, and a second one dangling a square shaped oven for the bread.
“All you’ve eaten is bread since you’ve been with the clan? It is a shame the males didn’t feed you better on the trail.”
“It wasn’t their fault, really. I, um, I don’t eat meat. And there wasn’t much else besides the bread and goat cheese.”
I glanced over to the left side of the cave where a wooden fence enclosed a dozen goats. “I was going to offer to make a vegetable stew that I learned to make back at the tavern. I can take out some for myself then add meat for the clan.”
“Oh, not at all. We actually have quite a few who enjoy a good vegetable stew. Mostly women.” She smiled at me. “We can make two today—one with meat and one without. How would that be?”
