Baxley looked at me and made a lowering motion with his hand. I slowly sank back down.
The silence this time was suffocating.
The fire crackled, and I jumped. I’d never jumped at a fire in my life, but this man put me out of sorts.
“I did lie with Vorn,” I told the silence. Baxley started to speak, but I shushed him. “But all that happened was we lay beside each other. His hands did wander, and I reminded him of what would happen if they didn’t stop. He kept me beside him for warmth.” I ignored the snort from the other side of the shelter. “Iwastaken, and I will apologize to Larana if I see her again for my carelessness. I should have heard them… Or something.” Neither of them spoke, and I carried on. “I am not lying, my contract, as you know, Baxley, was to lead them north.”
“You were to get five to go and five to comeback,” Nicco reminded me.
“Yes, but no one said wherebackwould be.” I didn’t flinch from his narrowed glare. “When Vorn took me, I knew you three would get the others back safely. Vorn asked me to find a trail. When I found it, I was to go free.”
“He would never let you go free,” Nicco snapped.
“Iknow. That’s why when I left Iskaeld, I was going to head south.”
He didn’t look like he believed me.
“This is the truth,” I told them both. “Do with it what you will.”
Silence fell again.
Then Baxley spoke. “I believe you, Amarya.” He stood and stretched. “I need to step outside.”
When Baxley had left us, Nicco spoke again. “I have a question.”
“What now?”
“What do you mean byifyou see Larana again?”
I looked up over at him, and he was still looking outward. “I assume you haven’t kidnapped me instead, so I am free to go?”
He didn’t answer. When it was clear he wasn’t going to answer, I curled up to sleep.
“What did he do to you when his handswandered?”
Well, I wasn’t in any hurry to answerthat, so I lay still and pretended to be asleep.
“I know the sound of your breathing when you sleep, bunny. Answer the question.”
“It was nothing, hands under clothes, that’s all. I told him to remove them, and he did.”
“Go to sleep, Amarya.”
I closed my eyes, knowing the conversation was over.
In the morning, his mood hadn't improved. Neither of them had woken me for watch, which annoyed me, and Baxley was clearly done with both of us. Our small party was not a happy one as we resumed our southbound trail.
Midmorning, I was bored with the silence. “The soldiers,” I said. “They went south?”
Baxley was the one to answer. “Yes.”
“Captain Marson will be eager to report back on what he found?”
“He will. He’ll be eager to find good horses.” Baxley scratched his arm as we walked. “Unlikely they’ll be too far in front, though. Larana knows to move them slowly.”
I thought about that. “She’ll be okay?” The look he gave me confirmed he thought so. “And you didn't go with them.”
He shook his head. “Nicco was alone.Youwere alone.”
