“Fucking fate.” He closed his eyes, his breath coming out in short puffs. “That fucking hurt.”
“I’m sorry. You’ll feel better after I get your salve.” I stood. “Wait here.”
His low chuckle followed me to his bedroom door. “Do I really look like I’m going to wander away right now?”
A smile tickled my lips. Shaking my head, I went inside his room and took two tins from his salve collection. Back in the main room, he’d closed his eyes again. He was silent as I spread the salve across the wounds on his chest, which made it a lot easier. I had difficulty concentrating on what I was doing when he was staring up at me.
When I was done, I managed to get him on his feet. With his arm wrapped around my shoulder, we shuffled into his bedroom. I turned my back to him while he shucked off his trousers and climbed into bed.
“All right, you can turn around now,” he said.
I moved to his side, fighting the urge to drape my hand across his forehead to check his temperature. “Do you need anything else?”
“Yes. I need you to not do what you’re thinking of doing,” he said. I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off. “I can tell bythe look on your face. You’re wondering if you should leave now, since I’d struggle to chase you. Don’t do it, Frida. Stay.”
“Why? What could possibly compel you to want me to stay?” My voice came out rough.
“I have an idea that could fix things for all of us. But you need to stay and hear me out.”
I nibbled on my bottom lip, then said, “I don’t see what could be better than my plan to return to the guild and tell Erik you’re not here.”
“You need to take him something, or he’ll say you failed.” Rune’s eyes slid shut. “And then you’ll get kicked out of the guild. Or worse. I know you don’t want that.”
“What could I possibly take him?”
“A dragon,” Rune said.
I blinked. “What?”
“A dragon. His name is Eldi, and he’s lived on this island for the past twenty odd years. It might take a little effort on your part to get him to trust you. But if you manage it, you can take him to Erik and say you never got the second assignment letter. You did what he asked, and now he has a dragon.” Rune cracked open one eye. “Though you’ll have to swear you’ll help Eldi get out of there once you’re fully inducted into the guild. Erik is a bastard who can never have a dragon under his command.”
My heart pounded, shock punching me in the gut. When I spoke, my voice came out only as a whisper. “So youdohave a dragon. You’ve had one this entire time?”
“No. He’s not mine,” Rune said gruffly. “I had a dragon once, and once was all I needed. I don’t have it in me to bond with another. So if you want to convince him to help you, he’s all yours. It just might not be easy.”
My mind spun through everything he’d told me. I’d be a fool to think this could work. Erik had never sent me here for the dragon—that wasn’t what he truly wanted. But how could hebe certain I'd received his message? The Elding raged outside, drowning the island in wind and rain. It shouldn’t be difficult to convince Erik that the owl had never reached me or that the parchment had been lost to the storm.
If I took him a dragon, I’d technically complete the original assignment.Thatwasn’t failure. He’dhaveto make me a full member because I’d done the impossible for him. While I was at it, I could even say I’d never met an orc. I’d found the dragon all on my own. Erik would have to look elsewhere for Rune.
Rune was right. This could fix things foreveryone.
Hope bloomed in my chest. I nodded and held out my hand. “It’s a deal.”
Rune chuckled, though he gently took my hand and shook it. “Don’t get so excited. Like I said, it might not be easy.”
The next morning, the cottage was empty, and the sound of splitting wood drifted in from the open front door. Rune had left a basket of bread on the table for me, though I suspected he’d had a good deal of it himself if the muddy footsteps leading to and from the table were any indication. Shaking my head, I took a chunk of the bread and poked my head outside.
Rune stood beside a pile of wooden logs, sweat curling across his bare, mottled chest. He heaved his axe into the air and brought the sharp end down on a log. It split in two, and he tossed the pieces into the growing pile. His taut muscles glistened in the morning sunlight slanting through the trees. Swallowing, I wandered over to him, noticing he’d already cleared up the broken section of his shed.
“Either you have an addiction to work or you heal faster than anyone I’ve ever met,” I said, giving him a flat stare. “Don’t you need to rest?”
“Rest is for the wicked,” he said, easing the head of his axe onto the ground and draping one arm across the handle. Fate, he looked incredible. Not that I cared, of course. I was just noticing. Most people would.
I cleared my throat. “Now that’s just not true. After the night you had, no one would think you’rewickedfor taking the day off.”
“Helga needs a new home, and the dwarves need a fence.” Rocking back on his heels, he swiped the back of his arm across his forehead. “I’m not in bad enough shape to let them down by not doing my job.”
I frowned. “If they knew what happened last night, I’m sure they’d understand. Let me—”
