“I, uh– Yeah, I’ll do that,” she rushed to reply. I heard the flap of the tent rustle as she disappeared, and I listened curiously to the noises outside the tent to see if I could pinpoint Garrun’s reaction.
“He what?” Garrun barked, making me snicker.
“You’re asking trouble,” I said to Ekkar, smiling wider when his tail thumped in a happy rhythm. He still didn’t move an inch, not even when the tent flap rustled again and Garrun’s growly voice filled the space.
“Ekkar! Move!”
Ekkar growled low like a warning but still didn’t move. I could practically feel Garrun’s hesitation, and I realized belatedly that if he tried to force the big animal to move, he could risk hurting me. I twisted my mouth to hide my smile.
“He’s not going to move willingly, is he?”
“No laughing,” Garrun insisted, though I could hear the smile in his voice. “You are only encouraging him.”
That only made me laugh harder. Apparently, laughter was the trick to my freedom, though, because I jostled Ekkar enough that he finally moved off to lie beside me instead. I drewin a deep breath, feeling my lungs fully expand after such a harrowing experience.
“You teaching him bad habits,” Garrun complained in the common tongue as he took my hand to pull me to my feet.
“Hey, I didn’t invite him,” I chuckled. “He just showed up here.”
“He does this only with you,” Garrun countered in the barbarian language. “You are at fault.”
Since he said it in his language, I was pretty sure he hadn’t expected me to understand him, but I caught enough to laugh. I hadn’t done anything to Ekkar but be kind to him and give him pets. I was sure plenty of other people in the clan did the same thing. It wasn’t my fault the wolf decided I was now one of his people.
“Ekkar, go sleep in your own bed,” Garrun grouched. “Let Henry rest.”
“Henry is done sleeping,” I disagreed, grinning at him. “He’s fine where he is. I just need to get ready for the day.”
Garrun grunted in response, guiding me to where my bags of clothes were tucked in one corner. “I will take you to the trench when you are ready.”
I was still smiling to myself when Alice came back. She still sounded hesitant, which I figured had to do with Ekkar, who’d ignored all of Garrun’s grumblings to get him to follow and was still asleep in my bed.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. He got tired of using me as a bed pretty quickly,” I grinned.
She huffed a small laugh. “I’ll bet. You wouldn’t make a very good bed.” She poked my side, making me snicker and jerk away from her. “You need to eat more.”
“I eat what you give me,” I pointed out with a smirk, chuckling and shifting away from her when she poked me again.“I’m going to ask Garrun to show me to the river today so I can wash our clothes. Do you want me to do yours as well?”
She hummed, and I heard her moving around, likely gathering the clothes that needed washing and putting them into a bag so I could move them easily. “No music this morning?”
Pressing my lips together to hide another smile, I shook my head. I didn’t want to tell her yet that I’d gotten out of bed last night to play. If I told her, she’d probably hear it in my voice or see it on my face that something had changed, and I didn't want to share the moment I’d had with Garrun just yet. The moment we shared was too new, too precious, to explain just yet. I didn’t want to put pressure on it. We were taking our time. There was no rush.
CHAPTER TEN
GARRUN
I knew better now than to wander off when Henry was to meet me. I stayed by his tent, listening to him and his sister speak in soft tones. I couldn’t understand all of it, they spoke too fast, but I made the decision the night prior to practice more of the common tongue with Henry. I wanted to be able to speak with him freely, and my common tongue wasn’t good enough yet to always understand his words.
When he carefully stepped out of the tent with a bag on his shoulder, I tipped my head as I took his hand. “What is that?”
“Laundry,” he replied with an easy smile. “I’d hoped to ask for you to escort me to the river this morning. I want to clean our clothes.”
Humming, I put his hand on my arm as I always did. “I can do this. There is a space where many gather most mornings. They will have the soap and can help hang it to dry.”
It would be good for him to meet others in the clan. If I was asleep, I wanted Henry to feel comfortable to ask for help. Iwished for him to stay and ensuring he had the care he needed if I wasn’t around was important for that to happen.
Ekkar slipped out of Henry’s tent behind him, keeping step with us with his side pressed against Henry’s leg. I studied him curiously. I’d seen him do that a few times now, like he was guiding Henry where he needed to go. If he continued to do so, it might help Henry to move around more freely if I wasn’t available. But I wasn’t sure how to train him to do so intentionally. Ekkar was protective, and he liked Henry, which was likely why he was sticking close. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t walk away to fetch a meal or get distracted. I didn’t want to offer him as a solution that may lead to Henry possibly being left alone somewhere without a guide.
