His eyes flew open to mine. Irresponsible terror lanced through me, but he didn’t push me away, didn’t seem inclined to fight. I was clumsy, and I was afraid, but I kissed him, and he let me.
And he was okay.
A QUESTION TO ANSWER
“Rowena, you don’t need to fuss over me.”
“I’ll decide if I need to fuss over you.Sit.”
The soup Gnarlak had taught me to make was simmering over the fire, and I dished out a bowl for each of us. The dried fish cakes floated in the broth, a fragrant, mildly spicy scent on the steam.
It had been three weeks in the little house in the trees, his comrades in arms a steady presence day by day, ostensibly coming in twos and threes to socialize and check in on Khal, but I could read it in their faces, in the words that they let slip, the way one or two of them always found it too tiring to return to their own fires and decided to spend the night. They were protecting him. Protecting us.
And while it was nerve-wracking to never get to speak to Khal without the presence of others, they were also comforting.
Piotr had made it up the steep wooden steps once, with his cane, but Khal, already recovering, urged him to stay at home and rest.
“This is good,” Khal said, bringing the spoon to his lips again. He always ate so neatly.
“I think this is better than the soup with the lichen. That one isfa-vrecht.” Orcish was getting easier, with so much time around him and his friends, so much magic constantly flowing out of me and around me. I hadn’t built up the reserve of power I’d had before. Maybe this continual draining did some harm to the process. It was an awareness, always, an emptiness and an aching.
“It is fa-vrecht.” The corner of his mouth twitched.
“What is it? Did I say it wrong?”
“No. Not…not really.”
“But you’re smiling.”
“I’m not smiling.”
“You are.”
There was a snort in the corner. Hagmar was napping under the window. I lowered my voice again. “You are.”
He glanced over at his sleeping friend, the closest thing we’d had to being alone since the hours before his fight with Drazha, and murmured to me, “I just like it. Hearing you speak.”
I didn’t know what to say.
A fist pounded at the door. “Khal, open this door before I break it down on your ass.” Vrathgar.
I stood on tiptoe to get the latch undone.
Khal’s friend nodded respect to me before swaggering into the cabin. “Khal,” he said. “How are you holding up?” He, for one, seemed to have no concerns about letting Hagmar sleep.
“Well.”
“Moving well?”
Their gazes locked.
“Are we moving?”
Vrathgar nodded. “There are signs the bloom will happen early, because of the extra rains. The chieftains want to be out before any of the animals risk poisoning.”
“That’s not good.” Khal frowned. “It’s still breeding seasonfor too many of the fae beasts. We’ll be taking a risk, moving with the young ones.”
“I didn’t ask if it was a good idea,chief.I asked if you could walk out of here, or if I have to carry you.”
