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“If I had killed someone for them, don’t you think they would be covered in blood?”
“No. You can easily kill someone without spilling blood.”
“Fine.” He sighs. “I don’t care if you believe me. Just eat the damn fruit, and then once I give you the all-clear, you will bathe and put on the clothes. I won’t repeat myself again.”
With that, he walks out of the cave. I roll my eyes and hurriedly peel open the fruit, immediately taking a bite.
“Mmm,” I moan.
Tizret may not be my favorite, but it’s the first thing I’ve eaten in almost a day. Before long, I’ve finished both of them and Rukh is back. I follow him outside to the pond, where he stands with his arms crossed.
“If you think I’m going to let you watch me, you’re sorely mistaken.”
“Who said anything about watching you? But I will be standing here the whole time in case someone comes by.”
I stare at him for a moment before deciding that he definitely won’t budge.
“Just don’t look,” I warn him.
The asshole doesn’t even answer, he just looks slightly away from me, staring into the forest. I sigh but begin undressing. I haven’t had a bath in a week now, and I’ve needed one since the first day.
Once I’m naked, I sink myself as much as I can into the water, though it’s not very deep. I sit on the bottom half of my legs, and the water only covers me to the waist. Without soap, all I can do is use the water to scrub myself as best as I can. Still better than nothing.
Ten minutes later, I’ve washed every last bit of dirt from my skin and hair, and I walk out of the pond. But I quickly realize that I have no way to dry myself off before getting into my new clothes, and I don’t love the idea of having to get in them like this and walk around in wet clothes all day.
“I, um, I don’t have a towel to dry off with,” I tell him.
“And?”
“And I’m soaking wet,” I state.
He chuckles, and I turn my head towards him to make sure he’s not looking at me. Does he think this is funny?
“Do you have anything I can use?” I begrudgingly ask.
“Nope.”
I sigh before wringing out my hair and turning away from him. As much as I don’t want to, I step into my new clothes, hoping they don’t get completely soaked through. Once I’m dressed, I wring out my hair one more time and head towards Rukh.
“Okay I’m dres–” I start to say, but when I look up at him, he is unrecognizable. The only way I know it’s still him is the pack slung over his shoulder.
“Before you freak out,” he says, holding up a hand. “I shapeshifted into a human form. I can’t exactly walk around looking how I normally do. It would attract too much attention, and I would like us to be able to find a place to stay before nightfall.”
“Okay.” I swallow, averting my gaze. “What now?”
“Now we walk,” he says, grabbing my old clothing and stuffing them into his pack.
As we start our journey, I find myself peeking at him when I can. He’s still taller than me, though not by much, with pale skin. His hair is now jet black and falls into his eyes. Eyes that are no longer red but green, matching mine almost perfectly. I wonder if he did that on purpose.
“Stop staring,” he mutters after a moment.
“I wasn’t,” I say, forcing myself to look forward. My face heats up for the second time today, though this time for an entirely different reason.
An hour later, we reach a small town that’s only one town over from Mellara. A lot of people from my old town visit the shops here. I let my head hang lower, hoping no one recognizes me.
As we walk, I can’t help but wonder who Rukh is here for. Surely he didn’t just pick this place at random. There must be evil here. I’m a little afraid to see what happens next, but I can’t deny that I’m curious. I want to understand what makes him work, how he does what he does, and just what it is that he does at all.
“You’re nervous,” he states.
