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“Tell me he’s alive, Skylenna.” I lower my mug to see Chekiss’s weathered face in the light of a fire to my left. He looks older somehow. Tired and ill with worry.
“Who?”
“Niles. Tell me my son is okay.” His rusted voice trembles with his chin and bottom lip.
“Yes,” I breathe. “For now.”
Chekiss deflates a little, rubbing his dry hands over his face. He really does appear sick, from his worry lines to the weight he’s lost. His dark skin has lost some pigmentation, eyes are sunken in, and as I reach over his frail hands, they shake.
“I’ve been taking care of the kids while you were away,” he says softly, then smiles to himself. “Or I suppose they’ve been taking care of me.”
I follow his sight to Knightingale and DaiSzek sleeping with twitching paws as they dream about running and fighting.
“Thank you,” I say after another sip of soup.
“You’re alive.”
I look over Chekiss’s shoulder at the leader of Demechnef in his general’s uniform and slicked back hair. Those arctic blue eyes shudder as he stares at me.
“I am.”
As other soldiers gather around to see me again, Aurick simply stares at me with an unreadable expression. Though it’s full of strong emotions, I can’t figure out why he’s looking at me like this.
In three long strides, he dumps himself at my feet, throwing his arms around my shoulders. I pass my mug to Chekiss before he can knock it over.
It’s a tempting notion to shove this man off of me. But before I do, he shudders against me. Not crying, not laughing. He just shudders.
“You’re hugging me,” I comment, sounding like Niles.
“I’m fucking glad to see you.”
Why? I narrow my eyes at Chekiss over his shoulder. He shrugs at me with one lifted eyebrow, bringing my mug to his mouth to sip in silent judgment.
“You’re the one that sent us out there to be captured,” I remind Aurick.
“I know!” He shudders again. “That’s all I’ve been able to think about since you six didn’t come back. In one fell swoop, I lost everyone who means a damn to me.”
Please. He’s talking about Marilynn. I’m not stupid.
“I really never thought they’d outsmart you, too. Honestly, it never occurred to me that you would be captured.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t let Dessin hear you say that.”
Aurick holds me tighter, and for a small moment, I almost feel like he does care about me. Not just as an experiment, but as the friend who gave me a home when I was left out in the cold. He buries his face against my shoulder, running his hands up and down my back.
Yeah, Dessin would really hate what’s going on here.
“Is he okay?” Aurick grumbles against my shoulder. “Are they all okay?”
I wonder why he doesn’t want to ask about Marilynn directly.
“They’re alive. But Ruth is in bad condition.”
Chekiss sits up straighter at this.
I give Aurick’s shoulder a gentle pat pat, offering him the hint that this hug has lasted way too long, and now it’s getting uncomfortable. But he doesn’t budge, only latches on a little tighter.
DaiSzek snarls next to me, his lips curling over his razor-sharp teeth with one eye open, glued to the man hugging me past his welcome.
