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Perhaps reality was setting in. How he’d defied orders. Assisted an embodiment of Nefrana’s corruption. Protected her. Was driven wild by the closeness of an unattainable woman for the last Nefrana-knew-how-many miles.
Still, even as the guilty voice chattered away in his mind, he just shook his head and snorted. If this exhausted haze was caused by a growing grasp of reality, he was too out of it to care at the moment.
He sighed as he sat down in the makeshift shelter he’d created. It’d at least keep off the snow and hold in a little warmth. Not enough, but some.
He needed rest as much as Iseris and the mare did, but neither of them could stand watch, so he propped his back against the roots and rocks. He’d try to rest as much as he could while keeping his wits about him. His eyelids were as heavy as a blacksmith’s anvil, but he rubbed his eyes with his knuckles, blinking repeatedly. Falling asleep wasn’t an option. He had to protect her. Had to protect them both.
The tarp he’d found in the mare’s saddlebags was a blessing, maybe literally. It didn’t completely keep out the sharp wind, but with their cloaks, it might almost be warm enough. Strangely, he didn’t feel cold at all, but perhaps it was just the exertion from setting up the camp. The longer they sat, the chill would seep up from the earth and take them quickly.
He had covered Iseris with her cloak when it had become clear he wouldn’t need it for the shelter, and now he pulled the silken edge of it up closer to her face. Her face felt hot when his fingers brushed her cheek, but she was sleeping quietly. Peacefully.
Well, this hadn’t been where he’d expected to end up when he’d risen from his bed that morning.
Her green eyes were hidden away now. He leaned toward her. Did she look pale? Paler than usual, anyway? Hard to say in the dimness. He pushed himself straighter. This was fine. He wouldn’t fall asleep. He’d just admire her instead.
If this woman was corruption, corruption sure had a pretty face. Innocent-looking even.
In the darkness, her black hair was barely distinguishable from the bed of grass beneath her. He could stare all night. The sweet, round angles of her nose and chin, the arch of her brow.
He’d always looked at her obliquely before. A quick steal of a glance or eating up the joy of the sight of her when she spoke directly to him. It was those times he had a duty to listen to her and meet her gaze—and privately enjoy the moment.
But this… This was the first time he could really look as he truly wished to.
It was a strange, sudden freedom he hadn’t realized he’d wanted, longed for. Needed. Just to look, openly and honestly.
He had always known she was a beauty, but, somehow, her perfection seemed greater in the quiet, dark forest. Wind swayed the tall grasses gently, but otherwise, there was no sound. All the easier to listen for their pursuers. Absently, he wiped sweat from his brow.
He let his eyes close for just a moment, just a second of rest before pushing onward. He wasn’t too tired to protect her. He could do this.
He could do this.
As his head fell softly back against the root wall, Jav too fell asleep.
A soft huff and snort made him jerk up, then immediately regret the loss of her warmth beside him.
A stamp of a hoof, then another. He couldn’t hear the jingle of a bridle, nor the breath of a rider. Another step. Whoever rode that horse was setting quite a leisurely pace.
Either that, or it had reached its destination.
Sleep clearing from his eyes, he peered carefully around the edge of the tarp. A familiar equine form was stamping at the dirt at the next hill’s rise.
“Sky?” he whispered. But of course, it wasn’t loud enough.
He glanced at Iseris. Should he wake her up? Could she tell if it was his horse from a distance? He still had no idea what her magical abilities could do, and the idea of asking her to use them made him feel uneasy.
He supposed that settled it. He could see even in the dimness that there was no rider on the horse, so he carefully crept out of the shelter without disturbing her and started inching his way toward the low rise. Thankfully, the night was still deep enough to conceal him, as he moved through the shadows cast by the moon.
Upon seeing his old friend, though, his heart rose into his throat.
Blood streamed down Sky’s front flank. He hesitated, then took another step. Without meaning to, Jav cried out and ran to him.
An arrow. It was an arrow. The wooden shaft protruded from his shoulder. Staggering, Sky fell to one knee, then to his side.
“What is it?” Iseris approached from just behind him. He must have awakened her when he woke.
“Sky—wounded.” He barely made the words make sense. He was too busy staggering to Sky’s side, wrapping his arms around the creature.
“Dying.” Yes, that was more clear. But Sky shouldn’t die like this. He shouldn’t have had to die for Jav, and so ingloriously. He shouldn’t have had to die at all.
