“A lullaby.”
“What does it mean?”
“The night will end, and the dawn will come. And all our woes will be behind us. We will dance once more under sunlit skies.”
I choke a little at the words. An Orsan lullaby, sung to a Nithyrian. Sung to the daughter of the people who caused those very woes. “Thank you.”
He nods, then turns his head.
I walk back to my bed quietly and lie down, shutting my eyes once more. But something occurs to me, and I can’t help but ask. “Have you sung it for Ronan?”
“Yes,” he whispers back. “During the war.”
My heart warms and aches to know of their love for each other. I will do anything to keep Taran safe. To bring him back to Ronan.
“Would you teach it to me?”
Chapter Thirteen
In the morning, the camp rises late. Word of last night’s events has indeed traveled like wildfire, but it isn’t what caused the delay.
We’re delayed by Seth’s hangover.
He stumbles out of the tent at first light and rages at everyone to stop moving until he gives an order. Then he throws himself back into his bed, but not before vomiting into his chamber pot.
“Never drink, Sylvie,” he calls to me. “I’ll never drink again.”
I highly doubt that, but I’m grateful for a little extra sleep. And his torpor allows me the chance to break into his desk again for the willow bark to soothe Taran’s pain.
It’s even easier for me to reach now that the furniture has been moved to accommodate Taran’s cot.
“What do you have in your pillow?” he asks as I give him the bottle.
“A sleep elixir. I don’t know how long we have before he notices it’s missing.”
“Why didn’t you use it last night? You had every opportunity.”
I cap the willow bark elixir and tuck it back into the desk before replying. “Whatever has happened between us, I won’t leave you here. We’ll get away when you’re healed.”
“I’m healed enough now,” he says, lifting to his elbows with only a small wince. “Enough to fight my way out if I have to.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to that. But I think our best chance may be on the road today. Or at the next camp at night before everything is unpacked and settled.”
Taran looks around the tent for the first time since he arrived. “What the hell is all of this for, anyway?”
I roll my eyes. “Gods only know.”
“He’s something, your brother. I didn’t know what to expect. He’s a brilliant strategist, but I’m wondering if that’s because he’s good at planning, or if it’s just because he’s completely insane.”
“Is being completely insane a good quality in a general?”
“It can be,” Taran admits. “There’s a fearlessness to his tactics that makes them hard to anticipate.”
“Probably because it’s never his life on the line.”
“True enough,” says Taran. “So we have the elixir. What else can we use? Anything else you can take from the desk?”
“He keeps it all carefully arranged. The sleep elixir was in a hidden compartment. I’m worried about taking anything he’d miss.”
