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"Now, that's the sort of question I begin to expect from you. One to which there is no good answer."
Kaye grinned, and she could tell that the grin was likely to stay on her face for a long time. They could do this. They could figure this out. Everything was going to be fine.
"Down here?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Indiscreet," was all he said before he hooked his boots in the muddy ledge and carefully walked down the ridge.
Kaye followed him, stumbling along at more or less her own pace.
Green women and men were half immersed in the deeper parts of the stream, androgynous forms rough with bark and shimmery lights.
A few of the creatures saw Roiben and slithered into the pool or back up the bank. There was some whispering.
"Kaye," a voice rasped, and she spun around.
It was the Thistlewitch, sitting on a log. She patted the place beside her. "Things did not go well under the hill."
"No," Kaye said, sitting down. She wanted to put more anger in her voice, but she couldn't. "I almost died."
"Nicnevin's knight saved you, did he not?"
Kaye nodded, looking up to see him, half in shadows, his hands in the pockets of his coat, glowering impressively. It made her want to grin at him, although she was afraid he might grin back and ruin his furious demeanor.>"No, I'll get it," Kaye said.
She went out into the kitchen and poured some of the black stuff into a cup. Adding milk only turned it a dark, sickly gray. She added several liberal spoonfuls of sugar and drank it like penitence.
Roiben hadn't looked angry at all; to the contrary, he looked absurdly comfortable sprawled on the couch. She should have felt better, but instead it seemed as though the knots in her stomach were tightening.
It was evening already, and soon he would be gone. She wanted him, wanted him to want her more than she had any right or reason to expect from him, and that knowledge was as bitter as the day-old coffee.
"Kaye?" It was Roiben, a nearly empty jar of honey in one hand, leaning against the doorframe.
"Oh, hi," she said, stupidly, holding up the cup. "This is really bad. I'll make some new."
"I've been… I wanted to thank you."
"For what?"
"For explaining what happened. For making me stay here last night."
She took the old coffee and dumped it in the sink, hiding the embarrassed smile that was playing over her lips. She filled the pot with hot water and swirled a few times before dumping that too.
His voice was very quiet when he spoke again. "For not being afraid of me."
She snorted. "You've got to be kidding. I'm terrified of you."
He smiled at Kaye, one of his quicksilver smiles, dazzling and brief. "Thank you for hiding it, then. Quite realistic."
She grinned back at him. "No problem. I mean, if I'd known you liked it this much and all…"
He rolled his eyes, and it was so good to stand there smiling shyly at each other. All the silly words she had wanted to say to him suddenly began clawing up her throat, desperate to be spoken.
"I'm just glad it's over," she said, breaking the spell while she turned to spoon coffee grounds into a filter.
He looked at her incredulously. "Over?"
She stopped in midmotion. "Yeah, over. We're here and safe and it's over."
"Not to distress you," he said, "but I very much doubt—"
