Opening his eyes, he looked at her and nodded before turning to walk away, back toward the fire. Daris watched him approach with a concerned expression.
Behind her, Sol groaned. “I really wish I hadn’t heard any of that.”
31
The rising sun bathed the witch hunters in a soft light as they knelt on the dew-damp grass, their heads bowed in prayer. Their breath puffed in pale clouds. Fog clung to the ground, curving around their still bodies. The sky above warmed with streaks of rose and amber in striking contrast to the dark woods waiting in the distance. Even the horses were quiet as they waited for them to finish.
Rowan stood apart, the crisp air biting at her fingertips, struck by the strange impulse to join them. Not that they’d asked her to. Not that she’d accept. It seemed like such an intimate thing. That she was intruding even by witnessing it.
Even she, heathen that she was, could feel the peace spreading out from their small circle as if they actually did pull God’s attention to the world with their prayer. Casrian said that a witch acted like a door, allowing evil into the world. She wondered if this was the same, but with something good instead.
She smoothed a hand down Copper’s neck and waited until they were finished. As if by some unspoken signal, they lifted their heads and pulled away. Ty knocked into his brother’s shoulder and said something that caused him to laugh. Lewbowed his head a moment longer before climbing to his feet. Daris turned away to stare at the woods like he could conquer it with his will alone. Casrian helped Sol climb to his feet and spoke to him quietly for a moment before leading him over to Copper and helping him mount.
As he turned to her, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a leather sheath. “I have something for you.”
He knelt before her and slipped her knife from her boot, sheath and all. Instinctively, she started to step back, but he stopped her with a hand behind her knee. He looked up, blue eyes calm and serious. “You need your knife closer to hand. This will be better than your boot for now.”
She resisted the urge to sift her fingers through his hair as he secured the leather straps around her thigh. His touch was quick and businesslike with his men standing only a short distance away. She wanted him to really touch her, to hold her and tell her that it would be all right. But he only finished with the straps and looked up.
“Too tight?”
She shook her head. “Thank you. Where did you get this?”
“I made it last night,” he said. “Scavenged the leather and buckles from an old pack. I’ll buy you a better one once we reach the capital.”
She wasn’t going to the capital. She couldn’t fit into his world. Hadn’t they decided that already?
His hand wrapped around her knee. He squeezed lightly and stood up. She thought he was going to turn away. His muscles tightened like he meant to leave. But then his hands were there, cradling her face. He gently tipped up her face. She held her breath thinking he meant to kiss her right there in front of all of his men.
“Blessings on you, Rowan. May God grant you safe passage home.” He bent his head to place a chaste kiss on her foreheadlike a seal of protection. When he lifted his head, he smiled. “I’ll see you again soon.”
She grabbed hold of his wrist for a moment before he pulled away. He nodded at her and stepped back.
Daris caught his attention. They gathered up the last of their things. Lew nodded to her and the brothers called out their goodbyes.
She looked up at Sol. “You’re ready?”
He nodded. “The sooner I can find a bed, the better, I think.”
She watched Casrian as he mounted Kenzi with an easy, fluid movement. She couldn’t seem to stop watching him, like she could memorize every part. The gold of his hair. The straight line of his back. The way he moved. She was achingly aware that this might be the last time she saw him.
He looked unbearably heroic as he turned his horse and rode off across the clearing, his men falling in around him. They moved at a much faster pace than she could ever manage.
Sol cleared his throat, and she sighed. “All right then.”
She turned Copper toward home. Once they reached the tree line, she glanced back, but the patrol was already gone from sight.
“They’ll be fine,” Sol said as they passed into the shadow of the trees. “Even with our numbers reduced, we’re the best patrol in the king’s service.”
“One of the brothers said that last night. Ty, I think.”
Sol smiled. “They’re not as foolish as they look, those two.”
They walked awhile in silence. She directed them to a good patch of woods that was just waking to the morning. The wind whispered through the copper-colored leaves overhead. A crow cawed in the distance.
She hadn’t been this way before. They’d decided that she would get Sol out of the woods as quickly as possible, traveling directly away from the fort. Once clear, they’d circle around toSulen. It would take them longer than going back the way she and Casrian had come, but it would be safer this way. Still, it was hard not to feel like she was running away. She hated that Casrian was running toward danger while she was fleeing it. Maybe she should have fought harder to stay.
To distract herself from her thoughts, she asked, “How did the twins end up on the same patrol? I would think it would be better to separate them in case something awful happened.”
