She returned his smile then yawned.
“Sleep. We have another hard day of travel tomorrow.”
For once, she didn’t fight him. Just tucked her body against his, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep and peaceful rest. He held her close for a long while after, listening to the fire and the whisper of her breath, wondering if he could ever let her go.
22
Truth Laid Bare
The wind tore through the ridge with enough bite to lift canvas, flapping through camp like a restless spirit. With the sun now gone, the biting cold tore its merciless fangs into the landscape. The wind was its accomplice—just as cruel, just as ruthless.
In the heart of the Kelvasari camp, parchment snapped and fluttered beneath callused hands. Resh stood with Thessia over a sprawl of maps, the wind catching the edges and trying to lift them skyward. She pressed one gloved hand down, her other pointing toward the gorge path leading toward Stonewake.
“If we circle east by dawn, we avoid the marshland entirely. My Blades can cut a forward trail,” she said, her braid swaying over one shoulder like a whip. Fur lined the seams of her armor now, a thick cloak snapping behind her.
“We’ll need the higher ridge for visibility,” Resh replied, eyes tracing the path. “Too many ambush points down there.”
“Agreed.” Thessia gave a short nod. “You still think like a predator.”
Before he could respond, Zarrek appeared at his side.
“Oi. Resh.”
He didn’t look up from the map. “What?”
Zarrek didn’t lower his voice. “Look. Even I have limits. You told me to watch over her—not hover while she undressed and started bathing.”
Resh blinked. Then turned.
Thessia, still leaning over the map, quirked a brow. “Oh?”
Zarrek gestured vaguely toward the tent cluster behind them. “Never mind the clumsy casting. She nearly shucked off her shift in front of me. Said she wanted to ‘cook in peace.’ I told her maybe she should wait until you got back. She told me I should wait until my hairline returned.”
Thessia let out a short bark of laughter.
Zarrek scratched his bald head, already half-turned away. “She’syours, Resh. You can explain what nudity means.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched. “She’s not—”
Zarrek didn’t even turn around. “I’m not dying over bathwater.”
A low whistle cut the tension like a blade. Thessia tilted her head, arms folded. “You ready to surrender yet, Shadeslayer?”
Resh turned a slow, burning glare on her.
She countered it with a delighted grin. “Oh, don’t scowl at me. That ribbon in your hair is all the proof any of us need.”
Resh exhaled. “How long ago, Zar?”
“Half hour?” Zarrek guessed. “Maybe more.”
“She cast,” Resh muttered. “She’s barely recovered—”
“She won’t shatter, you know,” Thessia said, amusement curling in her voice. “But if shedoesset the Commander’s tent ablaze, I suppose we’ll see whether the famed Shadeslayer can smother fire with devotion alone.”
“Thess,” Resh snapped.
She smiled, slow and razor-edged. “Go on, then. The maps will wait. Disrobed little moonbeams, it seems, will not.”
