Page 108 of Forged in Fading

Alvara shook her head, already tired of this new and limited manner of communicating.

Boden released a long breath and turned to Rav, who stood with such unnatural stillness in his dark clothes that he almost blended in with the night. “Stay here with them. We’ll find the guards.”

Boden offered a hand to Alvara, but her legs felt as stable as jelly, threatening to give at any second. He slid an arm around her waist and led her to the entrance of the sleeping halls, where the sounds of deep breaths and even snoring through the open door provided some temporary relief from her anxiety. They wouldn’t strike here, not with so many people gathered in one place.

He settled her just inside the building in a corner where she could see every slumbering body and tightened his grasp for a brief moment before letting go. “I’ll be right back.”

Please don’t go. The heel of her boot clicked on the floor, and she counted each one of Boden’s steps as she watched him move farther into the hall. It did nothing to stem the panic rising in her throat.

True to his word, he promptly returned with Kat in tow, who outpaced him almost immediately and ran to her side.

“Gods, Alvara, are you all right?” Kat asked, but a nearby elf sat up from their bed roll and shushed her. She glared back. “Try that again and see how that works out for you.” She linked an arm through Alvara’s, gently guided her outside, and settled her on a nearby bench.

Kat whipped around and smacked Boden in the arm, clearly abandoning any attempt to not wake the other people sleeping paces away. “I can’t believe you didn’t get me. You left me sleeping while she almost faded!”

Aurilena joined them, her face still heavy with sleep. “Who do I need to burn?”

“It’s been taken care of.” Boden addressed Kat now, but his eyes didn’t leave Alvara’s face. “There was no time. I didn’t know if she…” He snapped his mouth shut, clenching his hands into fists at his sides. “I need to speak with the guards and have these men imprisoned. You can stay here with Kat⁠—”

“Please,” Alvara said in a hoarse whisper. She blinked the gathering tears out of her vision and took the deepest breath she could manage before forcing out the next word. “Stay.” If he left her alone, for even a few minutes, her composure might shatter completely.

“I’ll find them.” Kat laid a warm hand on top of Alvara’s for a heartbeat before straightening. “And give them a piece of my godsdamned mind. Lena, come with me. I need your scary flames.” She stormed toward the town, and Aurilena followed, skirting around the cracks and holes Kat’s magic left in the earth.

Boden slid onto the bench beside Alvara and produced a canteen and rags. “I’ll bring you to a healer first thing tomorrow.” He poured a healthy dose of water onto one of the cloths and touched it to the cut on her arm.

Each careful movement, every look into her eyes as he treated another wound, only multiplied the apologies swimming in her head. She had done everything to push him away, tell him he meant nothing, and yet here he was—washing her injuries at this godsforsaken hour.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Damn her throat for spoiling any chance at a decent apology.

The cloth stilled on her cheek. “Not now. All that matters is that you’re safe. I will always come for you, no matter what.”

She knew. She had always known. It was a fact, as reliable as the moon gracing the sky each night. More than anything, Alvara wanted to tell him how much what he had done meant to her—what he meant to her.

But she had to settle for “Thank—” Her throat gave out, and she sighed.

A beautiful smile tugged at Boden’s lips. “Seeing as you’re unable to speak, what should I take this opportunity to bore you with? My favorite teas, from best to worst?”

He could have talked about the weather for hours, for all Alvara cared. She just wanted to hear his voice day in and day out, a reminder of all the good still left in the world.

The last thing she saw that night before she closed her eyes was a hulking bear, curled up in the doorway.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Alvara was more than happy to wake up the next morning, her only escape from a land of dark dreams she had no desire to relive any time soon. A few elves passed by her sleeping hide as she came to terms with facing another day, and she offered a wave, but her attempt at niceties was met with gasps and covered mouths.

Wonderful. She looked as awful as she felt.

A bath would at least clean away the sand that grated against her skin. But taking off her clothes, no weapons…No. Not today.

“You can tell him that I will bring her by as soon as she’s been healed.” Boden blocked the doorway, arms folded across his chest as he faced Sten. “If he has an issue with that decision, then he is more than welcome to speak with me.”

“Bring her soon.”

Alvara dragged a comb through her tangled hair and weaved it into two simple braids. She grimaced at her clothes. Another outfit ruined. At least she had learned not to invest in anything but the cheapest fabric available.

She tiptoed around the last few sleeping bodies in the hall and nudged Boden’s shoulder.

He lurched backward. “I miss you being able to speak. Are you hungry? I can—” Boden eyes traveled to her neck, and the floor of pounded earth beneath them shuddered. “Vitharen help me, I hope they suffered.”