Page 134 of Queen of War and Ruin

“Okay,” I whisper. “So. What do I watch?”

Gerard stares at me as a slow smile creeps over his face.

“Right,” he says. “You’ve never had watch duty, huh?”

I huff. My cheeks are burning.

What must Zarek think, my mind whispers. You don’t even know what watch duty means. Hells, you can’t even shell peas.

“Watch for dust,” Gerard says. “Coming off the road. Listen for horses, or voices. Basically, anything seems weird, you come and wake me up.”

He yawns again. I thank him. He nods, then frowns and turns back to me.

“Who is Petrys anyway?” he asks.

I open my mouth, then close it. I don’t think Petrys would want me to share his history.

“He looks a little like Zarek,” Gerard continues. “But, like a good-looking version of Zarek.”

My mouth falls open again. “What?”

“No offense,” Gerard says. “I know you, uh, see something in him. In Zarek, I mean.”

“You think Petrys is good-looking?” I ask.

“Fuck, yeah,” Gerard replies. He runs his hand over his face, then shakes his head. “Anyway. Just wondered what his story is.”

“Maybe you should ask him,” I say, once I can force my mouth to form words again.

“Yeah,” Gerard mumbles. He rubs the back of his neck again. “Maybe I should.”

We stare at each other in silence for a heartbeat, and then Gerard shrugs and turns to leave.

“Well, I’m going to get some sleep,” he says. “Good luck.”

“You too,” I reply automatically.

I stare at his back as he pushes his way through the branches toward the little pine grove hiding our campsite, and then I watch the place where he vanished until the branches stop moving and the air fills with birdsong and the hum and drone of insects. Then I try to find a comfortable place to sit down and stare at the valley below.

Watch duty turns out to be strangely relaxing. I watch shadows crawl across the boulder and a hawk make slow, lazy circles above the trees as they ripple in the wind. I don’t see any dust coming from the road, or at least, I don’t think I do. And the cries and calls I hear in the forest all sound like birds.

Until someone coughs behind me.

I jump, my heart lodging in the back of my throat.

“I’m sorry,” Zarek says, in a low voice. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

I spin around and gulp a breath.

“You didn’t startle me,” I lie.

He grins. “Let me guess. Gerard woke you?”

“I asked for watch duty,” I say, trying to sit up straighter.

Zarek sits down next to me, close enough to touch. If I reached out.

I twist my hands together in my lap and stare down at the valley.