Page 116 of Ravenrose

We travel in silence. Nearly half the day goes by without either of us uttering a single word.

The road we’re on winds us closer to the river; I can see and hear the rough rapids through the trees on our side. Gods. I can’t believe I survived that. The water is angry, white foam exploding out from where it crashes over jagged rocks and fallen trees. Dark currents swirling and twisting, like the one that almost swallowed me whole.

I shake my head, trying to block out the near-constant roar.

As the sun begins to set, I’m glad when I stumble across a berry bush. My stomach growls at the mere sight of them. I gather a handful, hesitating before picking off a few more.

I glance up, finding Ayer waiting, his eyes on me. I rise to my feet, pushing back my shoulders as I walk toward him, and give him some of my berries before he has a chance to refuse. He lifts his palm to his nose to take a whiff, eyeing the little blue berries as if I had just handed him poison.

I roll my eyes, reaching over and grabbing a berry out of his palm, then pop it into my own mouth with a dramatic show. I shoot him a look and turn away, focused on eating the rest of my own berries.

But out of the corner of my eye, I spy him finally toss the berries into his mouth.

The corner of my lip twitches.

The silence that follows isn’t as sharp as before.

Ayer finally relents after the last of the sunlight fades away, and we finally stop to rest.

I sit against a fallen log, my feet propped up on a rock, running my finger along the edge of my dagger. I used a small stone earlier to sharpen it while we walked.

Ayer lit a fire, and he’s preoccupied with roasting the rabbit he shot earlier with his bow.

“We’ll reach the fort in a few hours,” he says at some point, breaking the tense silence between us.

The fort.

I don’t respond, really having nothing to say to that. Whatever “the fort” is, it won’t be great for me.

A tingle runs over my skin, and I glance up from my blade to find his eyes on me. Again.

The moment my eyes meet his, he drops them, focusing back on the spit he’d fashioned in order to roast the meat.

I sigh, putting my knife away through the slit in my skirt.

“Why do you do that?”

Ayer looks up from his task. “Do what?”

“You’re always watching me.”

“I am not.”

“Every time I look up, your eyes are on me.”

“It’s my job to watch you.”

“I thought you weren’t watching me?”

His jaw ticks, and I feel a smirk play on my lips at the small victory.

“Mmm,” I hum eyeing him. “Well, you take your job seriously.”

Still nothing.

I tilt my head, studying him now.

“If the captain of the Kovarian army has to keep watch himself, I must be very dangerous.” A question lingers within my words. One that’s haunted me for days. Why me? Why keep me alive? Surely it would’ve been just as satisfying to kill me and rub it in my brother’s face, if that’s what they’re really after. And why did Theo give me to Ayer? At first, I thought it was for another reason… but Ayer appears to have no interest in touching me.