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Nyana nearly broke down in relieving sobs. Her daughter was far smarter and more capable than she realized. “You are an angel. Let’s get this fire going. Joel is starting to shiver.”
Together, they managed to stack the firewood around the kindling. The fire sparked, and Nyana gently blew on the sparks. The kindling caught, and soon, fire climbed the logs and cast shadows about the cave.
Joel still slept.
Periodically, she checked to make sure he still breathed. Sure enough, his chest rose up and down with each breath.
She limped toward the saddlebags now lying on the ground beside Sunweave and dug through them in search of something for the children to eat. Much of their food remained in the carriage they’d left behind, but she managed to find nuts, cheese, and bread. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do.
“Tomorrow,” she whispered again as she gave the food to the girls and then began changing Joel’s bandage. He remained asleep.
Only when the others were settled did she stretch out on the opposite side of the fire and massage her leg. Dark, angry thoughts swirled in her mind like a cloud of acid rain. Everything terrible in her life was Liam’s fault. Her leg. The men who wanted her hanged. Joel’s wound. The only good thing Liam had ever given her was Eva. Even then, he’d wanted an heir. Not another girl.
“You’re looking worse,” a hoarse voice said across the cave.
Chapter 9
Nyana’s head snapped up from where it had previously been scowling at her leg. Her face was nearly as pale as the snow falling outside. Dark circles rested beneath her eyes. Exhaustion pressed down on her slumped shoulders.
“You are telling me?” Half her mouth lifted in a wry smile as she looked him over. “You are on death’s doorstep.”
She winced, glancing toward the girls.
Joel turned his aching neck toward Eva, who sat huddled into his good side, nibbling on a piece of bread, and then toward Maisy, who spoke quietly to the horse. “Then that makes two of us.” He gazed at his wife, emotion lodging in his throat. “You came back for me.”
“Of course, I did.” She held a waterskin to his lips and helped him drink. “You’re my…friend.”
Upon speaking the word, she glanced away, and he found himself studying her. What did she mean by that? Just yesterday, she’d barely let him hold her hand. And now? The same reservations were no longer there. Or, at least, they had lessened. She’d touched his legs, his face, his chest.
What changed?
He pushed his rising hope down and busied his good arm, tucking the blanket on his lap more firmly around Eva, who began to drift off with her thumb in her mouth.
“You were right,” Nyana murmured quietly. “I should have left the children with Calle. They would have been safer. You as well.”
He shook his head. “No one could have foreseen this happening.” He paused before taking a deep breath. “During Liam’s reign, I worked alongside Ethan, Lee, and Cole to smuggle citizens out of Heulwen. I knew just how much they hated the king. I just…didn’t realize they still wanted revenge for their losses.”
“They were your friends?”
Blowing out a long breath, he nodded. “Ethan is Genica’s cousin. The other two I met along the way. I’m sad the tables have turned this way.”
Pain rippled through his shoulder as he shifted positions. Even without looking at the wound, he was sure he needed stitches. Medicine, too, to keep an infection at bay. And by all things warm and sunny, his head burned.
Perhaps an infection was already beginning to set in.
Nyana’s touch startled him when she rested her fingers against his temple. Her eyebrows furrowed together, and her sweet mouth puckered with a frown. “As soon as the snow lets up, we’ll head back to Heulwen. It’s too dangerous to continue our journey.”
“No,” he growled. He lifted his hand to grab her fingers but hovered just over them. Even though she had let her guard down around him, he was not about to be the one responsible for her building it back up. “You will die if you don’t get the help you need.”
“As will you, I suspect.”
“Nyana.” He winced again as he shifted to sit taller. “This is non-negotiable. You are irreplaceable. I will manage.”
“And you aren’t?” Her voice cracked, and she gazed up at the rocky ceiling for a few long moments, blinking rapidly. When her eyes found his in the dim light, they shimmered with unshed tears. She spoke quietly. “Just take one look at how much the girls adore you and tell me honestly that you think they would ever recover from your loss. They’ve lost so much already. They can’t lose you, too.”
Again, he studied her as he tried to decipher her words. He had a feeling she wasn’t just speaking about the children anymore.
“Listen.” He dared to lift his hand, ever so slowly, skimming her cheek with his fingers. She stilled, but she didn’t pull away. “We’ll continue forward. I’m willing to take a chance that your father can help us both.”
