AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“As far as necessary. Back to Danesse. From there...” Rilion spread his hands with a helpless shrug. “We'll see.”
She retrieved her horse and mounted without another word.
They rode on for another few hours before Rilion pointed out a small structure clinging to the side of the mountain. “We'll see if that's inhabited. Might make a good rest stop.”
The sloping trail that led to the weather-worn shack was steep and rocky and they dismounted for the last portion of the climb.
Rilion passed Nib's reins to Thea before he knocked at the door. No answer came and with a little persuasion in the form of his boot near the latch, the door came open.
The inside of the shack had seen better days, but the presence of a bed with no mattress and a pantry with bare shelves revealed it had been empty for some time. He surveyed the interior, then stepped back to find somewhere to tie the horses. “There's an oven of some sort. See if there's any firewood left inside.”
Thea did as she was told. Had they arrived after nightfall, it would have been too dark to make out the cobwebbed stack of wood in the corner behind the red brick oven. She pulled the logs one at a time to put them in place, mindful of spiders, though the cold made her fingers so clumsy she doubted any hiding pests would be more nimble. She'd just finished the stack when Rilion stepped inside.
“We'll stay here until morning,” he said. “I have a few cuts and scrapes from that fight and I think we're far enough from the fortress for me to give them a proper inspection. There are rainwater barrels out back if you want to wash.”
“I'll be all right. I can help tend your injuries, if you'd like.” She didn't have a first aid kit, but she knew enough basic care that she thought she could get by. It was one of the things a lady of the house was expected to know, if only to tend the scraped knees of her future children.
“No, thank you. I'll be all right on my own.” He gave her an awkward sort of smile, then glanced to the door. “Actually, I think I'll do it outside. Where the light is better. Here, there's flint and steel in my bag. See if you can get the fire going.” He left his things on the table and then slipped outside with nothing but his water skin.
Thea took the hint. She retrieved what she needed from his bag and set to work getting the fire lit.
By the time he came back inside and closed the door, the fire crackled merrily, but it did nothing to lift the morose mood.
Gilwouldbe back. She refused to believe otherwise. But neither of them spoke of the matter—or anything else—and when she finally spread her bedroll and gave herself over to sleep, the mask she'd always prayed to forget flooded her dreams again.
* * *
Low voices woke her in the middle of the night. The fire still burned, though dimly. A new log sat atop the pile, not yet touched by the feeble flames. Rilion's bedroll on the other side of the shack was empty.
Thea sat upright and listened close. A thump and scrape made her jump and she reached for the handle of her scissors, just in case. Leaving their horses outside made them easy to find.
The door bumped open and Rilion stumbled through with his arm around—
“Gaius,” she gasped as she leaped from her bed.
He grunted a response as she slid forward and posted herself at his other side to help support him. A handful of cuts decorated the dark shirt he'd borrowed from Rilion, but the worst seemed to be an injury to his leg. From the way the fabric clung to his skin, she knew it was in desperate need of attention.
“Good thing we tied the horses out like that,” Rilion said. There weren't any chairs, so he helped Gil settle on the floor by the fire instead.
“I'm just grateful you left one behind.” A rueful smile tugged at the corners of Gil's mouth. “It was not my cleanest getaway.”
“It's a miracle you got away at all.” She tried to shift away, but he caught her and pulled her in to touch her forehead to his. His eyes closed. Her heart skipped a beat.
Don't look.
She drew back under the guise of inspecting his injury. “This needs to be washed.”
“Laundry, at a time like this?”
“Spare me the jokes,” she muttered. “This could become inflamed.”
Rilion had already produced a small iron pan from his travel supplies and filled it from his water skin. “Won't give you much, but at least it'll be warm,” he said as he tucked it into the brick oven beside the fire.
“Do you still have your cloak?” She leaned back to look. He didn't have his bags with him. Half his knives were missing, too. The sheath for his favorite, the one he kept on his right thigh, was gone. Shed when he'd sustained the injury to that leg, or cut loose during the same event?
“It's on the saddle,” Gil said.
Rilion strode back to the door. “I'll get it.”
