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Someone lit a candle, cursing at the noise.
Only to see Dax, Malik’s dog at the centre of the room, his huge paw nearly crushing a man’s head beneath it.
‘Alright, alright,’ the man, the one who’d called Thea “love” cried. ‘Call off your beast, girl. I meant no harm.’
Heart still hammering, Thea caught her breath, approaching her would-be attacker, who was sweating under Dax’s considerable weight.
‘Please,’ he moaned.
Another growl echoed across the length of the room, low and full of warning.
Thea fixed the man with a dark stare. ‘You won’t be trying that again, will you?’
‘I wasn’t, I wasn’t going to —’
Dax bared his fangs, spittle dripping onto the man’s face.
Thea watched, utterly impassive. She was half tempted to let Dax maul the bastard, but it would hardly make for a positive start as a shieldbearer.
‘Dax, come,’ she said at last.
The man let out a whimper as Dax removed his giant paw and bounded for her bed.
The shieldbearer scrambled away.
Thea smiled to herself as she slipped between the sheets and watched the massive dog turn in three circles before settling at her feet, his yellow eyes watching the dormitory.
For the first time since she had returned to Thezmarr, Thea felt at ease.
She scratched the giant beast behind the ears. ‘Good boy,’ she told him.
With Dax guarding her, she curled up in her narrow bed and slept dreamlessly through the night.
It wasn’t yet dawn when the grumbling of her fellow shieldbearers woke Thea. All around the dormitory they were wrenching on clothes, muttering curses at the cold, flesh bared with no mind for her presence. It was too early for them to care, it seemed.
Thea sympathised. Outside the warmth of the covers, the air and floor were icy, which did nothing for her stiff, sore body. Her numb fingers struggled to pull her woollen socks over her feet.
Dax was nowhere to be seen, though a patch of heat lingered on the end of her bed where he had been curled up.
Thank the gods for that dog, she thought to herself as she laced her boots and tugged on her cloak. With no clue as to what happened next, she sat on the edge of her mattress as she waited for the others to finish dressing, wondering how she might get word to Wren that she was safe and whole.
‘Survived the night, I see?’ Cal said by way of greeting.
‘Apparently.’
‘Kipp will be glad to hear it. He seems to think he bested you in sparring yesterday.’
‘He did.’
‘Has anyone ever told you that you’re a terrible liar? Besides, even those of us who love Kipp know he’s no swordsman.’ Cal tugged on her sleeve. ‘Come on, or all the food will be gone.’
Thea followed her new friend down to the Great Hall. The rest of the fortress wasn’t awake yet, so the shieldbearers spread out across the tables for morning meal. Thea preferred it this way. She could take what she wanted from the main table and then retreat.
Kipp waved at them happily, a book of maps laid out before him. ‘You’re alive!’ he called.
Thea glanced at Cal suspiciously. ‘Did you doubt me?’ she asked when they reached Kipp’s spot.
‘Not for a second,’ Kipp replied between mouthfuls of bread.
