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Thinking, Bannin scratched at the whiskers on his chin—opened his mouth to tell her that his beard had grown enough to give her a good burn between her thighs—then clacked his jaw shut.
By the gods, she made him nervous. He couldn’t account for the shit that just tumbled out of his mouth.
He focused on what she was doing and tried again. “Are you taking the animals into the village?”
After last eve, no doubt she didn’t want to risk leaving them here while they were out hunting.
“I thought it best.” She stuffed the last of the hens into the crate and glanced over at him. “You think Helana could look after them? It’ll be chickens, goats, and Foggy.”
“Sure, she’s got room, but it’ll likely be Ouin looking after them.”
She smiled faintly at the mention of Helana’s boy. “That’ll be fine.”
“You’re taking the horse, too? Even though he’s trained for battle?”
“He is, but fighting while mounted is best for open ground. Better to be on foot in the forest. Especially since, when we find the demon, it’ll likely be because he’s hunting for us.” She gave him a glance as if seeing whether he’d argue. As Bannin agreed with her, he had nothing to say. She climbed into the goat pen, where the kid that had been sucking his toe had found a proper breakfast with its nanny.
“Need any help getting them ready to go?”
“No.”
Then he’d make himself useful in other ways. He gathered the eggs left by the chickens and headed to the cottage. By the time Sarya came in, Bannin had a breakfast ready and a midday meal wrapped up for them to take along on the hunt. After a look of surprise and a word of thanks, she sat at the table. They ate too quickly to say much, though Bannin had about a thousand things that he wanted to declare to her, and a thousand more things he wanted to know. But he held off instead of barraging her with them.
Nimble steps, not a battering ram.
Though when she paused before leaving to gather up her medals, the sheer unexpectedness of the action made him say, “Are you planning to pin those on your chest to warn the demon away? ‘Here stands Captain Sarya the Mighty’?”
Her grin was a thing of beauty, and Bannin determined there and then to make her smile as often as he could.
“I thought to give them to Ouin. As thanks.”
“There’s just about nothing that could thrill the boy more, but there’s no need to pay him. He’ll be so proud that you thought him man enough to look after them, that’ll be reward in itself.”
“Even so…” She shrugged. “I don’t want them anymore.”
Well, what could Bannin say to that? Nothing. Last night, he’d seen how talking about the medals had dredged up as many painful memories as good, so he’d stopped asking about them. Most likely, those memories were tied to the coward she’d almost married. Ridding herself of the medals wouldn’t make those memories vanish, yet she could rid herself of the reminders. And in the meantime, the medals would be in the hands of someone who could enjoy them.
Though if she was going to offer them to Ouin and reveal her history with the Horse Guards, best that Bannin told Sarya of his own.
He didn’t tell her anything until they’d made their way to the outskirts of the village. Along the forest path, there’d been no chance to talk. Sarya had led Foggy, who was harnessed to a small cart that held two baby goats and the crate of chickens. Three nanny goats were tied behind, with Bannin bringing up the rear—axe at ready and listening to the sounds of the forest around them.
As soon as they cleared the trees, he moved up to her side. “When you give those medals to Ouin, Helana’s going to tell you how I applied to join the Horse Guards.”
His sister wouldn’t miss any opportunity to rag on him a bit. Bannin preferred to tell Sarya of his failure in his own way.
Her eyes widened. “You did? When?”
Seemed like a long time ago. He had to think back. “It was the last glass year.”
“That was the year I joined.” She looked him up and down as if trying to place him there, while Bannin was coming to the realization that they were the same age, though he’d assumed she was younger. Every recruit joined at thirteen, because the training took years to complete…but then, she’d been locked in stone for a decade. So the same age, but also not. “Why didn’t I see you there?”
“I was rejected.”
Her jaw dropped. “How? Why?”
Her clear disbelief that he ought to have been accepted made his chest swell a bit. “They thought I was too selfish.”
“Selfish?” She sputtered a laugh. “Compared to whom? Do you know how many soldiers in the Horse Guards are swaggering, glory-seeking braggarts? You couldn’t be worse than any of them.”
