AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Was wondering when you’d finally come up for some air,” Uncle Gregory said. He sat back on his crate, arms spread wide across other luggage behind him. He wore a green cloak, a full hide of leather armor, and had a sword dangling from his hip.
I said nothing, hardly able to breathe.
“Come on,” he said, curling his fingers at me nonchalantly. “Sit up, niece. You look like shit.”
“Are you going to tell Father?” I croaked.
His brow furrowed. Gregory was thicker in the stomach and face than my tall father, but had a kinder mien. More laugh lines. Gentler eyes. A salty beard that reached his chest.
“No, lass. He’s going to find out, you know, the moment he steps in here.”
“He’s going to beat me when he finds out I’ve snuck on.”
My uncle shook his head and leaned forward. He stared directly into my face, making me uncomfortable, and his eyes narrowed. “That how you got that welt on your cheek, lass?”
Gulping, I nodded slowly.
Gregory sat back with a sigh. He patted his sword. “He won’t lay a hand on you this time, Robin.”
My eyes widened as they were drawn to him patting his scabbard. Is Uncle Gregory saying he’ll kill my father to protect me? Because that’s . . . a bit extreme.
“It won’t come to that,” he assured me. “It’s too late now, right? He’ll have to understand you simply couldn’t be separated from your mother.”
“It’s true.”
The man’s lips curled with a soft smile. “I don’t blame you. Here.” He leaned forward to hand me the rest of his stick of salted beef. “Eat this. You look rattled and pale. Besides, you’ll be eating a lot of it on the road, so might as well get used to it early.”
I took the gift and ravenously bit into it. “Haven’t eaten all morning,” I said around the mouthful. It was only when I swallowed that I noticed how peculiar and off it tasted, as if it had been over-salted, sitting out for months.
Uncle Gregory chuckled when my face screwed up. “It’s not the most pleasant feast. Not when you’re used to Maid Emma’s meals, or your mother’s. But it will keep you alive.”
I gave him a small nod and kept my head bowed. “Thank you, Uncle Gregory.”
“It’s nothing, lass.”
I looked up at him. “How long did you know I was in here?”
“The whole time.”
I scowled. “That fucking serf!”
“Language, young lady. No one told me a thing. It only takes a pair of discerning eyes to see when something is amiss with one’s own wares, Robin.”
I pouted. “My father didn’t notice.”
“I said discerning eyes, lass.”
I stifled a chuckle, and couldn’t help but smile.
He returned the gesture. “There she is. I remember when you used to smile all the time as a whelp.”
“Not much to smile about these days.” I recalled the situation in the woods, and the shard of bloody bone jutting from Peter Fisher’s eye. The thought made me shudder.
“No, I suppose not.” A faraway look glazed his eyes, as if he were looking past me. “Remember when you used to bounce on my knee, giggling happy as a lark in song?”
My smile returned. Now I felt far away. A different world entirely.
“Your brother would run in, yank you off my knee under your scrawny armpits, and whisk you through the air.”
