AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She turns around a bit late as I change into my clothes, and I think I spy the start of a pink blush on her cheeks.
It doesn’t mean anything.
Not to her, at least. But gods help me, I can’t stop thinking about her. We take turns reading from my mystery novel that afternoon, and I almost stumble over the words when I feel her hair tickle my shoulder.
The worst part is that she doesn’t remind me of Flora, not at all. She’s completely different. Flora could sing, for one thing. And Flora wasn’t even a quarter as stubborn. Flora would listen to reason. And if we ever disagreed, she would always gently try to persuade me otherwise.
Tonight, Dana just bumps me away from the table, brushing aside my protests that she should rest while I clean up.
She grins at me while she does it, knowing I’m pissed off. When she launches into a horrible song, all I can do is laugh until my chest aches.
Flora.
I see her in my mind’s eye less clearly than I used to. Before, just thinking her name was enough to bring forth a stabbing pain to my chest. But now, my chest is warm and easy.
My stomach twists. I have no right to be this happy.
I’ve been nurturing fantasies of Dana despite my best efforts. Not even the physical daydreams, which are bad enough. But imagining a life with her. Imagining a simple life in a bare cave and small comforts, and how happy I’d be even if all we did was read together at night.
Simple attraction is one thing, but nothing about whatever’s happening between me and Dana is simple. It’s like I’m caught in some sort of snarled web, and the more I flail, the more I fall.
“Well.” Dana brushes her hands on her pants. “Clean up’s done. I suppose it’s off to bed now?”
Right. Off to bed.
Off to thatone bedI made. Subtle, Hurian.
I don’t even offer to sleep on the floor. I made it big enough for both of us.
Dana slides in beside me and reaches over me to grab the book. Her arm brushes across my chest, and I bolt out of bed to ostensibly check on the fire, which I stoke and feed until her voice slows and the book hangs limply in her fingers.
Once I’m sure she’s asleep, I slide next to her, finally allowing myself to drink my fill of her delicate face.
What am I doing?
Just looking at her sleeping makes something inside of me unwind. Every moment I spend with her I learn something new, something surprising. She’s so different from the person I thought I knew. She looks delicate, but she’s strong enough to fight off an infection and still help build a table and sweep the floors.
And she reads like an angel, even if she sings like a butchered goat.
I can’t deny that I’m glad to have met her, but what does all of this mean? I never thought I’d ever want anyone like I wanted Flora. Even now, I love her. And I haven’t done anything with Dana that would betray her memory.
So why do I feel so guilty?
16
DANA
Inever thought being injured would have its perks, especially being injured in the middle of nowhere with an orc. This isn’t the first time, but it might be the most intense time I’ve been proven wrong.
For the past four days, we have called the cave home. Well, I’ve called it home. Hurian has so affectionately named it ‘the sanctuary.’ I don’t know if he’s noticed, but as we spend more time here, he seems calmer, like this cave reallyisa sanctuary for him.
We invented a game that has kept us quite entertained. We’ve started making up fairytales, with my parts being very romantic and his being the great battle scenes. Occasionally, we’ll throw a wrench in, an evil dragon overtaking the castle, or a character making a funny out-of-pocket comment. With any story we make up, we always laugh together.
We’ve had long conversations in the past few days, too. He’s opened up to me a little about which wars he’s fought in, how much Loki helped him adjust to Burning Sun life and his survival skill knowledge. I’ve learned a lot from him, and he’s also asked me many questions. He wants to know more about herbs, my childhood, and how I came to Burning Sun.
Oddly, he shuts down or changes the subject every time we hit the topic of how we came to Burning Sun. I don’t know if it’s a conscious decision or more of him being distracted, but I want to find out. I get an odd feeling when he does that like he’s hiding something.
I don’t have permission to know everything about him, but I am curious. What could be so bad that he wouldn’t want to talk to me about it? He has to know I’m not going to tell anyone anything. I’ve been vulnerable, too, and I wish he could open up more.
