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“Aye, he does,” she said, nudging him away to allow her stand on her own. “But we must hurry.”
“You’re injured; I’ll carry you, and we’ll put distance between us and them.” He reached out to scoop her up, but she brushed his effort aside.
“No,” she insisted. “I am fine for now. It is the two soldiers we must worry about. They follow. We cannot outrun them. We must—”
“End this now,” he said, knowing it was the wisest choice. Otherwise, they would continue to be chased by the pair. “You are certain there are only two? There isn’t one who has been sent back to report our location?”
“The young soldier isn’t the only one who wishes to impress the king. The one who joined him wants the same, and neither is considering anything but his own glory.”
Trey gave a quick perusal of the area, and Bliss did the same though she was faster to decide and hurried forward. He went along with her, not liking the way she held her arm close to her body. She was in pain and trying to hide it.
She stopped suddenly and pointed at a towering pine. “The tree. You can get me up there to hide the way you did as a child.”
“What?”
“We have no time to discuss this. It will provide cover for me and ease your concern for my safety.”
If she could sense his concern for her, what else could she sense? He had no time to consider it. She was right. If he could stow her away—
“Hurry,” she urged. “They are not far off.”
“Get behind me, lock your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist, and hold tight.”
She nodded as she did so, and when he was certain she had a firm hold on him, he reached up for the lowest branch. It took him no time to climb into the densest part of the tree branches even though the pine needles jabbed at him as if annoyed at the intrusion. He found a spot where two branches formed a nook and settled her safely there with the extra blankets and food sack.
He then slipped a dirk from his boot and handed it to her.
She shook her head. “It won’t be necessary.”
He slipped it back in his boot and leaned in close. “I will be back for you; then I’ll see to that wound of yours.” He kissed her lightly on the lips, as though it were the most natural thing for him to do. “Rest and stay as still as you can.”
He disappeared through the tree branches and was soon out of sight.
Bliss rested her head back against the tree trunk. His gentle kiss had comforted and left her with a sense of calm that all would be well and she need not worry. She liked that he took a moment to kiss her, and though it was a mere tender, friendly kiss, it had tickled her senses and sent a rush of gooseflesh over her.
Here she was perched high in a tree, her arm paining her considerably, and where were her thoughts?
Kisses.
She settled for a smile though she would have preferred to laugh aloud. It felt so wonderful to be kissed, even a light, friendly kiss. And to know that he cared and worried over her safety and well-being and—that he had held her hand.
The simple act of holding hands stirred something in the soul, and it had been stirring hers since Trey had walked out of the mist and into her life.
She winced, a pain suddenly shooting through her arm. The wound needed cleansing and bandaging and a touch of healing, though healing herself was not always easy. For some reason, her touch worked better on others than on herself.
Voices interrupted her thoughts, and she listened as they drew closer. The quiet woods carried the voices along on the cold night air, making them sound closer than they actually were.
“They couldn’t have gotten far,” said one, who no doubt thought he whispered.
“They would never expect us to follow in the dark,” said the other.
Bliss recognized his voice. It was the young soldier, and she grew sad that he had not paid heed to her warning that it would not be her husband who died this day. Perhaps Trey was right about man deciding his own fate. The soldier had been warned and chose to ignore it, thus choosing his fate.
Their voices drifted away as they went to meet their destiny.
Bliss closed her eyes and rested her hand beneath the arm that pained her. She would need to tend it as soon as Trey returned. And then she would sleep. It had been a long and tiring day, and she longed to curl up on a blanket before a nice warm fire and drift into a pleasant sleep.
It had been a brief scuffle, Trey having surprised the two soldiers and neither having been as experienced with swords as he should have been. He left their bodies for Mother Nature to dispose of as She saw fit. He was eager to return to Bliss, see to her wound, and settle them for the night.
