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I clutched Draven’s shoulder. “Lark? Where’s Lark?” He’d been with me, right beside me. I’d dreamed of him. I’d dreamed of dying.
Draven again pried my hand free and cupped it under his against the bed, holding it there. “He’s resting, as you should.”
If Draven said Lark was resting, then he was, and I’d see him soon. I braced against the bed. “Water?”
He handed over a cup and I guzzled it down.
“Slowly, or it’ll come back up.”
Nausea churned. I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth and tried to breathe around it. Angry sores on my legs and chest caught my eye, raw and throbbing like burns. “How long?” I croaked.
“It took a few days to find the caravan, and then another to get back to you.” Draven swallowed hard. “The sandworm fled when we approached. They don’t like the kareel herd.”
Lark and I had been in that cave for days. We should have died. We almost had. That was why Draven had paled, and why guilt wracked his face. If I was this bad, then Lark might have been worse? “I need to see him.”
“Arin, wait.” His big hand pushed on my shoulder.
“Help me up. Where’s my clothes?”
“Please, stay here.” He held me down, and weak as I was, I couldn’t fight him. “If you do too much too soon—”
“If you don’t help me, Draven, I will fight you, and perhaps I won’t win, but if I do, I will go out there naked if I must. Where is he?”
He sighed, then reluctantly let me up. “All right. But please, take it slowly.”
“Thank you.”
“Stay here, I’ll find some clothes.” He headed for the tent flap, then glared back. “Stay.”
“Yes. I’m staying. See?”
I stayed on the edge of the bed, waiting, listening to the sounds of men and women talking outside. They had the same accents as Draven’s court, but more guttural and thick. Older children squealed, playing some kind of game. Wherever we were, it bustled with life. I could only hope news of our survival wouldn’t get back to Ogden anytime soon.
Draven returned with a tunic, belt, pants, and boots, then left while I dressed. He wouldn’t go far. I struggled to dress myself, stopping several times to keep from passing out. It was too much, and Ishouldhave stayed resting. As soon as I see Lark, I’ll rest. I had to know he was all right. I believed Draven, but it wasn’t the same. The dreams, perhaps they were nothing, but I’d dreamed he was in danger before, and I’d been right. I couldn’t rest without having seen him.
I pushed through the tent flap into piercing sunlight.
Shielding my eyes, I scanned the camp. Substantial tents were slung over multiple poles. Barefooted children ran about, kicking balls and playing chase-touch. Men and women gathered around market stalls, trading all manner of goods.
“This way.” Draven offered his hand.
“I’ve got it, thank you.” I could walk unaided. I didn’t need to be propped up like a weak outsider. Which I was, but I didn’t need to broadcast it.
We walked under stretched canopies, avoiding the sun, and took a branch off the main thoroughfare into a quieter area. Children kicked a ball here too.
I rounded a tent pole and there was Lark, dressed in similar clothes to me, his black hair bundled and pinned back from his face. He leaned against a tent pole, as though that pole might have been the only thing holding him up, and where his face wasn’t scorched by the sun, his skin was sickly pale. He watched a group of boys playing, smiling at their antics, and didn’t notice my approach until we were almost on him.
His soft smile vanished as our eyes met. “Arin, you’re all right.” He moved to reach out and immediately slumped. Draven swooped in, holding him up, and grumbled about how both of us were stubborn.
Lark braced against the pole again. “I er… I have the will, but my body is less eager.”
“It’s all right.” I caught his hand and squeezed, trying to convey the surge of relief at seeing him. “We made it out.”
“Thanks to your husband.” Lark abruptly freed my hand. “Draven came through.”
“Did you have a doubt?” Draven grumbled, eyeing us both as though we’d conspired against him. “I said I’d come back for you.”
“Yes, you did,” I agreed. “I didn’t doubt you.”
