Page 44 of Diamond

I am silent too. The only sound comes from Roshan fussing.

He starts to make a soft sound, and I lower my hands to the thick fur on his cheeks. I rub my fingers against the pitted scars and scratch at them softly, not wanting to go too hard in case I end up hurting him. However, he seems to enjoy it the harder I scratch, his body twitching violently.

Kuret looks surprised, and he steps away for a moment, probably for fear of being kicked.

"Hey boy, are you feeling better?" I say in Farsi and the sweet creature nibbles at my hands some more.

Somehow, his adorable little gesture wipes my irritation away, and I feel a lot better. I look at Kuret and although I can't see his face, I can tell that he is waiting for me to decide whether I want to get back on Roshan or not.

The bright light from the fire makes the velvety blue and brown of Roshan's fur shine in a weird, ephemeral way and it hits me—I am really on another planet, friends with a horribly cute argila, with an extremely violent warrior alien at my side.

I am living in a science fiction movie.

Stranded on an alien planet protected by an alien guardian and alien animal, while being hunted by an entirely separate alien race. It's almost laughable.

It's like all those movies I would never agree to sit down and watch, except this time I'm living it.

Kuret sees I am looking at the fire. "Is all well, Nasrin?"

I nod. "Well, no, but I'm fine. I'm just thinking that it might be a good idea to douse the flame so nothing can follow our trail."

As soon as I say it, I realize I had the same exact thought with Tehlmar, but didn't feel comfortable saying anything, but I just blurted it out to his killer.

I don't get a chance to think it through when Kuret speaks again. "Yes, the fire is a beacon."

"There is a bag with some supplies in there. It has some water bottles that we took from a genali camp. You can use one of them to quench the fire," I suggest and he flicks his finger on top of his other hand.

His hand glows brighter for a moment as he walks into the cave. I am confused for a minute before I decide that it must be an agreement, just like my nodding.

He holds out the water, then pauses, instead feeding it more fuel.

I open my mouth to protest, but he speaks. "I'll get you settled and then come back here to cook something, then douse it then."

My stomach tightens painfully as a reminder of my hunger, and I see the wisdom in his plan.

He secures the bag in a little nook inside the cart and walks out in front of Roshan and me, but I immediately notice that Roshan does not move an inch.

When I take a few steps, he trails behind me slowly, pushing his nose into my back playfully. Apparently, Roshan will only follow my lead.

It makes me giddy that I have been able to win the loyalty of a creature so quickly, but I also feel a burdensome responsibility. As the last child of my parents, I never really had people look up to me. When I lived with my brother's family, his wife did her best to make sure I didn't interact much with her children.

Me being the bad influence that I am, of course.

I shake off the fear and decide that I like Roshan and everything that will come with him, regardless of what it means for my own comfort. My ankle still hurts, but I limp ahead of the argila, pleased that I can hear him walking behind me.

Kuret is a small distance in front of us, turning around every few minutes to make sure that we are still there.

Kuret finds us a place to settle down before I run out of breath, and I am astonished at how many places like these exist. From the front, I had no way of knowing, but after pushing through a few prickly bushes, it looks like a small cave surrounded by an even smaller oasis.

It's beautiful. The cave is warm and tucked directly into the ground, such that we almost have to climb into it. There is a variety of flora growing everywhere with what looks like this planet's version of flies hovering soundlessly around them and a small babbling brook sprouting out of a rocky outcrop that hopefully contains drinkable water.

I don't know how Kuret found such a perfect place, but I won't complain.

We settle in wordlessly and Kuret announces that he is going to patrol around us. I make a sound of agreement and wait until he has left to pee in the bushes and wash my face. The wind blows against my hair and I decide that I will not put the makeshifthijabback on.

I don't like the way it covers my ears and makes me feel less alert here, though I do admit sometimes I love being covered.

Thankfully, Kuret is more confused than anything at the head covering, and I can be at peace with the knowledge that he is not seeing something unspeakable when he looks at me.

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