Page 31 of Sun Elves of Ardani

It was difficult to tell how much time passed, and where they’d been and where they hadn’t. Neiryn began marking their path with little lines of soot, and soon they began seeing the marks everywhere. Eventually he grew weary of holding his flame up as a light, and Kadaki spelled a mage light to bob along beside them instead.

Kadaki’s stomach started to growl loudly. They had both drunk from the canals, which ran through all the caverns, but they hadn’t eaten since the previous evening, which must have been nearly twenty-four hours ago by now.

The longer they walked, the more hopeless she became. Neiryn was starting to look despondent.

“I need to stop,” he said finally. “We should find a place to rest.”

It was the first time either of them had spoken in hours. When Kadaki looked up at him, he looked pained, and he was holding his side. She realized his injuries must have gotten worse after walking for so long.

They went back to another of the canal’s pool rooms, where the magic-eater wouldn’t easily find them. Neiryn knelt in front of her while she gave him another round of healing.

Her feet were cold, dirty, and bleeding. She dipped them in the pool to wash them, wincing at the sting of the water on her cuts. Once they were clean, she spared another bit of healing magic for them.

Neiryn frowned at her bare feet as she wiped them dry with her sleeve. “You’re going to get frostbite.”

“It’s not cold enough for frostbite.”

“You’re practically blue.”

“I’m just pale. They always look like that.”

He sat on his knees and pulled her feet up to hug them against him. She stared at him in surprise.

“It’s too cold in Ardani,” he muttered.

“This isn’t normal Ardani weather,” she said. “It’s summer right now, aboveground.”

“Still.”

She wriggled her toes against him. They were tingling as the numbness went away. The heat of his body against her skin was wonderful.

“You should probably dress more appropriately the next time you’re going to fall into a sinkhole,” he said.

She started to give him an annoyed look, then saw his face and realized he was joking. “I’ll do that. Next time.”

The mage light had started to drain her magic, so she let it go out. After a while, she lay back on the ground, her feet still resting on Neiryn’s lap.

She wondered if this was what it was like to be dead. In the cold, in the dark, in the quiet. She shivered, and Neiryn hugged her feet closer.

She was glad he was here.

She supposed it was selfish to think that. She should be wishing he were safe back at home. But she didn’t want to face death alone. And to her surprise, she found that Neiryn was a person she didn’t mind having by her side at such a time.

She’d been wrong when she’d said he was completely different now. There were still parts of him that resembled the man she’d known years ago.

“Neiryn…” she said slowly.

“Mm-hm?”

She took a breath. “Do you want to sleep with me?”

He went very still. “Pardon?”

“Do you want to sleep with me.”

“I heard you the first time.”

There was a pause. Kadaki’s face burned. “Well. You think I’m attractive, don’t you? Or, attractive enough, at least?”

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