Page 36 of Crown of Ashes and Awe

Luckily for me, princesses were not expected to carry their own satchels and water.

In the afternoon, when we stopped to rest beside a small creek, Morrow agreed that we could take a few hours to sleep. With our glow stones, we could travel into the night to make up for it.

Tearloch wandered in my direction, and I made a point of moving to the other side of the clearing. He understood immediately that I wasn’t interested in a repeat of what happened the night before, on the shore, and he veered into the tree line before settling on the ground. His pinched brow said he didn’t know why I was avoiding him, but he didn’t ask.

“I’ll take the watch,” I said. “I’m not at all tired. And I promise to make a lot of noise if I see anything.”

No one argued. I sat in the direct sun so I could warm my bones. Tearloch had been right. I’d been shocked by the change in climate, but it looked like I was the only one. Since our nightcoats had been primarily for wind, and they were far too heavy to carry for the sake of warmth, we’d left them behind.

One of the guards delivered my satchel, and as I kept watch, everyone produced some sort of food before stretching out to sleep. Lady Edeen had provided me with a few pieces of fruit and dried meat for the journey, which I shared with Minkin before she joined Tearloch and Sweetie inside the tree line and used the latter’s arm for a pillow.

Ten minutes later, nine people were sound asleep, trusting that I would keep them safe. It was a small thing, really, but it was a taste, and it warmed me from the inside.

* * *

Tearloch wokefrom a deep and dreamless sleep to the echo of Sweetie’s snort. The man would be horrified to know the animal noises he made when he wasn’t aware.

Minkin’s eyes met Tearloch’s across a five-foot span of wispy grass. He’d been eager to ask her something, and it might be his only chance for a private word for a long while.

“Something amiss?” she whispered.

He kept his voice low. “Do you suppose…is there a chance…Yora lied to me?”

“About what? She loved you. That was no lie.”

“Did she lie about us being heartbound?”

“Tearloch,” she hissed. “You mean you couldn’t tell? You took her word for it?”

He bit his lips together and lowered his eyes, too embarrassed to admit it, regretting he’d mentioned it. When he had the courage to look at Minkin again, her shock was gone and only pity remained.

“Yes. I think it’s possible she lied. And if you couldn’t tell, I’d say it’s probable.”

Sweetie snorted again and neither of them spoke until his breathing resumed its rhythm.

Minkin pointed at his gloved hands. “Are you thinking of taking those off?”

“I don’t know,” he hedged. “What is the point if we are to die soon anyway?”

“You know, if you’d really kissed her, you would already know.”

He didn’t bother pretending not to know what she was talking about.

“If someone hadn’t interrupted…” He shook his head against his arm. “Doesn’t matter. She’s not fond of me today.”

“It’s no wonder.”

“Why? What do you know?”

“I heard you last night. Something you said on the dragon, just as we left the lake.”

“What did I say?”

She shook her head and closed her eyes again. A vague smile brought out the dimples in her brown cheeks. If he demanded more, it would wake the others, so he lay still and searched his memory…but all he could recall was the terror of falling out of the sky, his heart in his throat while he tried to keep his hold on Asper. He thought what a pity it would be for her life to end so soon after escaping the prison of that canyon.

That there was a whole world she had only read about in books. A whole world he wanted to see again…through her eyes.

Curse the Fates!

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