Page 121 of A Tale of Ice and Ash

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“Are you guys ready to move out?” said Wren, appearing beside them. Her gaze settled on their hands, and she raised an eyebrow, grinning crookedly.

They tore away from each other, Eirwen scrambling to her feet like a startled cat. “Yes, quite ready, thank you.”

“Great. Do you two want to take the back?”

∞∞∞

For the first time in recent memory, Cole was silent in Eirwen’s presence, saying barely anything to her as they journeyed back through the caverns and cities. She wished she could think of something to say, or understood his silence. Why had Wren put them at the back of the party?

Probably so we don’t walk on too far ahead,she decided.Although we’d make decent scouts…

Then again, in a single day, the dangers of the underground had been almost swept away. What did this mean for the dwarves? Could they return to their ancient home, now? Would they want to?

WouldOnyxwant to? He was, after all, technically the leader. But it had been so long for him, for all of them, and there was no threat down here for him to fight. He did not have to be king if he didn’t want to.

Like I do not want to be queen…

Jasper and Bianca –or whatever her real name was– had failed their people and been corrupted by their own greed. Even her own father, kind as he had been, had not been an attentive monarch. What was to say that five, ten, twenty years later, she didn’t fall down the same path?

Was this why Cole didn’t want to go back to Florin? She could not ask him again.

From time to time, after they left the main cavern, they came across a few loose shades. They seemed disorientated, drunk, barely conscious of other people sharing their space.

Cole, glad to have something to do, raced to dispatch them.

“You’ll burn out, son, if you’re not careful,” said Wren.

“I’m fine. It’s fine. Just want to be useful. I can relax when we stop to make camp, right?”

Eirwen touched his arm, stilling him immediately. “I’ll take your watch. It’s definitely my turn.”

Wren chuckled. Merry and Oakley smiled too. Onyx said nothing, but shot a faintly dark look towards the two of them.

Finally, it was time to make camp. Eirwen shoved Cole into position and made her own bed beside his before anyone could object, almost daring Onyx to glare at her again. She hardly knew why she wanted him so close, but although she didn’t want to invite any comments, she was willing to brace them.

After forcing some food down, Cole rolled over and was asleep within minutes. He’d exhausted himself. Eirwen, meanwhile, felt surprisingly fresh, and she wondered if, somehow, the sun stone had rejuvenated her as well. She hoped that was all it had done, that it hadn’t installed in her immortal life or anything like that. Once upon a time, when she realised that the dwarves would still be young when she was old, she’d wanted to live for longer.

Not now. Not any more. Now she thought she could make do with this one, mortal life.

Now that there was someone else she didn’t want to outlive.

She sighed, turning her thoughts and gaze away from Cole, as the others slunk into slumber.

“You’re thinking very loudly, pet,” said Onyx from the corner of the you. “Want to share anything?”

Eirwen swallowed. Nothing about Cole, that was for certain. But other things were playing on her mind.

“Did you know it was going to take more than a droplet of blood to revive the sun stone?”

Onyx cringed, flexing his bandaged arm. “I suspected it might, given how dead it was.”

“Why… why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because you would have stopped me.”

“Of course I would have–”

“And it needed to be done. You know that. Because when the moment came, you were willing to do the exact same thing to save our family. No matter what it cost. No matter how crushed we would have been to lose you.”