Page 78 of Beneath the Flames
“Your rumbling stomach,” he replied, amusement lightingup his eyes.
“You couldn’t have just handed it to me?”
“You were falling asleep.Now you’re awake.What’s that phrase in your world?Two birds, one stone?”
“You’re infuriating,” I muttered as I reached for the fruit, eliciting a low chuckle from Rhydian that made my stomach flip.
I bit into the fruit and then stared at it while I tried to figure out what it was.It looked like an orange-colored apple, but the inside was soft and chewy like a banana.It was a strange texture, but it was sweet and satisfying, and I quickly finished it off, wondering if there were more hiding in his bag.
“It’s called a Barang.They used to grow plentifully here, but now they’re almost all gone.Nico searched for two days for that one,” he explained, nodding at the core I had just chucked at the fire.
Two days, and I had scarfed it down within seconds.
“I have some bread left if you’re still hungry,” Rhydian said, holding a fabric-wrapped chunk to me.
It was then I realized I hadn’t seen him eat anything.
“What about you?Aren’t you going to eat?”
Rhydian’s arm remained outstretched, waiting for me to take the bread.“I’ll eat when we get back.You need the strength to make the return journey.”
“But you need strength too.”
He shook his head, an amused smile tilting his lips.“I’m Fae, remember?I don’t have the same limitations you humans do.Eat, Maren.”Something flashed in his eyes, and I wondered if he was lying to assuage me, but it was gone quicker than I could decipher it.
It still felt wrong to allow him to starve, especially after thatfeat of magic he had done.I took the bread from him, tore it in half, and handed one side back to him.
“You need to eat too.”
Surprise lit his features, his long fingers brushing mine as he took the chunk.I fervently ignored thezingthat went up my arm at the touch, but it was getting harder and harder to do so.What was happening between us?
I stuffed the bread in my mouth, wiping the crumbs from my hands and my coat once it was gone.The dancing flames ensnared my attention, my eyes growing heavier by the second.I glanced at Rhydian.
“So when are you going to tell me what the second task is?”I asked, breaking the silence.“Will I have to climb another volcano and face yet another monster that wants to kill me without a way of defending myself?”
Rhydian’s face was unamused.“Think what you want of me, but had I known the Lavawraith dwelled within the lava, I wouldn’t have sent you in there so unprepared.I would have done things differently.”
“How could you not know that creature was up there?”
“It’s been many years, Maren, since I’ve been on Mount Kharos, and when I hid that object, I encountered no beasts.”His lips twitched as if he had said something funny, but I couldn’t find the joke in his words.
“You keep saying many years and decades about everything, but you hardly look much older than me.”I sat forward, resting my arms on my knees.“Just how old are you?”
He hesitated, avoiding my gaze as he stoked the fire with a stick.
“Much older than you.”
“But how can that be?”
“Fae don’t age the way humans do, and their life-spans aremuch, much longer.”
“How much longer?”
Rhydian let out an impatient sigh, running a hand over his face.“Decades.Centuries longer.”
“Centuries?Are you telling me you’re hundreds of years old?”
“Does it matter, Maren?”A strange redness colored his cheeks, and he avoided my gaze.
