Page 36 of Rook of Ruin
The light from his brace is gone, so my light is the only thing we have. I move his torso and head from my lap and lay his body down flat on the ground. “I know this isn’t how either of us planned our day to turn out, but I promise you, I will make it up to you,” I say softly as I rip two more pieces off my tattered skirt. I lay one piece on his chest. Using my teeth and my left hand, I tie the second piece of cloth onto my right wrist and then to the hilt of my dagger. Letting it drop, dangling at my side.
I bend Alec’s legs, making sure his feet are still on the ground, and tie his knees together. I give a small laugh. “I bet you never thought I would be the one to tieyouup.”
Taking a deep breath, I adjust my feet. Pulling fast, leaning back and almost into a squat position, I put my shoulder into his hard abs, then push him up and onto my shoulders, shoving my left arm through his thick thigh.
“Fuck, you’re heavy.” My legs and shoulders pull and stretch in ways that make my muscles angry. I pull the cloth strip up until the dagger is back in my hand, then I suck in a breath. Very slowly, I start moving us towards where I think the village is.
Slowly shuffling my feet forward, I heal myself with every step. “You better live. You still owe me an apology and answers.” My voice hitches. “You know I will forgive you, Alec. Just please wake up.” We reach a road, but there’s no village. I must have gotten turned around somehow. “I know you aren’t going to be happy to hear this, but I may have gotten us lost.” I decide to go left. “How often do you work out? It feels like you do it a lot.”
I scoot my feet—that’s all I can physically do. That and talk to him. “Don’t tell anyone.” I heave a sigh of laughter. “But do you remember the year I became a Rook, when there was an influx of warriors training with us?”
No answer.
“Paul and Tess had to spar against some massive pricks. I may have put some aloe vera juice in their breakfast.” I wheeze out another laugh. “The warriors went to the training field and shit themselves silly. Paul and Tess won by default.”
No response.
“I’m not sorry I did it, by the way.” I half expect him to say something casually snarky. Perhaps he concedes it was a good idea. It was.
Pushing forward, I heal myself to get rid of the aches and pains. “I know you probably also think I should leave you, but I’m not going to. You’re just going to have to stick it out with me. We are lucky it’s not raining. At least we have that.”
Shadows fall across the road, make me feel uneasy, as if we are being watched and weighed to determine worthiness. One shadow dares to glide across the road.
“Alec, it would be really great if you woke up now.”
He doesn’t.
The shadow comes closer, and I prepare myself to drop Alec. The shadow is a black dog, not anything like a Roggenwolf.
“Hey there, handsome.” I try to look as friendly as possible, which is hard, given the state we are in. “Where did you come from?”
The dog tilts his head, and I could swear he winks.
“Is there a house nearby?”
The black dog starts moving in the direction I was headed—I take that as a sign to follow it.
“I’m glad you showed up when you did. I think he’s getting sick of talking to me,” I joke flatly. Handsome looks at me, and I sigh. “I know. I’m just worried about him.”
The moon finally shows her face, cutting through the darkness of the night. “I hope you know, Handsome, I’ll owe you a nice juicy steak if you get us to a house,” I say through clenched teeth. He looks at me and continues to lead while I scoot my feet.
We round a bend, and a one-story cottage is just ahead. I kick at the door and wait. No answer. I kick the door harder, and it opens up on its own. The large room has seen better days, and the wooden floor is thick with dust and smells stale. Handsome follows me in and lies down on an old rug. It’s empty but for three chairs, a bucket, a large bed, a kitchen stove, and a cabinet with a sink. I trudge over to the bed and drop Alec down, dreading the thought of the potential bugs crawling around underneath him. A quick check on and under the bed provides instant relief—no bugs. But my search does reveal a large wooden box containing a thin quilt. I shake it out and place it over Alec; the stench coming off us both is terrible and overwhelming.
“Thank you, Handsome, for getting us here.” I tilt my head while searching the cabinet, finding a small pot and mug.
Handsome sneezes.
“Bless you.” I reach out to see if he will come, but he doesn’t. “I don’t have any steaks on me now, but I will get them to you. If you would like, you could come back with us. You could be a castle dog and live in luxury.”
He doesn’t acknowledge the option to become a dog of leisure.
“I’ll be back. I’ve got to . . . well, you’re a dog, you know. Watch over him for me, will you?”
The night is still as I step out of the cottage. I can almost taste the sickly scent of blood, sweat, and dirt that swirls around me from the warm breeze. It’s vile. Coated in red and black blood, I explore the area around the cottage and then do my business. My skirt is nothing but a few tiny scraps, my camisole is holding on by two threads, and my breasts are exposed. I’ve been gripping my dagger so hard, my hand is hurting. Handsome sticks his head out the door as I come back around the side.
“I’m alright. Thank you for checking on me.”
He moves back into the cottage, and I shut the door. Alec remains the same, looking more comfortable with the quilt. I pull up a chair and sit to the side, facing the door. Untying my dagger from my hand, I let the cloth drop. Scruffy fur nudges my leg, and I reach down to rub Handsome’s head. We sit in silence for a long time.
