Page 28 of Fires of the Forsaken
And it was only when he touched me that I realized how shaken I’d become.
The tremors ran along my spine, aggravating the ache in my skull. I whimpered and squeezed my eyes shut.
“It’s alright,” Terrick pulled the blanket tighter around me. I hadn’t even realized he’d given me a blanket. He’d also given me fabric to pillow my head and had laid me in a small stone cave, where I was shielded from the worst of the elements. He’d taken care of me.
“What’s your name, lass?” Terrick asked.
I opened my mouth to respond, but I couldn’t remember.
No matter how many times I combed through my memories, I couldn’t recall my name. Mama had hardly used it, preferring to call meloveordarling.
But others had used my name, hadn’t they?
Why couldn’t I remember?
“It’s alright.” Terrick wrapped his warm fingers around my trembling knuckles. “Perhaps it will come to you later.”
I shook harder. I didn’t like this man; didn’t like how big his hands were, how he seemed to tower over me, how solidly he was built. I was accustomed to the people of Detha, who’d often been little more than walkingskeltons—skeletons. And I wanted…
“Mama,” I whispered.
Terrick’s weathered face drooped. “I don’t know where your mother is,” he whispered. “Do you remember where you saw her last?”
In our field, her lifeless eyes gazing at the sky. Her skin growing cold—not immediately, of course. But I’d sat by her side for hours, praying she’d wake up. “‘Tis but a cough, darling,” she’d told me when she first became ill. Her hands, even then, were icy as she stroked my cheeks.“I will not allow it to be stronger than me. Besides, I have you, don’t I?” She smiled, although it wastremorless—tremulous and didn’t reach her eyes. “Your love will keep me alive.”
But she hadn’t been stronger than the cough. And my love was worthless because it hadn’t stopped her from dying.
“Easy.” Terrick’s massive hands reached behind me, pulling me into a sitting position.
Tears slid down my cheeks.
“It’s alright,” Terrick’s bear-like arms pulled me against him, pressing my face into the solid slope of his shoulder. “You’re safe, lass,” he murmured. “You’re safe.”
He held me as though I were made of glass and he feared I would shatter. But his kindness, his gentleness, and his soothing voice only strengthened my sobs.
I cried until my chest and stomach hurt. Until it seemed as though I had expended all the fluid in my body. I cried until my eyes were swollen and a sticky feeling coated my tongue. All the while, Terrick held me, his body warm, his arms encircling me. Protecting me.
10
The Ninja Turtles Are Involved?
Iwas certain of two things.
One: traveling on horseback sucked, and I was 100% not wearing the right bra for it. Plus, I had a teensy thorn stuck beneath my left boob, and it was driving meinsane!
Two: I was in deep shit. With every hour that ticked by (and I swore time moved at The Speed of Snail to spite me), it got harder to hold on to my slim hope of finding a way home.
The landscape surrounding us was…well,wild. Almost completely untouched by humans. We traveled across muddy ground and overgrown sections of forest, often barreling through thick trees and bushes. There were no houses, roads, gates, fences, oranysign ofcivilization. There were only trees. More trees. Bushes. Grass. And the occasional steaming pile of horseshit.
I mostly traveled alone, flopping around on top of my horse (it was a wonder I hadn’t broken the poor thing’s back), shrieking whenever we went too fast or went down a steep hill. I probably (definitely) annoyed the crap out of everyone. The soldiers certainly kept a distance. And they whispered. A lot. Which grated my already raw nerves because Iknewthose low, babbling murmurs were about me. Especially since some soldiers would occasionally turn to give me long gawping stares.
Cheriour stayed several yards behind me. He said nothing, even when I tried to prod him into a conversation: “How are you not sweating your ass off wearing all that leather gear? Seriously, what’s your secret? ‘Cause I’m looking like a drowned rat over here.”
I never got a response.
I was like the town leper no one wanted to go near. Which might’ve been a blessing in disguise. Because a noxious, stomach-churning smell kept wafting back toward me. And I didn’t think the odor was coming from the horses…
Anyway, afterat leastsix hours on the road from hell, Cheriour finally paid me a visit.
