Page 41 of A Light So Blinding
They climbed to the highest peak just as day broke around them, and then she realized they were still going. They had to traverse an entire mountain range, and it was a journey he did with ease.
They spent the better part of three days moving from peak to peak. He’d let her down to relieve herself and sometimes to stretch her legs, but it wasn’t ever for very long. He said they needed to move, and she was going to trust him on that. She had no idea where they were going, or who was following them. But Astrid noted a few times that he looked behind them with a frown and then kept moving a little faster.
On the fourth night, though, she could sense a change in him. His body was shaking, his hands weren’t gripping as strongly, and he slipped multiple times as he hiked over a rather impressively scraggly peak.
This one looked more like the mountains she had been told existed. It wasn’t a sharp-edged area that she feared they would tumble off of. This was flattened by age and weather, much more manageable if they were going to stop.
“You need rest,” she said, placing her hand on his shoulder and trying to press the words into him.
A spark of her magic ignited, and she knew it was foolish to even consider using it. She didn’t want to force him to do what she wanted. That was beyond rude, but also unreasonable.
And yet... maybe magic wasn’t needed.
“I fear for your safety,” she said. “You are not making decisions you usually would. You’re tripping over rocks, and this is a fine area for us to rest. It may be cold, but you can start a fire. We will be warm for the rest of the night.”
And for the first time since they had started traveling, she felt the muscles in his body ease.
“Aye,” he muttered. “They are likely far enough behind us.”
Bjorn got to work removing all the straps that had held her to him, and all she could think about were his words. Astrid hopped down from his back, frowning at the thought that there had been people following them this whole time.
“They?” she asked, rounding him and smacking his hands as he worked on the buckles of the straps. His hands were shaking. She could make faster work of undoing them. “What do you mean they are behind us?”
“We have been followed.” He stared down at her with those large, dark eyes, and she tried not to look into them. Being around him did something to her chest that was uncomfortable.
It was a familiar feeling. She was getting closer and closer to him, and that made her want to protect him. Even now, removing these buckles and letting the straps fall off of him, felt like she was finally doing her part in all this. She wanted to take care of him, too.
“Are you sure they’re following us? We’ve been moving too fast for humans to follow.” She removed the last buckle, and somehow her hand ended up flat against his chest.
He took a deep breath, and Astrid could feel the air expanding through him. It was hard to focus on anything other than the sensations of him, the powerful bellows of his lungs and the heart that beat against her palm. Her lips parted slightly, and she looked up at him to see he was staring not at her face, but at her hand.
She looked too, startled by how small her touch looked against his grayish-green skin. Then, his hand lifted to cover hers. Her nails were long and delicate. Her fingers thin and graceful. His hand was tipped with rough edged nails, some of which had cracked down the center during one of his many fights. His hands were calloused, rough, and so much larger than her own.
Her heart thudded a little harder against her ribs, and she could feel his heart doing the same. Beating harder. Faster. Whispering for them to stand just a bit closer because they had gone through so much together.
She lunged away from him, heading toward a small outcropping with a scraggly tree on top of it. “This seems like a good place, yes?”
“You have good eyes, Priestess.”
“I’m afraid that’s all I’m good for. I don’t know how to start a fire.” She tried to stabilize herself with what she could control. “Wood. You’ll need wood, won’t you?”
“I will gather some.”
“No, I can do that.” She looked back to see Bjorn standing in the same place she’d left him, with his hand still over his heart. “I have been doing nothing for days on end. It will be good to use my legs.”
He nodded slowly, a frown crossing his features. “Stay close. I want to be able to hear you if you scream.”
“Unsettling,” she muttered as she headed off in search of wood.
She just needed to get her head screwed on straight again. This was a very classic case of her not knowing what to do and how to do it right. This was why she had to have control.
Astrid didn’t have feelings for anyone. That wasn’t how she functioned. She was calm and collected. She was the person everyone went to when they were struggling because she flourished in chaos. She knew how to control herself.
Picking up an armful of wood, she added more and more sticks to her bundle. They probably weren’t big enough, but he hadn’t given her any specifics on what size to get. Likely, he knew that she needed some time to herself.
“You were bound to get distracted,” she muttered as she bent and picked up more. “You were plastered to him for days on end. That’s all. Physical contact isn’t something you’re used to.”
It was an excuse she could get behind, after all. Priestesses might look like objects of sexual desire, but that was the point. They were untouchable creatures who were made to be looked at. That was all. If she had wanted to, she could have had lovers across every single town or kingdom, but she had chosen to remain focused on her own lord. Perhaps that had been foolish of her if she was getting confused by the touch of a troll.
