Page 82 of Echoes of the Raven
I shake my head, unable to go on.
“It’s not because you’re embarrassed, is it? Because you shouldn’t be. You know you can tell me anything.”
“I know. I know. It’s just… I’m trying to keep it all out of my mind, so talking about it defeats the purpose.”
“And that’s working for you?”
“For the most part. At least the nightmares stopped.” I give him a wry smile. “But seeing her… I don’t know… it brought some of those emotions back up.”
“I can’t even imagine how you must feel. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that.”
I swallow hard.
“Hey, you confronted her.” He gives me a squeeze. “She has no power over you. You were absolutely amazing.”
I smile, knowing it was all thanks to the amulet. Without it, I would probably run and hide.
“And same as I’m here if you need to talk, I’m also here if you need help kicking her ass again, all right? Just name the time and place and I’ll come.”
We both laugh, and he bumps his hip against mine.
“Have I told you how lucky I am to have you?” I ask.
“Maybe.”
“Well, I am. If it weren’t for you, I would be alone in all of this.”
“And if it weren’t for you, I would be napping in my room or enjoying the next vintage in the cellar.”
I push him, and he staggers away, laughing.
We go around a bend in the road, and I’m startled by someone’s presence, sitting on a fallen log. It’s Rífíor, chewing on a blade of grass. His legs are crossed at the ankles, and the way he is looking at me lets me know he heard everything Jago and I were talking about.
Damn fae hearing!
I need to remember that out of sight shouldn’t mean out of mind with him. I hated that he heard how vulnerable Calierin makes me feel, how the torment they put me through sits on me like a stain I may never get rid of.
“Bastardo!” I whisper as we pass, sure that he also heard that.
“No worries. I don’t think he overheard,” Jago pauses. “Pshaw, who am I kidding? Of course, he did. But don’t worry, we’ll be rid of him soon.”
Rífíor stays behind, while Jago and I continue walking behind the wagon. We’re quiet for a long time before Jago starts a new conversation.
“So… tell me about Esmeralda.”
I glanced at him sidelong, arching my eyebrows and putting on a teasing smirk.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he says. “She’s beautiful. I’m smitten.” He clutches his heart, trying to sound carefree, but it doesn’t work. His natural state is already nonchalant, so trying to act as if he doesn’t care makes him look foolish. It’s as if Cuervo were trying to don a cloak of black feathers.
I open my mouth to tease him about it, but then stop myself. I don’t want to deter him from what could be his first real crushin a long time. Though maybe I should. It’s Esmeralda we’re dealing with, after all. She’s as shrewd as they come—not that Jago might not benefit from a little of his own medicine. Ever since he developed into the handsome man that he is, he has broken countless hearts, never apologizing for any of his actions. Honestly, I’m torn. I don’t want him to gethisheart broken, but I’m afraid he will never learn to be a better man if he doesn’t meet his match, and maybe Esmeralda is exactly that.
“What can you tell me about her?” he asks.
“I don’t know much about her besides what I learned during the brief time I spent with them. She travels with the troop and sells poultices and draughts. She learned the trade from her mother. I met her, too. She doesn’t travel and stays back in Castellina because she’s sick. I can tell Esmeralda worries about her a lot.”
“Any siblings? A dad?” he asks.
“I don’t think so.”
