By Moonrise

by Jackie Dana

  Rather than respond, he waved her away with a flick of his hand, and busied himself with unpacking their supplies, tossing bedrolls on the ground and then untying a leather sack.

  She stood there a moment, furious to be dismissed in such a cavalier manner. Meanwhile, Fantion worked his way along the fringe of trees looking for firewood, Lysander unsaddled and brushed down the horses, and Nyvas dug a shallow pit for a fire. No one spoke to her, gave her directions, or explained anything. It was if she had disappeared entirely. Was her question so unreasonable?

  She shook her head and leaned against a tree. Never had she missed her own home, her shower, her bed, more than she did right now. Then, after taking a deep breath and resolving not to sink too deeply into self-pity, she approached Lysander. “Can I help you with the horses?”

  “Nay,” he replied gently. “We have things under control. Though,” he added after a moment’s consideration, “you might check with Arric in case he needs anything.”

  Before she could respond to that, Nyvas, who was digging the fire pit, tugged at her skirt. “I could use some kindling for the fire,” he suggested quietly. She nodded and gathered up dead leaves, pine needles and small twigs. He used everything she gave him to get the fire started, but when she turned back for more, he caught her hand. “That’s enough. Fantion will bring more. You need to rest.” To encourage her, he pulled lightly on her fingers, and she gratefully sank to the ground beside him.

  With the weight of her body blissfully off her feet, she wasn’t sure if she could ever convince herself to walk again. Her feet and legs hurt more than she ever imagined possible, and her back and thighs ached from the time spent on horseback, a situation she had made worse by trying to avoid leaning against the Dosedra. As the fire grew quickly under Nyvas’s expert coaching, she sat as close as possible, grateful for the warmth. Realizing the heat would also dry her shoes, she yanked them off and placed them on a stone at the edge of the fire.

  After he finished with the horses, Lysander joined them. The older man waved his long fingers over the fire to warm them as he shook out his damp brown hair. Then he set up a simple wrought-iron tripod above the flames and hung a small cauldron on the hook in the center, filling it with water from a leather pouch. As she watched, he unrolled the top of two other leather bags, and from them, tossed bits of various herbs and dried meat into the water. “After the rough journey, I decided we needed a warm meal to restore our energy,” he explained when he noticed her attention. “It won’t be much, but it’s better than choking down plain jerky.” He rubbed his thin beard, adding, “I suspect you in particular could use a hot meal tonight.”

  “It looks good.” She appreciated the momentary kindness. “But don’t go to any extra trouble on my account.” She felt a nudge at her arm, and turned to see Nyvas handing her a flask.

  “Do not let him fool you, Kate,” he said, shyly but in a joking manner. “He lives to fuss over us all.”

  “Thanks.” She offered him the best smile she could muster under the circumstances. Then she lifted the vessel to her dry lips. She swallowed a mouthful before noticing it wasn’t water. She coughed as it went down her throat. “Is that whiskey?”

  After dropping an armload of branches by the fire, Fantion stepped beside her and took the flask. “It’s havar,” he said curtly, before he swallowed some of the liquor himself. He started to walk away, but stopped. “Bhara, may I have a word with you?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Nay, I meant privately.” He held out a broad, calloused hand. “Come, walk with me.”

  Her slippers were still damp, but unwilling to walk barefoot in the darkness, she pulled the soggy leather back over her toes with a groan. Then, waving away his hand, she tried to stand up on her own. Even after such a short time resting, tight, sore muscles resisted her efforts to stand. It took her a moment, and she grimaced against the discomfort, but eventually she pulled herself to her feet and limped behind him.

  He led her towards the trees, far enough that only minimal light followed them from the campfire. Deep shadows clouded his features, accentuating ridges and furrows on his forehead and around his frowning mouth. “I wished to speak to you about Arric.”

  Immediately on her guard, she replied, “what about him?”

  “He’s in a foul mood this eve.”

  “Aren’t we all?” she replied before considering her tone. More softly, she added, “I’m sorry, but really—we’re all exhausted and sore, and our clothes are soaked with putrid water—”

  He did not look at her, instead shifting his gaze back towards the camp. “It isn’t the swamp that troubles him.” He slapped his arms against his sides, and then continued, his voice deep and bitter. “What in Kerthal’s name caused you to act so spiteful towards him all day today?”

  “Oh, I see.” She tried to focus her eyes on the shadowy outline of a tree rather than look him in the eye. “Did he send you to scold me?”

  From the sound of it, he gritted his teeth, fighting back his first instinctive response. “Nay, my lady, he hasn’t said a word to me about it, but I’ve known him all my life, and I can tell when something is bothering him. Honestly, after all he’s done for you, it angers me that you cannot speak to him with a civil tongue.”

  “Oh, right. You have a problem with the fact that I don’t like him. I suppose you’d prefer that I fawn all over him, like the women at the quantrill did?”

  “Nay, my lady. I care not a whit whether you like him or not. It simply seems to me that you should not be so rude towards him after he placed your welfare above his own.”

  At this comment she made a half-laugh through her nose. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “You didn’t notice, then?” He shook his head, as if disappointed with a student who hadn’t learned her lesson. “All day he tried to set a pace that you could manage. It was slower than he wanted to go, but he recognized that you were struggling to keep up with the rest of us, and tried not to push you any harder than necessary.”

  “Don’t give me that. Everyone found the swamp difficult. And anyway, I never asked for any favors.”

  “Aye, I’ll grant you that. Still, you’re a member of this company just as I am, or the others,” he reminded her, “and he does not want any of us to suffer on his behalf.”

  “Uh huh.” She glanced towards the glow of the fire. After a day like today, this confrontation was the last thing she needed. Longing to return to the fire and collapse, she really wanted this conversation to end as quickly as possible. “You’re obviously talking about a different man than the one I met last night, and who couldn’t say a nice thing to me all day today.”

  That caused him to lose his temper. “Blast it, Bhara. Do you not hear what I’m telling you?” He was trying to keep his voice low, so it almost sounded like a growl. “If you could just forget what happened in Bhoren for a moment, you’d see the truth in my words.”

  She sighed. Obviously he had more energy than she did. “The problem is, I can’t forget that so easily. I don’t know what it’s like here, but where I come from, what he did just wouldn’t be acceptable. I’m sorry, but I can’t overlook it, no matter what you say.” She rubbed her forehead, fighting back the first twinges of a headache. “Is this all you wanted, then?”

  The tall man pounded his thigh in frustration. “You truly don’t grasp what I’m telling you, do you? Then understand this, Bhara. Out of concern for you, he has asked to change horses with me tomorrow. To you, that’s nothing, but for him… Bhara, you need to realize that Arric never allows another man to ride his battle-mare. He personally trained Trill from the time she was a foal, so that he could rely on her in battle. You might have noticed how perfectly she responds to his commands. He and that animal share a bond, and he doesn’t take that lightly, or entrust her to anyone else without good cause. For you, though, he would make this sacrifice, so that you need not ride with him again.”

  Oh, great. All she needed now, as serious fatigu
e weighed down every limb, was a guilt trip. “So what you’re saying is that I should just act like last night never happened, and that the way he made me feel doesn’t matter? That he’s just a great guy and why can’t we all just get along, and all that?”

  “Nay, Bhara, I just hoped you’d understand.” With a grunt, he started to turn back towards camp, but then spun back on his heels. “Ah, there is one more thing. You should watch yourself. I thought it was a mistake bringing you along in the first place, and I’ll gladly leave you behind, right here in this swamp, rather than have you jeopardize his safety or well-being. Do you understand me?”

  His words incensed Kate. “Look, I didn’t ask to come along—it was all his idea. And to be honest, I’d be more than happy to leave you to your precious Dosedra if I had any other options at this point.”

  “Is that all?” he asked, impatiently.

  “No, it’s not,” she shot back, seizing the moment to vent her frustrations. “To tell you the truth, I’m cold, exhausted, and everything on my body hurts, and the last thing I needed was a lecture from someone I hardly know. But more than that—I’m not inclined to blindly follow someone just because of his position. You all agreed to follow him into this hellhole without so much as a map. And now, even though we’re completely lost, all you care about is making sure he’s not in a bad mood? To be honest, after everything he’s done, he’s probably brought it all on himself.” Realizing how ridiculous the situation was, Kate tried laughing but the effort nearly brought tears instead. “Look, I’m so tired I can barely see straight. All I want is to get out of this swamp, and I don’t see that happening in my lifetime. So please, just leave me alone.”

  She expected Fantion to shout back at her, but instead he shook his head and smiled. She could tell, because in the dim light his teeth glowed brighter than anything else. In response to her diatribe, he simply said, “I cannot make you more comfortable, but if it helps your opinion of Arric, he promised that we’ll leave the swamp early tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, sure. Why can’t you all just admit that you don’t have a clue as to where we are? We’ll probably still be wandering around in here a week from now.”

  “Well, I don’t know where we are, that’s true enough—but rest assured, Arric does.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh come on. You don’t really believe that?”

  “Oh, aye. Did you not know?” Now he sounded distinctly amused. “We travel with a Sarducian blood prince. He has the land-instinct, which means that he cannot get lost anywhere on the island. He always knows exactly where he is.”

  “What? That’s impossible.”

  “Nay, it’s true. Both he and his brother have this ability. How else could he have found this clearing? Even better, he believes the land extends for many leagues in the direction we need to travel, so we shall have a dry journey in the morning. This is why he wanted to double back earlier—so we could camp here. If we had kept going the way we had been, we’d have run into a lake.”

  She was still skeptical, but she could hear the confidence in his voice. “You’re serious?”

  “Of course I am. I promise that he knows exactly where we are, even if you and I do not. He felt terrible that he had led us in the wrong direction for a short time, but I’m blaming that on fatigue.”

  Awed by this information, she smiled wanly. Although logically it made no sense, it wouldn’t be the first inexplicable thing about this place. At any rate, it was a huge relief to know they weren’t really lost. “Wow, I don’t know what to say.” She felt a bit ashamed of her earlier comments. “I guess I owe you an apology.”

  Fantion grasped her hand pulled her back towards the fire. “Nay, not to me. Perhaps, however, Arric would listen if one was offered.”

  “I don’t think so.” There was hesitation in her voice now.

  “Bhara, we have a long journey ahead of us. I’m not asking you to become friends, but it will be easier for everyone if you could at least be civil towards him.” Interpreting her shrug as agreement, he led her back to the clearing.

  When they returned, both of them noticed the Dosedra was missing.

  Fantion asked, “Sander, where did...”

  Lysander pointed to an area of shadows. “He said he wished to be alone. I tried to offer him some food, but he refused to take any of it.”

  “We’ll see about that.” Fantion fetched a cup of Lysander’s stew, and a wedge of the bread packed by Noresa. He started towards the area his friend had indicated, but paused, and snatched up the flask of havar as well.

  Chapter 21

  “I

  hear you might like some company,” the Dosedra said, seating himself on the ground beside Kate, who was finishing her stew. His voice betrayed both exhaustion and reluctance, and she wasn’t sure how to respond.

  She looked to Fantion, who nodded once. Lysander and Nyvas, sitting on the other side of the fire, seemed to be engaged in a separate conversation, though their glances in her direction betrayed their interest. She turned back to the Dosedra, who was picking at his own stew with a wooden spoon. His wavy dark hair was clinging damply to his forehead, and mud streaked his scarred face. What had Fantion told him? She wanted to bury the hatchet, so to speak, but how? Not knowing where to begin, and with him sitting so close to her, she froze.

  When she didn’t say anything, he sighed and put his wooden bowl in the grass beside him. “Clearly you dislike me,” he said as an opener. “Is it just because of the incident back in Bhoren? Or perhaps you have other reasons?”

  Kate cast her eyes to the dark sky above where they sat. Limited moonlight spattered the ground within the forest, and even the stars seemed dim. Eyeing the hilt of the knife on his belt, she wasn’t sure she could speak her mind. Instead, she just said, “you must be imagining things. It’s just the swamp. I’m tired, and it was a really long day.”

  He grabbed a fistful of the tall grass, yanking it from the soil. “Nay, it’s more than that.” He tossed the grass away from his legs and then pulled out a second clump. For a few moments he said nothing else, and the buzzing of insects and the crackle of the fire roared in her ears.

  Then he turned back to her. Very quietly, just above a whisper, he asked, “was it Bedoric who sent you, or the Aldrish? Have you learned enough about me yet?”

  “What?” His accusations caught her off-balance, just as he would have intended. She had been sitting cross-legged, slumped forward, but this caused her to straighten up. “You think they sent me to spy on you?”

  She watched as he rubbed his palms on his thighs, contemplating a response. When he finally spoke, it was with great deliberation. “If you mean to ridicule me, I do not wish to hear it. Believe me, Bhara, I have given this matter a great deal of thought today. You had a reason for traveling to Bhoren, and you could not have completed such a journey, especially in so little time, without assistance—perhaps from the Senvosra? Anyway, in the unlikely event your reasons were honorable, I hoped you would offer an explanation if I gave you an opportunity.” For the first time, he looked directly into her eyes. “For the record, I am on a mission of personal relevance, nothing more.”

  There was nothing she could say. He would hardly believe the truth—that she had traveled because of some sort of magic within her ring, and other than that, she had no other explanation. True or not, it would sound pretty ridiculous to blame everything on a piece of jewelry, yet that was the best she could offer.

  When again she didn’t respond, he pushed himself up. “Bhara, I am weary from the journey, and regardless of your reasons for being here, I have no energy left to battle with you.” He looked over to his friends, and she followed his gaze. Fantion and Lysander pretended not to have overheard, but Nyvas was staring in her direction.

  She said nothing, and, still sitting, turned her gaze to the ground. At that moment a strong northern wind soared through the treetops, and the cool air hit her damp dress. Involuntarily she hunched over, and as the chill set off a wave of shiv
ering, she once more caught herself wishing she were home.

  “Take off your dress.”

  His words caused her to forget her discomfort, and she raised her eyes. “What?” she exclaimed.

  Dosedra Arric hesitated, and then bent down towards her. “I spent most of eight years in the borderlands, where it rained all the time. If you try to sleep in that heavy gown, it won’t dry, and you will be so stiff in the morning you won’t be able to walk. That’s assuming, of course, that you’re lucky enough not freeze to death.” He reached to his throat and unhooked his cloak. “Keep your shift on, and then wrap yourself in this.”

  “I don’t need your help.” She was being stubborn, even though inwardly she knew he was right.

  “It’s not a request. Here—I’ll hold it up so you can have some privacy.”

  She sighed, but realized he was serious. Already he was holding the cloak out like a broad curtain, his head turned away. “Fine,” she agreed, and quickly, and not a little self-consciously, she stripped the dress from her shoulders. When the colder air hit her damp, bare skin, she gasped, and grabbed the cloak. It was soft on the inside, like brushed flannel, and as soon as she had wrapped it around her, she felt better.

  “Give your dress to Sander, and he’ll hang it where it can dry.” He nodded to his friend. “Should you need anything else, I am at your service. No matter what you think of me, I am not a heartless man.” He turned to walk back into the trees.

  Cynically, under her breath she said without thinking, “So that’s what you tell yourself.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  He heard her? “Nothing.”

  “Nay, lady, tell me what you meant.”

  She shivered again, though this time it had nothing to do with the weather. Even so, she pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders. She wanted to be brave, but she found it difficult even to speak. Finally, in hushed tones, she found the words. “I’ve heard the stories, same as everyone. How you abandoned your men to die. Then you came home and expected everyone to call you a hero.”