“Here. No, wait.” He dragged himself to Southwind and unstrapped Ainya’s bedroll with his clumsy, half-numb fingers, then went back into the stall and spread it out on the straw. “You can put her down now.”
For a moment the monster stood in the doorway swaying, as if he didn’t know how he was going to manage it. Then he finally took a limping step inside. Tarquin helped as best he could to slide Ainya gently off his shoulders, groaning at how much carrying even part of her weight hurt.
When Ainya was finally as safe and comfortable as they could make her, he staggered to where he’d dropped his cloak. It wasn’t too wet, so he brought it back and laid it over her.
The monster was standing outside the stall, looking like he’d be happy to curl up on the floor, too. Tarquin thought he wouldn
