Chapter 19
1136 Words
19
“You’re hungry,” Lu said. He wasn’t asking, he knew that look.
“How do you know?” She gave him what she hoped was a skeptical look.
“You start looking around as if a plate of food will materialize out of nowhere.” Lu couldn’t hold back his laugh. “I’ll go get us something.”
“I don’t think so, there’s no shelter. We’ve got rain on our backs in two hours.”
Lu looked up at the sky. He debated about which direction to go.
“We’ll go back to that cave we passed. Maybe we can scare whoever’s in there out and camp for the night.”
Lu nodded and they turned to go back.
They reached the small cave as the clouds rolled in and lightning lit up the sky in every direction. The cave, half hidden by brush and trees, faced away from their route.
“Set up camp, I’ll be back,” he said.
Lu dismounted and hefted Temi from his new, larger bag and placed him at Chiza’s. She still seemed sad. He’d have to do his best to cheer her up later. Lu wanted to touch her, to give her some kind of reassurance. The thunder reminded him he had little time to get food and prepare it before the rain was on top of them.
He reached down and pat Temi on the head.
“You take care of the girls.” Temi growled in response and nuzzled his head against Lu’s hand.
Lu took a small pack that he strapped across his chest and disappeared into the woods. It didn’t take him long to track a medium-sized beast drinking at a nearby stream. The animal sniffed the air. It trembled with nervous energy, ready to run on its spindly legs at the first hint of danger. Lu raised his arm and aimed, but a noise from behind him startled the beast and it bolted.
“What the yahtz?” He turned back to retrace his steps and see if he could find another beast. He found something even better.
“Jak!”
“Hey Lu,” Jak swaggered over to him. “Looking for food, I see.”
“Yeah, girls have to eat or they become little beasties, you know.”
“I do. I picked something up to help with that.” Jak pointed to the animal he carried over his shoulders. “Shall we? My tuskin isn’t far.”
“Sure.” As they walked, Lu said what he knew Rasha wouldn’t. “I thought you’d be angry at us for leaving you behind. Then triggering the pulse without warning you. It wasn’t meant for you, I hope you know that.”
“I know, you have a delivery and that takes priority—and it should. The princess’ life is all that matters. The pulse was a surprise, but I recovered from it.”
“Rasha told us about your mission. Why did you agree to it?” Lu asked.
Jak considered for a moment before answering.
“I gave up being a courier because I didn’t like taking jobs without knowing all the details. This one was upfront from the start and it seemed like something I wouldn’t lose sleep over.”
“Yes, this job makes me think we should have asked a few more questions before accepting it.”
Jak turned toward a stand of trees. His tuskin was feeding behind it, still wet from their travel through the rain. Jak didn’t bother mounting; he strapped his kill to its back. The tuskin stamped his legs but then settled. Jak led it by the reins and followed Lu back toward the cave.
“The king of Adalu hired me to follow you in case you ran into trouble. At first I didn’t know who you were. When they ambushed you on the road with the princess I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”
“The men from last night. One of them said Chiza’s father hired him.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
“Rasha says you knew about Chiza’s father.”
“I suspected the father might not honor his promise to the first kingdom. Her transport arrangements and the recent discovery of the gems in the caverns of his lands meant something had to be done.”
Jak didn’t say any more. He seemed to be deep in thought. It was a while before he spoke again.
“How is the princess?” Jak asked.
“She’s unwell. This journey and its dangers were an unbearable weight on her mind.”
“Well, it’s good then, she has your companionship.”
Lu said nothing more. It was true they were friends, if only that were enough.
“Does she know about her father?” Jak asked.
“We’ve told her what we’ve learned, but she’s finding it hard to believe.”
“No one wants to believe that their own family member would put them in harm’s way just to hold on to a few gems.”
“No,” Lu agreed, but he was thinking about his own family and how often his sister had put them in danger with her own selfish pursuits.
“Has she guessed yet how you feel about her?”
“What?”
“I can imagine it must be hard to keep your distance. She’s gorgeous and exotic. Her belonging to another man can’t be the best of circumstances.”
“No, it’s not like that,” Lu lied. He didn’t know what he felt, but he was certain he didn’t want to share it with Jak.
“If you say so,” Jak smiled. He hummed under his breath as they walked on. When they reached the camp, the fire was going just inside the mouth of the cave. The weather wouldn’t hold forever, and they needed to move fast if they wanted to have enough food prepared before the rains came.
Rasha had placed the tools for Lu to prepare their meal at the side of the cave. When she saw Jak, something passed between them. A look… was she blushing? It was hard to tell under all the purple. Lu reminded himself that it was none of his business and went about preparing supper with Chiza.
“What’s going on there?” Chiza asked, tilting her head at Jak and Rasha.
“I would ask about all her intimate relationships, but I know Rash, she’d rather cut me with one of her swords than share her feelings.”
“I see,” Chiza said. Their eyes met, but she quickly looked back down at her hands. He sighed and wondered how long it would take before he saw her smile again.
“Jak brought us some meat, let’s see how much of it we can get ready tonight. Are you hungry?”
Chiza shook her head.
“I could use some help.”
Chiza’s mouth turned up at the ends “I wish I could help, but I’m not much for cooking either. It’s not a part of my training.”
“Well, then together we might make something just above edible.” Lu smiled and bumped her with his shoulder. She smiled back. There it was. He’d been waiting for it all day. The smile that could light up the night.
Temi scooted closer to them as they worked, making smacking sounds in anticipation.
“Not yet, we’ve got a lot of work to do before we eat, little one.”
“Do you feed him raw meat?”
“No, I figure he’ll learn that little trick on his own, and since I don’t know how big he’ll get I better wait. For now, it’s a good thing he’s dependent on us for his meals.”
Temi’s incessant whine made Chiza smile again.
“Well, at least we’ll have one who’ll enjoy what we make no matter how horrible it turns out.”
“He’d eat a ranglefort if you put it in front of him.”
Chiza’s face scrunched up at the distasteful idea.
Lu looked up when Rasha and Jak moved off.
“The storm is almost here,” Chiza observed, looking up at the dark clouds.
“You have no idea,” Lu replied, watching Rasha.
- Writer
