Sage
The warriors kept me between them, offering me dried bits of meat to eat. I choked down what I could, but my throat was raw from suppressing the cough. They said they’d care for me, but I didn’t want them to decide I wasn’t worth the trouble. If they could not take me soon, would they kill me?
“Sage,” the bearded one caught my chin in a gentle grip. “What are you thinking?”
I shook my head. “Forgive me. I am weak.”
He enfolded me in his arms. I waited, but he did nothing but hold me, so tense my bones might break, against his firm, warm chest. “Calm, sweet one,” he murmured, nuzzling the top of my head. “I expect nothing of you. You have been through too much, too soon, and for that I grieve. But I have long awaited this moment. I wish simply to hold you.”
The reverence in his t
