No Thing Right

Leena flinched at the noise, then forced herself to calm. Deep breath, hold it, count … But it was only Rahse, as expected. She blew out that held breath and sat up, scooting to sit at the edge of the bed. Rahse was frightening in his own way, of course. The only lifeline she had. If something had happened out there, how would she have known?

Then there was the matter of all that gold he’d paid to Bastien. She did not like its new weight between them, the suggestion of something owed that she could not afford to repay.

“A rider came through but they didn’t stop. We might be okay?” Her voice raised at the end, looking for reassurance. Leena watched his hands as he unpacked the treasures from the market. She swept up a pair of moccasins and hugged them to her chest – her slippers had been the first casualty of the road, beginning to rot from the mud and damp in only a matter of days.

It was so infuriatingly clear now, how she had been a kept creature. Unable to do even simple things like walk outside properly. Leena would never submit to that again. And Siora – Siora’s trials had been different, but at least she’d been sent outside the estate sometimes.

Oh. But Leena could hardly be jealous of that, having seen the way Frost hurt her with his demented ‘training’.

“Thank you. They’re lovely.” They weren’t decorated, per se, but the lining was butter soft and a joy to pet with her fingertips. The hardtack raised an eyebrow – she wasn’t sure she could do much to improve that, especially with just a pot and a campfire.

“Did you, uhm. Bring anything we could eat now?”