Chapter 7

We spent most of the rest of the day on horseback. When we stopped for a drink I switched places. Riding behind Kael, my hands lightly resting on his hips, was awkward at first. But I was tired and emotionally drained from destroying the barn. Frequently, I fell asleep leaning against his warm back. He let me rest and didn’t disturb me, only stopping when I needed a break. I could tell he was in a hurry to get to our destination, so I tried to not call for a rest too often.

Faraway was tireless, as if he could sense Kael’s impatience, and we covered more ground than should have been possible. We didn’t stop until after the sun had set, and Kael had found a small out cropping against a rock wall.

Kael dismounted first and without asking, wrapped his hands around my waist to lift me down. My legs were stiff and my back sore from riding in the same position all day, and I was grateful for the extra support from the ground. Stretching out my legs, I walked the perimeter of the camp Kael had chosen. There wasn’t much to shield us from the elements; large boulders and rocks covered most of the terrain other than the large outcropping. There was enough room underneath for two people to sleep if it rained, but we had no supplies. No bedrolls, food, or anything else.

I turned around looking for Kael but he was gone. “Kael?” I called out.

No answer. My voice echoed into the night, and the lack of response worried me. At night everything looked larger, darker, scarier. I had to remind myself that I had a SwordBrother nearby. Everyone was scared of them. Faraway had remained silent most of the day and even now had moved off to the edge and looked to be standing guard. I knew that my magnificent horse loved to pretend he was invincible but in fact was far from it. He was probably as exhausted as I was.

You should find some food. You look terrible, I thought.

His large equine head turned my way, snuffing at me. I look better than you. I was carrying two today. All you did was sleep.

I felt myself grin as I took shelter under the ledge and pulled my feet up to my body for warmth. I plan on doing some more of that, I teased, my eyelids growing heavy. I was still recovering from the ordeal. My body needed sustenance and sleep to recover, and since there wasn’t any food, I was choosing the alternative. At least sleeping was better than blacking out.

Then I’ll wait a few more minutes. He’s almost here.

Where did he go? I asked yawning.

It looks likes he went up.

Up?

He scaled the rock wall and is now coming down. He’s got a pretty proud look on his face. I’d say he probably found some dinner.

Great! I’m starving.

Pebbles began raining down around me and bounced off of the slab overhead to roll a few feet out in front of me. It didn’t take much to visualize his strong body, nimbly scaling down the rock wall above me. I could almost picture the serious expression he would have on his face, his jaw clenched in concentration, his blue eyes underneath a furrowed brow, with a sheen of sweat across his forehead. I imagined his muscles bunching as he neared the bottom, as he prepared to leap the rest of the way. My imagination was almost impeccably timed with Kael’s actual descent.

He appeared by my side a few seconds later. It was a tighter fit under the ledge for him, and he had to duck his head so he wouldn’t scrape it across the top of the overhang. But he managed to squeeze himself impossibly close to me and pull his knees up like mine. Our sides touched and neither one of us pulled away. My breathing quickened, and I had to concentrate to get it back to a normal rhythm, which was happening more often the more time I spent with him.

Kael reached into the satchel at his side and pulled out two large brown speckled eggs and handed one to me.

“Dinner,” he smiled and took out one of his smaller knives that he kept under hidden away. He poked a small hole in the top of the shell, tipped his head back, and sucked. I watched him eat the large egg. When he was done he tossed the empty shell onto the ground.

“What kind of—” I started to ask, but he shook his head cutting me off.

“You don’t want to know.” Kael took the large egg out of my hand and with the tip off his knife cut a similar hole.

I took his suggestion and didn’t dwell on what kind of egg it was. I closed my eyes, plugged my nose in a childish show of being grossed out and tipped my head back. The texture was slimy and I had to calm down the gag reflex. After a few more swallows, I was able to ignore my distaste for the egg and focus on counting instead. I got to twenty, and I was done. I tossed the shell away like Kael’s and gave him an odd grimace.

“Want another one?” he asked and pulled out another egg.

“No,” I shook my head and burped. I covered my mouth in embarrassment but Kael only smiled and began to open the other egg. In record time he was done and wiped his hands on his pants.

“I’ll go see to your horse.”

“Don’t worry about it. He’s gone.”

“Gone?” Kael didn’t wait, but scrambled out of the shelter and started running to where he had left Faraway. “We need him. It’s too far to go on foot.”

“Kael! He’s fine. He’ll be back after he’s found food.” Kael stopped running and stared into the darkness. I could see his indecisiveness. He wanted to track my horse, but he didn’t want to leave me alone.

A few minutes later, he joined me back under the ledge. Once again he sat unnaturally close to me, but by now I was starting to get cold and craving the warmth of companionship.

“How far?” I asked, leaving it up to him to decide how much to tell me.

“We covered more ground today than I thought we would. A few days travel and we’ll be there.” Kael turned his head to look at me, his dark hair looked pitch black in the moonlight. I wanted to reach out and touch it. I kept my hands to myself, wrapping them around my knees.

“Will you tell me about them? About your family?” He didn’t deny that we were heading to the sacred SwordBrother sanctuary.

Kael sighed and leaned his head back. “What do you want to know?”

“Only what you are comfortable sharing. You once mentioned being in love.” Of course I was referring to the story he’d shared in Skyfell.

He looked at me, a knowing twinkle dancing in his eyes. “Yes I did. Her name was Gwen. We were betrothed. We trained under the same Master. She was the best female fighter, and I was the second best male fighter.”

“You weren’t the best? I find that hard to believe,” I teased, nudging Kael in the rib with my elbow.

He didn’t acknowledge the poke, but his face and voice became serious. “No, there was always one who was better than me—stronger, faster. No matter what I did, I couldn’t beat him.”

“Who was he?”

Kael’s eyes held a hint of irritation, “My brother.”

“Oh,” I intoned and thought a moment. “So…there are female SwordBrothers?”

“Well, not everyone in our clan is meant to grow up and be trained as an elite warrior. We are a clan like any other—we need blacksmiths, tanners, and more—but our heritage calls for the firstborn to be dedicated to our call. The others can choose. Most of the women don’t choose that lifestyle. They choose to marry and have children with the intent to keep our SwordBrother clan filled with strapping young boys, ripe for the initiation.”