Elemental Heir | ✔️

Chapter 4

It had been two days since Dristan and I had killed the three soldiers in the woods. Neither of us had spoken of it since. Or spoken much at all, for that matter. The handcuffs around my wrists had rubbed my skin so raw that it bled beneath them.

As the sun began to set, rain began to pour down. Thankfully, we had traveled so far south that the rain was actually quite warm. And with the sun beating down on my back the past few days, I welcomed the relentless sheets of water like a dear friend.

Ahead of me and Dristan, the soldiers began to grumbled their complaints, and horses whined in distress as the lightning and thunder rolled in. Hooves squished and splattered in the mud as we rode on. We came upon an open clearing and a carpet of green grass and wild flowers stretched ahead as far as I could see. Trees still towered along the edges of the field. It seemed we would never reach the end of the forest.

At last, the line of horses and men haunted. "Set up camp here! Tents go up tonight!" The familiar voice of the Captain shouted from the front of the line.

Dristan dismounted and helped me off of my own horse. I tried not to notice how firm his muscles felt as I braced my hands on his arms, or the gentleness with which he set me down. He studied my face as I gazed up at him, beads of water dripping from his hair, his nose, his lips...

His attitude could be so cold, his words sometimes as sharp as the blade at his hip. But more and more often I would notice the softness in his gaze, the unnamed emotion trying to break through the hard surface of his blue depths. It confused me to maddening ends.

He pointed behind me, to a large tree nearby. It's canopy was so large that the grass beneath it looked fairly dry compared to the rest of the field. "Tie the horses there. I'll set up the tent."

Tent. One tent...

I was to share with him, it would seem. I had slept beside him every night thus far, but we had been on bedrolls, modestly spaced apart, with only the stars around us. To be confined to a small tent with him, alone... The thought made me nervous. I was not sure why, I knew he wouldn't harm me. But I shivered nonetheless as I led the horses toward the tree.

The other soldiers, still wary of Dristan, camped away from us in small groups, scattered beneath the largest trees along the field's tree line. I was grateful they kept their distance. Even the Captain seemed to be avoiding us.

Dristan made quick work of the tent, and I gathered whatever dry wood I could find while I waited. The rain had soaked through my clothes, but I didn't mind. Soon we had a fire going. In silence, we roasted two squirrels over the flames. The rain pelting against the tent, distant thunder, and the crackling of the fire were the only sounds for a long while.

I avoided Dristan's eyes. I gazed into the fire, or across the field, or at my hands. I looked anywhere but at him as we ate quietly. Still, I could feel his gaze on me. I hated the depth of his sapphire eyes, the mysterious way he watched me move. I hated all of the questions that bounced around my skull, and that I knew he wouldn't answer any of them if I dared ask. I hated that he seemed concerned when he noticed the open sores on my wrists beneath the chains. I hated the way he studied me when he thought I wasn't paying attention.