The Last One

sixteen

The evening air was sticky as I woke up from a dreamless sleep and into the pounding consciousness inside my head. I sat up slowly and prodded at the back of my head, finding the source of the pain. My eyes sockets hurt as I glanced around the small camp, and it occurred to me that I probably had a concussion.

Sihtric wasn't in the camp, but his horse was still hobbled not far away. I wondered where he had gone, but then I thought better of it. I was still irritated at him from earlier, and so I was relieved he wasn't in my space as soon as I woke up.

I pushed up to my feet slowly, and my vision swam. I closed my eyes against the vertigo that crashed into me and leaned against the nearest tree to ground myself. I felt like I could vomit again, but the bile never began to rise.

"You're up." He said behind me. I grunted in response. Wow, excellent deduction skills.

"I am trying to be."

He leaned against the tree across from me, only a few feet away, and popped a blackberry into his mouth. "How's your side?"

"It hurts." Seriously?

"Let's see it." It wasn't a question. He was already leaning down, and he tugged up my shirt. He winced as he saw it again, which prompted me to look down at it as well, which made my head rush in turn. The bruise was still dark purple in the center, with splotches of red around the edges. How the ribs underneath weren't broken, I had no idea. Luck, I guessed.

"We might stay here another day. At least. Two would be ideal."

"What? We don't have that kind of time. Uhtred is waiting for us in Mercia, and the men who took me are probably looking for us as we speak."

He sighed. "It's not up for debate. Uhtred and Finan will manage without us," he ate another blackberry then finished, "and they will not find us."

"So we wait here for two days?" I rolled my eyes. He said nothing, just stared at me in that way he often did. "You should just go."

"No." He stepped away from the tree and towards the camp without speaking more about it. It was done. We wouldn't be going anywhere, and I knew I wouldn't be changing his mind. I decided to just let it go. I was still aggravated, but it wasn't going anywhere.

I sat down on the furs again, and he wordlessly passed a leaf full of blackberries to me by means of setting them on the fur in front of me. I put one in my mouth almost immediately despite my desire to ignore his offering. My stomach was empty and angry. The sweet bitterness of the berry washed away some of my irritation, but not all.

"It's not a tart, but.."

I tried not to smile. "I'm still mad at you." I hid my smile by putting more berries into my mouth, but my cheeks blushed and betrayed me.

"I know," he smiled, that stupid little smile that looked way too cute for how stubborn and annoying he was being.

We didn't talk again for a while. It was quiet in the forest, and I felt myself getting swept away in the sounds of nature. The branches above rustled and creaked with each breeze, birds chirped love songs to each other, and I felt one with my surroundings. It had been a while since I had been in nature this way, but it felt comfortable.

I popped another blackberry in my mouth and tasted its earthiness and its sweetness. I felt it's grit between my teeth, and I thought about everything that had to transpire just for it to arrive at me. The divine plan of natural occurrences.

"I am sorry. I should have been with you." His voice was heavy with guilt when it broke the silence of my communion with the natural peace of the forest.