FLOOD

Safehouse Dilemma

I darted a look up and down the line of soldiers, keeping my voice low. "Gods, I'm glad to see you. The healer made it sound like you were on the edge of death."

Gunny shrugged. "I wasn't doing so well for a while there, but I'm fine now." She kept her hand pressed over her side though, and her smile was more of a grimace. Not very convincing.

"You know you're crazy, right?" I pointed an accusing finger at her. "At least tell me you've got kevlar under the chainmail like everyone else."

Gunny stuck her chin out. "Of course I do, I'm not completely insane." When she fixed her eyes on mine I was shocked at how feverish they were, glittering and glassy. For a second I thought about telling her to turn her horse around. But her mouth was set in a straight line, and she gripped the reigns tightly.

"I'm coming because Ake is dead, and the bastard who did it is still out there. That traitor is running with his tail between his legs. Back to the humans."

So that was it. That was what had driven her out of the sick bed, so angry and determined that she was willing to ride for days with an open wound in her side. Not insane then, just bent on revenge.

Gunny gave me another fierce smile and pressed her fingers to her lips, then she melted back into the crowd. It was hard not to keep looking back over my shoulder, trying to spot her in the long line of soldiers. Now here was another thing to constantly worry about, if I would look back and see Gunny topple off her horse.

She'd been trying to play it cool, but I'd seen the way her face had looked, how pale she was. How her hands shook. I ran my fingers over the smooth pommel of the saddle, worrying at the leather, thoughts frantic. Should I tell someone? No, Gunny would hate me for it. But was that worse than having her collapse in the middle of the journey? Or worse, get herself killed by Bolthur? She wasn't in any shape to fight him, even if she couldn't tell, I could.

We rode for two days, made slow by the long line of soldiers.  On the first night we camped in a small clearing at the halfway point, and I lay on the cool furs of a makeshift bed and couldn't sleep. I wanted to. Every muscle in my body was aching, and I was so exhausted my eyelids kept swooping shut and then flickering open. But my brain was still working overtime. Tomorrow we would be at the safehouse, we'd get Eli, who was hopefully doing okay. I hadn't thought of Eli for a few hours and it made me feel guilty. He was just another I'd abandoned in my mad quest to get to the palace. It had been unavoidable, since there was little chance he would get through the pass. But still, it made me feel terrible.

After that, we'd ride into battle. A battle against humans with guns. How many jotun would fall this week? I shut my eyes firmly and forbade myself to think of it. There was no point dwelling on something that hadn't happened yet, that's what mother would say.

Mother. That was yet another thing to keep me awake. Her tearful goodbye. She'd looked like someone was tearing her apart on the inside as I was leaving. She'd just got me back, she'd said, and it was true. And I'd promised I would come back, but...who knew what might happen.

The next morning we put in another three hours of riding before someone at the front of the line made a happy whooping sound. I jerked my head up. I'd been nodding and dipping in the saddle like a sapling in the breeze all morning, so wretchedly tired that I was terrified I was going to fall asleep and topple out of the saddle.