Empire of Ashes

Chapter XVIII - Courtship from Afar

I sat around the campfire in the pitch black, roasting hazelnuts in the flames. With a full belly and a skin of ale to take the edge off my pain, I found myself oddly content. It was storytelling hour for the northerners. Tales of hard-won battles and heroic wars entertained us well into the night.

Temris lay stretched out beside me, with Fendur, Bevan and two others sharing our fire. Melia should have been there as well, but she had long retired to the shelter I was expected to share with her. Apparently, she thought she required another female's presence to guarantee her virtue. Loosely translated into normal Cambrian, that meant she needed me to prove she hadn't snuck out in the darkness to crawl into a man's bed. It was a strange world wherein peasants had to assure the honour of noble ladies, but Temris had just shrugged and told me to move my things. It was pointless — he knew as well I did that Anlai didn't give a damn about her virtue.

"Time to turn in? I'm sure her ladyship doesn't snore too loudly," Fendur teased.

"Go to hell," I muttered. "Maybe you should share with Melia, since you're so keen on the idea."

He burst out laughing. "And have her wake half the camp screaming bloody murder? Not even tempting. Why don't you ask the Ragnyr? He has a shelter to himself."

Temris had stayed silent for most of the evening, preferring to listen and strip twigs of bark with his belt knife. The sharp, clean slices of the knife had set the tempo for all our conversations. Now, though, he lifted his gaze long enough to snort. "I'm willing to bet she won't go to sleep until you arrive, Lyra. Poor girl is probably terrified of us. Get it over with."

I glowered at him, but my rage was interrupted by another man. Although I didn't know his name, he seemed friendly enough. He said, "Lyra, is it? Could you possibly be the Lyra Slipchains we've been hearing so much about?"

I had Anlai to thank for that nickname. Making a point of smashing open a hazelnut with lethal force, I turned my stare to him. "I might be."

For a moment, the air crackled with tension. I was well aware that men never took well to their leaders being shown up. What I had done since arriving at the warlord's camp filled that criteria in its entirety, but the man just laughed, "Good for you. Never seen a girl who can hold her own with the Ragnyr before. Never seen a man who can do that neither, now I think of it."

I smirked at Temris triumphantly. To my annoyance, he smirked right back. For whatever reason, he didn't care about his reputation when it came to me.

A trickle of men were finding their way to their beds by then. It had been dark for hours, but the flies were only just beginning to come out. No one wanted to put themselves on the menu for the swarms. After swallowing the soft interior of a final hazelnut, I stood up and joined them. My hide had enough holes in it without inviting bloodsucking insects for a free dinner. Take the stab wound, for example. It was beginning to heal over, but far too slowly for my liking. I could now limp about if I put my mind to it.

Melia was already lying down, having changed into a thin nightgown. What the hell did she think that was going to accomplish? I supposed that if she froze to death, at least she would look nice. I crawled in beside her and ripped off my boots. There was a bed of bracken beneath me and a thin blanket to keep me warm. Once I was settled, she blew out the stub of a candle which provided our light. We didn't speak a single word to each other.

After several hours of shivering uncontrollably, I sat up quietly. Melia was somehow fast asleep, despite her lack of clothing. Figuring she wouldn't miss me until well after dawn, I edged my way outside again, dragging my injured leg. The night breeze nipped at my frozen skin, calling up a rash of goosebumps, and the rain chilled me to the bone. I limped around miserably until I found Temris's shelter. He wasn't sharing with anyone, and he was one of the warmest bedmates in existence.