Risk

Chapter XXXII

Jasta hadn't realized she'd dozed off yet again until a soft pattering brought her back from the deep trench of black sleep she'd fallen into. She forced her eyes open and looked around.

Night had fallen, and she was still alive, and that could only mean that their side of the fight had prevailed.

She looked to her left to see if Rowan was asleep as well, but through the dim lighting she could barely even see him, much less whether or not his eyes were open.

Then she remembered the light noises that had awoken her, and she peered into the thick shadows that surrounded her to see if she could spot what had been making them.

She jumped when the underbrush suddenly burst open, and a tiny black animal hopped into the small circle of clear earth between the ferns and trees. Her breath quickened, but then she relaxed immediately when she realized that it was just a Jagaar. The familiar little beast had almost faded from her memory, but now she remembered it. Most of all she remembered skinning it and eating it on many, many nights, huddled around a dying fire.

And with that train of thought, she was soon thinking about her family. It hadn't been long since she'd thought of them. She thought of them a lot, but this was the first time she had really thought about them. They were probably sleeping, so close but worlds away all the same. The thought that they were sleeping under the branches of the same kind of trees as her, and in the same forest as well, brought her a bit of comfort. She would be home soon. Life would go back to the way it had always been.

She glanced at Rowan.

Except for him. She still didn't know what exactly to do about Rowan. She knew plenty well that no one in Yarul was particularly fond of risks, and some might even outright hate them, so she didn't know if she should invite him to stay. Of course he would stay long enough to heal, but how long after that? She hated to just throw him out again.

She took a deep breath. It was the same thoughts she had been thinking for a long time. Thinking them again would hardly do any good. She rose stiffly to her feet with a light groan. She had to make sure Rowan was still okay.

She walked over and crouched down next to him, laying her hand on his head. He didn't seem to be running a temperature. His breathing was still steady. He seemed absolutely fine. But she was still worried that he wasn't fine enough. At least to travel, at any rate.

She tried to think of some way to move him without hurting him more, but her groggy and still-tired brain wouldn't come up with anything useful.

For the millionth time, she only realized she'd fallen asleep once she had awoken again. She had evidently lain down at some point in her ponderings the night before, and then fallen asleep again without realizing. But at least she felt much more rested now, and it was actually morning.

She rolled over, only to find herself nearly pressed against Rowan already, and unable to get much closer. She jumped up and away quite suddenly, more awake than she'd been in a while.

Her sudden movement made him stir and open his eyes, and then she was worried that she'd disturbed him when he should have been resting for as long as possible, but then she realized that his eyes were far too bright to have just woken up, which meant he had been awake for at least a while before herself, and that in turn suggested that he had known she had been lying so close to him, and had done nothing about it. The thought made her cheeks feel uncomfortably warm.

"Is there something wrong?" he frowned lightly and sat up, though from the pained look on his face, she could tell that he would have rather stayed lying down.