Within the Bone

VII. A Late Night Plan

Mara sighed in frustration. When it came to stubbornness, she was becoming more and more aware that Aallotar was her equal, at least when Mara's protection was the matter at hand. No amount of persuading was going to keep her in the cave. The wounds to Aallotar's flesh healed swiftly enough to seem like magic, but that didn't mean Mara approved of this madness.

"We don't know how far from me you can be without transforming," Mara argued. She didn't want to see the soldiers of Sjaligr turn on Aallotar or have a rampaging wolf monster around her people, vile as they could be. "It's not safe."

"You walking into a pyre is?" Aallotar demanded. Her entire body was rigid, looking very much like she wanted to raise her hackles but had no fur to do so. "They will not kill you. I will rip them to shreds first."

"I thought you didn't like the beast," Mara snapped. She appreciated the protection, but Aallotar's insistence that she not go alone put the wildling in serious danger.

It was the wrong thing to say. Aallotar's jaw snapped shut and she turned on her heel, striding out of the cave in a sudden, frigid silence. Mara blew out a sigh, her temper cooling immediately. That was a low blow, she told herself. You know she hates that part of herself. Justifying it as a reason to keep Aallotar here wasn't even vaguely enough to make it alright. She needed to apologize.

Mara followed her friend out of the cave. Aallotar hadn't made it far. She had one hand on a twisted pine tree, her back to the cave mouth with her other hand over her eyes. At the sound of Mara's approach, her body stiffened like she was ready for a fight. Mara was an expert when it came to pains in her heart, but this one was new. Seeing Aallotar in any pain, doubly that she'd caused, made her heart twist unpleasantly.

"Aallotar, I'm sorry," Mara said, stopping a few feet away. "I didn't mean that. I—"

"It's true," Aallotar said. Her voice almost cracked at the thought. "I would rather give in to the beast than lose you." Her gaze fell towards the ground. "Selfish."

Mara shook her head. She knew Aallotar wanting to have her around likely had everything to do with being free of the curse's torment, but there was no escaping the reality that no one had ever wanted her safe so badly. She took a deep breath. "You just want to protect me," she said, offering her friend a smile. "I know you keep the beast at bay with everything you have."

"The thought of them hurting you makes a rage froth in me like no other," Aallotar said, anger hardening her face. "If they laid a finger on you, I would show them savagery."

Mara sighed softly. "You're better than that, Aallotar. Just because the madness is all you have known doesn't mean it will be all you know." She flashed her friend a smile. "There are a lot of better parts to being human."

Aallotar's tense shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. "I already feel so many things," she admitted. "Too many." Vulnerable golden eyes searched Mara's face. "Let me come with you. Please. I will stay beside you and fend off the beast if it rises."

It was not a good idea and Mara knew it, but she likely only needed to talk to her mother, to learn at least of places where Aallotar's curse might be recorded or studied. If she could avoid people, go under the cover of night, perhaps no one would cross their path...

"It isn't wise," Mara said softly. "Or safe."

"My fate is bound to yours, nathæ. You are my calm, my refuge," Aallotar murmured, gaze still soft and pleading. "Do not send me away."

It was impossible for Mara to refuse when faced with the heartbreak in her friend's expression at the idea. "You'll have to stay close," Mara warned. "We don't know how far you can roam without the beast returning."