The Sartious Mage (The Rhythm of Rivalry) (29 page)

Toward the top of the stairs, the torches still were lit, allowing us to speed up and find the exit.

Lightning surged through the sky as we stepped outside. As soon as it faded, I realized it was nearly as dark out here as it was in the mountain. Heavy rain was pushing down on us, wind gusting into our faces. Lisanda and I held up an arm in a meager attempt to block the weather for a glimpse around us.

Lisanda saw it first, gasping as she pointed. “The horses…”

“He killed them,” I finished the sentence for her. “Didn’t want us to run if we got out.” I made an effort not to look at the many, many dead horses, each burned and disfigured.

“Come on.” I took her hand and started in a quick dash toward the mountain where we’d made camp before being taken.

The weather was unrelenting. I’d never minded the rain unless freezing wind came with it, like now. Luckily, this meant Exo would have no way of tracking us. It was so dark out, I barely could see more than two trees ahead of me. Any tracks we made would be gone from the wind and rain by the time Exo had enough light to find them.

Unfortunately, this also meant Lisanda and I were shivering after just a few minutes of running.

We stopped under a tree that mostly shielded us from the wind and rain. Only then did I notice the rip in Lisanda’s dress was much more extensive than I’d first thought. There was a jagged tear from the top of her right breast through her shoulder. The long sleeve of her right arm was barely hanging on, attached by a thread. It twisted wildly in the wind.

She saw me looking and quickly pulled up her sagging frock to hide the top of her budding breast. It was too dark for me to see it clearly, but I looked away anyway.

“Are you cut?” I asked. I hadn’t noticed any blood.

“Just a long scrape, not deep.” Lisanda tore off the sleeve that was bound to come off soon anyway. It left her whole arm bare, matching her shoulder and the top of her bosom. As staring would be the only way I could really make anything out in this weather, it wasn’t too difficult to keep my eyes from lowering—though somewhat difficult, I had to admit.

“I haven’t seen Exo behind us,” I nearly shouted. I wanted to whisper, but the wind and rain were too loud.

A flash of lightning brightened everything for a blink. Thunder followed.

“No, I think we lost him,” Lisanda answered in the same loud voice as mine. “How far to camp?”

I looked at the mountain. “Maybe three miles?”

A gust of wind hit us like a tidal wave. Lisanda threw her arms around herself, shivering. She didn’t say anything, but I could see it on her face. Three miles was too far.

I felt a shiver starting as well, but it was easy to fight off—for now. Soon, we both would be shaking uncontrollably.

“We need to find somewhere out of the wind to warm up,” I suggested.

She nodded and took a step close to me, nudging against my chest. On reflex I curled my arms around her, holding her tight. Lisanda kept her arms around herself but turned her head sideways to push herself against me closer.

We stood like that for about a minute, using the tree as a shield as best we could.

Though we were warming up, and Lisanda’s shivers had begun to die down, we both knew we needed to move—somewhere we wouldn’t be seen if Exo happened to come this way.

“Ready for another run through the rain?” I asked.

She leaned back in my arms to look up at me. “One more minute like this.” She pushed herself back against my chest.

I squeezed her into me, and her chin came up on my shoulder. Her arms swung out and wrapped tightly around my back.

Another strike of lightning came down. Thunder followed immediately after. Neither of us trembled as we continued to hold each other.

“Another minute sounds good,” I said.

Chapter 24: Warm

“There.” I pointed.

Without waiting for Lisanda to agree, I dragged her toward the rocks I’d noticed at the base of a nearby hill. Even with the deafening wind and pouring rain, I still could hear Lisanda panting. She was doubled over, staggering as I pulled her forward.

“Almost there,” I reassured her.

We were completely soaked by then. It felt as if I’d jumped into the cold sea and stayed there until the chill reached my bones.

There was a short but wide crevice between the rocks that looked deep enough to fit us both.

“You fafa…first,” Lisanda sputtered between breaths and shivers.

I knew why she’d said it, and it wasn’t to be polite. We didn’t know what was in there, and there were some animals that looked for shelter just like we were doing.

I let go of Lisanda’s hand and crouched to peer inside. After holding her hand for so long, I felt somewhat vulnerable with it no longer in my grasp.

Or perhaps that was just from this eerie little cove I knew I would be crawling into.

I pushed Bastial Energy through my wand to create light and aimed it inside. There was indistinguishable crud around the edges of the rocks that mostly looked like dirt, and that was it. Empty.

Happily, I crawled in on my hands and knees, and I could hear Lisanda following right behind me.

I was so cold and tired from running, it was even an effort to keep up the low Bastial light. As soon as I touched the back wall and could go no farther, I let it out.

“I can’t sss…eee anything,” Lisanda said, her shivers making it hard to understand her words. She grabbed my leg by accident, quickly moving her hand to the side the moment she touched it. “Put the lala…light back on and mooo…ve farther in. My legs are sss…till outside. I’m fff…reezing.” Her teeth continued to rattle loudly when she was done speaking.

I couldn’t see her, but I could feel her hair dripping onto my outstretched legs. “I’m as fff…ar as I can go,” I explained through my own shivers. I put the light back on. “Sss…ee?” I used a thumb to show her how the rocks dipped behind me, creating a wall that slanted away from us.

My heart jumped when I turned back and noticed that half her breast was peeking over her ripped dress. She was still on her hands and knees with her dark hair twisted down one side of her face, the opposite side of the tear—the opposite side of her uncovered breast.

I lost my focus from the shock of it, and my light went out. I didn’t notice if she’d seen me looking. It had happened too fast. I was hesitant to start up the light again in case she felt exposed. I waited, but she didn’t ask for it again.

Lisanda rustled around my legs, making an obvious effort to squeeze in farther without sitting on me. She had no luck, and soon our limbs were getting tangled as we each grunted and made effort to find space.

“Do you want to sss…witch places?” I offered, still shivering so much my teeth were clattering when my jaw wasn’t clenched.

“Then you’ll jjj…ust be cold. Your lala…legs won’t fff…it all the way in either if we sss…witch.”

I already was cold, and the small crevice wasn’t warming me as quickly as I’d hoped. “Here, mooo…ve your lala…legs over here.” I took what had to be her ankles and gently pulled them around my waist. There was no room for us to sit side by side as the little cave was too narrow to turn our bodies, but I figured she could sit on my lap with her legs going under the slanted wall behind me. I imagined they would fit nicely.

She slapped my arm lightly, though it still stung as my skin was tender from the cold. “Those are my baba…bare legs you’re grabbing with your caca…cold hands!”

“I’m sss…orry.” Only then did I realize how close she would have to be for my idea to work. Lisanda literally would have to be on top of me, our chins resting on each other’s shoulders. The idea was quite brash, but I was freezing, and it was the best thought I had for us both to warm up.

“It’s fff…ine,” she said. “Where do you wawa…want me to go?”

“Keep mooo…ving toward me.” I started to reach for her hand or arm but stopped myself. “Do you mind if I tata…touch you?”

“Gaga…go ahead.”

“Reach out your haha…hand, I can’t sss…ee anything.” I let that be a cue if she wanted me to focus more energy into light. Instead, she said nothing, and we found each other’s hands.

I pulled her toward me. “This way.” She came with my tug, sliding up onto my thighs.

“But I’m sss…itting on you nana…now.”

“You’re nana…not heavy,” I reassured her. The weight of her body actually was calming my shaking. “Keep going.”

Soon her thighs found my sides just above my hips, and her arms bumped into my chest. I expected her to complain about the proximity, but to my surprise she didn’t say anything.

I was leaning back, putting my hands on the ground behind me to support my weight and the force of her leaning on me. Lisanda’s legs stretched out between my hands and my hips, fitting snuggly. With each of us shivering and Lisanda on my lap, it was somewhat difficult to hold us up. She was leaning forward a little too much, pressing her hands against my chest in awkward bundled fists.

“I need to adjust myself to sit forward,” I warned her, already noticing my shivers dying down. “Can you sit up straight?”

She leaned off me by straightening her back. My eyes had adjusted by then, allowing me to see the outline of her face. I straightened my back as well to match her posture. With nowhere for my hands to go, they found Lisanda’s back and wrapped around it.

I thought I heard a faint gasp when I touched her, but I couldn’t be sure because of the loud wind just outside.

“This is only because of the cold,” she said flatly and then leaned into me, closing all the space between us with a tight embrace.

The first thing I noticed were her breasts pushing into my chest. Then I realized her legs had tightened around my hips as well. Her arms came over mine, holding on firmly to my upper back. With nowhere to put my head, I nestled my face in the nook of her shoulder and neck. Following my lead, she rested her chin on my shoulder.

Outside, the storm raged on with lightning continuing to strike and wind whistling constantly. But I could feel my body temperature rising, and fast. I didn’t even want to think about how quickly I would be ready to go back out there; it was far faster than I wanted. I wasn’t worried at all about Exo finding us in here. We were safe. Hungry, but safe. And quite cozy with Lisanda pressing against me.

“This is much better,” I admitted through a whisper, the shivers now completely gone.

She took in a deep breath as if to say something, but then I heard no words. It was the first breath of hers I noticed that had no tremor since we’d entered the shelter. She took another, slowly letting the air in, then letting it out again. I found my body mimicking hers. It was relieving to focus on nothing but each other’s breathing.

“Do you think Kory is still alive?” Lisanda asked optimistically.

I wasn’t as hopeful. Something told me he was long gone. “I don’t think so.” It ached to say.

Lisanda let her head rest fully on my shoulder. “I’ll always remember him,” she whispered.

I felt regret we’d left so quickly. Though, I’d realized by then that Lisanda was in more and more danger the longer she spent in the same room as Exo. I wholeheartedly believed now it had been a good idea to escape while we could, but once she was safe in the hall I should’ve gone back to help Kory.

I said nothing of this to Lisanda. I didn’t want her to think I blamed her for taking my hand and pulling me with her. I appreciated it. She could’ve run on her own, but she wanted me to come with her.

“You shouldn’t blame yourself for this,” Lisanda said, turning slightly toward my ear. I could feel her warm breath.

“What are you referring to specifically?” I turned my head to speak quietly into her ear as she’d done. “There’s a lot I blame myself for.”

“Everything. None of this is your fault.”

I understood she was trying to make me feel better, but it wouldn’t work unless it was the truth. “A lot of this is my fault. I started this whole thing by taking you from the palace.” I then realized I’d never apologized for that. “I’m sorry for doing that to you.”

“Don’t be. Maybe Varth Farro has grown impatient and left.” Her tone was facetious.

I smiled. “One can surely hope.”

“If you want to apologize for something, then the tarp is a good place to start.”

A belly laugh rumbled out of me as the memories came back. I felt my laughter shaking her slightly.

“I’m sorry for that,” I said.

“And reaching your hand up my legs to steal my purse after we’d just met!”

Oh, that! I’d forgotten about the thigh purse. “I’m sorry for that, too.” I tried to speak sincerely, but I was holding back a laugh, and the smile on my lips was made clear by my tone.

“You don’t sound sorry!” Lisanda had the same tone as me—I could hear her smiling.

“I am!” I truly was, but for some reason I was laughing again.

“Now you’re laughing!” I could feel a suppressed laugh from her, tightening her stomach in short bursts. Though it made no sound except a windy breath in my ear. It reminded me of her giggle I’d heard on the horse on the way to my farm.

Her fragrance came back to me, flooding my senses. I wasn’t sure if the memory of us on the horse had triggered it or we’d been close long enough for me to smell her through the scent of the rain. Whatever it was caused my heart to dance around in my chest.