Page 41 of The Oracle's Journey

She snorted. “You’re not dumb.”

“But I’m here doing something everyone clearly knows is stupid,” I argued.

She paused and looked at me with narrowed eyes. “Lobikno, are you trying to cheer me up?”

Was I? Yeah, I guess so.

“Because I’m so cheerful?”

She laughed. “I guess that would be a surprise.”

“Yeah, well. I’ve taken a lot of lives in my time. Done a lot of shit I’m not proud of. It doesn’t leave much room for cheer.”

“I suppose it wouldn’t,” she murmured.

“But if you need to talk to somebody about that, I wouldn’t judge.” I frowned and nodded. That sounded right. That felt right.

“Yeah?” she asked, looking at me like I sprouted a horn from the middle of my head.

I threw up my hands in defeat. “Have I ever lied to you?”

“I guess not,” she shook her head.

Except I had, just not about anything important. Not anything she’d have noticed. I should probably not do that anymore. Then I added, “And I won’t scold you for swearing.”

I held out a fist towards her.

She looked at me like I sprouted a second horn. “What’s that about?”

“We tap knuckles,” I shrugged. “It’s like … a handshake.” She snorted and rapped my fist with her little furry knuckles.

“You ready to head back? Or are there more squirrels you want to flirt with?”

“No, you’ll just scare them all away,” she said and stood up.

I led the way back to the group.

Ozanna

Lhoris surrendered the last of his shirts to help Eve and Judith maintain some form of modesty. We had apparently ruined or lost so much of our clothes along the way that there weren’t any other tops to wear.My vest, wiped clean of blood, was all the top I needed to stay decent. Lhoris’ pants though, were much too long and too narrow through the hip. I only managed to lace up the button fly with a spare bodice lace and covered the gap with one of Emma’s scarves like a sash.

Lhoris’ gaze scorched over me when he returned from moving the bodies. His fingers teased over my exposed midriff when he passed me by, giving me pleasant chills despite the heat.

When Lobikno returned with Emma, the maids got her into my last skirt. She wore the waistband around her chest, under her arms and a braided belt around her waist. Judith didn’t like how much leg and shoulder it showed, but it was that or the bloody dress. I thought the skirt-turned-dress looked more natural on her than the gowns ever did.

Regardless, it would have to serve her for at least four days.

By the next day, the miscarriage had mostly passed, early as it was, but Lhoris insisted I ride with him again. I was certainly well enough to not need that support, but we both enjoyed the peace and comfort of that closeness, so I didn’t argue. We rode a little ahead of the rest of the group.

I hadn’t allowed myself to get excited about the pregnancy. I wasn’t happy about losing it, but nature decided this wasn’t my time and I could accept that. But if Lhoris was troubled by the loss, I couldn’t say. He’d been so focused on taking care of me and stayed partially sealed away in his thoughts even after I started to recover. It was very unlike him, and I didn’t know how to approach him about it. Any time I asked if he was okay, he’d just answer yes.

I peered at him over my shoulder and tried to interpret his expression. His eyes were solemn, scanning our surroundings—nothing but farmland as far as the eye could see. It was the first time his gaze had ever looked cold. The rest of his features were so neutral that it had to be a façade. He glanced down and arched a silver eyebrow, questioning my scrutiny. I shook my head and turned to face forward again. Perhaps he’d allowed himself to get excited at the prospect of a child.

“Lhoris?”

“Hm?”

“Have you ever thought about having a family?” I glanced back at him again.

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