Page 32 of The Lost Guard's Healer

“What?” he asks when he notices how much I’m staring at him. “You want to have a go at me? Tell me about my childhood?”

A thrumming vibration reverberates through my mind as I feel a connection passing between us. I expect to hear a voice, like an inner thought, or feel an emotion, but there is none of that. He is surprisingly hard to tap into.

Then something reaches out to me. There. An inner thought. I think. It’s a flash of a feeling, but it hits me with great clarity. I straighten.

“Your name is not Tarin,” I say in surprise.

His face hardens, like a shield crashing down to protect him. His eyes are wide and it’s the first time I’ve seen him so shaken.

The word ‘How’ passes silently on his lips.

My danger senses kick in. He isn’t who he said he is? Who is this man?

In the distance, thunder rumbles in the sky and softly echoes around us.

I realize I shouldn’t push the matter because it might force him to take action. He might get violent or end up running away and leaving me here. I have to stay calm for now. I can’t show how afraid I am.

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter what name you go by. What matters is that we get off this mountain. Any suggestions?”

He regains his composure and replies, “It seems that the others went a good distance away before noticing we weren’t with them. If they have killed the boar, they may have chosen to return to the village with it.”

“They wouldn’t leave us!” I’m horrified at the thought.

“Well, they won’t care about coming back for me,” he says. “If they are out there now, looking for you, we would have heard them by now.”

A shiver shakes my shoulders. I hug myself, realizing how cold it is getting.

Tarin…or whatever his name is…studies the sky, and doesn’t seem to like what he’s seeing. I don’t like the growing dark clouds, and how cold it’s getting. Maybe I’m feeling the cold because I’m dripping wet.

“It will be night soon,” he says.

“Oh no,” I say. “Don’t say it.”

“We will have to find a place to stay for the night, and continue at first light.”

My shoulders sag. “You said it.”

“It isn’t ideal,” he says, “but we have no other choice at this point. We don’t want to be out here in full darkness.”

“I’m not spending the night here alone with you,” I say stubbornly.

“We won’t be alone,” he says. “We will have the coyotes and vultures and snakes and a number of other creatures.” He grins at me.

I narrow my eyes at him, weighing my options. He’s right that we can’t be out here once it’s dark. We could try to leave the mountains before full night comes, but then we’d be out in the wilds with no cover, completely exposed to the elements.

I sigh and meet his gaze. “If we stay here tonight, I want something out of you first,” I say. “What is your real name?”

He regards me for a moment, his mouth a straight line. I see this isn’t easy for him.

“My name is Rourk,” he says.

I feel like the name is familiar, but I can’t be certain. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“No,” he says. “But please, keep this between us. It doesn’t matter who I am. Just know that I don’t mean you or your people any harm. None at all.”

“If it doesn’t matter, then why hide it?” I ask.

“I’ve been told many times by your people to allow you your privacy. That goes both ways.”

---