Page 43 of Shadows in Bloom

I prayed I was the only one who noticed his lip quirk up in humor at that last word. His subtlety needed work.

“You were to be resting.” Kallistra took my hands in hers. It seemed at least she had given no mind to Alandris’ words. “Your injuries—”

“Are healed,” I insisted.

“And yours?” Kaz pointed to Alandris. He narrowed his eyes in a knowing humor that I could only hope Kallistra wouldn’t notice.

Alandris glared. “Never better.”

Some time after we were all seated, Marius brought out a simple dinner of vegetable soup and bread. Same as the previous nights, Theomund did not join us, and Marius disappeared right after serving us. I sensed that they would be relieved to be free of us. We were mouths to feed, which provided little benefitto their community, and some of us, namely myself, seemed to make them uneasy.

Of everyone, Kaz would likely be the only one to receive an invitation back—and that was only because he was capable of carrying more bales of hay in a day than half of Theomund’s men. He’d earned himself quite the reputation around the village. I was envious of his skill to make friends in every place he visited.

“We should only have a few more days of travel before we reach the area Amorphael marked on the map,” Zorinna spoke up, setting down her spoon. “Did she provide any more detail on what we should be looking for when we arrive?”

Alandris shook his head. “She only said the flower could be found in a cave. I didn’t wish to pester her with questions. You know how the Fae can be.”

Zorinna sighed. “Impressively vague and incredibly infuriating. Let us hope that there is not more than one cave nestled in that corner of the Azog Bog.”

“Did she explain why exactly it would be a dangerous task?” Kallistra questioned.

“No. Again, I didn’t wish to pester her with questions, so I chose to take that at face value.”

“For a Fae to consider it dangerous… well, let’s keep focused,” Kallistra hummed. “I am confident in my abilities. Whatever manner of beast comes for us, I intend to see this through.”

“That’s the spirit!” Kaz cheered.

I’d been so focused on my plans for after the journey that I hadn’t taken a moment to stop and reflect on the actual act itself. There was still the very real possibility that we wouldn’t survive to worry about ‘after’. I should have been terrified of what lay in wait deep within the Azog Bog, but that wasn’t what scared me. What I feared more than anything was surviving. Surviving meant I would have to make a decision that would, without a doubt, change my life forever.

I knew I wanted Alandris at my side, but I didn’t know what that meant for me. What of my people? What of Kallistra? What of Lyandril? My power? Was there a world in which we were able to stay alongside each other without any repercussions?

There was so much still to consider, and I was running out of time.

Chapter 21

“Ithought you didn’t want to forage with the Elf anymore?” Kaz questioned, elbowing me in the shoulder. We’d been preparing to make camp for the evening when I suggested we continue divvying up the tasks, as we had been up to now. “I’ll admit I was looking forward to a break from failing to catch fish. There’s not a damn thing in these rivers.”

Kaz’s voice had been too loud, and Alandris had perked up at the sound. “You didn’t want to forage with me, Nairu?” His brows raised as a smirk played at his lips. “Not everything I grabbed was poisonous. I thought I made a rather valiant effort.”

The area we were in now was mostly wetland, and there was very little area we could traverse without ending up knee deep in muddy water. Regrettably, we had limited options for foraging. I lacked extensive familiarity with the types of edible plants andfungi that thrived in this region, so we would have to adhere to what I was absolutely certain was safe. That meant mostly cranberries, blueberries, or watercress. It wouldn’t be anything filling, so I had to hope our companions would find success in their ventures.

I hurried Alandris along. We were quickly losing the light. We’d been making camp later in the day due to our changing environment. Less trees, less cover. We wanted to get into a more dense part of the Azog Bog as soon as possible, so we’d been pushing hard to cover as much distance as we could. After the Visumena attack, none of us were keen on sleeping out in the open. Plus, the bugs of the Bog were downright horrifying. I couldn’t think of a worse place to lay my head at night.

“Now, what is this about not wanting to forage with me?” Alandris asked as we made our way out of earshot of the others. “I made one minor mistake. That is hardly a reason to dismiss me.”

“I believe your idea of a minor mistake is a bit different from mine. What you did is attempt to kill us all off.” I looked away from him, scanning the saturated ground for edibles. An excuse not to meet his eyes. “However, that wasn’t my issue… you were.”

“Me? I was your issue?” Despite the confusion in his voice, Alandris’ grin implied humor. Satisfaction even.

I cleared my throat. “Never mind that.” In an attempt to distract him from pressing me further, I pointed to a bush ofleafy greens I was positive was watercress. “Help me pick these. We should grab as much as we can.”

Alandris bent down to assist me, haphazardly shoving the greens into the sack we’d brought along. “You will be pleased to learn I am well and capable of moving my mouth and my hands at the same time. If I recall correctly, you are as well, so I must insist you explain your earlier comment while we sift through the mud.”

I could run, but he’d likely catch me. If I shoved him down into the murky water, I might be able to delay the inevitable. As I contemplated my escape plan, Alandris began to repeatedly bump me with his shoulder, throwing me off balance.

“Nairu,” he hummed.

“Alandris,” I returned in a similar sing-song tone.

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