Page 45 of The Flame and the Forsaken

“Well, look at that,” he said, whistling. “Should we knock?”

Mariel laughed. “And if someone answers?”

“We pray they’re friendly.” He patted his sword. “And if not, there’s two of us. Aye, I know you can fight too. No need to play demure.”

“I would never denigrate my own Guardians-given abilities,” she said, scoffing. Nodding at her boots, at the daggers strapped just under the leather, she asked, “Should I?”

Erran shook his head. “We draw nothing unless we must.” He approached the door slowly, one hand cautioning Mariel to keep some distance. The first knock sent birds scattering deeper into the forest. The second pushed the door open with a creaky swing.

He glanced back and held her gaze a moment before stepping inside. “There’s no one here. You can come in.”

If the shed had been a blessing, the cabin was a damned miracle. It was a single room as well but twice as large, and it had been given far better care. There was a table with three chairs, a stove with a hanging pot, and some frying pans resting on the ashes underneath. Along the windowsills was a handful of lanterns, coated in dust. In the corner was a raised cot, though there were no blankets, and next to it, evidence of two others that had broken and were no longer serviceable, their canvas and rods propped in the corner. A cloudy mirror hung cockeyed on the far wall, a metal basin beneath it.

Mariel approached the table and found a map pinned down by rocks. She traced her fingers over the names, faded but readable. Rushwood. Everleigh Pike. Whitechurch. All towns in the Easterlands.

Erran drew up beside her and leaned over the table. “The Easterlands. Interesting,” he said.

“Aye.” Mariel nodded. “But useless. Why couldn’t it be a map of Feck-All Island?”

He chuckled. “The Guardians want us to work for our supper, I suppose. Hey, what’s that over there?”

They spent the next few minutes going through crates and bags left by the prior occupant. Bandages, antiseptic, and a needle and thread were among their findings. Every discovery they’d show each other, like gleeful children uncovering some new wonder.

“You ken if we push farther into this forest, we might find a whole keep?” Erran jested as their exploration ended.

“There is such a thing as turning back while you’re still ahead,” she teased back. “I wonder when the owner might return.”

“A problem for another day. We solved most of ours in just a few hours. An unexpectedly fortuitous trek.”

He was right. It was a problem for another day. They could have just as easily slept under the rain, at the mercy of whatever beasts prowled the night, but fortune had smiled their way. Only a fool would forsake the gifts the day had brought.

“Oh, and I broke off some flint from the riverbed.” He dug into his pocket to show her. “For fire.”

She frowned. “I usually rub sticks together.”

“If that’s how you want to start your fires, go ahead. I’ll take the easier way.” He sighed. “I suppose we should go back and grab our things? Move camp here?”

Mariel nodded, unsure where the creeping dread had come from. They had food, better shelter, an endless water source... a way to prepare meals and a pit perfect for a large, warming fire. The circumstances could not be better, after what they’d endured. So why could she not shake the sense something very wrong was happening?

It’s the shock,she decided.You wrecked your ship and washed up on an island. Your nerves are shot. Of course you’re anxious.

“This firepit may be our greatest discovery yet. Did you see how it was reinforced on the sides, for containment? We can safely build a fire big enough to send smoke signals to anyone passing nearby.”

“Aye,” she said distantly, following him down the steps and into the warm afternoon. “Let’s be quick about getting back, Erran.”

His hand brushed the middle of her back. “You were right,” he said for the second time. “And in concession to my wrongness, rare as it is, I’ll cook us up the most delicious fennel stew tonight. Might even throw some dandelions in there, if I’m feeling saucy.”

Mariel’s expression cracked, though the smile she offered wasn’t compatible with the burning in her chest, urging her to get to the shed and back as quickly as possible. She’d never had the magic touch like Destin had, but her instincts had kept her alive through some truly heinous situations, and she wasn’t going to start ignoring them now. “How could I refuse such a tantalizing offer from a man who has probably never prepared a single meal in his life?”

The walkback to the shed was quicker. It wasn’t just the markings making for a straightforward route, or their confidence in the destination. There was a lightness between them that hadn’t been possible before. Erran had actually seen Mariel’s smile—herrealsmile, not the practiced one she believed she’d perfected for him and his family—and it made him want to see it more often.

While she collected their few belongings from the shed, Erran wandered down to theMistwitch. She looked no worse than she had before, though clearly no better either. But if any of their fires worked, the vessel would be the first thing a rescuer would see, and they would need to know where to find them.

Erran withdrew the dagger he’d borrowed from Mariel and approached the part of the hull facing the coast. The hole was almost bigger than what remained, but there was plenty of room to carveWENT INLAND E+ Mon the side, in the largest letters he could manage before his sore arm gave out.

He hadn’t reviewed all the ways he’d been battered in the wreck, but there were plenty of wounds to assess. No breaks, mercifully, which meant he’d be back to form within a day or two. It was mostly bruises, one bleeding right into another, no clear beginning or end. But there were a couple of gashes that would need a cleaning if he wanted to avoid infection. The antiseptic had been one of their more fortunate finds in the cabin.

Mariel was waiting for him outside the shed, her arms stretched around the broad crate. He grinned to himself and went to relieve her, but the sharply offended look she shot back had him thinking better of it.

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