Page 46 of The Flame and the Forsaken

“I could at least take the blankets so it’s not so overflowing,” he said, but she rolled her eyes.

“You could,” she agreed and sauntered ahead of him. Her ass had a light sway to it, full of attitude, and the urge to charge up behind her and toss her over his shoulder like a savage had him questioning whether he’d perhaps sustained a concussion without realizing so.

“Tomorrow I’ll try my hand at fishing,” Erran said as they passed their first marked tree. “Not much work to fashion a spear, and I saw a few fish pooling in the low tide.”

“Might even be able to rig a pole together. There’s netting, and I’ll bet we could break up some metal, make a lure. The broken cot pieces looked promising.”

“You sound like you know this from experience.” He glanced her way to see her reaction, which was often less guarded than her words.

“I’ve made a few in my time,” she said with a noncommittal shrug. “There were years Destin and I didn’t have a consistent home. Even when we did, there was no food.”

“Where were your parents?”

“Dead. Been on our own since I was twelve.”

Erran struggled to understand the implication of her words. “You had no adults looking after you after the age of twelve?”

“Not really. Destin was seventeen and still two years from maturity, so the law wouldn’t let him take on our father’s property,” she answered, her tone and step still as casual as before. “My friend Remy, the one you saw in Mistgrave, his father stepped up for a spell, but then he was gone too. It was just the four of us. That’s why... he’s so important to me. He’s family.”

“Who was the fourth?”

Mariel’s easiness withdrew some. “Remy’s sister.”

Erran remembered how close the man, Remy, had seemed to his mother’s seamstress. He couldn’t quite remember her name, but she’d been embedded in their household for several years, and his mother was fond of her. If it was a coincidence, it was a substantial one.

He decided their unspoken truce wasn’t the time to ask. Mariel would return to loathing him soon enough. He still had to ask her about Banner anyway, so he might as well store his questions for when the peace had subsided.

“I’m sorry,” he said unhelpfully, wishing thereweresomething better to offer her.

“Wasn’t your fault. You were just a bairn then too.”

It was a strange thing to say. Of course it hadn’t been his fault, but her words didn’t seem accidentally chosen. “Mariel, when I... followed you...”Careful.“What I really intended to do was ride to the jail and take care of matters with your brother.”

Mariel bucked forward. Her expression waffled somewhere between distrust and disbelief. “And betray your father?”

“I don’t see it as a betrayal. If Sessaly had been locked up in error, he wouldn’t have let her stay a moment longer than she had to.”

She snorted. “The only thing Sessaly is guilty of is chin-wagging, and she’s fortunate it’s not a crime.”

He chuckled. “Aye, or we’d never see her again, least not as a free woman.”

“Whyisshe like that? Does no one ever think to restrain her?”

“The few times I tried to intervene didn’t go so well for me.” He shook his head. “It’s my father’s doing. He spoils her too much. Thinks she’s harmless and won’t let any of us disavow him of this grievous falsehood. Say even a word about it and he’ll turn on you faster than a hurricane.”

Mariel got quiet. “You were really going to the jail? You’re not making it up?”

“I thought you might head there, so I followed you, but then you...” He trailed off, worried about veering too close to the conversation that had to happen, but not just then. “Anyway, I—” He froze... tugged on Mariel to do the same. She stared at him in confusion, but he cocked his head and pointed at his ear, to listen.

It was distant at first, but then it seemed as if the ground had erupted in a muted tremble.

“Is...” Mariel’s eyes slowly widened. Her chest rose and fell in sharp waves. She turned her head slowly behind them and screamed, “RUN!”

A shrill whine rang through the air, set to more thundering hooves. Erran bolted after Mariel, ignoring every scream and ache his body sang in protest.

The sound came up in a rush and Erran pushed Mariel to go faster, but she was practically waddle-running from the position of the crate.

“Drop it! We can come back for it!” he shouted.

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