Page 39 of Grave Situation

While I’m mulling that over, I warily approach the packhorse. It seems placid enough, but a single glance at the pack-holder-thing tells me I have no idea what to do to make it more comfortable.

“I’ll take care of him,” Jaimin says behind me, and I jump and spin around. He’s closer than I expected, and I swallow hard. It’s really unfair that he’s so handsome and smells good even after riding a horse all morning.

“Uh… we should take turns,” I protest weakly, and he laughs, moving forward to loosen a strap on the pack that somehow doesn’t make the whole thing fall apart.

“I don’t mind. Your job is looking after the stone and finding the champion. Until we work out what my job is supposed to be, I can look after the horses.”

“Except Sweetie,” I insist. I might hate riding, but one thing our old groom beat into me was that you look after your ownmount. You can’t expect a horse to carry you where you want it to if it doesn’t know you. Personally, I’d rather not know Sweetie, but I don’t shirk my responsibilities. Dammit.

He studies me for a moment, then nods. “That’s your decision to make. I won’t come between a man and his horse. But I need you to demonstrate that you know what you’re doing.”

Aw, the super-powerful healer cares about equine well-being. I bet he rescues kittens too.

“Fine. But I’ll be honest, I don’t remember how to check her hooves.”

He smiles at me. It’s warm and encouraging and makes me feel like I did something amazing. “You remembered it has to be done, though. I can show you how.”

I trail after him like a puppy, hating that his approval is seemingly so important to me, and grateful that I get to stand close and breathe him in for a moment longer.

Tia can never learn of this.

We spend the next few minutes making sure all three horses get enough water and their hooves are free of stones, then retrieve food and water for ourselves and turn them loose on the grass for their snack. No sooner have we found a semi-comfortable group of rocks to sit on than Jaimin glances up and says, “There’s Leicht.”

Faster than most people expect—though not me because the bastard’s surprised me this way many times before—Leicht dives from high overhead to land with surprising grace not too far away. He waits for Tia to slide down, then launches into the air again.

“Where’s he going?” Jaimin calls to my sister. There’s a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“To find a sheep or something,” she replies, smiling at him. “He’ll be back.”

“Too soon,” I mutter, but it’s not quiet enough. She kicks me lightly before taking a seat on the rock beside mine. I pass her a chunk of bread and cheese.

“Be nice to Leicht, or I’ll let him eat you like he’s been threatening to do all these years.”

“If he’d stop threatening, maybe I’d be nicer,” I counter, and they both laugh as though I’ve said something hilarious. I’m feeling distinctly ganged up on right now. “Let’s not waste time,” I continue in an attempt to actually show I’m the expedition leader. “It’s time to talk to the stone and see if we can form an actual plan.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

“What kindof plan were you thinking of?” Tia asks as I fish the pouch from around my neck and dump the stone into my hand.

“The kind where we have some idea what we’re doing,” I retort. “Okay, you ugly chunk of rock, are you ready to give us answers?”

The stone doesn’t even bother to react.

“I really hate you,” I tell it.

Jaimin winces. “That may not be helpful.”

“Neither would ‘accidentally’ losing it amongst all these other rocks, but it would make me feel better,” I mutter, then take a deep breath. “Fine. Here’s the thing, oh source of all creation. I don’t know what you want me to do, and yes, I know, you’ll guide me, but can you tell mehowyou plan to guide me?”

~Yes~

It seems begrudging somehow, and I want to ask the others if they noticed the stone’s attitude problem, but since it’s actually cooperating, now doesn’t seem like the time.

“Thank you.” See? I can be nice. “Do you know who we’re looking for?”

~Yes~

Okay, we can work with that. “Do you know their name?”

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