“Gods, Evan.” Callum expelled a frustrated sound and tossed his apple core. “I would’ve shared mine with you had I known.”
A light bump to my shoulder drew my attention behind me, where a mountain stood. A mountain whose gray eyes were gentle under the midday sun. Ban offered me half of his sandwich.
“No, I’m okay. You don’t have to—”
Ban grunted and moved the half closer to my face. I didn’t need to be fluent in his unique language in order to understand he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
So I did what any logical, and very hungry, muffin lord would do and accepted the sandwich. “Thank you.”
He nodded and turned away to eat the rest of his apple. The tops of his ears were pink.
I took a bite and happily chewed. The kind gesture made me view Ban in a different light. Out of the three guards, I’d been intimidated by him the most. Now, I felt guilty for viewing him that way.
“Enough lazing around,” August barked at us. “Time to move out. We’re wasting daylight.”
Finnian shook his head and smiled over at me. “Don’t take his behavior personally. He’s always like this, in case you had any doubts.”
“Oh, I didn’t have a single one. He’s a ray of freaking sunshine.”
The ray of perpetual sunshine let a few, totally polite and not rude at all, words fly from his lips before he put on his helmet and readied his horse.
I shoved the rest of the food into my mouth and grabbed Callum’s outstretched hand. He helped me back into my bouncy cage of boredom.
And then, we were on the road once again.
Finnian and August rode in front of the carriage, while Callum, Duke, and Ban stayed at the rear. I napped a little, stared out the window, then napped some more. I tried reading, but the rocky terrain and jolting carriage made me feel sick, so I closed the book and placed it back in my satchel.
The trek south saw much warmer weather, and with the cloudless blue sky allowing the sun to blaze down on us, the carriage soon became sweltering. I unclasped my cloak and laid it on the seat beside me before pulling down the little covering on the window. It provided a bit of shade, at least.
How long had passed since we’d stopped? An hour? Two hours? I tapped my foot against the floor, then moved the other, creating a little rhythm. I tried to whistle, but it sounded like a sad puff of air. Not one of my talents.
The days were growing shorter, giving us less daylight and travel time, but we were still on schedule to arrive in Exalos by the following evening.
Movies and books made long journeys seem much more exciting. The protagonist encountered a monster to fight or hot bandits. They went sea diving and found treasure or explored haunted forests. What all those stories left out during the actualtraveling part of the journey? The main character sitting on his ass and bored out of his mind. Probably because the reader, too, would get bored and drop the book like a hot potato.
Mmm. Potatoes.Baked and covered with chives, sour cream, bacon bits, and a mountain of shredded cheese.
“Drooling like that won’t manifest more food.”
I zeroed in on the dark corner of the carriage. The shadows swirled before Rowan appeared on the seat, his topaz eyes glowing brighter for a moment, then returning to their normal shade.
“I wasn’t drooling.” I wiped at my mouth where, yes, maybe it was a bit slobbery.
“Take this.” Rowan reached into the pouch at his hip and offered me a wrapped bundle. Considering how the last time he’d pulled something from that pouch, he’d blown some kind of magical dust in my face that made me pass out, I hesitated. He sighed and tore off the cloth, revealing a large wedge of bread and three cubes of cheese. “It’s not poison. It’s lunch.”
Hislunch, by the look of it. And he was sharing it with me.
“Thanks.” I broke off half of the bread and grabbed a cube. “Can you pop in and out whenever you want?”
“As long as there’re shadows, yes.”
“So, light is your weakness.”
“I have no weaknesses.” Rowan popped a cube of cheese into his mouth and slowly chewed. “Eat.”
“Oh.” I took a bite. The cheese reminded me of pepper jack, creamy with a small kick. Fitting that it came from Rowan. I’d started associating him with peppery and spicy things. The bread had been flavored with rosemary and garlic. “This is really good.”
“I’ll be sure to pass on the compliment to the baker I stole it from should I ever see him again.”
