Page 61 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

I did as he said, slowly eating as much as I could manage before my nausea returned.

My eyes leaked tears every now and then, and Ravv silently wiped them away without questioning them.

He thought I was crying because of the Beast, and I didn’t correct him.

I couldn’t bring myself to consider saying the words aloud.

So I ate, and then I slept.

He held me through as much of it as he could, updating me about Nissa’s recovery when I asked, and telling me that I was stronger than I realized.

I didn’t disagree vocally… but my mind was another matter.

A few days passed before Ravv finally murmured to me that it was time to go back to Loire.

He lifted me onto Gleam’s back, and followed us out of the castle on foot.

I didn’t say goodbye to anyone.

He didn’t ask me to.

I buried my face in Gleam’s fur when Ravv mounted behind me, and his body pressed to mine as he leaned against me.

Vayme had taken Kaelle to find the elves, and threaten them with war against all three fae kingdoms if they couldn’t protect the kings against the assassins they created. The elves had agreed, and sent a handful of their people back to protect us.

The mysterious women traveled with us, all of them outfitted in flowy dresses and riding on the backs of idorr with female fae.

Ravv left me to my thoughts as we rode throughout the Wilds for the rest of that day, finally stopping for the night when both moons were shining their light through the trees.

He set me down on a sturdy rock and then left me for a few minutes. Elwynne and Gleam were both close, though Elwynne was chatting with someone I didn’t know, and Gleam was already taking a nap.

I noticed a few of the fae eyeing me. Some looked curious—others looked stricken.

“Is there a reason your people are staring at me?” I asked Ravv, my voice quiet in his mind.

“I had to tell them about the bond after the Beast’s attack. They know we intend to let it break with the eclipse, so no one’s tried to kill us yet.”

Yet.

I didn’t love that.

My mind was still dark with the echoes of the memories I was trying to suppress, so I just said, “Fantastic.”

Ravv didn’t reply to that.

He sat down on the dirt beside me a few minutes later, handing me a small bag of various fruits and vegetables. “Eat, Lae.”

I wasn’t hungry, but it wasn’t worth the fight, so I ate what I could.

His lips were pressed in a tight line when I handed the bag back, but he didn’t ask if I was okay.

He still thought I was just afraid.

A fae woman wove through the crowd, bowing her head slightly when she approached us. The bow was for Ravv, of course. “The Demon was spotted flying overhead,” she said.

Ravv’s jaw clenched.

The blood drained from my face.

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