Page 44 of Kian

Lyslee was smearing some sort of herbal paste on the bear’s shoulder while he alternately groaned pathetically and licked her cheek.

“You big baby,” she said, but there was affection in her words.

Avril was no doubt readying their tent.

Which left Kian with nothing to do but head back to his own shelter, and face the uneasiness that had put his stomach in knots all day.

He strode across the ice, careful not to slip, and took one last look at the starry sky.

How could any place so beautiful be so dangerous?

The velvet sky was twinkling, broken up by dark areas he knew were occupied by floating islands. Somewhere on the tundra above, the mammoth were huddled, sleeping. And beneath him in the frigid water, whole schools of fish hung peacefully in slumber.

He opened the tent and was hit with a delicious wave of Kinsley’s alluring scent. But Kinsley herself was fast asleep, her body wrapped around the tiny nest she had made for Nova.

The sight of the two of them resting so peacefully squeezed his heart until he thought it might burst with an unfamiliar emotion.

He covered Kinsley with furs and then scrambled out of the tent, feeling at odds with himself.

Go in and claim her,the dragon said.

But his heart wasn’t in it. Even the dragon knew that something was wrong.

Kian had never wished more for the company of his brothers. They might razz him for it, but he knew Jhon and Rafe would listen and help him untangle the mess the girl had made of his heart and mind.

He sat on the ice instead, determined to watch over the site.

The dogs would do their job well, but after such a day, they might be too tired to awaken quickly at the first sign of danger.

* * *

Hours passed in quiet stillness,with nothing to break the calm all around him.

But inside, Kian’s mind was storming.

He stood and looked around. Other than the starlight reflecting on the ice, the only other light came from Lyslee and Avril’s tent. After the dinners were handed out, everyone else had gone to sleep. Kian had been too distracted to eat his, even though his stomach was growling.

His feet carried him to the Grummish women’s tent without him realizing it until he was clearing his throat at the flap.

“That you, soldier?” Lyslee yelled. “Don’t just stand there. Come in already. We’re still up.”

He pushed open the flap and was greeted by good smells and warmth. The sisters had a heat brick under a little metal pan, and they were warming some food over it.

“Sit a while, if you like,” Avril said. “We’re going to warm this excuse for supper.”

“A hired guard needs meat,” Lyslee complained.

Kian opened his own dinner packet and scoffed at the bar of cornmeal mush and dried fruit. He reached into his pouch and pulled out his emergency stash, opening the cell to offer the contents to his new friends.

“Meat,” Lyslee practically sang.

“It’s dried,” he warned her. “And I’m told it’s over-salted.”

“It’s better than no meat,” Avril said, her eyes sparkling. “Should we make a hash?”

“Whatever you’d like,” he told her.

The tent was quiet as they watched Avril cut the dried meat and mix it into the pot with all three cornmeal and fruit packets. After a long day’s journey, it smelled fantastic to Kian.

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