was hot and, to his distaste, humid. The wet heat was oppressing, the air seemed to weigh down their lungs and they were always covered in sweat. The land was flat now, but they were in a dense forest and the scent of moss and earth became more apparent.
There weren’t a lot of major waterways in this area, so towns and villages were sparse. On occasion, there would be large clearings or they would approach a co-op farming community. The co-ops usually had no town center and the people in the area tried to support one another. They were seldom bothered by bands of robbers because the people really only had the food they grew and tried to sell. Because of their meager belongings, these people fought hard for their property. At any rate, many robbers at some point in time, usually when they hit bottom, had worked for one of these people. All in all, Legon liked most of the people in the co-ops. They were usually kind and they banded together.
It was also rare for people to go into the Queen’s care from these communities. The empire was in control of these areas, but just barely. The openness of everything gave people places to hide anything, like family members. In addition, the cost of harassing the people in remote places like this was too high, thus they were left alone for the most part.
Legon pulled the rag out and wiped down his face, neck, and upper body. He felt a week’s worth of trail debris and filth rub from him. They had been passing creeks for the last week, but none of them were clean so they weren’t able to bathe at all. This was one of the major discomforts of the road. Back home, working with his father as a butcher, and Sasha working with his mother as a healer, there had been strict laws about cleanliness. Breaking those laws was expensive, so every day they cleaned everything, from their workspaces to themselves. He normally did this at the end of the day as a means of washing off the death of his job, but still he washed his hands before work and after lunch. On the other hand, as healers, Sasha and Laura washed after every patient. Kovos also had grown into the habit of regular bathing, not due to any laws but rather the desire to not look like he was constantly rolling around in soot. Keither, on the other hand, hated it, and Arkin had to force him to do it. It was as if the boy thought that by getting rid of the grime from the road he was somehow more susceptible to the elements.
Keither slipped on some moss and landed on his side. Legon looked up at him.
“Are you ok?” he asked.
“I cut my elbow! Dang it! I look like a moron,” Keither said, exasperated.
He understood what Keither meant; it hadn’t taken a genius to notice that Keither harbored feelings for Sara. This was actually good. He wanted to prove himself and so he tried harder with everything to impress her.
“Here, let me look at it.” Legon said.
“Oh, you don’t have to. I mean, it’s not that bad.”
Legon chuckled. “I know you’re tough, but Arkin wants me to fix everything with magic so I get better.”
Across camp, Sasha paused for a moment as she felt Legon accessing information in her mind. This wasn’t uncommon for either of them to do. Arkin wanted Legon to use magic to check every injury and then heal it. While he had a detailed knowledge of anatomy, he didn’t have knowledge of the healing arts like Sasha did. Legon’s memory was perfect like her own, but there still was no reason keeping all the information the other knew. Sure, they would retain memories from each other that were basic and common, but if they weren’t then why waste the space?
She went back to preparing some eggs in a cast-iron skillet. Sara was humming to her left. Sasha smiled at her. The last couple of months had been the best in her life. She knew that it was odd to think that; they were on the run, living in tents, and not talking to the rest of the world, but it was true. She missed her parents and the valley, but other than that she missed…well, nothing. People in Salmont had treated her like an outcast and wished her harm, but not here, not these people. She was with her best friend Sara, who was now free and happy, her brother Legon, Arkin, who she thought was amazing, Kovos, and Keither. Even Kovos treated her differently than before. He was always nice, but the other day he came up to her and apologized for thinking less of her for so many years. It took her off guard. She knew that he was always a little nervous around her, but not anymore.
Legon was inspecting an elbow. She broadened the connection, but not to the point of seeing out of his eyes. She had done that once and only once. It was last week when Legon and Kovos had been bathing. Legon had been discreet about it and didn’t tell anyone, but it still was a little awkward for her for the next few days whenever Kovos touched her. Still, Emma is a lucky woman, she thought. Her face flushed at the memory. Sara looked at her and smiled.
“See anything good?” Sara winked. Of course Sasha had told Sara.
“No, I’m not looking.”
“Ah, remembering, I see.”
“Oh shut it. Keither hurt himself and I was just wondering.”
Sara tried to take an unconcerned tone. “Oh, what happened?”
“Nothing, really. Legon thinks it’s just a laceration. The humerus looks good and so does the subcutaneous…”
“English, please.”
“Oh, sorry. He cut himself.”
“See, that was not hard at all, was it?”
Sasha stuck her tongue out and went back to the eggs.
“We need to get you a man, Sash.”
“Yeah, because there’s a lot of great ones out here,” she said, gesturing with her hands around them. “But you, on the other hand…there’s Keither, or Legon.”
Sara laughed. “You’re not going to try and hook me up with your bother again, are you?”
“Why not? He’s got a good trade, he’s part Elf, and I may be biased, but he’s good looking too.”
“Yes, he is all those things, but no; I’ve had my fill for a while. But you… let’s see, who is there?” Sara smiled. “Kovos is taken, but… Arkin? Come on, the older man.”
“Yuck, Sara! He’s cute for his age I guess, but he’s like my dad. So is this the part where you tell me that men age like fine wine?”
Sara walked by her to get something out of the tent. “Well, not everything ages well.” She winked at her.
“Oh that’s nice, Sara.” Sasha paused again feeling an odd, amused feeling. She stomped on the ground.
Sara looked concerned. “What is it?”
“Dang it, dang it, dang it!”
Sara was alarmed in a flash. “What Sasha, what is it?”
“I’m a moron. I didn’t close my connection with Legon at all.” She was so mad at herself. She always did stuff like this.
Sara paused for a moment. “He’s been listening?”
Oh course he was. How could he not? If she wasn’t being a dunderhead she would have noticed the men talking as well.
She huffed. “How could he not?”
Sara considered this for a moment and then she asked, “Is he still there?”
“Yes.”
Sara raised her voice. “Bring back firewood.” She smiled. “Nice Sash, very nice.”
Sara busied herself with breakfast. When the men returned, she placed the new firewood in the pit. She looked over at Keither, who looked away quickly. He obviously had a thing for her. The thought of trusting a man was odd to her now. She knew how to say what they wanted to hear and how to make them think they were in love with her, but she had done that with lies. She hadn’t cared about a single client. In fact, she hated each and every one. They knew she was a slave, and for some reason they liked it. They treated her horribly. Like that prick in Salez who had tried to stop her from leaving. Oh, she remembered him. He was cruel and got a discount because he was one of the Queen’s. The thing that disgusted her about him was that he too was in the care, but had shown aptitude at fighting so was placed in a special regiment. He would get his someday. Those were the front-line men; most did not make it long. Sara had needed to be good at what she did. If she made the owner good money then she didn’t go to the barracks-to the soldiers in the care and the others. She shivered on the inside remembering them. Avoiding the barracks was worth talking a man out of a week’s pay any day of the week.
