“That would please me. I may not return here again but the memories will always be with me. I would enjoy showing you my past.”
“You said you feel lost? Why is that? If you wish to talk of it?”
They walked away, conversing, as if they’d been companions for ages.
Po watched them and took sips of water from her cup, while they wandered the nearby fields. Ruth was doing more learning and more helping.
Learning was one of her favorites too.
“I am glad you are ignoring me,” she addressed John. That wasn’t quite a lie—she had reasons. “Though I’m unsure why.”
He’d sat again, with his elbow resting on his knee, and he too watched the other pair. From the heavy ache of her muscles, she guessed John must be tired. Even the horses had been trudging, heads and ears lowered. Across the other side of the clearing, they were cropping from the sparse tufts of grass dotting the clearing.
They would need water soon, and better food, and their saddles off, so they could stretch and have some respite.
It was something she’d learned—how to judge the condition of a horse you rode. Before, people had judged this for her.
The ache in her muscles was a nice ache.
The food was beyond awful but kept hunger at bay.
She slid her tongue across her dry, peeling lips, and eyed John again, feeling a familiar shiver and peaking of her nipples, as if the fire in his eyes had licked at her there. How well she recalled the achingly slow movement of his tongue on her. The tug of his teeth at her skin.
Asshole. She smiled to herself as she thought the profanity.
He was handsome, if utterly lacking in standards. The fire eyes beneath the black glass and his dominating arrogance would always be a source of awe and desire for her. It was another surprising thing she’d learned.
“Don’t think I’m less determined, Princess. I’m just thinking, same as Shades.”
“You are?” she swung her focus to him, then spotted Ruff bounding up, so she reached for the saddlebag near her feet. Though meant for the horses, there should be carrots inside the bag.
A floof machine would like those. In a brown paper bag, she found several carrots, chose a fat orange one and held it out.
“Here. I am sure you earned it.”
Ruff sniffed the carrot, dragged it from her hand with those fluff-hidden teeth, then proceeded to munch down.
The noises of a floof eating were adorable.
When Ruth and Shades returned, Ruth placed a hand on his shoulder and nudged him forward. “Shades says he saw your friend go by, with that tall guy, the Storyteller.”
“Er, yeah, I did. I have thought. If the miss here—”
“Po,” she said, and she had almost said ‘Princess Pollianna’ but that might not be wise.
“And I’m John. We neglected to introduce ourselves.”
“Po. John. Sorry. Nice to meet you.” He smiled and nodded. “If Po can get my eye in and working, tomorrow morning, I will guide you all.” He surveyed them. “I know where they’re going, if not the route. The soldiers are ones I recognize.”
“Where?” John asked, in a grumbly, low-word-count manner. Sometimes, like now, he was a clam personified.
“I’ll say when this is better.” Shades tapped his socket.
“Hmmm. Fixing your eye is one thing, having you join us is another.”
“He’s trustworthy,” Ruth said.
“I barely know you either, Ruth. Grateful for your help, but I need more from Shades.”
“Of course.” She backed off a step and folded her hands together. Her patience seemed to calm the situation, although John had risen to his feet and was eyeing Shades.
“You can still fight? Will you help fight if I need you to? This could be dangerous, and I don’t want freeloaders or cowards or whatever you may be.”
He hadn’t told Shades she was a princess, and that was safer than broadcasting it to everyone. Po wondered if Ruth had said anything about her to this ex-cyclan warrior.
“I can fight, though my weapons are long gone. I could use a knife or a sword. The engineered half of me is strong, swift, and my eye, if it works, can see a very long way. I also have GPS up here.” He tapped his head.
“And what is that?”
“I forget the exact abbreviation.” He scratched his chin. “No, it is gone. Let’s name this a Glorious Pathway Sensing. It means I don’t need maps to find my way.”
“Well.” His eyebrows shot up, sank. “I guess that will help. You can join our band of merry...” John looked at the three of them. “A dwarf-giant therapist, a pampered…girl.” He sighed. “Maybe we aren’t that attractive. If you want adventure, we have it nailed. Pay? If you want pay, that’s going to have to wait until we catch my brother’s kidnappers. Glory, however, is totally off the table.”
“I’ve had enough of glory—it goes hand in hand with death. Rescuing your brother from kidnappers appeals to me. I have been too long without a cause. A man needs a cause or he rots away. There is a stream we can get to before dark. We can camp there, have a proper meal. I’ll wash the eye up better than this. And once my eye is in…” He nodded to himself, as if imagining it. “Then we can move out.”
“Okay. You’ll fix this, Po.”
She eyed John. “Yes. I will.” Because she wanted to.
They moved to the stream, and Shades assured them the next town was a half a day beyond, along the road. In the morning, she would see if her skills with clocks could be applied to his eye. It seemed likely. This was why she had been crammed full of knowledge.
If a
