"Kaylee, I don't–"
"They're safe, I promise," Marc said. "First off, I can see them both from here. It's a clear line of sight from this window to pretty much the whole play area, clubhouse included. I can actually see in the big window of the little house." Marc nodded to the window of the sink that did, indeed, look out onto the back yard that Faith had seen from her peek through the curtains when she woke up.
"Second, there's at least two of our clan out there in those woods right now. I can see one of them, and I know her brother's not far off. Those two are more than capable of holding off some rogues until the kids get back inside or I get out there." Marc said.
"Also, it would take someone extremely brave or extremely stupid to attack our clan house in broad daylight," a voice added from behind Faith.
Marc glanced up from where he was slicing mushrooms and nodded. "That, too. Welcome back, Aldric. There's coffee, still pretty fresh."
"Thank you. What are you planning for dinner?”
Faith watched the man walk to the cupboards and pull out a mug. No, walk was too tame a word for the movement that propelled him across the space. Sauntered captured the totally unhurried nature of his stride, but felt too casual and cocky. Stalk and prowl were closer, but he was too relaxed for them to fit very well, either. It was more like he moved with the threat of stalking right below the surface.
Moved like a predator flashed through her head again.
"Well, I was going to do up a pot roast, but got a bit side-tracked with our excitement today, so I'm going to throw together some whatever-we've-got spaghetti sauce. I think we have some venison left? And I know we just canned up a bunch of tomatoes. Garden's been crazy this year."
"I will go hunting later and resupply the venison,“ Aldric said, taking a sip of his coffee and closing his eyes for a moment, savoring it. When he opened his eyes, he turned to the table and smiled slightly, ducking his head in a suggestion of a bow. "I am pleased to see you awake again, Magaestra."
“Thank you. But my name is Faith. Faith Latham," she said.
He smiled and it changed his whole face, turning it from slightly grim and deadly serious to a lighter, friendlier version. He sat and extended his hand.
"And mine is Aldric Donnelly. It is an honor to meet you properly," he said.
She nodded slowly, pulling her lip between her teeth, and slid her hand into his. His hand was warm and his grip was gentle, though she could feel the strength in it, like she could when he caught her earlier, for that split second before she passed out. Her brain had some trouble with the oddness involved with calmly shaking hands with a man she had watched kill two horrible monsters in the blink of an eye.
"Um," she said. Very intelligent. "Thank you for your help."
Aldric nodded again, and smiled. "It was an honor. I'm glad I was able to help. Kaylee seems to have recovered quickly, are you doing as well?"
“Not really. I'm just putting up a good front," Faith admitted. "I had a bit of a panic attack a little bit ago."
"You're doing great," Marc said from the counter. "I can't imagine that fighting off those things is an everyday experience for you, or you'd have been better prepared. I don't know you well, but I feel pretty confident saying that."
She shot him a small smile and he winked back.
"I am relieved to hear that you are feeling better," Aldric said.
"Well, I mean I'm still pretty exhausted and everything's sort of achy, but yeah. I'm not falling to the floor in a faint again anytime soon. I hope," she said with a shrug.
"I left you some painkillers, are they not helping?" Aldric frowned. A small line creased brow and lord help her, but she thought it was cute. What the hell?
Her face grew warm and she kept her eyes on her coffee cup. "I didn't take them. I, um," she tried to clear the tightness in her throat. "I wasn't sure where I was, or where Kaylee was, or who had left them, and..."
"And you were naturally wary. I can understand that. Are you still concerned, or would you take them now?" he asked.
"I guess I would take something now," she nodded. "And I wouldn't be upset with some more coffee, if there is any left."
"Excellent," Aldric said.
He stood up and opened a cupboard away from where Marc pulled the coffee things and pulled out a small bottle, then picked up the coffee carafe to bring both to the table. She smiled in thanks as he handed the pills to her, then quickly swallowed them down with the last gulp of coffee in her cup. Aldric refilled it as soon as the mug was back upright, topped his own cup up, and returned the carafe to its place. Faith was about to ask for the milk when he opened the refrigerator and pulled out the carton.
"Thank you," she murmured as he poured some into her coffee.
"My pleasure," he said as he put the milk away and returned to his seat.
"Hey, I'm going to go check on the kids, and then I have some emails to get to. Pasta sauce is in the slow cooker now and dinner should be ready around six or so," Marc said. He wiped his hands on a kitchen towel and Faith noticed that the counters were clean and wiped down, the few dishes he had used stacked neatly in the dish drainer.
"Thank you, Marc. I believe Tamika is out there as well. She was most eager to meet miss Kaylee in person." Aldric said. He turned to Faith and explained. “They spoke on the phone a bit ago and Miss Kaylee greatly impressed Tamika. She is
