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Story: The BoneKeeper’s Daughter (The Blade and Bone Trilogy #1)
TIME AND TIDE AND TRAVEL
WREN
“ R eally, Wren?” Kaden is laughing quietly, and it sounds like music, like waterfalls and rushing streams. “Horse?”
I’m feeling particularly mulish, and glare at him, despite his amusement pulling at me like puppet strings.
“It was harder than I thought, and I’ve been calling him horse for so long that…
” Rannoch is grinning too, which is just the water in the well, and I give up, tossing my hands in the air, and rolling my eyes.
“I know! I know! But everything I came up with seemed incredibly stupid. Didn’t it, Horse?
” I croon gently, and he walks to me, resting his chin over my shoulder.
“You’ve trained it to…cuddle you?” Kaden asks, and I bury my face in Horse’s mane.
“Not intentionally,” I mumble, and am caught between worlds when Lorcan’s laughter is echoed by Kaden and Rannoch. “I just didn’t know they were only supposed to have limited treats.”
The way they grin at each other clenches my heart.
We’ve been here almost two weeks, maybe longer, and the camp is getting restless.
No one is sure, at least from what I gather, why we’re sitting still so long.
Ellie and I wander the perimeter daily, as far as we’re able without getting reprimanded.
It’s surprisingly big; the central area is small, of course, maybe kept to thirty tents and twice as many people, but the outer camp has the pack animals and servants, and is another hundred or so people, spread out in a wider circle.
It seems more than a hunting party, less than a war band, and is a curious array.
It is always a careful, winding walk, and despite my best efforts, I’m not sure I could retrace my steps to find half of what we’ve seen.
I have freedom to fly with a hawk’s hood, a false comfort of carefully controlled movement.
I am allowed to go anywhere, as long as anywhere is on a preordained path.
It hadn’t taken long to get used to the weight of suspicious eyes on my every movement; to be honest it doesn’t feel much different than when I’d walk through my own village.
And if a hidden set behind a skeleton mask followed more often than others, well, things can be ignored when you are full, and warm, and your throat is wet with fresh water.
Teo walked with us constantly at the beginning, having little to do if he wasn’t in a meeting with Axton, and his presence helped lessen the glares from sharp edged knives into confused, almost interested glances as we explored the camp.
He and Ellie were generous with their knowledge, sharing everything from how to set up a bedroll to the types of plants surrounding us.
Their happiness being near each other was contagious, but uncautious, and was, at first, difficult to cover.
It poured out of them like water off a fall, despite their best efforts, and more than a few eyes narrowed in their direction by our third day together.
They tried, of course, but it is hard to hide a heart that beats outside of your body. It was only when Axton approached on the fourth or fifth day, shoulders tight and body tense, that Teo became worried, and Ellie fell back a step, head bowed.
“You are laughing often here, Teo.” Axton’s voice was heavy, a warning and a blade exposed, all at once.
The two men flanking him on either side had white knuckles gripping their sheathed daggers, faces hidden behind bone masks, bodies indecisive.
It was clearly not a place they wanted to be for some reason, caught between the blood in their leader’s voice and the smile on their friend’s face.
Teo shrugged uncomfortably, hands up in supplication. “It is a funny assignment, Axton,” he replied placatingly, but Axton did not move.
“How so.” There was no question, but Teo tried anyway.
“She gets excited over simple things, and it alleviates my boredom. It’s hard to explain.”
“Try.”
Teo opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, prompted by Lorcan, I’d crowed in delight, a happy, childish sound that felt strange in my throat, but seemed real enough to the men around me. All eyes jerked my way, as though on a string, and I grabbed for Teo’s hand, ignoring everyone else.
“Rider, I can smell the…oh…what are they called? The berries? Are there some? Oh, I’m sorry, BloodLetter. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Teo was tight with forced cheer, following my lead. “You and your berries, Keeper. The stone berries? Yes. We’re by the patch.”
“Do you…do you need us here, BloodLetter?” I’d asked respectfully, purposefully letting longing fill my voice.
“Or perhaps Ellie could walk me to the patch?” My feet were already drifting that way, body leaning, tugging lightly on Teo’s hand.
Axton glanced between the two of us, where our fingers crossed and palms met, clearly confused.
“I’ll give you some as well, BloodLetter,” I offered when he did not respond, then, “A full half of what I pick.”
Axton snorted, and tried to cover it with a cough, the men behind him loosening their grips on their knives. “I don’t need berries , Demon. For Blood and Stone. You’re a simpleton.”
“They’re good, and I’ve never had anything like them before.” I’d whispered stubbornly. “Ellie, do we have a basket? Would you get one?”
She’d wavered, unsure of what to do. “Rider?” She addressed Teo, seemingly for permission, voice hesitant and respectful, and he’d shrugged casually in her direction, not even turning to look her way, eyes fixed on my face with a sort of amused fondness.
“Did you not hear her, Fifth? A basket.” His dismissal of her was clear and unmistakable as he’d pulled me closer to him. “Alright, Keeper. Give me a moment with the BloodLetter and I’ll walk you to the patch. Axton?”
“I’m amazed you can stand it, Teo.” The it he was referring to was obvious, and it took everything in me not to snap back, but needs must, so I kept my face hopeful and stupid. Axton settled back on his heels, some of the tension leaving his body. “It seems…almost intolerable.”
“ You assigned me, Ax. Say the word and I’m happy to go back to training, where I belong, and stop playing nursemaid.” Truth was undeniable in his tone, but affection bubbled underneath. “Though she’s a funny little thing in her own way. Like watching a newborn colt trying to find its legs.”
“You’ve always had a soft spot for things that amuse you, friend.” Axton sighed, worry tinging the sound. “But she’s not a pet. You’d do well to remember there is no good ending to this story for her.”
Teo laughed in response. “I don’t need a good ending, Ax.
Just things to keep me preoccupied during the long hours on the road.
You know me. I take what I can get in the moment to take the edge off.
I’d rather have blood than boredom, but in the between…
at least it’s a better assignment than the latrines. ”
Axton huffed a half-laugh, half-cough in return and nodded, missing the bitterness flavoring his friend’s voice. “Go get your berries with your pet, Teo. Just be smart. And careful.”
“When am I not, Ax? When am I not.” We’d walked away, hands clenched tightly to each other, with the feeling of having just missed the executioner’s blade, the whisper of steel passing close enough to our throats that our skin was raw and red.
Nothing was said of that moment afterwards, but since then Teo had skipped our afternoon walks.
Ellie and I still wandered, but she’d been more respectful, at least outside the walls of our tent.
Inside we still fell into casual comradery, but we’d all heard and heeded the warning.
At night, around our small fire, she’d comb and rebraid my hair, laughing quietly with Teo, telling me stories from their childhood, of how they’d hidden in cupboards together, how Teo had taken the blame for Ellie’s antics more than once, how Ellie had comforted Teo during his Rider training, wrapping his sprains and washing his wounds.
Their stories, more than anything else, built the framework in my mind for the People of the Blood.
Teo still gave me the official structures and explanations, but it was their shared history that let me drink in the culture, rather than sip.
They were more careful in what they asked me, however, often exchanging long glances after I answered a question for them, a full conversation in their silence.
“You ration the water? Even for the leaders of your city?”
“No restrictions on schooling?”
“What happens during the Storms?”
“Why are you not married?”
A bark of sour laughter burst from my throat at the last question, and I’d simply shaken my head.
The only times they were ever evasive were when I asked about Rannoch and Kaden.
Ellie and Teo would just change the subject, not even carefully, with enough purposefulness that I understood, eventually, that I would get no answers from them.
In all the time, all of the walks and exploration, I had never seen Rannoch or Kaden.
Not until this morning, when, for the first time I’d woken up before the sun, before Ellie, and slipped from the tent, leaving Ellie sound asleep behind me.
Something had been different with Teo last night, some anxiousness coating his skin and transferring to Elllie and me. He hadn’t wanted to remain, but hadn’t wanted to leave, so we’d stayed up into the thick of the night, past the fire’s death, before he’d finally gotten to his feet.
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