Page 34 of The Freedom You Seek

Thoughtfully, I chewed on my bottom lip, and when I lifted my head, I caught Dion staring at my mouth. My bewilderment must have been obvious because he caught himself in an instant and turned serious again. I wondered what that had been about—did I have food stuck between my teeth? Given how long I hadn’t been able to practice any proper oral hygiene, I wouldn’t be surprised if my mouth was disgusting. “Guess you’re right. And then?”

“Antas told Fig. He took it very seriously too, and together they assembled this group. We’ve been traveling through Ivreia for several months now, and Antas is still hoping to learn soon what his dream meant.”

“So you’re searching for something, somewhere—for months now. Are you any wiser after all this time?” Myquestion earned me a raised eyebrow instead of an answer. I wondered what I’d missed to get such a reaction.

“Really, Jama? All right, I’ll spell it out for you. We found it. We foundyou.”

I frowned in confusion. Did the man in front of me want to tell me that five grown men had traipsed all over the world for months because one of them believed he’d hada dream to findme? I scoffed. “Nice try, Dion. Can you simply tell me the truth, please?”

“He isn’t lying,” a cheerful voice said, and I turned around to find the source. Dion must have taken down the shadow obstacle from the mouth of the cave during our conversation because one of the men I’d seen but not spoken to earlier joined us. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed how Dion stiffened and then glowered at the newcomer.Interesting.

The youthful man was tall—they all were—and had a full head of hair in the color of ripe cherries. It wasn’t as long as Dion’s, but long enough to give him a slightly tousled look as if he had just climbed out of bed. His eyes were amber-colored, symmetrical, and framed by thick, dark lashes. I wondered briefly if being gorgeous and visually perfect was a requirement for traveling with this group. Truth be told, it was a little unsettling and intimidating.

“Thain, what do you want? Leave us alone.”

Fighting hard to suppress a triumphant noise, I simply smiled. So this wasThain, the potential nemesis of Dion. Angling my body forward, I paid closer attention to their interaction—after all, I still needed that ammunition.

“Fig wants all of us to gather for a debriefing. That includes you too, sweetheart.” Thain winked at me. “You might want to change, though—you reek of Dion. And although they say that nothing can diminish the perfection of a beautiful woman, his clothes lookutterly wrongon you. Black is just sodull.Like him.”

I had to laugh at these comments. Thain seemed easy-going and fun, and I could easily deal with some ribbing—I’d done it with Rewi all the time. My laughter died, though, when I heard a low growl originating from Dion. Guess he wasn’t a fan of being teased. He stood up and prowled over to the redhead, positioning himself directly in front of him, and even bared his teeth in a threatening gesture. How typical for men like him—or should I say, savages?

“Tell Fig we’re coming as soon as possible.”

“You should try it with manners at your earliest convenience. Your inner beast is showing with all that growling and snarling. That isn’t a good look onyou, Dion. But, if it’s any consolidation, I think your teeth look nice. All pretty, straight, and white.”

“Leave.”

Thain just beamed with mirth, blew us both kisses, and left.

With Dion’s agitated energy filling the air, it was obvious that provoking him would be unwise; I worried I could set him off and trigger an angry fit just by breathing wrong.

My thoughts returned to the talk Thain had interrupted. He’d confirmed Dion’s words, and somehow, I guessed that if all this talk of a prophetic dream had been a prank,the redhead wouldn’t have validated the story. There was no love lost between the two, and I could tell as much from the single brief interaction I’d witnessed.

Did the men genuinely think they’d been trying to find me? I snorted, which earned me a side glance from Dion. I didn’t care—the tale was just too absurd.

I rose to my feet, tested how bad my pain was—terrible, but it was bearable—and approached the bag Ireas had given me earlier. He’d mentioned that he’d been late to the caves since he had to search for another village instead of the one he’d remembered. The reason? The town had burned down in the meantime, which was horrible, but considering my own problems, I toned down my empathy for the unknown townsfolk as much as possible. Sure, it was a disaster, but I couldn’t help anyway, even if I wanted to.

In the end, Ireas had found another place and gotten me two riding dresses—I didn’t even know such garb existed—for which I was grateful. Walking around in clothes made for men twice my size had become a bit of a nuisance and was highly impractical. It had definitely nothing to do with Thain’s comment about Dion’s clothes looking—or smelling—wrong on me. Seriously, I didn’t mind that at all.

Dion turned to me, his face a carefully crafted mask. A deadly, beautiful mask. He grabbed the bag from my arms. “No time for this. Come.”

So he was back to being an idiot. I sighed and reminded myself it was wiser to pick my battles with him, and this wasn’t one worth the hassle of fighting. I’d just collect asmuch useful material as possible to defend myself against him. Not lingering back any longer, I followed Dion deeper into the caves.

We entered a larger cavern where a campfire was burning bright, and I briefly wondered if it was safe to have a fire indoors because of the smoke, but I convinced myself that the men surely would know if it was dangerous.

I joined Dion at the fireplace and filled the last empty spot closest to the warm fire, Dion to my left and Ireas to my right.

The young medic passed me a waterskin and some bread, cheese, and an apple. I smiled at him. “Thanks.”

Across from me sat the man I hadn’t interacted with yet, and I figured that this had to be Fig, the leader of this group. I couldn’t help myself but stare. All the men were tall, but in comparison, Fig was a giant. His muscles had grown their own muscles, and his features displayed rough edges to them. He, too, wasn’t ugly at all, but he stood out differently compared to the others. Rugged, with his dark brown hair cut short, a well-groomed beard, and scars of various sizes and visibility all over his face. His green eyes were shaded with a darker tint. If I had to guess, I would estimate him to be around Antas’ age.

When he noticed me observing him, Fig set his food aside and cleared his throat before giving me his fullattention. “So, you’re the woman we’ve rescued? Antas said your name is Nayana?”

I nodded. Fig spoke with authority, and it was obvious he was used to giving orders and having them followed without argument. Yet he seemed a lot less volatile than Dion, who kept staring at me from the side. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of returning his attention and focused mine on Fig instead.

“Yes, sir.” The added honorific slipped out of my mouth—it just felt natural—and I ignored Thain’s snickering. “Nayana Garnet Ortha. Thank you very much for getting me out of a terrible situation and offering me food and shelter.”

“You’re welcome. However, whenever you feel ready, I’d like you to share your story with us if you can bear to do so. It would help us to know what we’re dealing with. But it isn’t mandatory. I won’t pry, and I advise my comrades to do the same.”