Page 8 of The Malice of Moons and Mages (The Broken Bonds of Magic #1)

Eight

Audra

A udra took two bowls of the worst stew ever made in culinary history back to the small room, and Chon looked over the sleeping man before locking them in. The key secured safely inside Audra’s pocket.

The mage lay facing the wall. A curtain of ebony hair concealed his face. His breathing was steady but not deep. She suspected he was awake.

The room smelled sweet, like the incense that burned in the Western temples of her childhood. The memory drew her toward the violet haze that ebbed from the triangle in the corner. The wood surrounding it was charred. It whined softly when she teased it with her toe.

“Leave it,” he mumbled, his voice was hoarse. “It’s not spent yet.” He scowled over one shoulder when she nudged it again. “Back away, fool.”

Audra’s chest clenched uncomfortably, drawing concern. But it diminished quickly when she rubbed her sternum and sat against the wall, assured that her initial assumptions of him were correct. Setting his bowl on the floor, she pinched her nose while scooping a spoonful of barely palatable sludge into her mouth and choked it down. He didn’t move.

“You should eat,” she said, shoving his calf with her foot. He grunted, pulling his legs away like an annoyed child. She took another bite. Forcing one after another until she’d eaten most of it. The mage’s bowl on the floor had cooled, a skin coated the top. It wouldn’t be edible for much longer. The heat at least took the chill from their bones, but once that was gone, the taste overpowered whatever nutrition it held. If any.

“It’ll get worse if you wait.” She prodded him again.

His sigh was rife with irritation.

“You lost a lot of blood,” she said. “Would have died if we hadn’t come across you.”

He draped an arm over his face before sniffing the blanket beneath him and bolting upright. The disgusted glare he gave it turned to her. He rubbed the side of his head, fingers cautiously tracing the fading bruise around his eye. His scowl deepened, effectively wiping away all his handsome attributes. “Where are we?”

Her spoon scraped the bottom of the bowl. She stuffed the last bite into her mouth with a shudder before replying. “On a boat.”

He squared his shoulders and huffed. “Is this how you treat people?”

“Yes, often.” Audra set her bowl down before looking back at him. He was easy to measure. An entitled Moon mage that was too weak to do anything about anything. She was glad she’d already settled on hatred. “I see you haven’t noticed that I’m sitting next to you in the same situation. Eating the same food, sharing the same small space, and I am a ‘people’ too.” She shoved his bowl at him, her expression one of disgust. “Now eat.”

His voice simmered with an authoritarian tone. “Do you know who I am?”

Audra chuckled, hand clenching the stolen blade in her pocket. “Well, I do now.” She leaned back and closed her eyes. “You are an asshole. Anyone who asks that question usually is.”

The silence was thick. He opened and closed his mouth more than once. After a minute, she heard the bowl slide across the floor followed by him gagging.

“It’s only slightly better warm,” she said, smirking.

He placed the half-eaten bowl back on the floor after a short time and cleared his throat. “Who did it?”

She opened one eye. She’d been waiting for him to ask. “Saved you?”

He shook his head, his offended look worse than before. “Tried to poison us. They should have their hands cut off for the violations committed to previously harmless chickens.”

She snickered. “That wasn’t chicken. And Munk is probably the worst cook in three tribes. Lost his sense of taste and smell during the battle of Korman, at least that’s what the rest of the crew says. They love him, though, so they eat it anyway. I would say that you’ll get used to it, but that’d probably be a lie.”

He winced as he leaned against the wall. The worn navy shirt and brown pants looked awkward on him. Even the way he carried himself in discomfort signaled someone used to an entirely different sort of life.

Curiosity finally made her ask. “What’s your name?”

His eyelids slit open. “Asshole.” He shifted uncomfortably. “And I know it was you who saved me. Unfortunate for both of us. The big guy might have been more useful.”

“He would’ve punched you harder. Rightly so. I saved your life. Twice actually.” Some small amount of gratitude would have been expected. But this? He shifted further away as her anger flared. A smaller tug ebbed behind her ribs but didn’t last for more than a breath. Her thoughts flicked to her brother before the mage spoke again.

“Now I’m stuck with you.” He grumbled.

She snapped. “I should’ve let you die.”

“Too late for that now.” His breath deepened as he turned away.

“Asshole.”