After dinner, I join Brennah, Ava, and Feyona at the lake to wash another cart full of dishes.
“So, Everly,” Brennah says, “how are you liking it here?”
I scrub a particularly stubborn bit of food off a bowl. “It’s great. I enjoy freezing my fingers off.”
Feyona snorts. “I like this one.”
“It gets easier,” Ava assures me. “You’ll find your rhythm soon enough.”
As we continue to wash, Brennah chatters away about camp gossip. I half-listen as I focus on the repetitive motions of scrubbing and rinsing.
By the time we finish, my hands are purple and half frozen, but I still smile, knowing it has been a long time since I’ve felt this useful. This normal.
Then, I remember why I’m really here, and the smile fades. But as I look at the women, laughing and joking, I wonder. What if this could be my life? What if I could be near Cenric all the time?
I shake my head, banishing the thought. It’s a dangerous path to go down.
Chapter
Seventeen
EVERLY
My hem trailsthrough at least four inches of snow as I walk next to Morwen, Brennah, Ava, and Feyona the next morning.
Morwen had roused us all at first light, insisting that we head to the city to gather more dried herbs, oils, and food.
Three Bloodstone warriors follow a few paces behind us, their heavy boots crunching in the fresh snow. One of them is the guard I was so incredibly rude to when I first arrived at the camp. I glance back at him, taking in his stoic expression and distant stare focused straight ahead.
Guilt coils in my stomach as I think about our first encounter. He was only doing his duty, yet I lashed out, letting my frustrations overflow onto him.
I take a deep, steadying breath, then slow my pace until I fall into step beside the guard. He briefly meets my eyes, before returning his attention to scanning our snowy surroundings for any sign of danger.
I clear my throat. “I want to apologize for the way I spoke to you when we first met. It was thoughtless and rude of me, and you didn’t deserve such callous treatment. I’m truly sorry for insulting you.”
The guard gives me a short, curt nod. “Apology accepted.”
I offer him a smile before quickening my stride to catch up with Morwen and the others, my steps lighter than before.
I walk next to Ava for a while before finding something to talk about. “How long have you been with the Bloodstone army?”
A gentle breeze teases the loose strands around her face as she looks over at me. “It’s been about six months.”
“Do you enjoy it?”
“It has its moments.”
“What did you do before joining them?” I ask, genuinely curious.
Sadness glimmers in Ava’s eyes as she speaks. “I was a midwife in a Bloodstone village, but after it was repeatedly raided, I no longer felt safe living there.”
My chest squeezes at the thought of Ava being forced to leave her home. “That must have been difficult.”
“It was,” she says softly. “But we make our homes where we can, don’t we?”
“We do.” We pass a towering tree, its gnarled limbs stretching wide enough to shelter at least ten people, before I ask her another question. “What’s your favorite part about being with the army?”
The lines near Ava’s eyes deepen as she smiles. “The camaraderie. These people become your family.”
