I wiggled my butt to dry it and returned to Torin’s side.
He said, “Now tis my turn. Stay with the horses.” He strode into the trees.
I stood there beside a horse, who looked at me as if he did not want me in his space. I put my hand out. It sniffed my palm and snorted irritably.
Torin returned, yawned, and smacked his cheeks. Then said, “Och, it hurt.”
“Your face is all beaten up and you’re exhausted.”
“Aye,” he felt his jaw. “Tis verra bothersome. And I am tired. I will set up a spot for us tae rest and then I will grab a bit of sleep.”
He dug through the largest of the saddlebags, finding a wool blanket.
“That would have been good a few hours ago.”
“Nae, tis scratchy, ye would be in a dire situation.” He unfurled the blanket over the grassy bank, a puff of dust rising in the air. “Ye can rest here.”
I plopped down on the blanket and he was right, it felt like sandpaper. I sat cross-legged.
He began unstrapping saddlebags and placing them around me.
“I hope you don’t need any help.” I was looking at the skin on my thighs. I would have many blisters. It was going to suck. “I would normally help, but I’m kinda going to need to sit here, I think.”
He glanced over.
I hastily pushed my dress down.
“I winna need the princess tae help me unload her horses. I daena ken much, but I ken ye are goin’ tae be feelin’ yer thighs for a time. The saddle was built for the arse of a Scot, ye hae the pink skin of a Princess, ye need silk for yer arse.”
“I don’t know if I need silk, but definitely soft leather, like the seats of my car… I miss my car. It never hurt my thighs like this…” I said, “I think I will name the horses Ferrari and Lambo. The tall one is Lambo, the shorter one is Ferrari.”
Torin repeated it. “Farri, Lambo.”
“Ferarri. Lambo.”
He got it right the next time.
Done unloading the horses,he collapsed onto his side on the blanket with an arm thrown over the saddlebags. He mumbled, “Dost ye mind if I sleep? I need tae rest m’eyes afore I go through the bags.”
“I don’t mind, I’ll keep watch.”
He groaned.
I said, “What?”
“Ye canna keep watch over me, Princess, tis unsettling.”
“Well, everyone in the world must sleep sometime, and I slept on the horse, so you can sleep here now. It won’t hurt anything at all if I stay awake and watch for trouble.”
He rolled onto his back and put his arm over his eyes. “Ye will wake me if ye hear anything, Princess? If ye hear the faintest footsteps, will ye nudge me?”
“Yes.”
He went quiet, and a minute later he was fast asleep.
Dude was in the warm sun on the rock. Ferrari and Lambo were drinking from the edge of the river. I grew bored and focused on the bags, wondering if I was allowed to go through them. He had sounded like he was going to, but that might have just been him ‘taking’ the work. Did he think of the bags as his spoils? Would he be upset if I rifled through them?
If I were the princess, wouldn’t that make thismyspoils?
