“What’s this?” I ask.
“Food. For the voyage to Enduvida,” she says gently.
I don’t miss the way that their gazes travel to Ra’Sa. Wary. Biting both lips, I bend over and open one of the sacks.
The sound of women settling around us fills my ears as I uncover vegetables, loaves of bread from gods knows where, and hard cheeses. The round, partially carved wedges are glossy in the afternoon light.
Cheese is a delicacy. Slowly, my head rises.
“Where did you get this?” I ask.
Alisa smirks before walking past me. “Forik won’t miss it.”
I grin and throw my arms around her.
It’s awkward—we’ve never hugged—but she doesn’t pull away. In fact, Daria joins us.
“I’m so glad you both made it out,” I say, still smiling.
Once we break away, I turn back to Ra’Sa.
“We will find you later,” Daria says quickly, before going with the other women to set up a place to sleep.
I toss a quick, ‘see you then’ over my shouldber but stay frozen, entranced by the scene before me. The girls have been let down from my mate’s shoulders and arms and now play with the two crystals they had given him before leaving.
My heart burns as I watch the display. They whisper words into the gems as if they could imbue them with blessings.
Strange girls, we humans are not ones protected by some patron god or icon. I almost tell them that.
But something holds me back.
The world they will grow up in is a world I have never known.
When Coco arrives and snuggles into the girls, Ra’Sa pulls me to the side of the house and wraps me in his arms again as he sits on one of the makeshift chairs. I’m sure it will snap under the weight of both of us, but it stays strong as he holds me.
Beneath me, he relaxes as if I were his safe place, too.
All of this is new. Both intrinsically right and terrifyingly unknown. Every path I could take would end up with him, with us as a family.
I ease back, resting my head in the space between shoulder and chin.
“I’ve missed you,” I admit.
Ruh’flor,smelling your scent is a joy as sweet as a feast after weeks of boiled grains,he murmurs into my mind.
The weariness in his voice, even through our minds, worries me.
How is the rebellion progressing?I venture to ask at last.
I feel him groan at the question.
We gain a little and then lose… too much. We’ve visited eleven of the twelve remaining slave pens across Zlosa. Theslaves are mostly prepared when we arrive, but that means the giants are as well.
My throat goes dry.
You aren’t hurt, are you?
He hums, and I feel the sound reverberate through his throat and into the side of my face.