“If you insist on being prepared, perhaps we should work on finding a way to send each other messages,” Melisa says, effectively tearing a hole in my thoughts.
I look down at her. “We will not be able to see each other?”
She avoids my gaze as she straightens her clothes and returns the dagger to the folds of her dress.
“No. When we return, you will take me to Eneko’s cabin, where his whole family lives. You will go to work with the other slaves. We might be able to meet at night every few days.”
Silence hangs in the air between us.
“We should have a method in case something more serious arises,” she says.
The reality that we will make it to Zlosa within the next day begins to weigh on me. Even thinking about her in the home of that monstrous giant makes my skin crawl.
Instead of voicing my displeasure, I ask, “What do you have in mind?”
She is silent for a moment.
“I think it would be best if we use a code my family and I invented. Basically, it’s a pattern of rocks and sticks. It’s easier to disguise than other methods. Each letter has a series.”
The world around us continues to be quiet as we trudge along. The hours spent listening to her voice are strangely calming to me.
It causes me to smile. That expression doesn’t go unnoticed.
“I didn’t know you enjoyed pebbles and branches so much,” Melisa teases. “Or perhaps you are just one of those quiet types excited by secret codes?”
I sneak a sideways glance at her. “Perhaps I am merelyexcitedby the sound of your voice.”
When I look at her, she seems as bewildered as a cave rat before a fire.
“What? You are the only one allowed to tease?” I ask.
Her mouth curves up into a smile. “Not at all. I’m just surprised.”
I hum, pleased. “Tell me more about your sticks and stones.”
“Are you sure it won’t be too complicated?” she asks. “I worry for your tiny brain.”
“I can proficiently speak five languages. They come to me quickly. I know the alphabet of the common tongue.”
More silence passes through the space between us. The birds fly overhead, and the blasted sun continues to crawl into the sky.
“Fine, I will teach you. Put me down. I think I am well enough to walk.”
I reluctantly oblige, casting her a sideways look and drinking in her unusual beauty.
“Tell me how to recognize anA. We have plenty of time before we arrive to memorize a few dozen measly letters,” I say with a smile.
She laughs and shakes her head. The sound is sweet. I wish I had a million days to walk through these woods and learn every secret she keeps hidden.
“A would be a rock and a stick,” she says.
I smile. “Next.”
“B is a stick and two rocks.”
We continue on like that for hours, reviewing her letters until we are half a day away from Zlosa.
“Tell me how to say… Melisa is the most beautiful woman in the world,” she says.