“We are almost there.”
She didn’t answer, but he felt her head move against his shoulder in a weak nod. It was a miracle that she was even still on her feet. He felt a reluctant admiration for her determination to keep going. When he saw her in the boat, she’d looked like she’d been beaten. Even after saving her life, she hadn’t wanted him to be a part of the trigon. A person of importance to her and to her country.
By the time they reached the village, the only candles still lit came from a small inn with a thatched roof. Gerard and Elea ducked underneath the small door and into the warm, bright taproom. Only three men were in the room and they appeared to be deep in their cups. A burly man with a black beard and a scar underneath his left eye bounded toward them.
“Will you two be looking for accommodations this evening?” he asked with a greedy smile.
“Two rooms,” Gerard said, his teeth chattering from the cold. He pulled out the coins that Maman Petit had given to him.
The innkeeper shook his head. “I only have one, but I’ll take these coins and toss in a pair of dry clothes.”
It was highway robbery, but what other choice did they have? Elea couldn’t walk any further. He handed the man the coins.
“Mother Rooney,” the innkeeper called.
A middle-aged woman with yellow curls escaping from underneath her cap came bustling toward them. “Oh, my poor dears. You’re all wet. Come with me and we’ll find you some dry clothes.”
She led them to a small room, not much bigger than a closet, where there were assorted clothes. Gerard assumed that they must have once belonged to guests of the inn, for the size of the apparel ranged from small to bigger than even the innkeeper. Mother Rooney pulled out a farmer’s smock for him and a pair of trousers that looked about the right size.
“You can sleep in the shirt too,” she said as she handed them to him. “Now, for the lady. We’ll need a shift first.”
Mother Rooney rifled through a stack of shirts and pulled out a long white chemise. Next, she found a blue woolen dress that looked like it had seen quite a bit of wear. Gerard thought that Elea would refuse them, but she accepted the items from the innkeeper’s wife and even thanked her. Mother Rooney then led them to the back stairs, where she picked up a few logs from a stack by the wall before leading them up to a room. There was little more to it than a bed. She placed the logs into the hearth and started a fire.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?” she asked.
He shook his head. “That will be all.”
Mother Rooney bobbed a curtsy and left the room, closing the door behind her. Gerard looked at Elea, who was swaying on her feet.
“I’ll turn this way and change, and you can look the other way.”
“V-very good,” she said, her teeth chattering.
Gerard groaned. He watched as she tried to take off her wet dress. Elea was like a boat, swaying to one side while trying to pull the material off her soaked skin.
Unable to watch her struggle any longer, he said, “Here, let me help.”
She nodded as if speaking was too difficult. He peeled off her dress that still smelled a little of sewer until all she had left on was the thin, damp shift.
“Right,” he said, and walked to the other side of the small room to change his own clothes. His trousers, coat, and shirt stuck to him like they had been pasted on. Tugging and pulling, he managed to get bare. Gerard heard a thump on the bed and quickly grabbed the smock and put it on. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Elea on one side of the bed. The covers were pulled up all the way to her chin.
He picked up his coat, shirt, and trousers and hung them in front of the fire. Elea’s dress wasn’t salvageable, but he placed her boots and his next to the flames. He hoped they would be dry by the morning. He lay down on the floor. It was as hard and unyielding as his heart.
“W-what are you doing?” Elea asked, her head peeking out from above the bed.
“Trying to sleep.”
“Why are you on the floor?”
The answer to her question was so obvious that he didn’t bother to respond. Instead, he flung an arm over his eyes.
“There is room for both of us in the bed, and I won’t be able to sleep knowing you are on the floor. We are both members of the trigon.”
Gerard groaned and climbed into the bed. Elea had scooted over to the other side. He wasn’t obsessed with her anymore. It should have made lying by her side easier.
It didn’t.
Pulling up the covers, he felt the warmth of the blankets and the fire. In his exhaustion, he hadn’t realized that the cold had entered his body all the way to the bones. He looked over at Elea; she had already fallen asleep. She looked so frail and vulnerable. His own eyelids were heavy and almost impossible to hold open.