Over a night fire of crackling wood and leeches, Mina learns a little more about Edvard and Yuila.
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By the time Edvard got back to the fire, Mina had made Yuila strip and redress in dry clothing, and was wrapped in a blanket by the brightly burning fire as evening fell. He threw a dark glance at the Crone, searching through a pack to find dry clothes of his own.
Yuila cried out as she moved her foot, nearly making Mina dump the copper pot she was stirring over the fire.
"What now, Yuila?" Even as Mina looked to the girl, she saw them. Three leeches clung slimily to the back of her leg above the knee. "Hold still." She gritted her teeth and held a stick from the fire to a greenish-brown leech, watching the first drop off and curl up.
"They hurt," Yuila moaned.
"They don't hurt." The second leech dropped to the ground.
"They sting."
She sighed. "They don't hurt or sting, Yuila. You'll be all right in a little while."
The younger girl flinched as the third leech was removed. She kicked it into the fire.
"Stand up and let me check you for more." Mina's eyes went over the girl when she rose, lifting the blanket and her skirt and turning her so the light shone on her better. "You're all right now."
"Thanks, Sapo." Yuila slunk back to her position by the fire, pouting as her hair hung in wet clumps.
"Let me take your hair out so it will dry better."
Yuila sighed as she settled behind her and picked out the ties that held her hair. It took several long moments to even remove the red ribbons, and much longer to separate the newly braided strands.
Edvard joined them in dry clothing and placed his boots by the fire to dry.
"I'm sorry, Edvard," Yuila said lowly. "Thank you for getting me out."
He nodded. "Be more careful."
"I will."
"Any leeches?" Mina asked him, working Yuila's hair into manageable clumps.
He looked to her quickly. "No. Did she?"
"Five," Yuila said.
"She had three," Mina corrected.
"They'll itch tomorrow," he said, stirring the beans and sausage in the pot. "But you'll be all right, Yuila." He pulled his dry shirt closer in the chilling night air and then went to a nearby tree to hang his clothes to dry. He rummaged through one of the packs and put the three bowls near the fire. "We'll travel a few more days, then rest the horses for a day."
"Can I run Sova tomorrow?" Yuila asked as Mina tugged a knot from her hair with the comb.
"We'll see."
Mina battled a wet, clumpy knot of the Crone's hair in the firelight. She had seen twice before when Edvard allowed Yuila to let the pinto mare run. It was just to get the mare's stretches out, he had told her, but Mina knew it was just as much for Yuila's benefit. The girl was an excellent rider, and Mina envied her confidence on the animal. And she had looked so poised on the mare as the horse stretched her long black and white legs in sweeping strides over the road. He only allowed her to run the mare on the road, and only when he was certain no one else was in sight.
The soup was done by the time she had detangled the girl's hair. She couldn't quite describe the Crone's color of hair. It was a combination of shades rather than color, she thought, picking the loose strands of hair from the comb. Dark blonde, but with a luminescence that verged on silver, almost. And her skin was unlike any Mina had ever seen. Not exactly white, but not yellow or tawny, either. More of a pale pewter-gold, as if she was supposed to be tan, but had been ill lately. Or lost a lot of blood. It wasn't too noticeable at first, especially since Edvard insisted she stay covered up with a hood or cowl. Her eyes, however, set her apart.
Yuila ran her hands through her hair and shook it. "Will you braid it later, Sapo?"
"Yes, after it's dry."
Edvard looks normal enough, Mina thought, glancing at him as he turned his boots near the fire. At least, as normal as any other boy, whom she couldn't recall at the moment. His dark hair fell just to the nape of his neck, straight, for the most part, with eyes she had decided were a deep blue.
She served up supper then, and he shaved more of the vanilla bean for everyone at her request. She noticed he had been very watchful of the road and horses. She, too, had tried to be wary of any different noises, but there were none. The usual two or three shatten hovered around, never near enough to hit with a stick, but always awaiting an easy bite to eat.
After Yuila finished her meditation, which Edvard demanded she carry out nearby, Mina braided her hair into eight braids, at the girl's prompting. Barely had she finished, than the young girl lay down with her blanket near the fire and was asleep.
Mina sighed, looking at her, then to Edvard who sat across the fire. "Did your boots dry?"
"Almost."
Her eyes dropped to where she had rewrapped his arm from the wolf bite. "Thanks for fishing her out."
He nodded, grinning. "If there's a beehive or a way to fall into something, she'll find it."
She shook her head. "It's a wonder she got this far on her own."
He nodded. After a moment he got up and sat beside her, poking at the fire with a stick. "You want to try riding Neito tomorrow?"
She shook her head at the mention of the bay gelding. "I can't."
"Why not? I'll be there. I won't let you fall, Mina."
She looked at the fire as it danced into flames in the night. "What if he runs off?"
He laughed. "He won't run off. He's a good horse. Well behaved, obedient. You'll do fine."
"I don't know. I can't by myself."
"Well, we'll give it a try."
"If I learned," she said slowly, debating her words, "would I have to ride Makka?"
"No. You can ride with me, if you want to." He cleared his throat and looked back to the fire, rubbing his shoulder. "I just thought you might want to try. I wouldn't put you on the mule or Sova unless that's what you wanted."
"Okay."
She fell asleep thinking about the mule, and wondering why she had never taken her mother up on those riding lessons in . . . Oh, where was it they had moved to? She could remember the stable and some of the horses at the riding academy, but why not the town?
She had went to lessons three times; once to look at the horses, and twice to sulk at having to go. Now she wished she had continued.
It was from a dream about the stable that Mina awoke to a low cursing, and opened her eyes to see Edvard nearby in the low firelight. She sat up slowly.
"You do have leeches," she said quietly.
He looked to her in surprise, sitting a few feet away. He had taken off his shirt and was trying to rub them off his shoulder. "Yes. I didn't think I did earlier." He leaned to the fire and grabbed a stick that's end was red. He held it to the leech at his shoulder and it fell off.
She knelt near him and looked over his back. "You've got them here, too." She took the stick from his hand. "Do you mind?"
"Not at all."
She put the hot stick point to a thick leach, curled with blood. It dropped from his back. Beneath a dark mark was visible in the poor lighting. She frowned, wiping the spot with her hand. "You've got welts."
He nodded. She removed the leeches one by one, flicking them away as they fell to the ground. Half a dozen welts marked his back, and she rubbed one hesitantly.
"Do they itch?"
"Yeah. Yuila's going to be complaining tomorrow."
"I'll bet. Eza gave us something that will work for that."
"Yuila's complaining?" He glanced to the Crone's sleeping form across the fire.
Mina smiled as she found a clay jar in a saddle pack and sat on her knees behind him. "The itching." She opened the jar and applied some of the ointment to the welts.
"Is that the camphor?"
"Yes."
"It helps."
"Good."
She rubbed a spot where a large leech had gorged itself, leaving a dark red mark. The skin was slightly raised and warmer than the rest. "I'll put some ointment on Yuila's leg tomorrow."
"She'll be fussing about it."
Her finger paused on the large welt, not liking the warmth coming from it. "You might have a little infection with this one, Edvard."
"It'll pass."
She shrugged. "So, did you compete at the Sanvatir Tournament, too?"
"Yes, but only the last one."
"How did you do?"
"Second."
She frowned at his response. "You were second to Elian?"
He nodded. "In sword."
She looked over his back, making sure she had treated all the welts. "Well, that's it. They'll still itch a little." She put the cork back on the jar. "What about bow? Did you shoot?"
"I got first."
She watched as he pulled on his shirt. "That's great. You didn't say anything about it before."
"Swordsmanship is the biggest event there."
She nodded as he brushed the leeches into the fire where they popped and hissed on the hot stones. "It's still good."
"Thanks." He resumed his seat a few feet away from her and sighed, nodding to the jar she still held. "And thanks for that."
For a moment she returned his stare, then put the jar back in the saddle bag and took her place near Yuila. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Mina."
PG13, saga; teen, fantasy, fantasy world travel, teen romance, clean romance, realm, magical realism, shadow world, school/new school, high school, fiction, serial. #ReadFree with free signup. ♫♪
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Thanks to P.G. Waters for the use of her story!