Page 42 of Hearts Lost

“I’m very okay,” I say.

Another frown ripples across Ithronel’s face, and she tilts her head to the side, almost as if she’s listening for something. Her body goes still, then turns slightly toward the river.

“What is it?” I ask.

She shakes her head.

“I don’t know,” she replies. “Something’s bothering the animals today.”

Fear prickles the skin on the back of my neck.

“Is it another void… animal?” I ask, catching myself before I can call them beasts.

“No,” she says, drawing the word out long and low. “I can’t tell what it is, just that they’re all upset. Scared. They’re moving away from it.”

I exhale in a hiss as this morning’s flash of arousal bleeds out of me.

“Where is it?” I ask. “This thing that’s upsetting them?”

Ithronel presses her lips together into a tight line and tilts her head back.

“It’s up the river,” she answers. “And… I think it’s moving down the river.”

Moving toward us, then. Shit. My mind sorts through our options. An unknown entity approaches, something that’s scaring the void animals in the woods around us. We could fortify our position. We could move to meet the threat.

We could run away. For a heartbeat, I imagine sinking into the river, seeing if we could ride the waterfall back down to the black shores. Making love to Ithronel for hours on the smooth, dark stones of that strange beach, with nothing and no one to distract us.

Yeah. Until one of us broke a bone or got an infection or, hells, just wanted to eat something other than tasteless fruit. Or until Ithronel got tired of me, some immensely helpful part of my mind adds. I lean back and cross my arms over my chest.

“How far away do you think it is?” I ask.

She shrugs, frowns, and closes her eyes.

“Two days?” she says. “Maybe more. I’m not sure if it’s moving or if the void is moving.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh. We can’t run away, and we’re standing in the middle of an open forest; this isn’t exactly a fortifiable position. We’ll have to meet it, then, whatever it is. Whatever kind of monster could scare a void beast. Great.

“Son of a bitch,” I mutter.

“It might be nothing,” Ithronel offers.

I open my eyes. Ithronel is smiling at me in a way that makes me want to agree with her, to say that perhaps void beast monsters aren’t that big of a deal.

“Look, animals are scared of lots of things,” Ithronel continues. “We once had a horse from out on the plains who was scared of trees.”

My laugh surprises me, rising out of some younger, unguarded part of my mind, responding to the smile on her lips or the flash in her eyes.

“What is it?” Ithronel asks, just as I realize I’m staring at her.

My answer bubbles up from somewhere, and it’s through my lips before I can stop it.

“You’re amazing,” I say.

She spins away, but not before I see her smile widen.

“No, really,” I continue as she wraps her arms around her chest like she’s trying to hold herself together. “Your magic, it’s incredible. I just — I don’t understand how you ended up with the Royal Guard. I bet you worked wonders with, uh, horses.”

I only have a very dim recollection of what the word horse means. Like a donkey, but bigger, I think. Ithronel gives me a bitter laugh.