Sorin demonstrated his impeccable hunting skills by bringing back a husk of hares. No telling how he caught them. Rui was inclined to believe the man could just reach out with those great big manly hands and snatch them right out of the thickets.
They skinned the animals, spit and roasted them over the fire. Wolfe even sprinkled some seasoning from one of the pouches he kept in the saddle bag, making the meat juicy and flavorful when it was ready to eat.
According to Wolfe, if they took up the road again at dawn, they would arrive at Castle Caerleon shortly after noon on the morrow.
For some reason, Rui was not looking forward to it. She didn’t want the journey to end.
Well, she knew the reason. She just didn’t want to think about it. Even though she would see Wolfe again in the tournament, it wouldn’t be the same.
They wouldn’t be…friends.
Not that they could be termed to have that relationship now. But at least they weren’t foes.
They hadn’t talked much during the afternoon ride, but it was a companionable silence. For a short while, Rui even napped against him. He was so comfortable and warm. She trusted him to hold her steady. He made her feel protected and safe.
Which was the strangest notion. For, she’d never needed or desired that feeling. And she’d never not felt safe, always confident in her own abilities.
But…
It was nice to entrust oneself to someone else for a change.
She shook her head to clear it.
Soon, they would go their separate ways. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to encounter Wolfe in the tournament. At the same time, she didn’t want him to be beaten out by someone else. If he should lose to anyone, the honor should be hers.
Conflictingly, she didn’t want to fight him. She wouldn’t hold back if she did, but she wished she wouldn’t have to.
She liked him.
He made her smile, and even laugh. She, who supposedly had no sense of humor at all.
She enjoyed (rather more than enjoyed) looking at him. He held so much in those bright, citrine eyes that he didn’t say, so many experiences she wanted to know about. He had the most mesmerizing face and form she’d ever seen.
And though she felt stupid whenever she was around him, a consequence of inhaling such great quantities of potent pheromones, she feltalivein ways she’d never been before.
Especially as a female. But, strangely, also as a dragon.
Even though he hated dragons.
She mustn’t forget that. Their nascent friendship was built on lies. He didn’t know her true nature.
She wished she knew why he hated dragons so much. She wished she could know him long enough to change it.
After their supper of roasted rabbit, cheese and wine, they took off to their own corners around the low-burning fire.
Rui did her business in the woods, and when she came back, Sorin and Ere were already wrapped together under a light blanket. Tristan was huddled in his mantle, and Wolfe was nowhere to be found.
Rui rooted around until she caught sight of his long legs where he sat away from the others against another tree. Not wanting to disturb him, she lay down near the other men, though what she really wanted to do was go to him. Even if it was simply to lie silently next to him.
Their time was running out. She wasn’t ready for it to end.
The toll of travel on horseback, no matter how comfortable her position against him had been, finally caught up with her. She slept.
Sometime later, deep into the night, Rui came awake with a start. She sat up and looked around.
Sorin and Ere were breathing deeply, Ere purring like a contented fat cat. Tristan was snoring quite loudly in his corner of camp, enough to alert anyone who came within twenty yards. The fire had long since sputtered out. Rui wrapped her mantle tighter about her, thinking that it was the cold that woke her up.
But, no. There was something else.