∞∞∞
“Ax,” Ethan’s voice comes up behind me, “we should talk.”
Around us everyone seems to be busy and I nod, following him to the edge of the clearing.
“Last night when you were...you know, busy, I talked to Ciaran,” he says. My eyes glance over, looking for Ana to find her leading Sammi toward the stream. She’s holding a bundle of cloth and I imagine she’ll tend to her wounds. I catch Brutus’s eye, and nod my head in their direction. He quickly lumbers after them and I turn my attention back to Ethan.
“All right, out with it.”
Ethan raises an eyebrow at me. “I thought freedom would have put you in a better mood, brother.”
I glare at him. “Women have a way of making things more difficult,” I mutter, rubbing a hand down my face. I could sleep for a week, the way I feel right now. Maybe a few breaks in between for Ana, but otherwise…
“That they do,” Ethan says wryly, his eyes also following as our women disappear into the forest. “Well, it appears little Ciaran knew a few things, though I can’t understand why he didn’t tell me he was fucking injured last night.”
“That little shit knew nothing,” I retort, though I do have a vague recollection of the kid trying to talk to me and Ana before shit hit the fan in the Tomb.
“He knew a way to get messages to the outside,” Ethan spits out just as I take a step away. My body tenses, turning back to him slowly.
“Crow’s man, I figure,” Ethan continues, “But why someone with Crow’s reputation would hire a kid like fucking Ciaran, I couldn’t tell you.”
“No one suspects the small ones,” I mutter and Ethan snorts.
“I suppose Ana taught you that one.”
I dart another glare at him but he only chuckles.
“Did the kid say anything else?”
Ethan shakes his head. “Not much, said he wanted to talk to us both some more today. Seemed pretty worried about the local Watch though. I think he was from around here.”
“Do we know much about them? What about Sammi, would she?”
Ethan considers it only a moment before nodding.
“Doesn’t hurt to ask. What then?”
I shrug and don’t respond. I have my own ideas of what I want to do, and they involve my woman, an open sky, and a fire at my side. Unless this Watch is going to get in the way of that, I don’t give a fuck.
∞∞∞
I make my own way down the stream to clean up, not sure if I’ll get the chance at privacy again soon. It’s strange knowing, if I wanted, I could just walk off into the woods. No walls or doors to stop me. It’s a bit unnerving having to keep my eyes moving in all directions. No places to step away and hide or press my back to. Just open land.
By the time I make my way back I see Ethan and Sammi talking and make my way over to them.
“...regularly timed, but they like to throw people off by changing it up sometimes,” I hear Sammi finish saying.
“How many usually?” Ethan asks.
“Around a dozen?”
“A dozen what?” I ask as I approach.
“The Watch,” Ethan explains. “We do need to go into town, and I want to know what we may have to deal with.”
“Why do we have to go to town?” I ask with a frown. “We hadn’t discussed that. Why not take to the hills? Between us all we have more than the skills needed for it.”
Sammi and Ethan exchange a glance. Whatever passed between them last night obviously changed something. In fact, the entire camp seems to have a new kind of resolve that wasn’t there yesterday. What campfire conversations did I miss while I was with Ana? I wonder if I had been the one speaking to Ciaran, would there have been more to learn?