“I know you need to stop and rest,” Odar yelled, riding alongside her. “But we can’t until we find a safe place. Somewhere the Russek soldiers won’t think to look for us.”
How would that be possible since neither of them knew the land? She’d only left the castle twice, once with Kerdan to see the bridge and once when he’d taken her to the garrison. A memory came back to her. At the garrison, Kerdan specifically made a point of telling her about an abandoned house not far from there that had been used by the commander of the army decades ago. Nowadays, the commander resided in the castle, and no one remembered the house existed. At the time, she couldn’t understand why Kerdan bothered telling her. Now, she knew. Nudging her horse, she headed in that direction. Odar didn’t question her; he simply allowed her to take the lead.
After traveling a few miles, the garrison came into view. Keeping her distance, she skirted around it to the backside where a thick forest loomed. Weaving the horse between the dense trees, she wondered if she’d be able to find the house. She steered the horse to the right, not wanting to go too deep into the woods and become lost. The horse snorted and went to the left. It walked with sure footing as if it knew where it was going. Maybe it did. She let the horse go where it wanted, praying Kerdan had chosen this horse for this reason. They came to a clearing with a small house and barn. An enormous sense of relief filled her. For once, things were going their way.
“I’ll be damned,” Odar muttered. “Did you know this was here?”
“Yes.” Her vision swam, and she fell forward on the horse. Odar grabbed the reins of her horse and steered them to the barn. He dismounted and helped her off. She leaned against the barn while he secured the animals inside. Once done, he lifted her up, carrying her to the dark house. Inside, cobwebs hung on the walls, and a thick layer of dust coated the furniture.
“We can’t risk a fire,” Odar said, putting her down and closing the squeaky door. “Let’s rest for a few hours. We’ll leave at first light.” He pulled out a tin from one of the bags. “I must put this salve on your arm.”
She swayed on her feet. “I need to sit down.” Lifting her in his arms, he carried her into a small bedroom off the kitchen and gently laid her on the bed. Dust motes floated, and she sneezed, the simple act making her cry out. Everything hurt. She just wanted to sleep so she wouldn’t feel the pain any longer.
“There’s nothing I can do for the ribs. This salve should help your arm though.” He slid her arm out of the shirt, unwrapped the bandage, and exposed the wound. After covering it with the salve, he pulled her sleeve back on.
At least if she died now, it wouldn’t be from Jana torturing her. But her parents…her people…she couldn’t leave them. She had to hang on, had to fight for them. Her eyelids became heavy.
“Get some sleep,” he said, pulling the blanket over her body. It reeked of dust and mildew, but it was warm. “I’ll be in the other room if you need me.”
“Don’t leave,” she mumbled. She needed his steadfast presence to keep her grounded and fighting to hang on.
He sighed. “I guess all decorum is already gone.” Sliding under the blanket, he laid next to her, wrapping his arm around her stomach and holding her close to him.
His steady breathing soothed her. “Much better.” Even though her breath came out in white puffs, she felt warm and content next to him.
***
Allyssa woke up, her body achy and tender. Groaning, she rolled over and grunted from the shooting pains radiating through her torso. Odar didn’t even move as he lay there breathing heavily, looking peaceful in his sleep. Not wanting to wake him, she slid out from under the blanket, holding her breath, trying not to make a sound.
When her feet touched the ground, she almost screamed. It was bloody cold in this small house. Sliding her boots on, she shuffled over to the window, trying to see through the dirty glass. Using her sleeve, she wiped a section clean and looked out at the brightly lit morning. Snow coated the ground and trees, making the surrounding land appear peaceful and still. If it were any other time, it might be considered romantic, but not here only a few miles from the castle. They needed to be on their way. Blood soaked through her sleeve again, probably from moving her arm around.
“Morning,” Odar mumbled, rubbing his eyes and sitting up in bed. “Thought I was dreaming at first, but that is you, and we are here. Hard to believe.”
“Let’s see if there’s anything we can use here for supplies and be on our way.” She wanted to put as much distance between them and Clovek as possible. No matter what happened, she would not go back there unless Kerdan was sitting peacefully on the throne.
“I’ll take a look at your arm first, then check the cabin for supplies. You sit and rest. We have a long day ahead of us.” He ran his hands through his hair, trying to tame the disheveled mess. Allyssa couldn’t believe how long it had gotten over the last couple of weeks.
Sitting on the bed, she pulled the fabric away from the wound and then slid her arm out of the sleeve. Odar examined it. “I’m going to apply some more of the medicine. I think you should keep it wrapped tightly. I don’t have anything to stitch the skin together, but maybe if you keep a bandage around it, it will help.”
Not having many options, she agreed. While he worked on her arm, she examined the room in greater detail. For no one living here, there sure seemed to be a lot of stuff. Pictures hung on the walls, old rugs lay on the floor. The dresser had some knickknacks on top of it. It seemed odd that the place hadn’t been cleared out when the army stopped using it.
If anyone stumbled upon this place, it would be obvious that someone had been here since there were fresh footsteps on the dusty floor. Well, there was nothing that could be done about that now. One of the tapestries hanging on the wall to her right had a picture of a wolf stitched on it. The tapestry hanging on her left had a soldier embroidered on it. The soldier held a sword in one hand, blood dripping off the point. Lovely. And so…Russek. In the soldier’s other hand was some sort of weapon she didn’t recognize.
“All done,” Odar said.
Allyssa slid her arm back in the sleeve and went over to the tapestry to examine it in greater detail. It wasn’t a weapon he held—but a mask. This man reminded her of Kerdan. It was no mistake—this tapestry being here. Her being here. She peeked behind the tapestry.
“What are you doing?” Odar asked.
A section of the wall appeared darker, but it was hard to tell. “Hold the tapestry away from the wall so I can get a better look. I think there’s something behind it.”