Guinevere's Grail | ✓ [BOOK 2]

~ 24 ~

IT WAS A STRANGE sight to see, Kit limp in Selene's arms as she carried him across the sand. Eurion was used to him carrying someone else, usually Morgana, but this time he was the one who needed assistance. It wasn't shocking that passing out was what it took for him to let someone help him.

Even when Selene's arms got tired and she had to set him down, she only rested for a few minutes and they were back on their way. They had to get out of this sandy hell and away from that misplaced Faerie overlap as quick as possible, and they were desperate for resources.

"Thank you," she said to the druid beside her. The two had taken up the rear in silence, and Eurion was still trying to muster up the courage to speak. "You risked a lot to get us out. Thank you for that."

Chalice shrugged. "I realized you were right. I wasn't doing what she wanted because I thought she did something good for me. I was motivated by fear, and that... didn't feel right to me. And I connected to a Goddess. I don't know how I did it, but it felt right. So I figured maybe I should trust you."

Eurion grinned. "That's who the bird was? A Goddess?" The crow helped her free the rest while Chalice took the men upstairs to provide a distraction and figure out a way to escape. She'd wondered where the creature came from.

"I guess so," said the druid, and then they said nothing more.

They continued their journey in comfortable silence, until they came up over a hill and found a well-lit village tucked between a canyon of red rock. Even at this time of night, Eurion could see it bustling, and she grinned. "We'll find a place to stay, I'm sure," she said. "This is a refuge town. No one is obligated to pay cash right away, it runs on a trade system instead."

She was right. As they entered the village, eyes fell on a bleeding and unconscious Kit, and several people rushed to offer their assistance.

"We just need a place to lay him down and clean him up," Selene insisted. A woman raised her hand, and Eurion waved at the others to follow. She could recognize genuine intentions in places like this, and she was the best choice.

The woman led them into a warm, clay apartment. Incense burned and oil lamps lit the small space in a comforting orange glow. There was a bed in the corner, covered in purple woven bedsheets, and that's where Selene set Kit. Morgana stared at the prince with a knit brow, and he didn't bother to look at anything else.

"I'll fetch supplies to help him with," she told them, disappearing around a corner and reappearing with an armful of items. Morgana didn't let anyone else take them, shoving past them all to get to the front.

"They all need a bath," he said sourly. "I can handle him if you can help them."

As worried for Kit as she was, Eurion had to agree. She'd been without a wash for far too long and it was driving her crazy now that she was aware of it, and everyone else other than Chalice and Morgana looked to be the same.

"I know a place," said the woman. "I doubt they will be so generous as I am, though, water is a finite resource here."

"We'll figure something out," Eurion assured.

"Of course," she told them, and led them out of her apartment. "You can call me Ursula, by the way. Come with me."

* * *

When Kit opened his eyes again, he felt something cold against his searing wound. He was in a small room, and Morgana was sitting sideways next to him, not-so-nicely scrubbing the blood and grime from his injured chest.

"Christ," he hissed, catching the Unseelie's attention. "Could you be any rougher?"

"I could, did you want me to?"