Guinevere's Grail | ✓ [BOOK 2]

~ 29 ~

IT BEGAN WITH A sore throat. Giselle struggled to swallow anything because of it, and speaking was becoming a challenge. She thought maybe it was just all the walking and the heat and the sand. But when she started to sweat in the cold peaks of the mountains, she knew it wasn't the desert's fault.

To her luck, her friends went along with her excuses. She drank as much water as possible, but when it came out in the sweat dampening her skin, she told them she was dehydrated so no one would question how thirsty she'd been.

There was only so long she could hide this from them. Soon, she would start to crack. She would sweat enough that it wouldn't blend into the natural shimmer of her skin, and her eyes would cry rivers until she had nothing left in her. But for now, while it was mild, she wouldn't dare worry them more than they already worried. Time would break the news for her.

The East Continent wasn't as cold as Avalon could be. But it was colder than the South, and Giselle shivered as Sera and Kit rowed them along the wide river which cut through the East, holding her cloak tighter around her figure. It was better than walking the whole way, but the water splashing against her and the wind hitting her skin made her shiver, and Selene's best attempts to warm her were failing.

"Kit," Selene called out. "Trade me."

Giselle looked up at her. "What? Why?"

"Look at him," the Lady said. "He's got the most body heat out of all of us. He'll be more useful holding you than I am."

She pouted when she left her, but she couldn't complain too long when Kit curled himself around her. Selene was right, he was warmer than the rest of them, and it was enough to get her to stop trembling. He was like a walking fireplace, and his arms were as soft as they were strong.

Morgana's intense gaze never left her, but when Kit came over, it got stronger, the worry replaced my anger.

"You've got a staring problem," she told her friend with a grin. "You trying to read my mind?"

"Was I staring?" he asked, as if he was staring through her and not right at her with frostbitten eyes.

Realization dawned on her gave, and Giselle settled further into Kit with a smug grin. "Are you jealous?"

"Who would I be jealous of?"

She looked up at Kit, then back to the Unseelie. "Take your pick."

He crossed his arms and slumped down into the boat. "Well, I'm not jealous."

It wasn't a lie, he couldn't have said it if it was, but she still took a moment trying to pick apart how he could be telling the truth when he showed every sign of envy there was to show. Perhaps he managed to convince himself he wasn't jealous, enough that he could lie about it.

She shifted in Kit's arms, freeing Morgana from further torment when she closed her eyes. It was a good thing that Sera managed to steal them a canoe, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to lean back against the prince like this, in a way that kept her warm.

It was a strange interaction, but smart. Two fishermen stood at the banks, trying to tie it to a post. Sera put on her best hysterical face and rushed there way, crying about some nearby disaster that she couldn't possibly do anything about. When the men ran off in alarm to solve her made-up catastrophe, she took her chance. The boat was large and meant to accommodate nets full of fish, but it was just big enough to carry all of them.

A wheezing cough left her mouth, pulling her from her thoughts, and Morgana jumped up.

"Don't rock the boat," Sera ordered, and he froze, sending a glare the woman's way. He didn't like her for some reason, but Giselle had a theory.