The Brothers Moonborn

Nine

When I woke up, I regretted sleeping in my armor.

Groaning, I sat up on the bed and began shedding plates to get to the sore muscles underneath. Fifteen years ago, I would've had no problem sleeping in my armor. But I wasn't as young as I had once been, and even though I tried to keep myself in shape, I just couldn't move like I used to.

Once I had dropped everything except my tunic and trousers, I got off the bed and started rubbing my shoulders as I moved out of the otherwise-empty bedroom.

Farkas was standing in the midst of the living space, stirring a spoon in the cooking pot. He nodded my way. "Morning, princess."

I ignored his comment and looked around the room that had been trashed the night before. Had he been cleaning in here?

"I did what I could to straighten things up," he continued as though he had read my mind. "It just didn't seem right to sleep in their beds and leave their home in chaos. Besides, I asked myself, 'Farkas, you're about to go downstairs and raid this poor family's cellar. Does that seem right to you?' So, I thought this would appease their spirits."

"It's not like they're going to eat the food downstairs." I braced my hands against the small of my back and squared my shoulders until I felt a series of pops down my spine. "What're you cooking?"

"Vegetable stew. They had all the ingredients downstairs."

"How long were we asleep?"

He shrugged. "It's dark outside right now, but the moons are on the rise. We should probably stay here until the sun comes back up, so let's just eat and sleep until then."

"And drink?" I laughed. "Did you find any mead in the cellar?"

With a grin, he nodded. "More than two cases."

I smiled back. After a hot meal and a few drinks, it would be easy for us to go back to sleep.

------

After eating our fill and drinking twice as much, sleeping came easily. Farkas and I rested through the night, though we arose with headaches and cottony mouths the next morning.

Hangovers were a lot worse than they used to be.

Groaning, I got out of bed, pulled a cloak over my shoulders, and stepped outside to relieve myself. The chill blew in from the sea, scattering the ashes left behind from the funeral pyre. I made sure to give the lighthouse a wide berth on my way out.

Once I had finished, I went back inside to stoke the cooking fire. The stew had never fully cooled from the night before, so it would be safe to eat for breakfast.

Good. A warm meal always made traveling easier. Given the headache storming behind my eyes and cheekbones, I'd need all the help I could get to enjoy our upcoming journey.

Farkas stumbled out of bed shortly afterward, rubbing his eyes as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Feel like polishing off the mead this morning?" I joked, voice hoarse.

He shook his head. "Gods, no. That mead tasted like piss compared to what we have back home."

"But it helped us sleep," I pointed out. "If you're on your way out, grab a bucket and gather some snow to melt."

He grumbled but grabbed a nearby bucket to comply. After he went outside, I kicked a nearby cast-iron pot closer to the fire so we could melt the snow inside it.

When he returned with the snow, he dumped it into the pot and began to stir it to help it melt faster. Once he had the snow melted, he dipped out a small portion into the bucket before heading back to the room we'd been staying in.