Drumwe Isles

chapter 29

(tw: mentions of sex)

Enid had taken Kieran down the stream until the clashing of weapons and argument were but a dim buzz in the background. The man was downright dazed.

The things Lynet had said bothered Kieran. He wasn't the sort of man who liked to burden anyone for any reason. Enid settled them so that Kieran was sitting down, tail wrapped around him like a fur coat. The stream crinkled softly in front of them and he maintained his faraway manner.

After enough silence had passed to fill a tattered bucket, Enid sighed.

"You aren't slowing us down, Kieran."

The man looked at her with vague recognition.

"Right."

"Seriously, we don't even know where the tree is."

Kieran furrowed his brows.

"We could cover more ground if I were faster."

Enid sighed, putting an arm around her companion's shoulder.

"Enid?"

"What is it?"

"What if I'm stuck like this forever?"

She looked at him then, no sign of hesitation on her face.

"We will stay with you no matter what happens."

Kieran's face looked pained suddenly.

"I know he will... That's the problem."

Enid's brows furrowed and she felt there was something much deeper to his words. She started to think about the nature of Kieran and Cael's friendship. It was a strong one with undeniable admiration on both sides. Then she remembered the way Kieran leaned into Cael's shoulder in the firelight after their argument. She'd pretended to be asleep and tried her best not to listen in on their conversation but that can hardly be done when you're four feet away.

She thought about the rage in his eyes when they'd bumped into Lynet and the way that Cael had studied her, with a great and powerful interest. Suddenly, it clicked.

Enid rose from him swiftly and turned, cupping his face in her hands.

"You love him."

She didn't say it as a question. Enid knew. Her dark blue eyes scanned his face with a great certainty to her own. That was one of her better traits, she was a strong and unwavering force.

"I love him."

There was a tragedy to the way the words left him. Firm and laboured with great guilt. Cael was the prayer on his lips, being whispered over and over again where nobody else could see it.

"I have loved him for a long time."

Enid could feel her chest ache for him. She felt the depth of his loss and the pain of his predicament. In Dillac, the people didn't care so much who you fancied or why. Though in Taudor, a man liking another man was simply unspeakable. Being from Taudor, it was unlikely Cael had ever even contemplated the possibility before. His love was completely one-sided.

Enid had a great many times bedded men. She had eaten alongside them and healed them when they went down in battle. She was one of them, in her own way, and she did what she could to keep their spirits high by way of sex. Still, Enid was quite sure she had never loved anyone. She'd never really wanted to love anyone either, man or woman.

Looking at Kieran in the cold, unforgiving shadow of Fallburne's forests she realised that she cared for this man. She did not love him; she would never love him. Though Enid realised this was a man that she respected and whom she empathised with more deeply than any other.

"Enid."

"Yes?"

"You cannot tell him."

His words were broken and pleading. He was at her complete mercy.

"I would never tell him. Not something like that."

The large blonde man nodded, slumping against Enid. Not in the way he had Cael, he was not seeking solace in the woman. He was simply exhausted and needed to be able to be vulnerable, even just for a moment. She obliged him and they sat stoic until the fight died down in the background.

Eventually Cael had walked over to them. Kieran was fast asleep by this time, his chest rising and falling slowly against Enid. The warrior stood over them, a soft smile on his face.

"What do you want, oaf?"

She kept her voice quiet so as not to wake her companion.

Cael looked between Enid and Kieran, wiggling his eyebrows at her. Enid sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. They didn't make em that oblivious anymore; it was a skill in its own right.

"It's not like that. Anyhow, I'm twenty six."

Cael's eyes widened vastly.

"You? Twenty six? Nonsense. Don't believe it."

Enid grinned, shaking her head at him.

"You know, he's twenty one."

Enid furrowed her brows at him.

"Kieran? He's practically an overgrown puppy, what do you mean?"

Cael wheezed at her commentary and shrugged.

"Stranger things have happened."

Enid shrugged a little, being sure not to move too much.

"Whatever, go tongue your redhead. Nevermind what I am or am not doing."

Cael leaned down to kiss Enid's forehead and bid her goodnight. 

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