When morning came, Kieran stretched out across his cot and became confused when his hand thumped into a form of some kind. He jumped awake, eyes snapping onto the form with intent to fight, need it be necessary. He was a bit perplexed to find Enid sleeping soundly on a mat in his tent.
She was not facing him, nor had she taken it upon herself to join him on the cot. He figured the mat had to be rough and uncomfortable. Why was she there?
Rather than wake her, he opted to slip on his coat and step out of the tent. A ray of sunlight struck him in the eye and he rubbed the offending beam out until his eyes adjusted again.
He then saw a rather strange scene before him. Lynet and Cael had set a pale of water to boil beneath rocks they'd somehow heated. It didn't seem as though they'd used fire, for there was no smoke amidst the air. Somehow in his trying to work out the schematics of it all, he missed the smell of breakfast cooking or whatever they had been talking about.
"Why, good mornin' sunshine."
Cael's gentle mocking tone sung through the air. Kieran moved over to their circle and took a seat opposite them. Lynet looked a little awkward, avoiding eye contact with the blonde, but she made no move to attack him either. Kieran figured that was fair enough.
"Morning. What's cooking?"
"They're called Wolf Cherries, some native plants of Fallburne."
Kieran wanted to ask her if they were edible but he feared shaking the thin line they walked between hating and mistrusting one another.
"Why boil them?"
"That's how you get the toxic coat off the outside so you can eat them."
Kieran nodded, not entirely sure whether to believe her or not.
Cale absently popped a few of the boiled and dried ones into his mouth. Kieran wanted to protest but nothing bad seemed to be happening and he had to be careful. When Lynet took a few of the berries for herself, he felt relieved. It was hardly reasonable to assume she would eat poisonous berries to convince people she hardly knew.
"Where's Enid? I haven't seen her since last night."
Kieran shrugged, popping more of the berries into his mouth. Lynet eyed Kieran like she wanted to say something but stayed quiet. Cael remained oblivious as ever.
"Well we should save some berries for her, whenever she shows up."
The two of them nodded.
_______________________________________________________________________
Comment question: would you have eaten the Wolf Cherries that Lynet boiled?
YOU ARE READING
Drumwe Isles
FantasyWhen the Tree of Life is found within the Elven territory of Fallburne, a storm begins to brew. After all, the tree's sap is said to give immortality to all who drink from it. It is the royal family of Dillac's birth right to have immortality as the...
