Erin (book 1 of Erin Series)

eight

The sun was beginning to rise, and birds started arising from their nests, bringing music to the softening air. I have not slept, and my eyes grew heavy. Rune has not left me, for he has followed me this entire time, dragging the horse along with him. We continued to argue through out the night, and I threatened to pull my sword on him, and he welcomed it, but I couldn't bring my sword out. Not on him. So therefore, he has stuck with me. He talked most the night, mostly about nonsense, but eventually I just cut him out, listening to the night. Now he has finally stopped talking, I am not sure if he caught on, or if he is just as tired as I am.
We found a road a while back, and have been traveling on it, no one passing by the entire time. My pace has slowed down a lot, and Rune has gotten ahead of me a couple times, but would slow down when he sees how far behind I would be.
Many times he would offer for me to ride upon the horse, yet I would refuse every time. I know I am a stubborn person, but he is slowly beginning to understand how stubborn I am.
My stomach growls from hunger, since I never ate after the battle. Rune looks over his shoulder at me.
"Hungry?" He asks.
How did he hear that? I wonder, but I keep a calm expression. "I'm fine."
He sighs. "No, hunger is not something you ignore." He stops walking, but I continue, and start to pass him by. He grabs my arm with a firm grip. "We will stop and rest. I'll find us something to eat. You need some sleep."
I roll my eyes. "You hardly even-"
"Will you stop rolling your eyes at me? Not only is it rude, but it is getting annoying."
I feel taken aback, and go to speak, but I don't say anything, I just sigh. He nods and starts to lead the horse into the woods so we are away from the road.
"There should be plenty of prey waltzing around." He says, and once we find an open area he ties the horse to a tree and walks toward me. I stand there looking at him as he comes up to me. He lifts his hand up, and I immediately swipe it away, thinking he was going to try to kiss me again.
"I need the bow and a couple arrows." He says bluntly.
"Oh." I take the bow off and pull out a couple arrows, handing them to him, my cheeks stained with a pink wash, though I refuse to apologize. It's obvious that it frustrates him as he huffs, and walks past me.
"If I come back and you're not here-"
"I'm not going to leave." I say then take the arrow sheath and my bag off my back, setting them on the ground. I plop down with and sigh, rubbing my face. A few blonde hair strands fall into my face, but I ignore them as I lean against a tree. My feet ache from the long walk. I take my boots off, then my socks, looking at the sore blisters on my feet. I touch one, feeling the soft bump and cringe at the stinging sensation. I lean back again closing my eyes for a moment. I did not think my eyes were closed for more then a minute before I fall into a deep sleep.

I open my eyes, someone is touching my feet. I quickly look, and see Rune rubbing something on them. I pull them away from him. "What are you doing?" I yell.
He looks up at me. "You have blisters on your feet, I am rubbing an ointment on them, that will help heal them faster, and reduce the pain. It's just something a mage gave to me a while back. I have carried it with me since then."
My feet begin to tingle, and I look at them. The blisters are still as bad as the last time I looked at them, but I could feel the pain begin to ease away. I was going to protest, but this was something that actually helped, and even though I hated to admit it, it felt nice to not be in pain after walking.
"Thank you." I say softly.
There is a smile on his face as he stands up and wipes his hands with a rag of some sort.
"How long was I asleep for?" I ask, sitting back up, since I woke up laying on the ground.
"It seems to be about midday, so a few hours I presume."
There was a fire pit, and an animal carcass next to it. He walks over pulling something out of a bag of his own, handing me something wrapped in a small white rag. "Eat up. You're looking pale."
I unwrap the rag to see cooked meat. It wasn't hot anymore, but I didn't care. I started devouring the food in a matter of minutes. The feeling of something solid in my stomach felt so good, and gave me a bit more energy. I drink from my canteen, and look at him. Was he staring at me the entire time I ate?
"You're such a sound sleeper." He says, his arms crossed, and leaning against a tree. The sun shown through the trees, giving his hair a light brownish tint.
"So you not only stare at me as I eat, but as I sleep too?" I begin to put my boots on but he walks over and takes them from me.
"We are not moving out yet. I haven't even slept, only to make sure you were alright. I only ask you have enough courtesy to do the same."
I stand up. "Fine. You can sleep, I'll head out."
He sighs. "Listen, I understand that you were raised differently than I, but this is ridiculous. Do you even have manners?"
"Excuse me?" I step closer to him. "What gives you the right to boss me around anyways? You have no power over me. I can do what I want."
"You're right. You can. But you're also only human. And so am I. I may be able to fight well, but it won't exactly be easy, if I am surrounded the second I wake up from a deep slumber. But go on. Do what you want."
I clench my jaw shut, wanting to hit him, but I hold back, only because I know part of him is right. "Fine."
He steps back toward the horse and lays down on his side, using his hands for a pillow and closes his eyes. How can he just leisurely lay down like that? I step back and sit down again, pulling out the book from my bag, and begin to try and read it while he sleeps.
The sun is warm, the breeze giving a coolness to the air. I can feel autumn will be coming soon. As I try to read through the book, understanding that it's about some princess falling in love with a man who is a peasant, I hear Rune mumble in his sleep. I look over to him and he holds a harsh expression. His fists tighten and loosen often as he sleeps and he tolls over to his side.
"Salia..." He mumbles. He continues to toss and turn, breathing heavy for a few moments more until he jolts awake, unsheathing his sword. I quickly stand up and follow his action, incase he is sleep walking, and were to attack me. He looks around the area, examining it, his chest rising and falling heavily. "What are you doing?" His eyes land on me.
"What am I doing? What are you doing? You woke up from your sleep and just pulled out your sword. I didn't know what was to happen so I pulled mine out too." I sheath my sword once more.
There is a thick silence between us as he lays back down, looking at the leaves on the trees. One leaf falls, glistening as it twirls in the air, landing on his nose. He brushes it off, mumbling something I could not hear.
"Who is Salia?" I couldn't contain the question any longer.
He turns his head to look at me for a moment then turns it back to the sky. "She was my first love." Some how that didn't surprise me.
I sit there silent, having many more questions pop in my head. But I remain quiet.
"I was going to marry her. But a man got jealous. He tried killing me, but she stopped him. He told her that if he can't have her, no one can. Pierced the sword right through her heart."
Shock reigns my body, and I can not hold my mouth shut as it just drops open.
"Don't act surprised, young one." He stares at me.
"Young one? I am not-"
"You have got to be at least 4 years younger than me."
I don't speak for a moment, then finally say, "I believe I am sixteen of age. I'm not all too sure when I was born."
"I was close. I'm going on twenty here soon."
I look at him my mind still racing with questions. "When did it happen?"
He turns his face away from mine. "Almost four years ago. I was your age."
"Did you work for the queen at the time?"
"Yes. She gave us her blessing."
"What happened to the man?"
He is quiet for a moment. "I killed him."
I am soon learning that this man I just met is not as much of a quirky joker as I thought he once was. He has quite a dark side to him as well.