The Phoenix People

Chapter Twenty-Six

To occupy myself, I unsheathed my dagger and studied it. I was by no means an expert in weapons of any kind, but my blade was quite beautiful. Its handle was hefty, bound by a sturdy, tightly wrapped, leather cord. An intricately carved piece of bronze raced up the back of the blade itself, ending in a lazy curl that served to highlight the vine-like patterns in the metal. It was tapered down to a razor-thin edge and ended in a slightly curved, deadly tip.

I fastened one hand tightly around the hilt of the dagger and felt its soothing weight. Who could have known that the Highborn princess of Fairmeadow would find such comfort in a weapon? Certainly not myself, if one was to rewind to two days ago.

Suddenly, I found myself fighting the intense urge to yawn. Finally succumbing to it, my eyes squeezed shut and my free hand clapped over my mouth so as to not risk waking my friends with a noise.

My yawn stopped short at my internal usage of the word "friends."

Were these lawless Lowborns truly my friends, the first since my sister, Alia?

I turned to look at them all. Annamarie was curled into Melody's side, and for once, the latter looked neither angry or worried. Their faces were calm and peaceful.

Theo had one arm slung around Griffin's shoulders. The other rested on his chest. Griffin's face was turned towards Theo's shirt and he was breathing deeply, comfortably.

Yes, I thought fondly. Friends.

I stifled another yawn. I was battling sleep and losing the fight. I'm endangering us all, I convinced myself to keep guilt at bay, and stood, crossing the cave to wake Melody.

At the lightest touch, she sprang awake. "What?" she hissed, jumping to her feet and glancing around wildly for the assumed threat.

"Nothing," I replied quickly, embarrassed at frightening her. "I can't stay awake much longer."

"Oh. Okay." Without another word, she left for the fire.

I settled onto my mat. Hearing a small whimper from Anna, I glanced over, worried.

Somehow, she had remained asleep as Melody stood and we talked. Now, however, she was curled into herself, her brow creased with some unpleasant dream.

Feeling sympathetic for the child, so young and yet exposed to so much, I scooted onto Melody's mat and carefully hugged her close.

Although I had a lot on my mind, the warmth and comfort of having Anna snuggled into my side quickly put me to sleep.

*

I was woken gently by Theo, smiling gently at me and held up some bandaging. "I should rewrap your injury," he explained.

I nodded, sitting upright and holding my hand out to him, palm facing upwards. As he worked, I glanced around the cave. Melody was missing - searching for food, probably. Anna was gone as well, presumably to wash off and get a drink in the nearby stream.

I glanced to my right at Griffin. He was still fast asleep. For a moment, I worried that his injury had claimed his life, but then I noticed his chest rising and falling, and took a breath of relief myself.

Theo, finishing in his work, sat back on his heels and followed my gaze. "He's on so much medicine that it's no wonder he's slept for so long," he commented. "He should wake up soon, though."

Anna strode back into the cave, looking much cleaner and quite refreshed. "Want to go to the stream?" she asked me, and helped me stand and fetch my cane after I confirmed this.

Melody returned as the child and I did. She held two eggs carefully in both hands, and her unmoving upper body suggested more hidden in her large pockets. Sure enough, after carefully setting down the eggs in her hands, she pulled out three more.

"How are you going to prepare them?" I inquired in confusion, adjusting my grip on my cane and hobbling over to her.

"Prepare them?" Melody chuckled. "Oh, no. We're going to eat them raw."

I blanched. "Raw? But...but...what about diseases? And the fetuses?"

"It's late summer. There are no fetuses," Melody reminded me. "And the chances of disease are minuscule. It's far more likely that we'll starve to death if we don't eat everything we can get our hands on."

I sighed. Don't act like a princess. Suck it up. I bent down, mindful of my injured leg, and picked up one of the eggs. Cracking it open, I balanced the yolk in one of the shell halves and stared disgustedly at it.

Melody followed suit but held up her shell like it was a goblet of wine, grinning at my obvious discomfort. "Bottoms up!"

I took a steadying breath and pinched my nose, downing the thick, liquidy substance.

A wave of nausea hit me and I gagged, clapping a hand over my mouth to keep the substance down. Melody chuckled and drank her own egg. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head fiercely. Then, she called to Theo and Anna, "Breakfast!"

Two eggs were saved for Griffin and I myself was so revolted by them that I allowed Melody to drink my second one.

Anna kept casting me worried looks as Melody buried the eggshells and fire remnants. "You should have eaten more. You're injured and you need your strength," she finally told me crossly.

"Those eggs were harming my health, not helping it," I retorted, although I felt the first twists of regret in my stomach, which had settled down enough to resume its growling complaints.

The child just shook her head grumpily and I began to feel ashamed. The girl obviously viewed me as her responsibility, and I was interfering with her attempts to heal me.

"The next time we get food, I promise I'll eat it," I swore solemnly, hoping that would be enough to placate her.

Melody settled down next to me. "We probably won't get more food until we're back at camp," she pointed out, as casually as if we were discussing the weather.

"How long will that be?" I asked, desperation snaking through my words.

"It took us hours to ride here, and that was atop galloping horses. With your leg and Griffin's stomach, if I had to guess. I'd say a couple of days if we push it."

"Shouldn't we remain here until Griffin gets better?" Anna asked uncertainly, and I nodded in hopeful agreement. Although I hated this cave, it felt like a better alternative to hiking through the dangerous woods with two injured people - one of which was myself - slowing us down.

Melody shook her head regretfully. "If his condition worsens, we don't have the supplies to help him. The sooner we get back to camp, the better."

Every pain in my body, from my damaged leg to my cut hand to my back, sore from the thin mat and hard cave ground, seemed to amplify in protest. "Griffin can't even walk!" I tried.

"That reminds me," Melody said suddenly, snapping her fingers, "we still need to build his stretcher."