Brightening White Flowers

16. Frightening

I shake my head. We have to make it to Kinza though. Their net might be tight but it is widespread which means there will be a hole in it somewhere. Right now my sole duty is to get Hana home alive and out of the hands of the enemies. I cannot allow her to be some pawn in their plans. The only question is how? Where would this hole be?

I sit heavily on the rough bed as my thoughts start to jumble from the exhaustion. I sigh as I unclip my sword belt and place it non-to-gently on the floor. The clatter it makes though is somewhat satisfying.

I bite my lip as another thought crosses the front of my mind. Davian. I do not see Hana agreeing to leave him behind now. More so since he will smell more like her now that they have met. Any tracker with a decent sense of smell and brain would know just what his scent means he is to her. Dammit. I grip the bed tightly. Would it have been too difficult for the Cloaked One to keep them apart a little bit longer?

I fall backwards onto the bed and curl up to lay on my side, staring at the wall. This would not be such an issue if she cared more about the people who lived on the land outside of our family. Then, she would know that getting home was the priority, with or without him. Resentment grows in me, darkening my power pathways. At the rise of its poisonous hold my monster oozes through its cage and tries to find a hold onto my mind. It tries to push me to kill Davian.

I close my eyes sharply and viciously shove those thoughts away. I lay like that for a time pushing away all the negative thoughts that cycle into my mind over and over until memories of Momma surfaces. These memories I hold onto. I remember her eyes that always shifted from blue to green and back to blue. Her smile that seemed just for me and Father. The warmth of my mother's hand as she held my child-sized one in her own. My mother was utterly kind but she could be so fierce. And she would always sing to me when I was scared. Always.

*****

I wake with a jerk. My heart is pounding as I find myself sitting up with my legs entangled in the plain cotton sheets. I cannot remember what woke me from my slumber but I can guess it was a nightmare because of the sweat sticking my black clothes to my skin. I am getting my breathing calmed when there is a knock on the door. A second after the knock my door opens as Hana walks in. At first, we just stare at each other for a long, tense moment then she speaks, "Missus Raine has made dinner for us. Would you want to discuss our plan while we eat or before?"

I push the sheets away and stand up swiftly, surprised I slept the whole day away, "During. I was planning on leaving tonight but with the hour it might be better to push that time back."

I can feel Hana's displeasure but I ignore it. We are not on a pleasure trip. This is serious and we need to have a plan as soon as possible. It is not my problem if she cannot understand the need to leave sooner rather than later. I follow her down the stairs, not saying anything as I can feel her irritation towards me as I am sure she can feel my irritation towards her. At this point I do not care what emotions she is receiving from our shared bond. It is not like emotions can tell her specifics.

Davian's mother, Raine, smiles at me as she places a wooden tray in front of an empty place across from two others. There is fresh cooked meat and stewed carrots and potatoes. I sit and eat slowly as I stare at the map that has been laid out on the table between the place settings. Davian looks from my face to my swordless waist then back to my face. He taps the inside of his tray, "Have you seen a recent map of the surrounding area before you left Kinza?"

I nod as I continue chewing my meal. He looks unimpressed and disbelieving but I point to where we are according to my estimates of the Shosh River, the direction of our travel, and where Iron's River is located.