The Raven and the Dragon

Chapter Four

That morning, they ate breakfast quickly and started off as soon as the sun was up. It was a temperate day, at least, and the birds in the woods were singing brightly as they saddled the horses. The birdsong he liked; the sound of griffins shrieking somewhere in the woods, not so much. Nimah must have noticed him wince. "You don't like griffins?" she asked.

"No," Bo said immediately. "I do not. They're nasty, ugly creatures."

He saw her bite back a laugh. "Well, now, don't hold back your opinion on my account," she teased as she mounted her horse. "You can be honest. You're among friends here."

Bo felt his ears go pink. "One nearly took my arm off when I was a child," he said, a bit defensively. "I still have the scars." He managed to pull off his hand wraps and pull up his sleeve. The scars were partially hidden by the many, many tattoos, but some of the deeper claw marks were visible. "I avoid them whenever I can. I don't trust them."

Nimah almost looked impressed. "Well, when you put it that way, I don't blame you. I don't think they'll bother us out here. They like trees."

"They shouldn't bother us here," Eve agreed, again appearing so suddenly that it caught Bo off-guard. "And I agree with you, Botan. One nearly took my eye out once."

Bo winced in sympathy. Why did they always go for the eyes. "Is that why the, ah..." He gestured towards his own eye, the one that she covered with the eye patch. "...cover?"

Eve immediately looked quiet and embarrassed all over again. "No, that's...something I was born with. People stare too much. I don't like it."

That was enough to make Bo feel guilty—guilty enough that he kept his mouth shut for the rest of the morning, his mind too caught up in ways he might apologize or deflect any potential ire from her that he didn't contribute to the conversation. Not that he would have contributed much. Nimah was content to chatter on about trolls while Alicia occasionally asked questions and Kit listened attentively. Eve seemed more intent on the road; Solomon remained stoic as ever.

They stopped for lunch. Solomon offered to try and hunt something to supplement their food supplies; it was tempting, to be sure, but the idea was ultimately overturned. It seemed to risk to wander away from the road and into the woods. They had enough rations to last them through the day. They could buy more wherever they stopped.

They would have to start hunting when they were in the Wilds. Bo was only glad that there seemed to be at least one person who had hunting experience. He'd never spent enough time between towns to really learn how. He wasn't opposed to eating meat, the way some of his old class mates at the Temple had been, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to do the butchering himself.

Too soft-hearted, I guess.

Kit still sat apart from the group as he ate. He seemed less frightened than he had before, though he still stayed quiet. If he couldn't speak, there must have been a reason. Bo glanced at Kit's neck, checking for any sign of scarring. There didn't seem to be any. Nimah spoke suddenly: "Kit, can I ask you something? Do you have a tongue?"

What?!

Kit's nose wrinkled, baffled; he responded by opening his mouth, revealing a normal, intact tongue. Nimah nodded, satisfied. "Just wondering. You haven't really said much, and well...I knew a guy who had his tongue cut out by some pirates from the north . I guess he'd insulted the wrong person's sister. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Just thought it would be interesting if I kept running into tongueless people."

The comment earned her an actual smile from Kit. He hid most of it behind a hand, like he was smothering a silent laugh, but the wrinkles that formed around his eyes. It was the second smile they'd gotten from him so far. He was opening up. That was good. The smile had faded when Kit lowered his hand, replaced by a thoughtful look. He waved his hand to catch Solomon's attention and signed something at him. "He wants to know what we're doing out here," Solomon translated.