The Dreamfarer

9

Mae felt herself return to her conscious mind, but she did not open her eyes. She was not eager to confront her father, and even briefly contemplated just pretending to be asleep until dawn came once more, but the crackling of a small fire nearby distracted her from that idea. She smelled something roasting over it, and the spices attacked her senses, making her mouth water and her stomach grumble hungrily.

She lifted her eyelids and glanced around cautiously, hoping to sneak a peek of her situation before Dael realized she had woken up.

The Wayfarer was sitting beside a campfire, prodding at some animal that had a makeshift spit stuck through it. Due to the flames darkening its skin, Mae could not tell what type of animal it was, but it smelled good enough.

It was dark enough that Mae could not make out much of anything else. She was lying on hard ground, so they were not in a grassy area, but other than that, she had no idea of her surroundings.

She realized with a jolt that her ankles and wrists were tied. Forgetting that she wanted to wait a bit longer before facing her father, she sat up, her eyes wide and frightened even though she had told herself to act strong, no matter what Dael's plan was for her. Folco would be here soon enough. She just had to keep Dael appeased and distracted until she was rescued.

Dael's head turned towards her, and because the only light she could see by was the flames, she could only really discern his bright teeth and the whites of his eyes.

She swallowed hard, however, when she noticed that his teeth were no longer perfect; they were the same serrated rows that she had seen on Kroma, and the change rattled her. Dael was no longer putting up an act.

"You slept for longer than I expected, my child," he purred. He turned his head back to look into the flames, successfully hiding his face from her as she played around with the ropes binding her arms and legs together. It was an entirely foreign feeling to her, and she didn't exactly know where to start when it came to wriggling free from them, especially in the dark.

She said nothing in response, knowing that if she opened her mouth too soon, she would only release a sarcastic retort or an angry cry, neither of which was likely to please Dael.

The Wayfarer sat patiently, seeming entirely unbothered by her silence - even by the complete shroud of quiet their little camp embodied. He prodded the meat a few more times with a stick.

Mae wiggled a bit more but quickly realized it was no use. She had no experience with breaking free of bindings and she was sure that Dael would have made them abundantly secure in all the time he had had.

"Um... is that almost done, Dad?" she asked, keeping her voice light and pleasant. It physically pained her to call Dael by that affectionate term, but she knew it would raise way too many suspicions in his mind if she did otherwise.

She sensed rather than saw his creepy smile. "Are you hungry, Maeve?" he murmured softly, and it felt as if somebody had slid an ice cube down the length of her spine.

"Starving," she replied, hoping that she could eat very slowly and use up more time that would otherwise be spent trying to avoid conversation with him. Also, she was hungry; she wasn't sure what time it was, but she didn't think she had eaten all day. Not only that, but unless he fed her like a child, he would have to untie her arms to allow her to eat.

A few minutes later, her arms were freed, and she was chewing on a mystery meat that tasted as good as it smelled. She had been wary of taking her first bite, worried that perhaps he had drugged it somehow, but she set the thought aside. Folco had told her that Dael cared about her, for some reason. He didn't want her dead or hurt. She remembered how earlier that day - maybe it was yesterday now - Dael had said something along the lines of keeping her somewhere, safely away from the warlocks... The memory makes her shiver again.