A Dagger of the Mind (The Imperial Metals) by Daniel Antoniazzi

Author:Daniel Antoniazzi [Antoniazzi, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2013-12-02T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 37: The Cage of Grimsor

Duncan, Landora, and Nuria returned to the campsite. About halfway there, Nuria awoke, though she was still fatigued. Landora continued to carry her. When she learned that Noble was dead, she was quiet. They were all quiet.

There were still plenty of hours in the day when they dug up their equipment. They salvaged what they could and packed their site, leaving behind roughly one-fourth of their stuff. Duncan insisted that they all rested for an hour, if only to catch their breath. Nuria curled up in her blanket and fell asleep.

Landora sat against the drift, staring east, while Duncan sat beside her, facing west. They wouldn’t allow themselves to be ambushed again. But Landora was uneasy, and Duncan could tell.

“He died to save me,” she said.

“Did you doubt he would?”

“Not for a moment,” Landora confessed. “But I can’t be sure I would have done the same for him.”

“You would have,” Duncan assured her.

“You don’t know me that well.”

“I don’t think you would be capable of it,” Duncan said. “If Nuria was in trouble, you would save her?”

“Of course.”

“And if I were in trouble, you would save me?”

Landora finally turned to Duncan. Was there a question behind the question? Or was this just a mental exercise for him?

The truth was Duncan was just having a friendly debate. But he turned back to her, and their eyes met. Only inches away, cold, sad, pumped full of fatigue and adrenaline. So they kissed. Because that’s what people do in those situations.

Which is of course when Nuria woke. She watched the two pull away from each other, their lips sticking together for just a second as the frost melted. She knew she should say something, but she felt as though she could get away with a moment of eavesdropping before she was really doing anything wrong.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Duncan said.

“You’re a lip-reader, too?” Landora quipped. They smiled, but only for a second, as the sadness of their plight washed over them again.

“Then I believe,” Duncan said, “That you would be incapable of letting Noble die if you had a chance to save him. I don’t think you could have such a cold heart.”

And their heads lulled in again, their lips pursing...

Nuria made a conspicuous yawn, stretching herself out. Duncan and Landora snapped back to watching the horizon.

“Well,” Nuria said, making a point of rubbing her eyes and sitting up, giving the others time to not look so guilty, “I feel much better now.”

“Good,” Duncan said.

“Good,” Landora agreed.

“We should do something,” Nuria said, “For Sir Noble.”

“I agree,” Duncan said. “But it will have to wait until we get back to Rone. We need to focus on our mission, and we can’t have a proper ceremony out here anyway.”

“We should get back on the road,” Landora said.

“We’ll stay on the path as much as we can so the snow doesn’t slow us down too much. We can still get a solid five or six hours of marching in before sunset.

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