Awake in the Dark: Sister Seekers, #9 by A.S. Etaski

Author:A.S. Etaski
Format: epub

About a quarter mark later, the Dwarf returned with a handled tray piled with bread and vegetables around a large, steaming bowl in the center. Whatever was in the bowl was warm and savory.

Before he could place it in front of us, Krithannia touched his shoulder to stay him and cast a small spell above it where we could see her. She leaned above it, sniffed delicately, and nodded her satisfaction.

“Tamuril,” she said. “Would you partake with the Davrin while I oversee the transfer? I want to be sure you and Pilla have eaten.”

The Druid seemed to pale at first, then her cheeks flooded with color. “Ah … of course.”

“Thank you.”

I hoped Jael didn’t miss the clear statement that the food would be safe. After a week as a prisoner, resisting torture for a night, followed by a large battle, she needed the food as much as I did. Regardless, I would be eating as much as I could get my hands on the instant that they set down the tray.

“Here ye are.”

Jael and I leaned over the shared meal with Tamuril and her falcon opposite us. The vegetables were at least boiled rather than raw, and a third pile of dried meat nearly hidden among the small, dense loaves. The bowl itself was filled with a salty, brown broth.

“Soften th’ meat in the soup,” the Dwarf instructed as he backed up, preparing to help the others lift Mourn and Graul off the ground. “Dip the bread. Eat the veg how ye like. Fill up.”

Tamuril glanced at him, her face still warm, and gathered up the strips of dried flesh to place in the broth. Meanwhile I claimed a loaf of bread and several small tubers, shoving the latter in my mouth to chew while I tore up the bread for dipping. The “soup” turned out to be some mushroom and animal stock.

Jael watched me with stark disbelief when I moaned aloud in pleasure, drawing some chuckles as they carefully lifted Mourn’s litter off the ground. I arched an eyebrow at her and took my next, large bite of soggy bread.

“Start or I eat it all,” I said with my mouth full.

My Sister wrinkled her nose at me. “You’re going to choke.”

Then she dug in, doing a poor job hiding how good it tasted.

Meanwhile, Tamuril had gathered some vegetables and bread in her lap. She let those sit while she claimed a small, dripping handful of the softened meat from the bowl and started to feed Pilla a piece at a time.

Watching them, I added some of that tough meat to my next bite of bread and chewed for quite a while before I could swallow and grab a sweet, dark purple root to chase it down. Far more rustic fare than Yong-wen but still excellent. Firm and fresh.

I watched Krithannia pick up Mourn’s tail from dragging on the floor as the Dwarves followed Talov to the door. Graul shifted from his perch to look at us, flicking out his tongue shortly before losing sight of us as the door closed.

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