Damsel to the Rescue by Sønderby Kaia

Author:Sønderby, Kaia [Sønderby, Kaia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-91-982730-1-4
Publisher: Going To Mars
Published: 2015-10-13T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Which Concerns the Truth

“I’ll never be dry again,” Ashia complained, trying to wring water out of her braid.

Terri ducked her head, hiding a smile. Even though they had ground to cover, it was too chilly to do so while soaking wet, so they’d found a spot to make a fire. Ashia sat close to the flames, so close she was practically in them.

Terri shivered and pulled her blanket more tightly around her shoulders. She wore only shorts and shift, and those were pretty wet too. The rest of her clothes lay near the fire, with an assortment of other clothing from the other members of their party. Rune sat close to her, lending a bit of warmth she didn’t seem to have for herself. She didn’t even want to think about the whole prince thing right now; for the moment, she was satisfied with having her best friend back.

“Sure you will,” Merilee said. “Hard to stay wet when you’re practically roasting yourself.”

Ashia shot her a look, but Meri just smiled. Terri wiped her hand across her face, erasing another smile. Ever since she’d recovered from her dunking, Ashia’s attitude was sharper and more abrasive than ever. Yet Terri didn’t mind very much, now that she understood. Ash was just trying to cover up her embarrassment over what happened at the river. I’d probably do the same, if it was me.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?”

That came from the Halfling boy. He sat between Tieya and Merilee, with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, too. His drying hair turned a light, ashy-brown that glowed with strands of gold in the firelight. They’d taken the discovery of his true gender in as much stride as they could, putting it aside until they could get warm and at least somewhat dry. Now he watched them, his expression wary and guarded.

“I think there’s a lot of things we could say,” Rune began hesitantly. “Maybe—maybe you should start by telling us who you really are. If you can, I mean.”

The Halfling sighed. “My name is Andar.”

“Prince Andar?” Ashia stared at him.

“The very same.”

“If you’re a prince, what are you doing running around dressed up like a damsel?” Terri wanted to know.

“Isn’t it obvious? I wanted to go on adventures, like you girls do.”

“Then why not just do that?”

Ashia huffed. “Gods, Terri, have you been living under a rock?”

Beside her, Rune snickered. Behind her, where he was hitched to a downed tree with the other horses, Firestrike let out a whicker that sounded suspiciously laugh-like. Terri frowned at both of them.

“What’s so funny?”

“You’ve got to admit, Terri,” Rune said, grinning, “it’s kind of an ironic question.”

Merilee giggled, and soon everyone was laughing, even Dar—Andar. Oh, fine, Terri thought, trying not to smile herself. But I don’t literally spend all my time under a rock. Though that did pose an interesting question: Would some kind of underground garden be possible to make? If she could magically alter glowing fungi and night-blooming flowers, she might be able

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