Despair by M.J. Haag

Author:M.J. Haag [Haag, M.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shattered Glass Publishing
Published: 2024-08-27T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

I sat in a chair and contented myself with staring at the cold hearth as I recalled better times.

A knock on the door some time later roused me from my wandering thoughts. The sun had set, and Garron waited outside when I opened the door.

“We have your bed ready,” he said.

Behind him, the mattress rested on the table.

With spring fighting for its hold, one’s breath was easily visible once the sun set. I didn’t understand how they managed to sleep outside. Perhaps they were accustomed to it. I was not.

“It’s warmer to sleep inside,” I said.

“It’s easier for us to watch over you out here. We can’t all fit inside.”

“I don’t need watching inside.”

“You have a lump on your head,” Brandle said from one of the hanging beds. “You need watching.”

I turned to go back inside. Garron surprised me by scooping me into his arms.

“If you wish to leave, you need to heal. If you want to heal quickly, you should listen to Brandle’s advice,” he said as he strode to the table and set me down again.

“I need rest to heal,” I said. “And I won’t find it out here. Without Daemon, the sun, and heated rocks, I wouldn’t have rested comfortably previously.”

A flurry of movement came from the hanging beds, and I turned to see Daemon and Darian drop from theirs. Darian grabbed for Daemon, tripping him and shoving him to the ground so he could race to me.

“I’ll do it,” Darian said. “I’ll warm you tonight.”

Daemon snorted and rose to his feet as he brushed himself off. He obviously had the same doubts as I did.

“When did I give you the impression that I was simple or naïve?” I asked.

Darian chuckled. The low sound wrapped around me.

“Ah, Princess, you cut me to the quick. Allow me the night to bask in your presence. I vow to be the most honorable of men.”

“It’s best to agree,” Eadric said from his hanging bed. “He won’t let any of us sleep until you do, and we’re all here to ensure he keeps his word.”

“No,” I said. “I will not sleep beside you, Darian, simply because you wish it. Go away.”

I strode past the pair of men and slid my slippers from my feet before climbing into the bed on the table.

“You are all impossibly obstinate.” I pulled the cover over my head and closed my eyes, determined to sleep before I noticed the night’s chill.

“Insufferable,” I added from under my blanket. “Fretting mother hens.”

“Go to sleep, Kitten,” I heard Brandle call.

“Ass.”

Several of them laughed.

“Your temper is showing, Trouble,” Edmund said.

Realizing he was right, I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then another. And another.

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