Hilt's Pride (The Bowl of Souls Book 0) by Trevor H. Cooley

Author:Trevor H. Cooley [Cooley, Trevor H.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2012-12-12T16:00:00+00:00

VI

“Beth . . .” Hilt whispered. “Beth!”

“Hmm?” she said, snuggling closer.

“Um, my arm is asleep. Would you mind?”

She realized that she was laying on her side, one arm and leg wrapped around him and her head was resting on his arm. She lifted her head and squinted at him, noticing that she had drooled all over his shoulder. He had to have noticed, but at least he was kind enough not to mention it. She moved her leg and arm off of him and sat up. The sky was blue and brightening. It was morning.

She gave him a suspicious look. “How long have you been awake?”

“Not long,” Hilt said, wincing as he massaged his tingling arm. “But you were snoring so peacefully, I hesitated to wake you.”

“No, was I really?” He chuckled and she put her face in her hands. How humiliating. Coulton had never complained about her snoring, but Old Bob used to tease her about it. “Oh, I am so sorry.”

“Not at all,” Hilt said a grin. He stood and began folding the blanket. “I slept quite well actually once you stopped asking me for stories. The night was . . . quite comfortable.”

Beth frowned trying to gauge his meaning. She watched him place the blanket back into his pack and put his swordbelt back on before she gave up. What did it matter? They would reach the peak that day and then Hilt could part ways with her. There was no reason to dwell on her actions during the night. The situation would not repeat itself. For some reason the thought made her sad.

A whistle echoed from beyond the camp and Yntri Yni entered with a bowl full of small greenish berries and four bulbous pieces of root.

“Is that breakfast you have, Yntri? Thank you!” Hilt said he glanced at Beth. “See, I told you Yntri was the perfect travel companion.”

“What is it?” Beth asked as the elf held the bowl out to her.

“Frost berries and winnow root,” Hilt said, popping a few berries into his mouth. “They aren’t very flavorful, but not bad. These are two of the staples a traveler can scavenge for in higher altitudes like this. I am actually quite impressed that Yntri knows about them since this is such a different environment than the land he is from.”

Yntri spoke at Hilt for several moments, his voice clicking with irritation and the warrior nodded, looking quite embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Yntri. I will try not to let that happen again.”

“What was that about?” Beth asked.

“Uh, since we have been traveling with you, I have gotten into the habit of talking about him instead of to him. He was just reminding me that he is standing right here.” Hilt gave Yntri an apologetic smile. “But seriously, Beth. Try the food. We have a ways yet to go today.”

Beth tried the berries. Hilt was right. They were only vaguely sweet, but edible. The warrior took one of the roots and peeled back the rough outer skin with his knife.

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