Heirot

Laurius's eyes brightened, the ghost of a smile tugging the corner of his mouth. "Funny," he whispered. "I was thinking the exact same thing." He leaned forward and brushed his lips against a bruise near his lips. "Has he been gone too long?" Tenara asked, her back still turned to them, sitting on ...

Laurius nodded. "Then she'll do us all a favor," he said, turning his face to look at Ren. His hand reached out and brushed the man's cheek softly, tracing a bite near his jaw, and then down to one on his neck. He leaned forward and pressed close to whisper in Ren's ear. "I will erase every mark ...

Laurius eased down next to Ren as Tenara kept her back to them. He had no idea what she was looking at, other than watching for Havitharon to return. There was nothing but dark tunnels and bioluminescent fungi. He rested close enough to Ren that his arm brushed the man's. His mouth worked on how to ...

Tenara watched Havi go into the cave's darkness. A minute later, Laurius finished the wrapping on her wrist with a tight knot that made her suck in a breath. But then, the pain eased and he said, "You're face... You're lucky you aren't going to loose that eye." She nodded, but said nothing of it ...

Tenara settled onto the soft moss, running her hand over its texture as Laurius unburdened himself of the pack he'd been wearing. He knelt near her and dug out a flask of water and a pummeled piece of bread. "Not much water," he said, "Maybe Ren and I can go hunt for water that won't melt our ...

Tenara cradled Havitharon's sword to her as he carried her. His urging to rest was easy to succumb to. She was tired. No, she was beyond tired, beyond exhausted, she had never felt this heavy of weariness before. She was hungry and thirsty too, but that was a different matter and one they couldn't ...

Laurius wondered if he'd heard Ren correctly, but the words filtered through is foggy mind and he snorted wearily. "Are you feverish?" he asked. "I feel like an icicle." But, he rubbed his hands over Ren's arms to offer the man more warmth. They should get going, his nerves said. His gaze darted to ...

"It was very brave," Tenara insisted. Laurius brushed a hand over Ren's hair. He wanted to know... and then again he didn't want to know. He was afraid to know, because Tenara was right. This was all his fault. "Brave?" "Elias was going to use the dagger to make him... hurt me," she said with a ...

Tenara curled her hand over Havi’s to still his anger. She had heard Ren’s tone, as had Laurius. The merchant looked a little ill. Ren had been willing to return to this place and trap himself here because he thought Laurius was dead. Tenara could sympathize, she had tried to make Vardner angry eno ...

Laurius looked around at the room as Ren pressed into him. He had devised all of this to put Tenara someplace he thought was safe… “They matter not,” Laurius said, a determined, self-assured edge in his voice. He lifted a hand to curl along the back of Ren’s head. He felt this strangeness in his ches ...

Laurius had been watching the way Tenara comforted and apologized to Ren—as if she were trying to make up for some heinous, awful thing. They had only been parted a matter of days, and before that (not counting the time she was high off of mushrooms and dancing naked in his office) Tenara and Ren h ...

Ren’s pleading jogged a memory of him pleading with Elias while he held the dagger and ordered him to do much the same. She looked at the dagger in her hand, and sucked in a horrified breath. She shook her head and bent to place the dagger at their feet before taking a limping step forward and d ...

Laurius pulled himself up to his feet and looked around, admiring the glowing fungi like a good scientist would. He hesitated on touching it, knowing that it could easily be toxic. Fungi often could be poisonous when eaten, but what if this place had fungi with toxic flesh… His mind began to whirl w ...

Laurius caught sight of Ren’s shaking hands and wrapped his over them a moment, giving them a squeeze. He didn’t know what to say beyond that. There would be time enough to talk when they were someplace safe—if there was such a place on this world. He looked up at Havitharon, and Tenara cradled in hi ...

Laurius followed Ren, glancing back at the fading pressure of Tenara’s vengeful magic. “Will they know the way?” he asked Ren, looking down at the hilt he had in his hand. He realized then that he still had Havitharon’s sword, and Tenara still had Ren’s dagger. If they got too far away… He hadn’t tho ...