AllFreeNovel
Share Us
At least the space was roomy enough for me and Lucinda to have a corner all to ourselves, a good enough distance away from everyone.
We had just finished a meal of stew—I would never eat stew again once this was over, I swore to myself—and were ready for bed. It was a little earlier than I’d like, but neither one of us wanted to join the men. I didn’t even want to sit by the fire and listen to one of Jon’s nightly stories.
“I need some air,” I said to Lucinda, as a rush of heat swelled up from my chest, traveling like a flock of birds to my head.
Lucinda stopped folding our day clothes and set them down. Both of us were standing in our shifts, and she now eyed mine, her gaze traveling up and down and stopping on my bare feet. “Now?”
“Yes, now. I’m too hot. It’s too stuffy in here.” I didn’t wait for a response. I made my way to the entrance, keeping to the side of the cave to avoid the center, where the men were gathered. Their laughter, which seemed louder than normal and slightly manic to my ears, echoed against the rock walls.
As soon as I felt the cool, outside air, I undid my braid and fanned out the crimped locks, lifting the mass off my nape. The snow gave off enough light for me to find my way. It wasn’t possible to walk through the exit, so I got on my hands and knees and crawled my way out. Just feeling the cave floor on my calves and palms helped relieve some of the heat that was swallowing me up.
The top of the entrance had an outcrop, like a roof, and I stood under it now, taking in the storm.
It had definitely turned. Visibility was nil. The wind whipped powdery snow into a frenzy in all directions. The sound was like a hundred kettles whistling. In seconds, my shift, my arms, my hair were covered in frosty dust, and it felt wonderful. Banks of snow, more than a foot high, fenced in the mouth of the cave about a yard in. For now, I was protected from it.
“Lady Sierra, you should be inside.”
Demos, of course. Always on the periphery, he would have made a great watcher.
I turned in the direction of his voice. In his white robes, snow dancing around him, he looked like something out of a storybook. He must have just come back from checking on the horses.
“Go inside. You will freeze to death out here,” he said over the screeching wind.
“Just a few more minutes. I got too hot in there.” I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. Ice filled my lungs, stinging my nose and throat. I had the sudden urge to trek through the mounds of snow, feel the resistance my legs would encounter. All that pure white chaos that would drown my burning body in relief.
So, I walked forward. Snow, so soft, so soothing to my hot feet. I walked a few more paces.
“Sierra!” Demos yelled. He grabbed my shoulder, trying to turn me around. The wind changed direction, whipping my hair and flattening against my scalp, my back to the cave. I shrugged his hand off. The power of the storm had me enchanted, and I shielded my eyes so I could look upon it in all its glory.
A part of me was curious as to why I wasn’t cold. I hated the cold. Could never tolerate it. But this heat, almost like a fever, protected me from the frost.
A cramp like nothing I had felt before squeezed me, wiping all thought from my mind. A gush of startlingly warm liquid poured out of me, washing my thighs and calves. The surprise of such an embarrassing occurrence was drowned out by the unrelenting vise on my lower stomach and back. I could barely take a breath and pitched forward, holding my lower belly.
So, this was how my cycle wanted to make its appearance, I thought. Well, at least it had finally arrived.
“I need… Lucinda. Please,” I said, trying to shout above the wind.
There was no way I was going to go back inside that cave with blood all over me; she’d have to come to me. My cloak, which sat on my bedroll back inside, would cover me until I could get cleaned up, away from prying eyes. I made myself look down to see how bad it was, but all I saw was clear fluid on my shift, like I’d just stepped out of a bath. Not a drop of red.
What?
I heard a crash behind me. Demos yelled out something, but his voice was far away, muffled. I could barely make out his words. The cramp eased, allowing me to stand upright again, but as soon as I did, the air was knocked out of me from what felt like a wall of hot flesh crashing into my back, slamming me face-first against the floor of snow.
Someone yelled, I felt hands on me, rough and invasive, flipping me onto my back. Another gush of liquid released as my insides turned into a twisting beast of pain. I tried to speak, to push the massive weight off me, but my limbs only wanted to protect the pain, refusing to obey.
More yelling, followed by snarls and growls, like a pack of wolves or bears had shown up, attacking each other. My scalp burned, my neck stretched painfully, as if someone was dragging me by the hair. Finally, the weight was lifted and the grip on my hair relented. I scrambled to get up, my eyes blinded by the swirling snow. All I could see was gray as I tried in vain to get to my feet, which refused to find purchase, slipping in the snow and finding no friction.
What in the gods was going on?
Someone hovered over me, just as another male form appeared. Their movements didn’t make any sense, arms swinging at each other, blurs of legs kicking out. Meaty sounds of flesh against flesh competed with the screeching of the storm.
An iron band went around my ribs, crushing me, pulling me up and pressing my back against a warm body.
“Sierra, we must leave. Now.”
It was Demos. He held me tight, dragging me deeper into the snow, away from the cave. Another flood of pain, followed by more gushing. I leaned my head back, trying to turn my body. His arm loosened and he pulled me up. My legs went around him, and I rested my brow to the hollow of the Servant’s throat. My nose caught his scent—water, pine, forest—and my tongue darted out for a taste.
“Gods,” Demos groaned near my ear. The sound was thick with expression, and I was reminded of that one night of the festival, what felt like eons ago, when Demos had carried me inside after that episode I’d had.
