AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Alice Ralsdi pushed through the tension first. She put her hands on her hips and gave them a bright smile in a way that reminded Leon forcefully of Sebastian. “You two ready to leave?”
“Yeah.” Sebastian let go of Leon’s hand and went to his mother. They embraced so tightly, Leon averted his eyes with an intense feeling of intrusion. He didn’t belong here, inserting himself like a wedge into this tight family.
William stepped forward and pulled Leon’s attention to him. “I’m glad to have finally met you, Leon. I can see why Farlon chose you.”
He reached out a hand again, but this time Leon detected something almost conciliatory in the gesture, and so he took it without hesitation. He shook the older man’s hand firmly. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you for everything you’ve done.” William gave his hand a last meaningful squeeze and then let him go. “Good luck.”
“I need to thank you as well.” Alice’s small, manicured hand grabbed Leon’s shoulder and turned him. Before Leon could react, she pulled him into a tight hug, and every muscle in his body went rigid. She didn’t let go, though, and leaned the side of her head against his. “Thank you for bringing Sebastian back to us.”
A lightning-quick memory of the horror and terror as he watched Sebastian being torn from his body and thrown onto the ground snapped through Leon’s mind, and he squeezed his eyes shut. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “I didn’t do it for you.”
“I know.” Alice leaned back but kept her hands on his shoulders and looked into his face. “And that makes me all the more grateful.”
Leon, guilt swirling in his stomach, didn’t have a reply to that, so he just nodded.
Luckily, Alice didn’t seem to expect one, and she grabbed a small bag off the chair beside her and pressed it into his hands with a smile. “I’ve also packed you a little something.”
“Packed me something?” Leon frowned down at the bag.
“To eat,” Alice clarified with a laugh. “I know there’s no time for you to have a proper meal right now, and Sebastian told us how you feel about Martha’s ration bars, so I made you a few from my own recipe.”
“Oh.” Leon blinked, and his stomach rumbled. He couldn’t remember if anyone had ever packed him a lunch before. “Thank you.”
“They won’t keep as long as Martha’s.” Alice put her hand on her hips. “But I think they taste better, and you can eat them as you walk.”
Sebastian left off whatever quiet conversation he’d been having with his sister in the corner and came over. “We’ve got to go, Mom.”
“I know.” Alice reached out to Sebastian, fended off his weak defense, grabbed his head roughly, and pulled him forward so she could plant a kiss on his forehead. “Be safe.”
“Always.”
Then with last nods of farewell, Sebastian and Leon picked up their packs, walked down into the gloom of the tunnels, and left the peace and warmth of the Ralsdi home behind them.
After they’d closed the last of the heavy doors behind him and made it into the tunnels under Ralscoln proper, Leon opened the bag Alice had given him.
Sebastian shot him a look and snorted. “I wouldn’t eat those if I were you.”
“Why not?” Leon pulled one out and unwrapped the paper from around it. It wasn’t dehydrated and preserved like one of Martha’s and glistened with some sort of gooeyness.
“Because my mother is a terrible cook.” Sebastian leaned over to look at the bar in Leon’s hand and then shuddered. “Trust me, Martha’s are better.”
Leon despised Martha’s ration bars with a simple and bone-deep hatred, so he found that hard to believe. He took a bite, chewed, swallowed, and shot Sebastian a triumphant grin. “You’re wrong.”
“What?” Sebastian’s surprised bark of laughter rang around them. “You like those?”
Leon chewed through another half of the admittedly somewhat bland and rather claggy bar. “Yes.”
Sebastian snorted again and shook his head, but his words came out full of affection. “You’re crazy.”
After Leon had cleaned out the bag, they moved quickly through the tunnels, more concerned with getting to their destination than stealth or secrecy. A full belly of food and hours of sleep did wonders for Leon’s energy levels, and he found himself enjoying the hard pace, the miles disappearing beneath them, and the quiet and competent companionship of Sebastian beside him.
It surprised him that Sebastian wasn’t nearly as talkative on a job as he would have expected. Always buzzing with energy and quick with a joke or a snide comment at base, Sebastian on a mission channeled all of that energy into his task. He moved with smooth focus and Leon found himself falling back just a little farther than he needed to so that he could watch him.
After a few hours of this, Sebastian must have caught on because he threw a roguish smile over his shoulder at him and gave his hips a sway. “Enjoying the view.”
Leon grinned unabashedly back at him. “Yes.”
