Page 19 of The Last War We Ever Fought

“You need sleep.”

She pointed her heavy sword at him. “What I need is for you to disappear. Forever.”

He tipped his chin in the sword’s direction. “Then use it.”

“I’m trying to give the poor God a fighting chance.”

War’s mouth twitched, pulling to a smirk. “Head back to sleep, I’ll deal with the frog.”

Rowan fashioned one massive curtsey. “Oh, but what a thoughtful God you are, your clement holiness.”

Running a dirty sleeve over her nose, she glowered at him and backed away to her tent. A faint whisper caught her ear and she stopped, holding in her breath so she could take in more of the words. Once she grabbed a sense of where it was coming from, she quietly dragged her tired self to it, hiding behind a tree that faced Adam’s and Henry’s tent.

A queen’s guard had arrived at camp, already talking to Adam, and no one had called for Rowan. Something she found unsavoury as a fellow compeer.

That unsavouriness turned to suspiciousness when a few sleepy captains made their way to the tent, led by Henry. Daniel among them.

What had he done now?

“You all swore oath to your queen,” Adam said to them, and they all straightened their spines at that. “You will swear another one here today. Whatever of her words will be passed to you mustn’t pass to anyone beside the one you see next to you. Are we clear?”

“Clear,” they all repeated, no longer groggy and ready to obey.

When she made her way back to camp, she found him sitting on a rock, juggling a couple of pebbles in his hands. “Did you quit God-ying to juggle for a living? We’ve needed a jester around here to lift spirits.”

“She’s full of jokes tonight,” he said, smiling up at her, not the least bit offended. He never had looked offended. Rowan thought she might need to try harder.

“Don’t you sleep?”

“Not really.”

She was envious.

“Give it up, Rowan,” he said. “Walk to the infirmary and get something to help you sleep.”

“They make you slow.”

“This clement holiness will kick coal over you if something happens.”

She caught herself before she could smile. “Who will kick coal on me when you do something?”

“Like what? What can I do while you’re sleeping that I can’t do when you’re awake or when you’ve been asleep every other night?”

He had a point. She still didn’t trust him though. Who in this shitty realm could ever trust him? But she thought about it for a moment, and there was no choice for her left but what he said.

“Though,” he called as she made to head for the infirmary. “You could use a bath before sleep.”

Her eyes drew shut. Partially from embarrassment and partially because the thought of washing up almost made her cry when she was this desperate for sleep. For a brief second, she considered sleeping with dried mud and gods knew what else was all over her, but she had yet to lose that much of her dignity. She didn’t even consider lighting a fire to heat up the water. Cold water wash it was.

“Whose shirt was that?” War called from outside her tent as she began undressing.

Why did he want to know? Bored? Trying to annoy me? “Some dead soldier’s. A tall one.”

“Did you not know his name?”

“Why would I?”

“You said he was tall. Tall must have had a name.”