he built up the fire and sat beside it while she drifted off, wondering whether he would find it possible to let her leave him when tomorrow came.
Chapter 23
Despite the hard ground and despite the turmoil of her emotions, Leisa slept. She awakened well after the sun was up to find that she was alone in camp, the fire dead, and a neat pack resting by its ashes.
Rising carefully, she was relieved to find that her legs were perfectly willing to hold her up, and her head only protested for a moment or two before subsiding.
Good. She should be able to travel on to Arandar today.
At least once her unlikely companion returned from wherever he’d gotten to.
Unless he’d changed his mind.
Thoughts of the previous night brought a blush to her cheeks as she wondered anew what exactly he meant by his invitation. She’d thought he meant for her to visit his home until his freedom was fully restored. But there had been something else, a confusion that she could feel through their link that couldn’t be explained by his dependence on her magic.
Almost as if… he cared for her. She didn’t dare use any more serious words, even in the privacy of her thoughts, because she was pretty sure she was halfway to falling head over heels for him, night elf or no.
As if someone like him could ever think of her that way.
But that didn’t seem to matter to her heart. In spite of the danger he presented, there was something about his presence—his implacable strength and his silent, deadly grace—that called to her as no man ever had before.
And yet, she was just plain old Leisa. A stubborn scrapper hiding a world of heartache and a longing for home. The only things she’d ever taken pride in were her loyalty and her skills as a bodyguard, and soon she would be leaving both of those behind forever.
What did she have to offer someone like him? Or any man, for that matter.
Just her magic. Just the one thing she would choose to remove from her life if she could.
So she would do well to remember that the only thing Kyrion needed or wanted from her was that same magic. His interest lay solely in her ability to free him to return to his people and his life.
Don’t get attached, she chided herself silently. Don’t fall for all that gorgeous, mysterious elf-ness.
And in reality, she’d never even seen him in daylight. Maybe she wouldn’t be quite so fascinated once she realized he wasn’t as powerful and intimidating as he seemed at night.
“Are you ready to leave?”
Leisa jumped three feet in the air and turned to where the object of her thoughts had just emerged from the trees on silent feet, lowering his hood and wincing as the sun hit his face.
No, she realized with chagrin, he wasn’t any less fascinating by daylight, though his silver-gray skin and white hair somehow seemed far more at home under the light of the moon. But he was still gorgeous, and his focused regard made her begin to blush again until she had to turn around and hope he wouldn’t notice.
“Just need to wash up,” she announced brightly. “Give me a minute.” Then she zipped off into the trees towards the sound of running water before he could ask any questions about why she was acting so strangely.
Time, unfortunately, was short, so she didn’t have time to wash much. Just to splash some water on her face, plait her hair, and compose herself before walking back to the campsite where Kyrion waited, arms folded, her pack over his shoulder.
“Ready!” she announced. “But I don’t know exactly where we are, so I’ll need you to get me started in the right direction.”
“We didn’t come far.” He made no move to hand her the pack. “We’re still in Eddris. If we head north, the border with Farhall should be no more than a day’s journey.”
“Great!”
Egad, she sounded like an idiot. She really needed to pull herself together and squash all these ridiculous, wistful thoughts.
But before she could even begin, he’d turned and walked away, forcing her to jog to catch up.
She followed him through most of the morning in silence, partly out of uncertainty and partly out of necessity. She wasn’t yet back up to full strength, and he was setting a pace that pushed her to her limits.
Eventually, though, the silence seemed to grow more and more awkward, so she risked breaking it.
“What do you