if a bubble of glittering sunlight had wedged itself underneath his ribs. He wanted to stay in this moment forever, holding Kade’s hand while he dozed. In fact, he never wanted to leave Kade’s side again.
“I think she liked me…,” Kade said suddenly, and the words were so jarring that Sev was certain he was sleep-talking. But then Kade shifted slightly and opened one of his eyes a crack. “Mia. Before. I think she liked me… but I never liked her.”
“How come?” Sev asked, holding his breath.
Kade closed his eyes again, his lips quirking slightly at the corners. “Not my type.”
Sev beamed, but only because Kade wasn’t looking. He didn’t respond, except to tighten his hold on Kade’s hand.
* * *
The tent was bright with afternoon sun when Sev jolted awake; he had fallen asleep next to Kade’s cot, head drooping onto his chest.
There were voices at the mouth of the tent, where the flap was open, filling the temporary infirmary with a hazy orange glow. Two figures stood silhouetted in the sunlight.
“…waiting for a few more from an intercepted caravan on its way out of Runnet. According to the scouts, there are some wounded soldiers, but nothing too grave.”
“I’ve got a few empty cots,” said a woman’s voice—it must be the healer. “Are any of the captives wounded?”
The soldier snorted. “Not enough for you to concern yourself. We need to get them to the border as soon as possible.”
“I’d like to see them all the same,” the healer said firmly.
“So long as you don’t delay us.”
The flap swung shut, and the tent was plunged back into darkness.
Sev twisted back around to see that Kade’s eyes were open—that he’d been listening as well.
“We’re going to the border?” Kade asked, trying to sit up and gasping as his stomach muscles protested.
Sev leaned forward, helping adjust Kade’s pillows. “Not yet—just a small escort. They want the animage prisoners to get to the border as quickly as possible, and then the rest of the regiment will follow afterward. I think Captain Dillon was wounded and is being treated by the healer in his personal tent. We won’t leave until he’s good enough to walk or sit a horse.”
“A small escort…,” Kade repeated, brow furrowed.
“I… I thought about volunteering,” Sev said, trying to keep his voice neutral. “But I’m not leaving you. Besides, I… I don’t think I can do this anymore….” He trailed off, afraid to meet Kade’s eye, but when he did, there was an unreadable expression there. “I’m not cut out for—for Trix’s line of work,” he clarified, and Kade tilted his head, considering.
“I’m not sure I’m cut out to be an indentured servant,” Kade said, and Sev’s heart dropped into his stomach. Here he’d been feeling sorry for himself and lamenting the situation he’d gotten himself into—a free man who’d made his own choices over and over again—when Kade had had his choices taken from him long ago.
Sev dropped his head into his hands. “Kade, I—gods, I’m selfish,” he said, the words muffled.
“Sev,” Kade said, and when Sev peeked through his fingers, Kade was shaking his head. “No—listen, I’m not trying to tell you you’re selfish or make you feel bad,” he said gently. “I just meant that sometimes life takes you down a different path than you ever intended. You never thought you’d be a soldier—or a spy,” he added in an undertone, “and I never thought I’d wind up in bondage.”
Kade paused; Sev got the impression he was steeling himself.
“I was twelve,” Kade said, clenching the pendant that hung from his neck and staring straight ahead, at the wall opposite. “I’d spent most of my life moving around, shuffling from place to place. Never alone, though. I had cousins, an uncle—all of us who’d survived the raid on our village when I was barely old enough to walk. I never knew my parents, but I had family at least. The safe house your parents protected was the first home I could actually remember, and I’d been happy there. Lots of other kids to run around with, and animals, too. But eventually we had to relocate. I got separated from most of my family…. They had to send us where there was work available or where people were willing to take us in.”
Sev had distant family that he’d been parted from too, people he’d have no idea how to find again, their names and faces lost somewhere in the memories of a child.