would be nice if he had any indication something would happen today. Cami had faced enough changes. She didn’t need any more surprises if it could be helped. He didn’t know what reason the man had for doing things this way. If it was similar to some of his other reasons, they might never know. The man was always mysterious.
Vin nodded and waited as they walked past him. Colm followed Cami as she led the way to the chatar’s library. He reached past her and opened the door before allowing her to enter. She strode into the room, but she didn’t immediately sit. She stood next to one of the shelves.
He knew she was nervous and didn’t want to crowd her. Taking a seat at the end of the table, he waited for her to relax enough to sit down. Linc sat down across from him, leaving the seat at the end open for her. Tyson sat a seat down from him and Vin took a seat near Linc. Finally, Cami sighed looked up and took a chair at the other end of the table.
Colm shook his head. That illustrated how she was feeling very clearly. Her against everyone else. Colm wasn’t about to let that continue. They were by her side on this. She wasn’t alone.
He stood and walked over to her. He didn’t sit beside her. He reached down and lifted her out of the chair. She stiffened and gasped, but she didn’t yell or argue. He walked over and put her into the chair at their end of the table. She grabbed the arms of the chair and narrowed her eyes on him. He didn’t know if she needed something to hold onto to steady herself. Maybe, she simply didn’t want to take a swing at him.
“We always sit by your side and we’ll be on your side. We might not agree with you or take everything you say as fact. That doesn’t mean we’re against you.” Linc put his hand on her arm and rubbed slowly up and down. “Now why don’t you start by telling us what happened out there?”
“Tyson can go first. My story isn’t going to differ too much from his except near the end of the walk.” Cami smiled, but Colm saw the strain around the edges of her mouth.
Trust. In ways, she’d given it to them, and in other ways, she seemed to expect them to turn on her. He was certain she trusted them with her body and not to hurt her physically. It was her emotions that now held her back. Talking wasn’t going to change that. Time would. He didn’t like it. Most of the time, he wanted to grab her and demand that she give them everything. He couldn’t order this. She needed to discover that on her own.
“Go ahead, Tyson,” Linc said.
Colm put his hand over Cami’s. He could see the distance in her eyes and the way she almost leaned back in the chair. He held back a snarl. She’d probably misinterpret his irritation at that silent retreat. He wanted to haul her into his lap and show her that none of her doubts mattered in the end.
“At first, everything was fine. She talked to the women and seemed relaxed. Once we walked away from the Thent and toward the forest, she began to get tense. Her steps noticeably dragged. I thought she was simply nervous about being outside of the walls, but she said no. There was danger.” Tyson looked over at Cami and he didn’t seem to know what to make of her actions.
“Danger? Is that where it ended? Did you bring her back then?” Linc frowned.
“No, I asked her if she’d seen anything. I knew you’d had the perimeter checked and that there were people watching us even at that moment. I thought she was simply nervous because of the old fear of them. I had her take a few breaths. When she was ready, we walked again. She suddenly stopped and said that she was ready to go back to the Thent now.” Tyson rested his arm on the table.
“Is there a reason that you didn’t wait for her to relax again this time?” Colm frowned. Taking that time had been a good idea.
“She wouldn’t. She was pale and obviously shaken about something. She said that if we went any closer to the trees that someone would get hurt.” Tyson shrugged.
“Now your side of the tale, Cami.” Colm looked at her