Savage King: New Worlds - Milly Taiden Page 0,46
eyes fixed on the cut where another drop of blue slowly formed.
“Wren?” Haml said with worry in his voice. “What is wrong?” He laid a hand on her shoulder, hot and heavy.
“Uh, I—umm, our blood is red,” she answered not knowing what else to say. “I guess seeing yours is blue really made where we are sink in. Everything is so Earth-like here, it’s easy to forget I’m not there.” She shook her head, feeling genuinely dumb now. She wanted to go back into her sleeping hole and hide.
“Red?” he replied. “Really? I never would’ve thought about that.”
She didn’t know what else to say and one of those damn awkward moments; when neither the guy nor girl knew what to say on the first date hung in the air.
“Would like to accompany me while I refill the water jugs?” he asked.
This was a surprising turn of events. “Uh, sure. Why not?” Perhaps he would answer some questions she had. She followed him toward where the tables with food were set up last night. With no one up yet, the tables were out of sight.
Haml lifted two five-foot tall wooden barrels and set each on a piece of plywood-looking base with a long handle attached. He grabbed the handle and dragged it behind him. It was like he was pulling a sled along the dirt. She noted how the ground in front of them magically smoothed into a flat path, making their walk nice.
“So,” Haml said as they walked the trail, “did you sleep well last night.”
Oh god, did she ever after the third go-around. “Yes, I had no problems. I was very exhausted.”
“Good,” he replied, breathing deeply.
“Yesterday, you mentioned something about my magic. What did you mean by all that?”
Haml remained quiet for a moment, then asked, “Are you aware of your magic?”
“No. Why do you think I have magic?” she asked.
He gave her a half smile. “Do you think that tree attacked my men on its own?”
“What tree?”
“Think back to when we met. Where were you?”
She’d sat under a tree with Lilah and Daph beside her. The wind in the tree picked up and thrashed through the limbs, making them hit the men. She’d been praying for help, but she didn’t mean tree help.
He asked, “Do you feel a draw to nature? Trees in particular.”
“I do. I spent a lot of time hanging out in the woods at Grandmom’s. My cousins call me a tree hugger.”
Haml laughed. “Hugging trees is not part of magic, I wouldn’t think.”
Yeah, she didn’t think so either. The sound of water rushing came ahead of them. After a moment, she saw the rocks along the bankside. Haml dragged the sled to a calm shallow pool beside a boulder in the water. He tipped the tall container onto its side so it lay on the ground. How would he ever get water to come up over the bank and go into the barrel?
As she watched, the ground under the container sank until it was low enough for water from the pool to flow in. When it was full, Haml tipped it back up and swapped it out for the other one and repeated the same process.
She was amazed seeing magic at work. Earth would’ve been so different if magic existed there. The possibilities were endless.
When the sled was reloaded, they headed back. Haml took a breath as if to speak but didn’t. After the third time, she asked if he wanted to ask her something. They came to a stop on the trail and he turned to her.
Behind her, she heard a familiar growl. Looking over her shoulder, Haml’s eyes popped wide, and his hand snatched up the bow and an arrow from the quiver. Wren leaped forward grabbing the bow.
“No, don’t shoot. Let me handle this.” Just to make sure he didn’t change his mind, she wrestled the bow from him then stomped toward the tiger several yards away. She was not going to put up with this kind of shit. Reaching the animal, she slapped it between the ears.
“Don’t you dare growl at me when I’m with someone else. If you can’t handle it, then stop being a pussy and show yourself. Otherwise, I will be with whomever I want. Man up or forget it.” She spun and marched back to the trail then handed back the bow. Haml stared at her.
“What?” she asked, holding the weapon out to him.
“Where you come from, is that how you handle wild beasts who could eat