"We came out of it that day itself." Ileus cupped her cheeks. "Are you hungry?"
"That day? How long was I out?"
"One day!" His voice was jarring.
"I am thirsty…" she replied. Her throat was parched and she felt she could drink a barrel of water.
Ileus removed the fur and got up to bring her a canteen. On the way he lit a candle and took out cheese and bread from a saddlebag for her. He placed the plate beside them after fixing the candle on the ground and then helped her to get up. "You look pale, Ana," he said as he gave her water. He extended his palm, which had a green paste in a small bowl. "Have this. It will help you heal."
Medicine. She stared in his warm eyes that flickered golden in the dim light of the candle, with doubt. She hated medicines. She hated the word. "Why do I need it? I think I am fine now…" she drank the water.
He stroked her cheeks with his knuckle. "This will heal you Anastasia. Your body has a lot of poison that needs to be flushed out, and this is just the beginning. Please Ana, have it," he said, emphasizing the word 'please'.
Her jaw hardened. If what Nyles said was right, then she did have a lot of poison. Nyles had been giving her for a long time under the pretext that it was going to heal her fragile heart. A shudder passed through her body. She took the bowl from him and raised it to her lips and gulped it down with water. "It tastes like… ughh!"
Ileus smiled and took the bowl back. "Here, have you food now," he gave her the plate filled with meat stew, honey and bread.
She took the plate. "I am not sure if I can ever thank you enough."
His warm amber eyes fell on her face. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, he said, "You will have plenty of time. Besides this is something I would do a hundred times."
She stared into those eyes. A smile appeared on her lips and started eating. "Where are we?" She asked and then chuckled. "It seems I have started fainting regularly."
"It is that poison in you Anastasia, which is not letting your magic come out. In my opinion, you shouldn't allow it to come out even if you feel it. Your body is too fragile and it will drain you out."
"I couldn't help it back there," she remarked, feeling sorrow twisting her heart. She had stabbed Nyles. After such a long association, she didn't feel any remorse in doing so. But the girl left a deep wound in her soul—of betrayal and that would take a long time to heal.
"I know and what you did there was wonderful," he said with a gleam in his eyes.
Her lips tugged up. She swallowed a piece of bread and said, "Thanks."
"You don't have to say thanks to me at every point. I said what I thought. It is true. What you did out there was wonderful!" There was a look of appreciation and pride in his eyes.And there was so much genuineness in voice that for a moment Anastasia just looked at him with warmth in her heart.
She noticed that his hair was longer, the curls brushing past his neck. Some large curls hung over his forehead, and the thick soft hair was so dark that they reminded her of raven's feathers. With those high cheekbones, and a beautifully carved jaw over a thick neck, reminded her of a ferocious mountain lion she had once seen when she was a child and had traveled with her father on one of his hunting missions. He was breathtaking but so ferocious and wild like the predator it was.
She knew she was looking at someone who she would leave the moment they would reach Óraid and that made her feel miserable. She managed to give him another smile. "But there's a problem now. We will have Aed Ruad's men on our tail. I am sure there must be scanning every part of Sgiath Biò like locusts."
He shrugged. "Who knows? But for now we are pretty safe. Guarhal found this cave for us," he said as he raked his hair with his fingers.
"It smells so musty and damp," she said looking around the dark ebony walls. There was moss growing on the sides. She could hear rowdy gusts of winds around it. Some must have come inside because a shiver ran down her body.
"Actually this isn't a cave," said Ileus as he covered her legs with the fur and then got up to sit behind her. He spread his legs around her and sat close to her back.
She loved when he did that. She felt his warmth suffusing in her body.
"This is a hollow trunk of a tree. On the outside it is covered with drifts of snow."
She was surprised and turned her head to see him. "Really? This is a huge hollow trunk."
"It is, and it is well protected. No one will be able to find us here. But the place is too damp. I am afraid that you have to warm yourself with a lot of furs."
"I am sure!" she replied. She tried to pierce her gaze through the dark, but couldn't make out anything except a few silhouettes of people tucked under their furs. She focused on eating her food. Her thoughts went back to Nyles. Suddenly she felt him stroking her hair.
"What are you thinking Ana?" he asked.
"Nyles…"
"She isn't worth it. Don't think about her."
She sighed. He was right. She shouldn't. She finished eating the last piece of stew and said, "She had been with me since I don't even remember. I don't know at what point did she turn vicious. I don't know why she drifted apart from me." She shook her head. "For me, she was a close confidante. Now that I think of it in retrospect, she must be telling everything about me to Maple." Her voice was a mere whisper as anguish tightened her chest.