"One thing I learned from my many years of traveling is that you don't want to come on too strong." His stormy gaze pierced into her as they faced each other, close enough to hear the other person's breathing. "Telling a man of one's suspicions is the quickest way to get a dagger sunk deep within your back."
Roxane didn't let the man intimidate her, and she stared boldly back at him as his silver eyes studied her face closely.
She scowled at him when his eyes landed on her lips.
"I'll be sure to remember your words." She said as she twisted her arm from his grasp. Then she rose up to her full height, looking at him from above. She felt her eyes dilate into slits for a moment as she tried to reign in her anger.
"If that is your attempt to scare me into submission then I think it needs more work." Thatcher's gaze went back to normal as he calmly watched her.
"I wasn't trying to scare you. I was trying to teach you the first rule I had learned."
"Well you may keep your bloody first rule to yourself. I don't need to be taught by anyone, especially by someone not much older than I." Her openly voiced displeasure only made him chuckle. She found his stares felt different to her somehow.
She left him by the creekside, her thoughts were all jumbled as she made her way back to Diana. Her friend was busy placing down their bedrolls as Roxane approached.
"What's wrong?" Diana asked as she quickly gathered the small branches around the camp for their fire.
"Absolutely nothing." Roxane kept her head down, knowing if she turned her head her friend would be able to read her flushed face.
As she worked, picking up the branches and hauling them over to where their fire was going to be, she fought the urge to think about Thatcher. She shook her head as her mind kept wandering, remembering when he was able to pull her down. At that moment she had thought the man was going to kiss her.
Why did she think that he would do that? She furrowed her brow as she looked for an answer. Did she think he liked her?
She thought about her feelings all throughout the night and into the next morning.
As they rode on their horses, she could sense Diana wanted to ask her something but she chose to ignore her. She wouldn't be able to answer her question anyway.
"I think tomorrow we'll be able to reach the border between the two countries." Thatcher was oblivious to the change within Roxane as he spoke to her. It was like he was unfazed by their conversation as if it had never happened.
Roxane nodded her head, refusing to look at him as they rode on top of their respective horses.
"We're going into Serrius correct?" Diana pipped up to cover for the indifferent Roxane. Thatcher instead focused on Diana and answered her questions.
"You said before about Melios. Is that where we are heading?"
"Yes, it's only a week's worth of travel from Serrius." He began to tell Diana about all sorts of wonderful things in Melios, which got the silver-haired woman excited. Her green eyes were positively bright with all the promises Thatcher was making to her.
"Even though we have work to do when we get to Melios, we'll spend some time at some of the nearby villages. You'll get a taste of their food and their culture. There's not a whole lot of change from Solstine but they do like to do certain things differently."
"Like the tea you had us try?" Diana mentioned the tea they were given when they were on the ship.
"That tea was planted on my aunt's lands." He sounded proud when he spoke. "It's also one of my aunt's biggest exports. People from all over the eastern continent buy my aunt's tea leaves."
"You have relatives in Zerentha?" Diana asked, confused about something Roxane had already known.
"My aunt is the Duchess of Melios," Thatcher explained to her after realizing he hadn't told her. "Melios is where our operations are at as well."
Diana kept asking Thatcher about Melios as they continued on. When the sun was bearing down at them and it became too hot for them to continue, they rested underneath a tree by the road.
As they rested, Roxane was tempted to shed off her clothes to cool off faster. She wondered if Thatcher would be willing to look away for a while so that she could do that, but then she talked herself out of that ridiculous idea. She would have to make do with fanning herself with a wide grass she found growing by the side of the road.
"Thank you." She told Diana when she saw her friend stop fanning herself to help Roxane, knowing full well how Roxane easily overheated.
"Need water?" A relaxed-looking Thatcher offered out his sheepskin bag towards Roxane as he leaned against his horse. He had just drunk from his bag but Roxane didn't care as she had downed her own water hours ago. She took the bag from him and gulped down the water, feeling small droplets dribble down the length of her chin.
Thatcher took his water bag back from her and silently tied the now empty container back to his saddle.
Their heads all perked up at the sound of approaching horses and they all watched as a caravan and a couple of men on their horses made their way down the road towards them.
"Hello!" The caravan stopped as they reached the three of them.
"Well met," Thatcher nodded to the man on top of his horse. He looked battle-ready in his armor.
Roxane wearily looked at the other men around the caravan as they stared back at her with interest. She still chose to stay leaning against the bark of the tree, not caring if the whole world saw her the way she was.
Diana, on the other hand, was having none of it as she quickly adjusted Roxane's dress so it covered her ankles again. The men from the caravan all looked away, feeling shame from being caught staring by such a small framed woman.
"Are you three continuing on this road for much longer?" The leader of the caravan kept speaking to Thatcher after sending his men glares for their disrespectful behavior.
"We were hoping to cross into Serrius by tomorrow afternoon. Why? What is the word of late?" Thatcher squinted against the sun as he spoke with the man.
The man shook his head, calming his spooked horse when a field mouse scurried past its hooves.
"The border has been quite dangerous as of late. There's a flood of bandit activity this season that's left a lot of people without supplies. I bet it's the same group of bandits every time. We're a group that's escorting this carriage through to the other side. We wouldn't mind if you and your two companions stuck with us. It's a lot safer if we stick together."
Although the man's words made a lot of sense, Thatcher refused their offer by shaking his head.
"We'll be on our way then." The man dipped his head slightly and spurred his horse, taking his whole caravan along with him.
"Are you sure we shouldn't have taken them up on their offer?" Roxane continued to fan herself even as the wind suddenly picked up and refreshingly blew past her face.
"We shouldn't trust so easily," Thatcher said as he watched the caravan ride off into the horizon. A weird look passed through his grey eyes which made her think the man was thinking there was something off about the caravan.
"Do you think they are the bandits?"
Thatcher shook his head, peeling his eyes away to turn her way.
"But I do think they're something." He didn't expand on his thoughts, but he still made them rest for some time longer before they got back on their horses.
Diana was spooked, jumping up in her seat behind Roxane as she heard the flapping of wings. Above them, dozens of crows flew past them as they screeched. Diana shivered after they flew away. They left behind an ominous feeling that Roxane couldn't shake off.