"She's like a skittish horse with blinds on," Takal said half amused. In the minute and a half since he had tied the blindfold, the girl had gone from excited and anxious to calm and quiet. As Takal spoke she slumped into a deep sleep her breathing slowed, and he had to wrap an arm around her to keep her from slumping right off the horse.
"Or" Torn interjected "her constant nightmares have turned her into a narcoleptic. You better watch out, if she starts screaming and thrashing your horse might freak out too."
"I hope not," he said looking down at her uncharacteristically peaceful face hoping nothing would disturb it. "For Shadow's sake." He added looking away from the girl.
Hours went by as the horses trotted along, the girl in his arms continued to sleep peacefully her head now snuggled in the groove of his shoulder causing his arm to ache from lack of movement and her constant weight. He talked to his friend to try and ignore the ache and the girl; he found himself looking down at her far too often.
When the sun was right overhead Torn started complaining. "Are we ever going to stop for lunch? I'm starved and my ass is getting sore."
"Oh stop your griping, you can unpack the food and eat but we're not stopping."
"Don't you want to walk around and stretch your legs? Eat under a stationary tree? I'll bet your arm's real stiff by now. Aren't you dying to give it a break?"
Tornjak always knew how best to be a Torn in his side he thought as he said "We're not stopping we'll get there faster if we eat while riding. And I would like to get there before dark." He looked down at Nieka and stretched his arm just a little in reaction to Torns words. Now that he was thinking about it his arm was really stiff, damn him.
"You just don't want to wake her do you?" Torn asked mockingly.
He stiffened, a little defensive at the mockery he was so unused to, and felt a little guilty about having been caught looking at her again. But he was just looking at his arm. She just happened to be on it he told himself. "No I don't." he agreed in a very disagreeable tone. "Look" he explained, "it's a long trip, and since I put the blindfold on her she hasn't said a word, not one. No questions, or arguing. Why wake a sleeping dragon?"
"Because you like to play with fire" Torn laughed at his own joke. "Seriously though, I'm calling your horses shit on that one. If you really couldn't stand her talking you'd have shut her up, gagged her if you had to."
"There are plenty of girls I'd rather gag if I could," Takal said thinking back to some of the really annoying girls he'd met on his last trip to the villages… and occasionally his little sisters, not that he ever would.
"What do you have against girls anyway?"
"Most of them have nothing to say worth listening to and they are useless when it comes to fighting."
"You have no respect for women. They should never have to fight, that's what we're here for, besides there's other stuff they can do." He said with a smile.
"It's foolish to think you can always be there to protect someone, if my mom had been able to fight maybe she and my brother would still be here. It was just one demon. Just one! That would be nothing to you or I. besides I respect Master Tazmaine's wife and daughters."
"But that doesn't count, he practically raised you, Kyla is like your mother and their kids are practically your little sisters."
"True enough but if it makes you feel any better I think most of the men in the villages are useless idiots too." Torn had unpacked the food while riding as he had suggested and handed Takal a sandwich with a shake of his head. Takal ate with his one free hand since he didn't need to guide Shadow. Torn ate his own sandwich and he was relieved that the food would distract Torn and he would her a short reprieve from unwanted conversations.
~Chapter 4: Going home - ~Nieka~
Nieka woke up to the smell of food, but when she opened her eyes she could not see. She jolted awake feeling for the cave floor in front of her as the ground seemed to be moving. A strong arm, that must have already been there tightened around her and she screamed, desperately trying to wiggle and thrash free but the more she fought the tighter the grip became. There was a strange loud cry and stomping sound as the world beneath her shook. Panic gripped her heart like a frozen iron fist.
"Shhh! Calm down you're freaking out the horse!" a familiar voice ordered in a harsh commanding tone.
The last few days began to settle in; she was on a horse and going home.
"Takal?" she asked tentatively while franticly tugging at the blindfold remembering why she couldn't see.
"Yes?" he answered and she stilled with her hands on her blindfold.
The blindfold under her fingers and the one-word response were proof that she really wasn't still in the caves and that the last few days hadn't been just a dream. Relief began to ebb away her fears. "Can I take this off please?" she said failing to keep the pathetic begging from her tone. She needed to see the light and the world around her or the terrifying feeling of being trapped wouldn't fully let her go.
"Yes," Takal said simply.
She pulled it off and looked around to get her Barings. It only took her a second for her to notice Torn was eating a sandwich and then realize that she was hungry again. "Is there any more food?" she asked staring at the sandwich.
"See what I mean she's been awake less than a minute and already asked two questions," Takal complained.
"Yeah, there's more here." And Torn tossed a sandwich raped in brown paper.
She caught it and mumbled a distracted "thanks" as she unwrapped her food and proceeded to stuff her face. "Mmm," she said over a mouth full. "This is good." She ate quietly for a minute until another question ran across her mind "but what was in that sandwich earlier?"
"Some sort of egg salad with cabbage and blue cheese, the kitchen hadn't opened yet and it was all they had leftover from yesterday," Takal said.
"There was meat and cheese in the storeroom, had you had the patience to make your own sandwich." Tornjak complained.
"Urgh. I think you were trying to kill me." She said jokingly. "I should have listened to my nose. It smelled worse than your old sweaty leather jacket." His jacket actually smelled pretty good, but he didn't need to know that. She took another big bite ripping at the bread, meat, and cheese with her teeth. Umm, food.
Takal laughed, whether at the thought of her death by sandwich, her insult, or the way she was eating she wasn't sure; but she did her best to ignore him. Instead, she asked Torn about where they were and how much further they had to go.
"He can't tell you where we are or what direction we are going," Takal answered for him.
"But... we're hoping to be there by nightfall," Torn said rolling his eyes "come on Takal you can't still be on about the whole spy thing"
"Either way I think it best if she doesn't know."
"Yes Sir," Torn said in mock reverence and gave a week thump to his chest with his fist in salute.
Takal said nothing more but she could feel him give a shake of his head above hers and with hours of riding in front of her she tried to get comfortable again hoping asleep would help pass the time. Besides, it had been a long time since she'd gotten any decent sleep. Well other than all morning.
"Oh no you don't," he said poking her. "My arm is still stiff from your last nap."
"Well, I do have a lot of questions to ask, if I have to be awake and listen to you I might as well make use of all this time. She looked up at the sun through the trees. "We probably have about seven or eight hours left, I hope that will be enough time. I have so many questions."
"You are really annoying," he grumbled positioning her against his other shoulder.
Torn laughed and she made herself comfortable again and soon she fell asleep to the steady beat of a heart, and hooves on the dirt.