“Last time, we didn’t have a fire, and The Others still found us!” he barks. “I won’t let you freeze to death, so let them come and do what they will. This is what we signed up for, remember?”

I rub my numb hands together and scowl. “You’re so stubborn. Once we break this curse, I’m going to wring your neck!”

His face is the perfect picture of calm as he trots along his course. It’s as if I’ve said nothing! I plop onto the dirt and twigs and hug myself for warmth as Braizen starts a fire.

“So, then Torr walks up to the woman and tells her that what Lin lacks in height, he makes up for in size somewhere else!” Braizen howls, splashing some of Deria’s special mix on the ground.

“I’m sure Lin loved Torr trying to set him up! Does he do it often?”

Braizen rocks his body towards the small fire to warm his hands. “Absolutely! Torrent is the biggest believer in true love. He’s tried to fix Lin up with just about every person imaginable. Even Lorna when we first met her! Poor lad does not pick up on things fast.”

We laugh some more until I stop to produce a wide yawn.

“Sleep, Sparrow,” Braizen says with a smile. “I’ll wake you when it’s your turn to keep watch.”

I want to resist the offer, but my eyelids are so heavy I can barely focus. I didn’t sleep much after the Aeradian festival, and after trekking all day, I’m exhausted. Before I can say goodnight, a thick slumber comes to overtake me. Through my blurred vision, I watch our fire’s timid flickers. As sleep fully pulls me in, I see a woman framed between the trees that stretch into the night. She watches me.

A dream, I’m sure.

“My sweet Idalia.”

My eyes open slowly, and I’m blinded by the bright morning sun that sneaks through the cracks between the tree boughs. I stretch and yawn to shake off the grogginess and see that our fire is now only burned wood and embers.

“Braizen?” All that remains is a small divot from where he had sat last night.

“Braizen!” I jump to my feet. What horror swept him up during the night, my poor boy from the aviary?!

“Braizen!” My cry pierces the wind with a shriek so urgent the gods must have heard it.

“Idalia, I’m here.”

I jerk around to see the bandit bounding down a small slope and holding our water skins. “I only went to fill these. After last night, I needed water,” he says.

I could slap him and tell him to never scare me like that again. I could kiss him and thank the Lady that he still lives.

“Why didn’t you wake me for a watch? I slept through the night!”