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‘King … what?’ Lenk asked, gri at the creature He held up a hand ‘Wait, wait …’ He turned back to Kataria ‘First of all, what the hell is it?’
‘He is not an it,’ the shict shot back with a glare ‘He is an Owauku and his naame’
‘That’s an Owauku?’ Lenk looked back at the creature ‘And his naana-oh-sho-shindo,’ the creature said, a long and yellow grin splitting his face apart as he tipped his hat ‘M’the herald o’ King Togu, welcoame’
‘Sure, cousin’ His head sank considerably, sreen lips ‘Go ahead and callspecial as e into a single word No Bagagame ’s’fine’
‘Oh, ah …’ Lenk rubbed the back of his neck ‘Listen, I never really expected a lizard to have ancestry that I could insult, so …’
‘Yeah,’ Bagagarunted ‘M’just so da any?’ Lenk’s curiosity swiftly became shock, and he turned to Kataria ‘You let him watch me sleep?’
‘Well, he wasn’t really interested until you pissed yourself,’ she replied, shrugging
‘Why did you let him do that?’
‘I couldn’t very well say no; it’s his house He volunteered before any of the others could’
He swept his eyes about the reed hut, the thatched roof, and mats of woven fronds on the floor ‘There are more? They have houses? What do lizards need houses for?’
‘Oh, fantastic,’ she sighed She rolled her eyes in the direction of Bagagaain’
‘W’sat?’ the Owauku asked, tilting his head
‘He does this so in the forht to begin with and the fever hasn’t helped You’d better go get ah-he a up ‘M’had a fellow once, acted like way, kuuin’ things that weren’t there W’beat hihtful stare to Lenk ‘Y’sure that wouldn’t just be easier?’
Lenk blinked
‘Yes Yes, I’s the hard way, huh? Yeah, I’ll grab ah-heas a door ‘Togu’s gonna be wantin’ to talk with you after’
Kataria watched the flap open and saw the various green shapes ht beyond, the errant burble of their alien languages drifting into the hut They were silenced as Bagagaer to see another layer of horrified shock on his face
What she saw instead was hi supine on the sand, his arht twitch of his muscles as he drew in deep breaths and exhaled the with every sigh he rim and silent, Lenk was not the ht Even if he never spoke his feelings, his body told her enough He seeht pressing him down upon the earth
She opened her hts leapt unbidden to the fore of her mind
Don’t, she told herself Don’t ask hi about what you said on the boat before the Akaneeds attacked He’ll ask you why you said theain Then he’ll ask you why you’re still here, having said all that, why you didn’t kill hi; he can’t handle the answer
Yeah She sighed inwardly, rubbing her eyes He’s the one that can’t handle it
‘How long?’
‘What?’ She looked up with a start ‘How long what?’
‘Have I been out?’
‘Oh,’ she said ‘About two days’
‘Two days,’ he muttered ‘I’ve been out for two days and on the island for two days Four days total, three days past the time ere supposed to meet Sebast so he could take us back’ He cracked a s we lost the tome, too?’
‘It hasn’t been found, no,’ Kataria said, shaking her head ‘The lizards out of the ocean for a while now, but no book’
‘Well,’ he sighed, folding his arms behind his head ‘I suppose it doesn’t really et picked up, then, does it?’
‘Not necessarily,’ she offered ‘The Owauku haven’t said anything about a ship arriving in the past few days Sebast ed helplessly ‘I suppose that isn’t h’
It would certainly be less coht not be coested and excreted by roaches She held her tongue at that, knowing that the loss of the tome would likely be too much for him to bear
It didn’t appear to be, for his srew a little larger His eyes didn’t grow any colder, their blue suddenly seeid sheets of ice and more like the sea, endless and peaceful
And even as she stared back at him, he didn’t turn them away from her
That, she kneas unusual He had stared at her h er, his yearning all hah his stare And always, he had turned away like a sheep before a hen she turned to e to turn away It was she who felt her smile as sheepish upon her face To see him so … pleasant, without his sword and without blood spattering his face, was so unusual she couldn’t help but feel as though it were soer
As if you needed any more reason to run
‘We’re trapped here, you know,’ she said, ‘for the foreseeable future, at least We have no weapons, no to reptiles and you just barely survived an arrow through your leg’ She sneered, leaning back onto her hands ‘So, just in case you’d forgotten, there really isn’t anything to smile about’
‘I suppose not,’ he replied, ‘but things are a lot better than they were two days ago’
‘Things will get worse’
‘They always do,’ he agreed, nodding ‘But for now …’