The Moonlit Curse

Ch 8: Penance

Much to her greatest displeasure, Kiya woke to the bed sinking beside her. She cracked one eye open to see who she needed to kill. It was Red. The one person in the world who could get away with waking her up when she was in this kind of mood. Or any kind of mood, really. Red could get away with a lot when it came to her.

Instead of killing him, Kiya scooched back so that, once he'd kicked off his boots, he could lie down on his back beside her on the tiny bed and wrap an arm around her shoulders. "People are going to think we're sleeping together again," she grumbled.

"They've been thinking that since we were teenagers," he shrugged. "Let them talk. It's never bothered you before."

True. Kiya relented and tucked herself in to his side, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes again. It was as if he'd put a wall between her and the rest of the world. Just like he had the first time they met, just like every time before this. Red had seen her at her worst and supported her through it every single time. The opposite was true as well. Through thick and thin, no matter the odds, they always had each other's back. He was, and always had been, her rock.

Which made it all the harder to keep herself together. He wouldn't have judged her for breaking down and crying, but then she would have to explain why. She would have to tell him how much pain she was in and how scared she was. She would have to admit the impossible to him and herself. That, maybe, what attacked her wasn't a bear after all.

Red's quiet laughter brough Kiya out of her thoughts. "I haven't seen you nap like this since we were kids."

"I haven't needed a nap like this since we were kids. What time is it, anyway?"

"Nearly six."

"In the morning?" She sat up a little, blinking the sleep out of her eyes and looking around for the large pendulum clock in the corner. It didn't feel like she'd slept twenty minutes, never mind sixteen hours.

"Evening. You haven't been out that long."

But long enough to have him worried. Even though he didn't say it, the concern was written all over his face when he turned on his side to look her in the eye. "Don't give me that look," she warned. "I'm fine."

"Are you? You haven't been yourself these last couple of days."

"I got attacked by a bear. What, do you expect me to just jump back to normal three days later?"

"Most people? No. You? Absolutely. Come on, Kiya. You want me to believe that you've been bitten, scratched, stomped on... and it's a damn bear that's putting you out? You broke your arm falling off your first horse, and you were back in that saddle seconds after getting it splinted."

"I remember getting the ass-chewing of a lifetime from the masters after that. They had me cleaning the stables for a month."

"No, they had you gutting fish for the cats. Cleaning the stables was after you thought it was a good idea to put beetles in their soup."

"Oh yeah," she started to laugh. "I almost forgot about that one. Master Slater wouldn't eat anything that crunched for weeks. He still takes the fillings out before eating stew."

"They always needed to keep you busy, or you'd bring the whole place down with your chaos."

"You were right there beside me a lot of the time, Kean. For every punishment I did on my own, there were two others we did together. Remember the time we hid eggs in the loose bricks in Master Winship's quarters?"

"He drove himself mad looking for the source of the smell! Every time he found one and thought it was over, he'd throw a damn tantrum a couple of days later when it wouldn't go away."