Anaya was starting to feel her own lack of energy as she carried Rue back to the clearing. Light or not, she was more difficult to carry this way, but she didn’t want to wake her up by hauling her like a sack of potatoes again given it wasn’t strictly necessary this time. The saddlebag swinging against her leg didn’t make things easier either, but after what happened it didn’t seem like a good idea to leave Rue alone, whether at the clearing or where she’d encountered the skeleton, since more of those things might be around.
Upon reaching the clearing she carefully set the witch down on the ground. She got up and wiped some sweat off her brow. That made her realize in a roundabout way that despite it being summer it might get cold at night. It wasn’t exactly the warmest day either, after all. While she hadn’t intended to camp there for the night given their proximity to both the road and Illion, she realized that unless Rue’s condition improved, she might not have a choice. But even if they moved somewhere else before nightfall, they didn’t have anything to keep warm with.
She set out to take a closer look at what Rue had collected. She recognized most of it other than some herbs and plants, but she also knew that many of the root vegetables would make for less than pleasant dining raw. It didn’t seem like there was much choice, however. They didn’t have any pots or the like even if they made a fire, and she didn’t think making one was particularly prudent given the smoke could be spotted from far away. She might’ve not been on the run before herself, but she’d chased bandits, as well as listened to her father’s stories.
The berries seemed the most immediately edible, but she figured they’d best be left for Rue and set them aside, including the somewhat squished ones. Another problem was water. They needed it, and the horse needed it. She looked at her companion. She couldn’t really go looking for it at present. The whole situation was quite the headache. So much trouble for a pretty face, she derided herself. But even as she did so, she knew that obviously wasn’t the extent of it. It was too bad she’d likely never manage to get back at the rotten guards and Lord Nesbit. Though without proof she felt it was wrong to take action that couldn’t be undone. Of course, she wasn’t foolish enough to think she could even take them all on by herself. Her current situation was proof enough of that.
“Rue?” she called out at length. She’d concluded that the first order of business was to try and get her companion back on her feet, literally and figuratively. Said companion twitched and opened her eyes. “You should eat.” Rue just looked at her, her eyes smirking despite her face looking like death otherwise.
“I am not going to feed you,” Anaya declared.
“Too bad.”
“How can you even still be drunk? It’s almost evening.”
“Who can say?” With effort, Rue sat up.
“You should start with these,” Anaya suggested and collected the berries. She poured them into Rue’s hands. “What are the herbs for?” she asked as Rue started munching on the berries.
“They should help. Gather them for me, please?” With a frown, Anaya did as asked and brought them over. Rue took them, grimaced, and stuffed them in her mouth. Her expression made it clear it wasn’t exactly tasty. But not long after Anaya thought she saw her companion’s complexion starting to improve. “Maybe I should have saved the berries for after,” Rue muttered.
“The rest is not going to be exactly tasty either, eaten like that,” Anaya pointed out. “And we need to look for water.”
“The latter I can do something about.” Rue placed her hand on the ground and closed her eyes. At first nothing happened, but soon a few roots breached the surface of the ground and entwined around each other, forming what looked almost like a cup, but one growing out of the ground. Anaya tilted her head, watching as water started to fill it.
“Neat trick. But will it be enough?”
“For us, yes. For the horse, no.” Rue sighed. “Normally I could do a lot more, but…” She shrugged. Anaya could tell that even that much had again made her look worse. She didn’t know anything about how magic worked, at least beyond the stories she’d read about spirit casters, but to her limited understanding, witches were different. However exactly it worked, it was taking quite a toll given Rue’s current condition, that was much clear.
Rue bent over and drank from the ‘cup.’ It kept slowly filling up, which made it possible to drink even without being able to lift the cup like you would a normal one.
After drinking for a while she straightened back up and looked at Anaya. Her expression was more serious than any Anaya had seen on her so far.
“I really am sorry for all this.” Anaya shook her head and looked Rue in the eyes.
“Don’t be. You didn’t ask, much less force me to do this. Nor was it your fault that Nesbit and his thugs in uniforms are piles of manure.” She looked away. Those brown eyes felt as deep as the earth itself, and she felt like she might get buried in there. “I’m not going to pretend it’s not hard leaving everything behind, like my father’s books, but…” She shrugged. “Can’t be helped now, can it?” To her surprise, she had to wipe an errant tear from the corner of her eye.
“I will do my best to make it up to you. Someday, somehow.”
“Careful, or I may hold you to it.”
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