Child Of A Guardian And Of The Free (Book 3) by Dan O'Sullivan Page B

before Enri could see his tears.
    ‘ Now what do we do with him,’ Enri asked Eibhear.
    ‘ Nothing. We do nothing,’ said Eibhear seriously.
    ‘ Should we go away?’
    ‘ Definitely!’ Dale snapped.
    ‘ Definitely not,’ Eibhear contradicted. ‘You don’t desert a friend when they’re grieving Enri. No matter what they do, or how badly they react, if you know they are torn by grief and if you know they are a true friend, you stay with them.’
    ‘ Right then,’ said Enri, making himself comfortable. ‘Where are Rudi and Ben, and little Rezon and Raline?’
    ‘ Below deck. Ben, Rudi and Rez spent the better part of the last couple of weeks building walls and digging wells. They weren’t particularly tired, but they still need to take some rest.’
    ‘ Did Lias come aboard?’ asked Dale without moving from beneath the cloth.
    ‘ No. He went south days ago. He decided to make his own way back to the Dwellings and then to Emerald. He left in quite a hurry. If he kept moving at the same pace, he’s probably half way to Emerald by now.’
    ‘ Who’s looking after Lerise and Jade?’
    ‘ Raline. She seemed glad to be given something to do,’ said Enri.
    ‘ Eibhear?’ Dale pushed the cloth away from his face.
    ‘ You want to sit up?’ asked Eibhear. Without waiting for an answer he reached out and pulled the cloth away, grabbed the front of Dale’s shirt and reefed him into a sitting position. With what seemed like very little effort, he dragged Dale backwards until he was leaning against the raised quarterdeck.
    ‘ Dale, if you need to talk, you can talk to us,’ said Enri.
    Dale looked at Enri and Eibhear and they could see reason returning to his eyes. ‘I will,’ he said. ‘I’m just not ready yet.’
    ‘ My dad used to say, if you’re at sea and nothing is going right, set sail for home. Home will be waiting.’
    ‘ I don’t even know if I want to go home Enri. Since the fallen attacked, home might not even be there. But I do get his point. I’ve had enough. I’m sailing for home. I had more than enough.’
    ‘ Fair enough,’ said Enri, knowing when a discussion was closed. ‘Why are we stopping at the Dwellings?’
    ‘ I want to see if there are any more of the people from Emerald waiting to go home,’ said Dale.
    ‘ And you want to see if the guardians can help you regain your strength,’ said Eibhear.
    ‘ I do. This weakness is driving me crazy.’
    ‘ Are you going to eat something soon?’ asked Enri as the smell of food drifted through the air.
    ‘ Maybe,’ said Dale wondering why the smell of the food made him feel sick. ‘What is that?’
    ‘ Cook’s made up some little pastry things with apple. They smell fantastic!’
    ‘ No! No. I’m not hungry. I couldn’t!’ He lay back down on the deck and dragged the cloth over himself, turning away from Enri and Eibhear as his heart ached painfully.
    ‘ Why not?’ asked Enri, surprised at Dale’s reaction.
    Eibhear stared sadly at Dale’s back. ‘Charie used to make apple pastries. She knew they were Dale’s favorite and she made them especially for him.’

Chapter 10
    Khimerahd
     
    Kalinya awoke. He touched his shoulder and frowned in confusion when he found it neatly bandaged and far less painful than he expected. Memories of the past week flooded back and his heart accelerated with fright. He had no idea how he had come to be lying in a cart. The cart was not moving. He couldn’t see over the sides and he wondered if he’d been made a slave. Beside him stood a small water barrel and several huge sacks, the contents of which could only be guessed. He rolled sideways and dragged his knees up under his body, pushing himself into a sitting position. A woman was smiling at him over the side of the cart. He wondered if he was dreaming, but the pain in his shoulder precluded this possibility.
    ‘ How are you feeling?’ asked Immosey. Kalinya didn’t answer. He stared at her in stupefied amazement.
    ‘ He’s