MASTER SEBASTIAN

Chapter 50

The next day we headed north.

Without the advantage of our horses we had to make our journey on foot. And it was fun. Amidst dragging ourselves through the clusters of vegetation, we sometimes broke into runs. We raced ourselves and it was the most wonderful feeling, the sun on our backs, the winds riffling through our hairs.

And it was the first time I'd heard Sebastian laugh hard and long.

The sound would forever be ingrained in my mind.

Now we presently walked through the woods. Sebastian sliced hanging boughs, cutting a clean path for me.

I hitched my gown, stepping over a low mound.

"How long till we get to the stream?" he asked.

I had sensed one nearby. "Not long," I answered.

At length he asked, "Are your senses only attuned to water?"

"It's the element that comes to me easily."

"Can you sense fire?"

"I haven't tried... why?"

"It could tell us where other travellers are. I don't think we're the only ones headed for the ferryman."

I hugged my arms around me on reflex. "You want me to go looking for them?"

His head snapped to me. "Not you."

"You want to go looking for them?"

"We need supplies."

I stopped. He stopped as well, turning to me.

"We can't risk it," I told him. "Apart from the fact we'll be robbing what might be innocent people, we could get killed."

"Not we, Eleanor. I. You're going to point me in the direction of the nearest campfire and I'll go to it."

"And you think I'm going to just let you risk yourself like that?"

He faced me fully, his body going stiff. "You will obey me, Eleanor."

"Um, why?"

An incredulous brow rose. "Because I order it."

"Sorry, big guy. But that's not how relationships work."

I breezed past him and he caught me by the arm with a growl. "You've barely had a proper meal and your clothes are worn. They hang off you."

"In case you didn't notice, berries are food." For emphasis, I reached up and plucked one. Wiping it against the sleeve of my gown, I threw it into my mouth. My eyes briefly closed shut as I chewed. "Delicious."

His teeth clenched. "You need proper clothes, a proper meal, and a proper bath with soaps and shampoo and all the things you females use."

"I think I could do witho--"

"Just let me take care of you, Eleanor!"

Silence stretched the air. Slowly I walked up to him. I should've snapped back at him, but one look at his still, forbidding face had tenderness spreading around my chest. I reached up to cup the side of his face. "You shouldn't do that at my expense, Sebastian."