For a couple of hours after the others settled down to sleep, Irene found herself unable to get used to the cold, even though they were a few feet behind the actual opening of the cave and the wind was blocked. There was something awful about sitting on a cold rock the entire night.
There weren’t many words between Irene and Leif, not wanting to disturb the travelers who were sleeping—especially those who were set to guard the last half of the night.
As Irene’s gaze turned towards Leif, she saw him sitting still, mostly unaffected by the cold.
The older apprentice silently gazed at his surroundings, taking in what he could despite the darkness having settled over the lands. His eyes occasionally drifted towards the horses hidden from the main trail and hopefully not a target for the goblins. Even though the horses hadn’t been their prey in the past, things were changing beyond everyone’s belief.
Perhaps the only indication that Leif even realized it was cold was his arms crossed over his chest to keep his cloak close to his body.
"Leif," Irene whispered.
With each word they spoke, steam left their lips.
He perked up at his name.
"I’ll be right back."
As fast as she could, Irene stood and quietly crept into the cave where her sleeping roll had been set up so that she could go to sleep without much disturbance in a few hours. She had to hold her sword so it wouldn’t brush against her leg. She was determined to let the others rest.
Even though she needed to sleep badly, they needed it just as much.
From her blanket roll, she pulled out the knitted blanket from her mother. Even though it wasn’t extremely thick, it was quite large so that she could cover her entire self and then some.
She returned to the mouth of the cave and wrapped her blanket around her before she took a seat on the cold ground.
"You’re really that cold?" Leif whispered.
"Don’t make fun of me," Irene objected.
"I wasn’t going to..." he defended himself. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novel·fiɾe·net
However, the apprentice scooted so that he was towards the center of the cave’s mouth, and he gestured for Irene to come closer.
Even though she was confused, she did so.
"Lean into me," he insisted. "I’m not that cold."
Irene looked at him a bit suspiciously at first, but then she realized she shouldn’t be suspicious at all. He was merely a boy helping a friend. She wasn’t a girl who needed saving in his eyes.
Before she settled down, she felt a bit guilty and placed half of her blanket over his shoulders before settling against him.
They were merely sitting with their legs folded beneath them and their sides against one another, but Leif felt nervous. There was no intention behind either one of their actions, but he always felt it was a little unfair that no one else knew she was a girl.
It was a burden to him sometimes. He didn’t know why it felt heavy whenever he thought about it.
He felt like the silence was loud, and he needed to say something to cut into it.
"Better?" he whispered.
The wood crackling and breeze that occasionally brushed through concealed their words from bothering anyone else.
"Much better," she admitted. "Thank you."
"Now you owe me," he joked lightly.
She scoffed and responded sarcastically.
"Please let me know what I can do for you to make this hellish place better," she stated.
He had a small smirk on his face. At least she still had enough liveliness to be sarcastic.
"I don’t know, Iro," he muttered. "Just keep being my friend. How are we always around others, but it feels so lonely?"
His words caused her to turn her head and stare at him with wide eyes. She had to move her hood so she could see his expression. It was the saddest he had ever sounded.
While he had always been the quieter and more serious of the apprentices, he had been even less enthusiastic the more that place wore on all of them. She hoped that it wouldn’t permanently change who he was.
She wanted the Leif back who was easily unnerved and not hardened by all they had seen before. Although perhaps everyone wished that of each other, even her. She could tell whenever Sir Gunnar was feeling guilty that the kids were having to go through this alongside the knights.
"Of course I will," she assured him. "You’re my very best friend in this place. I’m relying on you right now, so rely on me a little too."
Leif’s face was hidden as he leaned an elbow into his knee and placed a cold, gloved hand against his forehead. He felt a little guilty for some reason because he didn’t want to let himself rely on a girl.
Was he merely a product of his surroundings? Did that make him a bad person?
He wanted her to rely on him, but not to shoulder any burden from him. He didn’t know why he thought that whenever he saw her. It was only getting worse the longer they faced war together, and he wished she were somewhere that wasn’t a battlefield as she pretended to be something she wasn’t.
She was strong, but perhaps this unwillingness to conform made her stronger than all of the others combined. He was going to be a man, so he was meant to face war and settle for this life, but she didn’t have to. She volunteered.
Was he jealous that she was so much better than he was?
"Sure, Iro," he whispered.
They weren’t entirely sure how much time had passed, but the moon had finally set, which was their sign to wake Gunnar and the other knight up.
Realizing this, Leif stood up and reached a gloved hand down to Irene.
She took it without argument and stood up. It was finally their turn to rest, and they fell asleep like logs, not moving until the sun was slowly peeking over the horizon.
The trip back was uneventful. They were able to present the mages with the little information they gathered on their excursion.