Rachel Rossano - The Theodoric Saga Read Online Free PDF Page B

sight,” he informed them as he pulled up next to them and flashed Eve a brilliant grin. He then heeled his tired horse, forcing him to lunge forward half mad into a gallop and leave them in a cloud of dust.
    “Inconsiderate fool,” Labren muttered.
    “Idiot.” Eve coughed.
    Labren’s chest warmed with hope as he guided their vehicle into its place. She wasn’t a fool or interested in a fool. The sensation lived a very brief life.
    Not an hour later, his stomach tightened like a vice. With sharp eyes he scanned the camp. Eve approached their fireside with their daily ration of water. Ulysses hid behind the wagon closest to theirs. The leer of the wagon master’s son made his hands itch for a weapon.
    Eve’s face brightened and she smiled at him as she crossed the middle of the circle. Labren tried to force himself to smile and not show his worry. He knew he was not convincing her.
    “What is the matter?” She poured some of the water into the kettle.
    “I will tell you later.” He made a big show of walking to the tethered horses. He struggled not to limp although it aggravated his leg. Just as he expected, once his back turned, the scoundrel eased his way over to where Eve stirred their supper. While Labren checked the hooves of his animals, Ulysses offered to cut the bread for her.
    To Eve’s credit, she pushed strands of loose hair back behind her ears and coolly declined his offer. Not to be rejected completely, the man insisted on lifting the kettle from over the fire. Deciding he had seen enough, Labren hobbled the horse and turned back to his wagon. Long before he arrived, Ulysses left.
    Taking in Eve’s pale cheeks and lowered eyes, Labren decided he would deal with this problem before bed. Even if it meant they parted with the caravan, he needed to speak with the wagon master about Ulysses. He would wait until a private moment to speak with Eve.
    His wife’s hands shook when she handed him his stew.
     
    Eve worked at cleaning up the meal mess as Labren walked over to the main fire that always burned in the center of camp. Her mind raced and her hands moved by rote.
    All attempts to block out Ulysses’ face from her memory proved futile. The way he leered at her twisted her stomach. She gulped back the bile in her throat. The proposal he offered made her want a bath.
    Labren’s silence did not comfort her at all. An unreasonable feeling that she shamed him grew in her chest. She tried to occupy her mind elsewhere, but found herself dwelling upon the tight panic growing in her stomach.
    She finished the chores more quickly than usual and dumped out the dirty dishwater while the dying fire still glowed. Even though Labren did not return from the main fireside until most of the stars appeared, Eve climbed into their wagon to begin making their bed for the night.
    After lighting the lantern, she placed it on the top of their clothes’ chest. Its golden-red glow deepened the shadows behind the various boxes and trunks filling the floor. She began to wrestle their mattresses out from their wooden box when she heard a sound. She paused mid-motion to listen.
    The stride of the person approaching was clear in spite of the distant scolding of the mothers calling the children to bed. Somehow she knew the man outside the wagon was not her husband.
    Avoiding making shadows on the canvas, Eve slipped behind the half empty chest. Moments before he began to hoist himself over the wheel hub, she tucked herself under the partially unpacked mattress. She stopped breathing as he pushed aside the flap and entered.
    For what seemed like an eternity to Eve, Ulysses stood and surveyed the room before him. He stepped toward her. Eve swallowed a gasp as her heart thundered in her ears.
    “I saw you come in here, Eve.” Annoyance tinged his tone. She had forced him to seek her. “There were wild animals wandering the camp. I came to check on you.” He took two steps to the middle of the floor. The toes of his dirty and