The Crowded Shadows Read Online Free PDF

as though he had lost the leg entirely and needed her support. Truth be told, she wanted to fling her arms around the two men and squeeze them both until their heads popped off. Razi was already limping away and Christopher was gazing anxiously in the direction of the camp, his posture tight.
    Razi gestured for her to catch up. “Come on,” he grunted. “We can check on them tomorrow. Let’s get some distance.”
    Wynter realised that he was trying to take her away from the men in camp and get her to safety, and she was instantly filled with impatience. This struck her as so utterly funny that she grinned. Would they ever,
ever
change?
    “Razi!” she said, laughing.
    “
What?
” He turned to look at her, flinging his hands out in exasperation, still backing resolutely away from the camp.
    “My horse is this way!”
    Razi gritted his teeth, turned sharply without pause and stalked away in the direction she had pointed. Christopher chuckled and she heard his light footsteps as he jogged to catch up.
    They gathered up the horses and put a good thirty minutes’ ride behind them before setting up their camp. It was falling rapidly to dusk, and they set about their work with maximum efficiency and minimum talk.
    The men didn’t seem to be bothered with bivouacs so Wynter didn’t unpack hers. It would be a hot night, a groundsheet and cloak would do. Like Wynter, they were camping cold, so there was no fire. Instead, Christopher combined their supplies and set about soaking some horse-bread in a small pot. He added spices and dried fish and shaved an apple into it as Wynter and Razi tended to the horses.
    Razi kept looking at her as they were working. She smiled at him, but he just tightened his jaw and turned his face back to the horses. Wynter felt a knot of tension tighten in her chest and she tried not to get angry before she had any good reason to.
    By the time they were done, Christopher was finished laying out their bedrolls. He had arranged them in a loose triangle in the small clearing, with the pot at its centre where a fire would normally be.
    “Wash yourself first,” he said, pointing to a copper bowl full of water that he’d set aside for them.
    Wynter stood back to allow Razi first go, but he gestured that she go ahead while he undressed. It was so delicious to wash herself with water that she longed to strip and plunge headfirst into the bowl, but she satisfied herself with scrubbing her face and neck and arms to the shoulder, then stood aside to dry herself while Razi gave himself a good wash.
    Once dry, Wynter stood for a moment, her tunic dangling from her hand, and closed her eyes. For the first time in six days she felt safe enough just to stand and breathe, to let the world drift off while she took her ease. Her body was utterly spent, her head stuffed with thistledown, and she was certain she would sleep like the dead tonight.
    She opened her eyes to find both men staring at her. Razi, drying his neck, glared at her from angry eyes. Christopher crouched expressionless by the pot. Wynter lifted her chin. “It would appear that you two got lost on your journeys to Italy and the Moroccos,” she said. “How fortunate that you happened to meet up. What a tremendous coincidence that you both ended up here.”
    Christopher lowered his eyes and went back to stirring the food.
    Razi continued to glare. “Did you leave your father alone?” he asked flatly.
    Wynter’s heart dropped, and her eyes flew to Christopher, whose head shot up at the question. He stared at her, his spoon poised over the bean mush.
    For one shameful moment, looking into Christopher’s wide eyes, Wynter was tempted to lie. She was sorely,
sorely
tempted to say that she had stayed with Lorcan to the end, and only left him when it was too late to do more. But instead, she just nodded. Christopher dropped his eyes in sorrow and disbelief.
    “You…? After all that man has
done
?” Razi’s voice was low and cold, and Wynter