by Rinelle Grey
As he walked, he lost all sense of time and direction. He paid little attention to his surroundings, and the cold seeped in through clothes that were woefully inadequate for the temperature, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He just trudged on, putting one foot after the other, because he had nothing else to do.
A scream split the silence, and his head jerked up. Without stopping to think, Tyris ran towards the sound.
It took him a few agonising minutes to reach the spot on the banks of the creek. His eyes searched the area that was now eerily silent, drawn to a huddled heap on the bank, dark fabric standing out against the white snowdrift.
He broke into a run, dropping his backpack on the ground and kneeling down. Marlee turned and looked up at him, her face ashen.
“Are you hurt?” Tyris asked, still gasping for breath.
She clung to him, clenching her teeth in pain. “I slipped on the stone. Twisted my ankle.”
Tyris looked down towards her feet and realised they were still in the freezing water. Without wasting a moment, he gripped her under her armpits and pulled her back a couple of feet, then stripped off her sock to examine her ankle. “Does this hurt?” he asked, pressing it in a couple of places.
Marlee winced. “A little.”
“That’s good,” Tyris said. At this point, it would be more concerning if she couldn’t feel anything. He rifled through his backpack, pulling out a pair of socks. They weren’t as thick as hers, but at least they were dry. He stripped off both wet socks, and replaced them with the dry ones, before looking up at her. “What were you doing out here on your own?”
“I was worried you weren’t coming back.” Her lower lip trembled.
“Of course I was coming back,” he said roughly. “I just had to wait for the storm to pass.”
“Oh,” Marlee said, her voice small. It was obvious she thought he was stupid enough to put himself into serious danger. Tyris ignored the fact that she was nearly right.
He helped her to sit up. “What were you going to do if I wasn’t coming back anyway?” he teased, hoping to keep her spirits up.
Marlee looked at him stubbornly, and if she had been standing, she surely would have stamped her foot. “Drag you back, you idiot.”
Tyris hid a grin, and had an inkling of why Nelor let himself be bossed around. She was cute when she was angry.
It was the first time he had smiled in two days. What was it about her that did that? Made him forget, even for a moment, that his situation was completely hopeless? He’d been worried that she wouldn’t want him back in her house, yet here she was, out in the weather they all seemed so afraid of, because she was worried about him. He looked down at her flushed face inches from his, her eyes sparkling with determination and had a sudden and inexplicable urge to kiss her.
As though she could sense his thoughts, her expression turned serious, and she met his gaze without wavering. His eyes darted to her lips, full and moist, then back to her eyes. He moved his mouth minutely closer to hers then paused. Her eyes didn’t leave his, and her lips parted. She seemed to be barely breathing. He was sure he wasn’t.
Then a shiver shook her body violently. Tyris pulled back, crashing back to reality with a jolt. He shouldn’t be taking advantage of her, especially not now. They were sitting in the snow on the banks of an icy creek, miles from anywhere.
Marlee watched him with disappointment in her eyes. Or was she just cold?
They needed to get indoors, somewhere warm. The Hylista was closer than the village, but it was in the wrong direction. The sky was still clear, but he had no idea how long it would last. He couldn’t risk taking her back to the ship.
They’d have to head for the village. He reached into his backpack and handed her a chocolate bar. “Here, eat this. You need to keep your strength up.”
Marlee looked at him suspiciously. “What is it?” she asked.
“Try it and see,” Tyris suggested.
Marlee took a tiny bite of one corner. Her eyes widened, and she took another, larger bite. She looked up at him in amazement. Then to his amusement, she demolished the rest, as though she was afraid it might disappear if she waited. “Do you have more?”
That won a laugh out of Tyris. “I do, but I think I might save it.”
“For what?”
“In case I need to bribe you later.”
Marlee’s eyes narrowed. “That won’t work, you’re coming back with me, whether you like it or not!”
“You don’t need to convince me,” Tyris said. “I was already on my way back. But I may need it in the future. I suspect it’s going to be a long six months.”
Marlee was silent, understanding the importance of his words without him having to spell it out. He held his breath, waiting to see what her reaction would be.
“You don’t need to bribe me,” she said quietly. “You can stay with me for as long as you like.”
Emotion choked up his voice. He wanted to say that she didn’t have to offer, but he had nowhere else to go. He swallowed. “Thank you,” he managed.
Marlee just smiled at him and held out her hand for him to help her to her feet. He pulled her up carefully. Even so, she stumbled and fell against him, and he caught her automatically.
Her chest pressed up against his, and he felt the curves hidden under her bulky, outside clothes. Her face was only inches from his, and her cheeks were flushed pink from the cold. She caught her breath sharply, and her eyes flicked up to him.
What if he didn’t have to be alone? She was cute, and she seemed to like him. If they were together, he wouldn’t feel so alone and helpless.
He blinked. What was he thinking? What about Milandra? True, he might never see her again, but could he really just forget her that easily? And Marlee obviously still cared about Nelor. He didn’t want to disrespect those feelings either.
He stepped back a little, but still kept hold of her in case she fell. “Do you think you can walk?”
Marlee looked at him strangely for a moment then put her foot on the ground and tested to see if it would take her weight. She winced, but nodded. “I think so.” Then she looked ahead. “But how are we going to get back across the stream?”
Tyris looked at the stepping stones and marvelled that Marlee had made it the first time. He could probably get across them, but Marlee, with her injured foot, definitely couldn’t. “We’ll have to find somewhere else to cross.” He glanced up and down the stream, debating which way was better, but they both looked similar. He chose upstream, assuming that as the stream flowed down, it would only collect more water from the melting snow.
They walked for several hundred yards, Marlee leaning on Tyris’s shoulder and hobbling on her injured ankle. Tyris began to worry. The longer they took to find a way across, the longer they were out in the cold. Even once they crossed the stream, they still had quite a walk, and Marlee’s injured ankle slowed her down. He debated giving up and going back to the stepping stones when ahead of them he saw a tree that had been brought down by the storm.
It created a perfect bridge across the stream, and it only took him a few minutes to clear most of the branches in the way. Marlee’s teeth were chattering, and Tyris’s own fingers and nose were numb. Once they crossed the stream and retraced their steps back to the stepping stones, Tyris encouraged Marlee to walk faster.
Time blurred and all Tyris could do was focus on moving one step at a time. Marlee soldiered on, not mentioning her ankle, but pain furrowed her brow. He would not let her give up. By the time they reached the edge of the trees, he was half carrying her. Several hundred metres of stirred up muddy fields with patches of partially melted snow still stretched in front of him.
He had never been more relieved to see someone than when Nerris and Kalim struggled through the mud toward them. “What happened?” Nerris asked.
“Stubborn woman came looking for me,” Tyris managed to gasp out. “Twisted her ankle crossing the stream. Had to bring her back.”
Nerris didn’t ask an
y further questions, just took Marlee’s now unresisting body from Tyris and struggled back towards the village with her. Kalim took Tyris’s arm and helped him cross the final distance.
Finally, they were both sitting rugged up in blankets in front of the fire inside the village hall. Marlee’s face was white as a sheet, but her eyes fluttered open when her mother pressed a cup of tea to her lips. She drank it gratefully before lapsing into a fit of coughing. Karla checked Marlee’s ankle, decided it was just a sprain, and prescribed a few days’ rest. As he sipped at his tea, feeling the warmth flood through him, Tyris was equally relieved to see colour returning to Marlee’s cheeks.
“That was a reckless thing to do, Marlee. You could have gotten yourself killed!” Tyris could see the unshed tears in Yasmyn’s eyes and knew her scolding was out of concern, despite the rough and angry tone.
“I’m sorry, Mother,” Marlee said, eyes downcast. Then she looked up and gave him a brilliant smile. “But I did it. I brought him back!”
Unfortunately, that comment made Yasmyn turn on Tyris. “And you, young man, staying out there in the first place, encouraging Marlee to come out after you. Don’t think you’re going to get off lightly.”
“I’m sorry, Ma’am. I was on my way back,” he added defensively. “I didn’t think anyone would come looking for me.”
“Well, I’ll forgive you, because Marlee is okay, but you’ll have to learn that we look after each other in this village,” Yasmyn said sternly.
Marlee shot her an angry look, and opened her mouth, but didn’t speak.
Tyris bit back a sigh. Yes, he needed to learn how to fit in. “Yes, Ma’am,” he said meekly. He suspected his first lesson in fitting in would be to learn to listen to the council members. Well, he could manage that. He was used to taking orders.
Yasmyn nodded approvingly. “I’ll see you both home.”
Practicing his listening skills, Tyris nodded. “Thank you,” he said, surprised to find that he was, after all, grateful. He suspected Marlee wasn’t going to be much help in getting things organised, and he had no idea what to do.
Yasmyn took her daughter’s elbow, but Tyris stepped in. “Let me,” he said, and before Marlee or her mother could protest, he picked her up entirely. She let out a little squeak then settled against him, tucking her head into his shoulder. Tyris rather liked the feeling. Carrying her was not a strain. She didn’t weigh much more than Milandra, despite her extra curves.
He really needed to stop comparing her to his wife. It wasn’t helping any. Especially not since Marlee kept on winning the comparisons. He pushed that thought out of his head.
Yasmyn looked at him for a moment, then gave him a rare smile, and led them both back to Marlee’s house. Though the ground had been trampled hard by years of trudging feet, it was still slippery. Tyris concentrated on keeping his balance.
Inside was only slightly warmer than the chill outside. Tyris soon realised why, as he settled Marlee by the cold fire. He thought it was completely out until Yasmyn pushed aside the ashes and found a few still glowing embers. Putting some leaves and bark around it, she blew on it gently until it caught. He should learn how to do that. He would learn how to do that.
The fire burned brightly and the house began to warm up. Marlee smiled sleepily over at him and snuggled in her blankets as her mother heated some stew. Once they had eaten and warmed up, Marlee’s mother left them, admonishing them only to get some rest.
They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, Tyris enjoying the feeling of the warmth creeping slowly into his skin. Finally, seeing Marlee’s eyes beginning to droop, he said, “We’d probably better listen to your mother and get some rest. Only this time, I’ll take the floor and you can sleep in the bed.” Marlee opened her mouth to say something, but he shook his finger at her, “No arguments, missy. Bed it is for you.”
“Yes, Tyris,” she said meekly. “Only I put the pallet away, so there is only the bed.”
Some of his discomfort must have shown in his face, for she added defensively, “Well, you weren’t here, and I kept tripping over it.”
Tyris sighed. “Where is it? I‘ll make it up.” It was the last thing he felt like doing, the warmth having seeped into his bones, relaxing them.
“It’s under the,” a giant yawn interrupted Marlee’s sentence, “bed. But I don’t think I have the energy to help you make it up tonight. Why don’t we just share the bed?”
Tyris searched her face for any hidden agendas, but he saw only sleepiness. Fairly sure that he himself had no such intentions, he hesitated for only a moment before nodding. He would get the pallet out in the morning, he promised himself as he crawled in beside Marlee, surprised at how much more comfortable her soft warmth made the hard bed.
A DULL THROBBING IN MARLEE’S ANKLE pulled her from her dreams. Not even a hint of dawn light made it inside the house yet. She felt a presence in the bed beside her, and for a moment, thought it was Nelor. Then she remembered.
Sometime during the night, she and Tyris had slipped from their careful positions on opposite sides of the bed to lie side by side, and now Marlee’s hip rested snuggly against his. She should have felt the urge to move away from him, but instead, the thought of how near he was sent a little flutter through her body.
She lay there with her eyes closed for a moment. His breathing was soft, and he muttered something unintelligible. His hand fell against her side, sending another shiver through her along with a pang of guilt. She shouldn’t be feeling this way about Tyris. She loved Nelor.
And now she could never be with him. She hadn’t talked to Tyris about his ship yet, but he seemed to have given up on repairing it, until after winter at least. There would be no escape from Zerris, no chance to be with Nelor on another planet. Instead, she was here with Tyris. She’d told him he could stay as long as she liked. Since Nelor wouldn’t be back, he might as well.
It would probably buy her another week or two before her mother started pushing her about finding a new partner again. Tyris muttered something again and rolled over, and the movement in the bed caused her ankle to throb more.
That was all the motivation she needed. She rolled carefully to the edge of the bed and pushed herself up. Reaching down, she rubbed the offending ankle, only to find it had swollen to twice its normal size. She stood up carefully, testing to see if it would hold her weight.
Pain shot through her leg, and biting her lip to muffle her exclamation, she half sat, half fell back onto the bed.
Tyris stirred. “Is everything okay?” he asked, his voice thick with sleep.
Marlee winced. “Yeah, I was just going to get something for my ankle,” she said quietly.
“Do you need a hand?” The bed shifted as Tyris raised himself on one elbow. He sounded more awake now.
Marlee wrapped a tendril of hair around her finger, rubbing it with her thumb. The sound of his voice reminded her of his body pressed up against hers in the bed only moments ago. “You don’t need to get up. I’m just going to make myself some tea to help the pain. I’ll be fine.” What a stupid thing to say. She could barely stand, let alone walk.
Tyris reached out a hand and touched her arm gently. “Karla said you should be resting that ankle. If you needed something, you should have woken me.”
“I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Silly girl,” Tyris scolded playfully. She could almost see the corners of his mouth turned up and the twinkle in his eyes. “You looked after me when I was injured, took me into your home and came out to the Hylista with me on my insane errand. You’ve earned the right to wake me up in the middle of the night if you need help.” He paused then added in a soft voice, “And it’s no bother.”
Warmth tingled through her, leaving her uncertain. Why was Tyris arousing these feelings in her? She was in love with Nelor, wasn’t she? Her feelings for him didn’t suddenly switch off just because they couldn’t be together.
And yet, this wasn’t like any feelings she’d ever exp
erienced with Nelor.
She’d had plenty of boyfriends, but none of them had stirred these sorts of reactions. Why was she so conscious of how close he was? Why did his voice in the darkness have such an effect?
She’d never known anyone like him. Remmy had been so shy and unsure, they’d both been kids really. Harlow had been overconfident, but fun. And Nelor was sweet and loving. He was her best friend.
Tyris was confident, but not overconfident. And judging by his insistence on carrying her back to the hut last night, he could be sweet too. And he certainly wasn’t bad to look at.
“Marlee?” Tyris asked, pulling her away from her thoughts. “How can we get some light in here?”
She focused on the practical issue, banishing the strange thoughts. “I’ll have to get out to the fireplace.”
Tyris rose and walked around to her, keeping his hands on the bed to find his way. He touched her shoulder in the dark then slid down her arm to her hands. “Can you walk?”
Marlee deliberately pushed away the feelings his hands sliding over her elicited. She didn’t want to think about that. Not now. “A little,” she said, “but it hurts to put weight on my foot.”
Tyris pulled her arm around his shoulders. “Lean on me.” He slipped his own arm around her waist, pulling her close.
She wanted to pull away, to insist she could walk on her own. But even bringing her foot in contact with the ground without putting any weight on it hurt. She needed Tyris’s help. Marlee hobbled out into the next room as quickly as she could, and was relieved to let go of Tyris to kneel down in front of the fireplace. She dug around with the poker until she found some glowing hot coals, added some dried grass and twigs from the basket on the floor, and blew gently until they caught. Once they burnt brightly, she added some larger sticks then a piece of wood.
The fire cast a soft glow to the room. Now she had to get up. And there was nothing nearby to pull herself up on. She bit her lip, held out her hands, and let Tyris help her to her feet. His strong hands pulled her up easily. She reached for the lamp sitting on the mantelpiece and lit it with a small twig.
