The Seer by Rowan McAllister (reading comprehension books .TXT) 📕

and winced, but that was a mistake because his side reminded him of the knife wound he’d gotten only… how many days ago was that now?

“Daks?”

At the quavering note in Ravi’s voice, Daks forced his eyes open despite the pain. Ravi knelt next to him, silhouetted by firelight coming from a hearth Daks didn’t recognize.

“Where are we?” he croaked through cracked, dry lips, and Ravi immediately offered him a waterskin.

Daks drank greedily, surprised at how thirsty he was.

“I don’t know. Somewhere in Samebar,” Ravi answered with a shrug. “Horse led me here…. I’m so glad you’re awake, I can’t even tell you.”

Ravi’s voice broke on those last words, and Daks pushed the water skin away to look at him. Ravi’s gorgeous auburn hair lay in lank tangles about his face. Daks’s spare jerkin hung overly large on his lean frame. What he could see of Ravi’s trousers was dirty, wrinkled, and torn at the knees. Dull, dark-ringed amber eyes gazed back at him over sallow, sunken cheeks.

Gods, he looked awful.

Daks tried to sit up, but his body was surprisingly slow to respond. He reluctantly gave up after a few unsuccessful tries and sank back beneath the pile of heavy wool covering him with a grunt.

“What happened?”

“You don’t remember?”

He strained, trying to think past the throbbing in his head. “We were on the ferry to Pazar. Then the flood hit.”

As if triggered by the memory of it, Daks started coughing, and he had to close his eyes and ride the wave of pain for a few moments before he could open them again. His chest ached dully, he was as weak as a kitten, and his vision blurred in and out. Beyond that, he absolutely refused to acknowledge the stirring panic in his belly when old and new memories of struggling in the water threatened to surface.

He wasn’t in the water anymore.

Ravi studied him with glassy, haunted eyes, his brows drawn down in worry, so Daks pulled himself together and cleared his throat. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay,” he said, though not particularly convincingly.

Daks’s own concern only increased as Ravi’s gaze turned a bit vague and he shivered.

“Ravi, how long have I been out?”

“Two days,” he replied hollowly.

Two days?

In dismay, he searched Ravi’s face again. “Have you slept?”

He nodded. “That first night, sort of. I couldn’t stay awake. But not since. The wolves. I had to keep watch.”

“Wolves?”

“They came for the—” He grimaced and swallowed as he focused those haunted eyes on Daks again. “For the bodies… along the riverbank, from the flood.” He paused again and hugged himself. “I couldn’t bury them. I didn’t have a shovel or anything, and I had to get back to you. They come after dark. I can hear them out there.”

The more he rambled, the more worried Daks became. He looked like he might fall over any second.

“I found food, though.” Ravi jerked his chin toward the wall, and Daks followed the movement to a small wooden cask next to the hearth. “It’s just grain, but it’s better than nothing. It didn’t get too wet inside, so it should be good for a few more days. You want some?”

He started to stand, but Daks caught the edge of his jerkin and tugged, not hard, because he didn’t have the strength, but Ravi sank back down anyway.

“Ravi, look at me.” He waited until Ravi met his gaze. “You need to sleep.”

“Can’t. Wolves. Need to keep watch.”

Daks shook his head. “I’m awake now. I can keep watch.”

Ravi frowned at him. “You’re hurt.”

“And you’re dead on your feet.”

Ignoring the pain, Daks pushed himself up enough to brace on one elbow and lift the pile of clothes covering him aside, which seemed to take an appalling amount of effort. Cool air rushed in despite the fire in the hearth and goose bumps broke out across his naked skin, but he was more concerned with how much his arm shook trying to hold that little weight.

“I’m not that hurt, Ravi. Come on. Get in. Lie down. You’re exhausted.”

Ravi jutted his chin stubbornly and shook his head.

“Look at me,” Daks said, more forcefully this time, drawing Ravi’s bleary gaze back to him. “I’ve got this. I know I failed you on the river and after. You had to do everything, and I’m sorry for that. But I’m awake now, and apparently, we have Horse too, somehow. We can keep watch while you sleep. I’ll wake you if anything happens.”

As if his body had only been waiting for the right excuse, Ravi crumpled onto the nest of grasses next to him. Gritting his teeth against his body’s complaints, Daks scooted closer, rearranging the pile of cloaks and spare clothing over both of them.

Ravi stiffened slightly and looked up at him when Daks brushed his side, and Daks smiled gently down at him. “Don’t worry. I won’t touch you more than necessary. But you’re freezing. We need to get you warm.”

Ravi held Daks’s gaze for a few beats before his face softened into a tired smile and his body relaxed. “It’s okay to touch me now. I want you to. It’s been so long. Please. I need—”

His voice caught, and something stirred in Daks’s chest, a worryingly familiar sensation he hadn’t experienced in over a decade. He scooted closer to Ravi, curled against his side, and cupped a hand to his cheek. Ravi’s eyes fell closed as he nuzzled into that hand, and that thing in Daks’s chest flared brighter.

“I thought you were dead when I found you by the river,” Ravi whispered brokenly, his eyes still closed. “And then you wouldn’t wake up. I kept hoping, calling to you, but you wouldn’t wake up.”

A tear slid from beneath his eyelashes and down his cheek, and Daks’s throat closed. “I’m sorry, but I’m awake now,” he murmured back. “You did that. You saved me. Now it’s my turn. Let go, Ravi. I’ll be here when you wake up. Trust me.”

“Not your fault.”

“Go to sleep.”

As Daks tenderly smoothed the hair