Ileus intertwined her fingers in his and took them up to his lips. He rested their hands over there, giving feather-light kisses at the back of her palm. "Sleep Ana. Guarhal is getting edgy and so is Kaizan."

Anastasia loved the sweet sensation of his kisses. She splayed her free hand on his chest and took to where his nipple was. She formed a star there and whispered, "I would like to see that one day." The thing was, she was talking about the tattoo on his chest.

But poor Ileus-he didn't know what she was thinking. So his thoughts went wayward and erection that was already throbbing as hell, now pained as hell. Did she want to see him bare-chested?

"Sleep kitten," he whispered back. He took her hair on his face and smelled them. Never in his life had he been affected so much.

She closed her eyes. She loved this closeness, loved how he shielded her from the damp, from any situation. "Ileus-," she murmured. She was falling so fast in this beautiful life. "I wish I could stay like a free bird forever."

He didn't answer her and she thought she shouldn't have said that, shouldn't have shown this weakness.

He brushed her cheek with his knuckles for a long time and said, "Sgiath Biò is a tough place, princess. You are not used to this kind of life. Maybe you should reconsider what you wish for. You will have to find a solution to remove Aed Ruad from the kingdom and claim what is yours."

She withdrew. Yes, she had said the incorrect thing and now he would think that she is so wrong. But wasn't she entitled to a normal life? Or was normal life always a bubble that was supposed to burst, especially for people like her?

He tightened his arms around her. "But that being said, I don't want you to go to Vilinski and just stay with-." He stopped.

Her breath hitched.

"Sleep, please..." he pleaded her. As if wrapping his arms wasn't enough, he entangled his legs in hers. He stroked her back until she fell asleep.

Anastasia woke up the next morning with the feeling of emptiness... again... He wasn't there and she rubbed her eyes to adjust her vision in the darkness. Dim light entered from the crevices faintly lighting the hollow in grey light. Her eyes immediately found Ileus. He was talking to Kaizan. She smiled remembering what happened between them the previous night and rose to her feet. She rolled her furs and gave them to Darla, who was stacking them up in saddlebags.

Darla gave her a side-glance and then took the bedrolls from her. Her face had a smirk. She scoffed, "Did you enjoy last night?"

Anastasia froze. It was such a personal question and coming out from Darla was annoying. She turned when Darla said, "Enjoy it while it lasts. Remember what I said to you? Ileus is mine. For you he is like a mirage. Un-attain-able. And he holds a deep, dark secret that will shake you from the inside. So just don't get so friendly with him or you are going to fall flat on your face!"

A muscle in her jaw feathered. Anastasia turned to look at her. She crossed her arms across her chest as her body became rigid and cords twanged in her neck. In a sharp tone she scoffed, "I can understand where that word is coming from. I mean look at you. He is certainly out of your reach!" Saying that she strode from there. Deep, dark secret? Those words bounced around her head and then she discarded them. Darla was seriously jealous.

Darla watched her as her lips pressed into a white slash.

---

Kaizan was outside strapping the saddlebag to his horse. They had erected tents for the horses the previous night and covered them from all the sides. Every horse was then made to wear full hair coats. The team had dug snow off the ground and spread special blankets that stopped dampness.

Ileus walked to his stallion and readied him for the day. "I think they all had a nice rest," he remarked as he brushed the mane of his horse.

Kaizan stopped his work and looked at him. "Ileus, you should stop what you are doing."

Ileus halted his hands and turned his head over his shoulder. "You don't have to interfere in it Kaizan!" he snapped.

"I don't want you to jeopardize anything. We have been in this for so long that taking chances like that is going to cost us heavily!" Kaizan scolded. "Keep your eyes on what has to be done."

Ileus turned back to his horse and resumed massaging his body. "I have my eyes on my target, so back off!"

"Damn it Ileus! You are risking a lot. Almost everyone in the group knows what happened between you and Anastasia. So don't you tell me to back off!"

He took his hands to the mane of his horse and brushed the knots out.

"Piece yourself together Ileus, else this is going to end badly!" Kaizan growled and focused on packing again. A while later he said, "We won't be going through the Fiadh stretch."

A frown came Ileus' forehead. That was the plan. "Why are you diverting from the plan? Right after the Fiadh stretch is Óraid. That is the safest route!"

Kaizan didn't look at him and carried on with feeding his horse. "Do you think that by now Aed Ruad hasn't sent his army across Sgiath Biò? Those locusts must be flying everywhere!"

"The other option is dangerous! Besides we don't reach Óraid after Gavran Wilds. We will have to journey east to arrive at the village assuming that we are still living!"

"The other option is what we have to take. We will have to go through the Gavran Wilds and circle around Vergine Falls. And then also I am not sure if we don't find the locusts hovering!" His voice was strained. "We have better chances of living if we travel through Gavran."