In the aftermath of the street fight, Rowan found he could only care about Soran. It made him an embarrassingly poor leader—one member of his group was missing, one was nearly dead, and the rest were confused, waiting for an explanation of some sort. Only Eremis seemed completely in his element, tending to everyone’s hurts.
And despite all that, here he was, content to sit on the couch and hold Soran safely in his arms. The boy dozed fitfully, his pain thankfully lessened somewhat by the medicine Eremis had given him. Rowan thought to ease it further by singing to him, very softly. The words of the old lullaby drifted in and out of his memory, so that it came out half in Elvish, half in Common.
“Sleep a little,” he sang, closing his own eyes and leaning back against the couch, “sleep a little, you to whom I give my love. Son of Duibhne, a Dhiarmaid áin, I will watch over you, uair ní hegail duit a bheg, I will watch over you, a Dhiarmaid áin. Sleep a little, you need not fear…”
He paused and opened his eyes when he felt someone sitting down beside him. The smile that came automatically to his face when he saw Huck fell once he—she—told him who she really was.
“You’re a woman?” he asked, ignoring everything else she’d said after that part. When she flashed him a rather irritated look, his grin returned, and he even burst out laughing.
Beside him, Soran stirred and muttered something. “Allez dormir, sari,” he murmured, kissing his forehead before returning his attention to Huck—or rather, Weave.
“Weave, is it?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her and trying not to laugh again. She nodded. He couldn’t resist chuckling. “Okay, Weave. If it’s a deal you’re after, then listen up. At the moment, you have me in an extremely compromising position. Your silence is my friend’s life. Understand? Lord and Lady, woman,” he said more softly, “I’ll give you the godsdamned broach if you’ll only promise to keep quiet.”
He sighed. “To tell you the truth, that’s all I’m worried about for now. Tomorrow, we can start thinking about finding the real thief and possibly clearing Soran. Either that, or escape the guard somehow and flee the city.” He frowned. “I don’t know. Like I said, I’ll worry about it later.”
He had to pause and stifle a huge yawn before continuing. “I could just knock you out and keep you out of trouble, but I’m not going to do that. After all, one of us still has the broach, and I doubt you’ll do anything that might compromise your own interests.”
He paused again, and this time he did yawn, tears of weariness springing to the corners of his eyes. “Gods,” he muttered, “What a long day. We could all use a good night’s rest…”
“What about Jeremy?” Xue asked, emerging from the shadows. He smiled ruefully; he hadn’t noticed her standing there and wondered how long she’d been listening.
“Can you go and fetch him?” he asked. “And stay human? City people aren’t always as…accepting of differences.” And judging by the hostile nature of Annib’s city guard, werewolves were no doubt on the list of Those Not To Be Trusted.
Xue snorted. “Not a problem. I go.” She tilted her head then and frowned, ever so slightly. “Strange he never come, like everybody else.”
Rowan sighed. “Not really. Jeremy is the last person I’d ever expect to come to anybody’s rescue. He’s probably sleeping off his dinner right now on a soft, comfy mattress at the Broken Goblet.”
“Is Cracked Goblet,” Xue corrected, looking smug.
“Whatever. Go on then, and be careful.” He gave her his sternest elder brother look, which wasn’t easy, considering he’d never been an elder brother to anyone before.
Once she took off, Eremis mentioned food again, and this time it was Cas who volunteered. The healer looked less than pleased, but his lover ignored his looks.
“I ain’t afraid to roam these streets,” he said with a shrug. “Can’t be all that different from Bizmar, and I done well enough by myself back home. If Huck here can just tell me where I can get something real quick then I’ll be off.”
“Oh,” Rowan cut in with a quirky smile. “Her name is Weave now. Didn’t she tell you?”
Cas grinned back. “Still looks like Huck to me. Well?” he asked, turning to face Weave. “You know where I can pick up enough food for all of us? I don’t really wanna go back to that inn we were just at. Don’t think it’d be safe.”
Rowan drowned the rest of the conversation out and leaned back against the couch again, closing his eyes and tightening his grip around Soran. He hummed the remainder of the song quietly, too tired to open his mouth and sing the rest.
