章 197: Truce

ETAN

Ayleth was eyeing him, curious, but he only winked and cleared his throat when they stopped behind Falek. The man didn't stop what he was doing, but looked over his shoulder, his face going flat when he saw Etan.

Things with Falek were tense. While Ayleth appeared to have forgiven him his trespass and leaving them without word, Falek had retreated from Etan, leaving only hard edges and grunts where there had previously been a comradery and sense of shared purpose.

Etan grieved it, and prayed that as they moved toward the inevitable, he could regain the man's friendship. But for this moment, his priority was Ayleth and removing some of the tension from her dirty face.

"What is it?" Falek asked, his voice low and gruff as he ran stirrups up their leathers and unbuckled the girth on his horse.