Healer of Sakkara

Chapter 23 - Snow

"Agreed," Rea said. "What we've gathered should last us through the night, but barely, and while we may not freeze, neither shall we be particularly warm."

"We must hope the snow stops and the clouds lift by morning," said Sev. "If we are fortunate, the storm will depart as quickly as it came."

No one said so, but Galen suspected they were all thinking something similar: they had not been particularly fortunate, so far.

-✵-

They sat in a semi-circle around the firepit, with their bedrolls around their shoulders and their backs to the cold. Rea and Obi had left gaps between the stones, letting the heat escape while keeping the wind out, but the heat felt weak compared to the chill of the driving snow. Despite the fire and the warmth of Sev and Behn on either side of him, Galen soon shivered uncontrollably.

"Come here," Sev said, as Galen shook so hard his teeth chattered. "Sit in my lap."

"W-W-What?" Galen stammered, sure he had not heard the man right.

Sev reached an arm around him and pulled him closer, shifting so Galen sat with his back to Sev's chest. "It's a survival technique. Our bodies produce warmth; why waste it? The rest of you do the same," he added to the group at large. "Pair up."

"We're oddly numbered," Rea remarked.

"We can rotate with Zen," Obi said.

"I've got a better idea."

To Galen's surprise, this last came from Behn.

"I might not be good for much, but I'm good at keeping warm. I'm hardly ever cold—even now. And I'm big. Triss and Rea can sit with me, and I'm happy to stay on the outside."

"Keeping two girls warm at once, eh?" Triss teased, even as she moved to sit in front of him. "There's something to brag about."

"Shut up, Triss," Behn grumbled. "Besides, this is probably the closest to any girl I'll ever get."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," Rea said, winking at Triss as she leaned back against Behn's other shoulder. "I bet you have a sweetheart at home."

Even in the firelight's dim glow, Galen saw Behn's round cheeks—less round than they were some weeks ago—flush red.

"I don't," he mumbled.

"Oh? Are you a 'man's man' then, like Sev?"

"N-No!" Behn exclaimed. "I like—I mean, I like girls."

"Ah—well, don't go getting too warm on us, then."

"Rea, enough," Sev chided. "He's only a boy."

"That's not stopping you, is it, Omalan Sevhalim," she said, with something almost like a sneer.

At his back, Galen felt Sev stiffen, and he spoke just to break the sudden and unexpected tension in the air.

"What does that mean?" he asked. "'Omalan,' that is. Obi called you that before."

Sev relaxed. "It means 'honored,' or 'most dutiful.' It's a title among Hands."

"Hands who have taken certain vows," Rea added pointedly.

In a voice Galen hadn't heard before, Sev said, "I am well aware of my vows, Sei Re'annith. Perhaps you ought to mind your own."

Galen held his breath, seeing his uncertainty mirrored in Triss and Behn. The sudden tension seemed to come out of nowhere, and nothing like it had surfaced on the journey so far.