To Break A Curse

Chapter 11

By the time Bo and I finish eating breakfast, Fale has already washed the dried blood off his body and is busy cleaning his blades with an old piece of cloth.

Slapping his hands on his knees, Bo stands up and crumbs fall from his beard. "Well, should we be off then?"

"Yes, we still have a lot of ground to cover," Fale says.

Shoving the last bite of rations in my mouth, I stand up and quickly chew as much as I can. "So are we just not going to discuss what happened last night?" I ask, mouth still full.

"What is there to discuss?" Fale asks. "I went for a walk and passed out, woke up covered in blood that wasn't mine but had no injuries. No one was hurt, so I don't see a reason for concern."

"But what about the cry? None of this makes any sense," I say.

"That's ok, not everything has to make sense," Fale responds. "As long as it doesn't interfere with our business, it doesn't concern us. We have no way of knowing what made the noise, so it's best if you just forget about it."

"Agreed," Bo says. "I'll be happy if we can get as far away from here as possible. So let's get a move on."

I don't think I can just forget about it, but I don't see anything I can do. "Fine, let's go then," I say, nodding my head.

As we begin walking, Fale strolls up next to me. Bo must've borrowed him a shirt because he no longer wears the one that was practically shredded last night. He now wears a clean white linen shirt without a single hole. "You stole my cloak."

I completely forgot I was still wearing it. "You stole it first," I retort.

"Fair enough. But in the future, maybe be a bit more artful about it," he says with a wink.
Rolling my eyes, I move to take it off.

"Keep it," he tells me. "It suits you."

I exaggerate a gasp. "Was that a compliment? I mean, I'm shocked." I put a hand over my heart as if surprised.

He laughs. "Oh, a compliment of the highest order. The color, in particular, becomes you quite nicely."

"Brown? Really?" I hold my arms out to show it off better. "But it's so plain."

"Exactly," he says with a smirk and strides off, catching up with Bo.

Rude! "Yeah, well... you're not much to look at either!" I yell at him.

He laughs but doesn't turn around.

"If we move fast enough, we can probably make it to Valas Miran within two days," Bo announces.

"That is if someone doesn't slow us down," Fale taunts, obviously referring to me.

"I'm trying," I say, rolling my eyes. 

"Excuses. I think you're just too weak," Fale says.

He's starting to get on my nerves. "Well, at least I'm not a conceited rotter."

Fale stops to face me. "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?"

"Hey now, we'll make it there all the same," Bo exclaims. "No need to bicker."

Ignoring him, I focus on Fale. "No, if you have something to say to me, then say it."

"Oh, I don't have anything to say to you, I'm just pointing out a fact," he states.

"What? That I'm too weak? You think you're the all-powerful judge of what's to be considered a fact? Has it ever occurred to you that you're not always right and that your misperceptions of people can alter their entire life?" Anger quickly rises along with my voice. This has turned into more than our playful jabs.