Dawn of Destiny (The Warrior Angels Trilogy - Book 1)

Chapter Thirty

Ashton straightened up when Beatrice returned and sat beside him on the log he had found. Everyone had settled closely together on the ground to listen to Ada tell stories about her childhood. These people must have heard these stories plenty of times, yet they listened intently with their mouths wide open like it was the first time. Ada's current story detailed the time she had gone to Sinstiel and ran into a few Interlopers.

"They warned me to turn back," she said, wildly spreading her arms out. "They woulda killed me if I didn't!"

A few people gasped.

Ashton glanced at Beatrice, who was braiding her hair to the side as she listened. He smiled at her, then reverted his attention to Ada. Once Ada finished her tale, someone suggested making a feast in honor of their royal guest, and everyone else cheered in agreement. Beatrice seemed less than enthused about this, but she thanked them as they scurried away to get what they needed.

Ashton and Beatrice remained seated together. He kept replaying her words from earlier. She'd told him he was not the only one. What exactly had she meant, though? He glanced upward at the bright sky and frowned. He still had hours until he found out. How agonizing.

Little by little, the villagers returned, bringing barrels of fresh crops and a boar carcass. Beatrice squirmed at the sight of the dead animal and murmured something about not being hungry.

Ashton smiled at her. "Do you eat meat back home?"

"I used to force myself," she said, curling her lip. "Now, if it is the only thing they are serving, I refuse and go for the sweet breads instead."

He widened his eyes. "Really?"

Beatrice tugged at the end of her braid, starting at him quite profoundly. "Is that so difficult to believe?"

"Well, I"—Ashton looked away. "I've never met anyone like that before." Then he hung his head in shame. "That is why you merely ate the berries and other fruits we found. I am terribly sorry." He had just assumed she'd been disgusted by the means of hunting animals and preparing them because she hadn't witnessed it done before...

"They kept me satisfied," she assured him. "As will those carrots tonight."

Ashton glanced up to where a pile of carrots had been dumped onto the ground.

"I hope they are roasted," Beatrice murmured to herself.

Ashton leaped from the log and neared the pair of men gathering the vegetable and wiping them down. He kneeled beside them and grabbed a few to assist them. They looked at him funny but made no actual comment.

"How do you plan on preparing these?" he asked them. Casually, he hoped.

"Cuttin' 'em up," one of them with bushy eyebrows answered.

"And we're to eat them raw?"

The man squinted at him. "You gotta problem with that?"

Ashton dropped the carrot in his grip and shook his head. "Oh, no. Absolutely not. I simply think that roasting them could bring out a lot of its flavor."

The men exchanged irritated glances with one another before wide smiles spread across their faces.

"Help yerself, then," the first one said as he and his companion rose.

Ashton gaped up at them, but neither said a word as they left him there. He heard a familiar laughter to his right and saw Mayra approaching him. She got down in front of him and sighed.

"I heard all of that," she admitted, plucking a carrot.

"I hadn't meant to offend them," he promised.