The traffic around the infirmary increased. Gaza, Tegu, Argo, and Tycho set up a marketplace right outside Little Egg Mountain, with a quick exit to the safety of the mountain.
The market and Little Egg Mountain were awash in a slow river of travelers from above and below, but the few who were repeating the trek up and down had settled into a sort of rhythm that made the ascending and descending seem as natural as breathing.
Vole and Mahlon sneered at them as cowards and set up their clans in the traditional coastal marketplace. The traditional coastal marketplace was closer to the sea, but not so close that it was in the flood plain. Other clans set up in the plain in-between the two marketplaces.
Although the brothers decided to stay with Alex round the clock, Gaza sabotaged them and called all three to a meeting. Alex was on her own.
"Guardian." A whisper without a response. "Guardian." A whisper with a shake of Alex's shoulder.
The combination of a female voice and touch meant danger to Alex and she opened her eyes. A feminine face was muzzle to nose with her. The female crouching by Alex's bed looked into those weary, weary eyes.
"Guardian, are you dying?" the female asked.
"Am I?" Confusion overlaid weariness in Alex's eyes, bleary with fatigue and her eyelids fluttered.
"Yes." The female decided to press her advantage. "You must release Rile before you die." When Alex didn't reply, she pursued. "He's acting strange; rebuffing every female that comes near him. You don't want him spending the rest of his life alone."
Alex closed her eyes. "Go away."
"If you truly care for him, you'll tell him. Even Gabe is worried." It was an accurate guess on the female's part.
"Gabe is? I'll tie a bow on Rile. What name do you want on his tag?"
Alex's anger, and the appearance of Rile at the infirmary entrance, caused the female to scurry away.
"Who was that?" Nothing escaped Rile's eyes.
"Vulture." Alex sighed, not opening her eyes.
"I'll put an armed guard on you. What did this one say?" Rile asked.
"They're worried that you won't unite to one of them after I die." Alex opened her eyes. "But you should." She tried to make it a command.
"Stop being so morbid. You're not dying," Rile said.
Alex's eyes were contemplative, heavy lidded. Her chest rose in heavy breaths and her hair was a mess, but it was the open and honest look in her eyes as she contemplated her own fate that was remarkable. "The wishful thinking of a thousand females can't be good for my health."
"Are you sure you want to go there? To the whole 'thinking shapes reality' garbage? It only changes your perception of reality, my love."
Alex gave a fake shudder. "I'm not up to a visit from the Portal Guardian, much less a dressing down."
Encouraged, Rile helped Alex sit up. She was warm, the slight tremors in her body giving away her blood pumping through her. The fingers that were on his brow were cool. Then all the color drained from her face and her eyes dimmed, so he quickly lay her back down. He curled around her and tried not to think. Cale stopped during his rounds.
"How is she? I don't like the look of either of you right now," Cale said.
"She can't sit up, Cale." Rile looked up at him for reassurance again.
"I fixed a slurry of honey and milk. It'll help." Cale handed it to his brother and his youthful face was suddenly a bit older, a little more complicated and sorrowful. "You know how much she loves sweets. She'll like it and it'll strengthen her."
Rile held the cup to Alex's lips and she drank slowly, eyes closed.
Cale placed his hand on Rile's shoulder. His hands were sure and strong, but not rough. Even working with hundreds of wounded, Cale's hands were as smooth as if they had not brought medicine to the wounded and dying. "I fear your despair more than Alex's physical condition right now."
But Alex snuggled happily against Rile once she had finished drinking so Cale continued his rounds with a small smile.
The messenger's footsteps were heavy and slow, like a boulder sliding down the mountain. They were the only sound outside the healing tent. It wasn't long before the messenger entered and headed straight for Rile. He coughed politely when Rile didn't look up.
"Guardian, Gaza wants you." The messenger spoke to Rile, who was running his hands through Alex's hair. "It's important," the messenger added when Rile still didn't respond.
"I'm not leaving Alex. Tell Gaza I'll come when Cale finishes his rounds," Rile replied.
"He was insistent that it be now."
The exchange attracted attention and Argo came over from where he GSD been visiting the wounded from his clan.
"Hello, Guardians." Argo's smile was open and easy while his voice was deep and soothing. "Is there a problem?"
"Gaza sent for the Guardian Rile, but he won't leave his teammate," the messenger explained, eyes wide and palms up in supplication.
"Alex attracts unwanted attention when she's alone," Rile replied.
"Let me provide a watch. I think I'm capable," Argo said.
Rile didn't want to admit that it was Argo's capabilities that worried him, so left with the messenger.
"You're Argo," Alex said when she awoke. She was pleased to have remembered, especially upon awakening. She was too exhausted to be startled, much less jump up or blast anyone, when she woke up. "You're the youngest Clan Head I've ever seen." She hoped that she phrased it without insult.
"I'm not Clan Head yet. My father says he put me in charge so he can enjoy his old age. Says he can keep an eye on me and still indulge himself." Argo smiled at the memory and Alex smiled as well because she realized how much his father loved him.
Argo brought a skin of water to her lips and his large hand was gentle holding her head. She sipped and released a breath. The water tasted like the springtime air. Each sip was like a ray of sunlight.
The massive Agama smelled like grass and leather. His clothes were made of leather, but soft and supple, not stiff. Beneath it, he was muscular, his body shaped the clothing. His smile just as sharp as his voice, but more amiable.
"You look Gabe's age," Alex said. He was the exact same golden color and height but at least half again wider in the chest, with a blunter muzzle and an open, cheerful expression.
"We are and we practically grew up together. My father and his were best friends. As heirs, we often spent weeks with each other, learning from each other's families." He spoke in a low rumble that vibrated in his chest and made her ears buzz.
"Tell me stories about Gabe, Cale, and Rile growing up," Alex begged. She still couldn't sit up and even talking fatigued her, but she could listen.
"I have the most about Gabe. Although once Cale was old enough, he was never more than ten feet from Gabe. Rile couldn't wait to join them," Argo said.
"Pesky little brother?"
"Not at all, they took their duties as older brothers very seriously, especially Gabe. They loved their family, their little brother. Their patience never failed to amaze me. "
"Rile told me about his first mountain goat hunt," Alex said, hoping to trigger a story.
Argo smiled, but before he could speak, a sharp voice cut across the infirmary
"Argo, what are you doing?" Anger, fear, and suspicion sharpened an already unpleasant female voice. The female Agama was tall and skinny with a dissonant glare.
Alex turned her face away, tired of the hatred, envy, and suspicion that dogged her steps. Argo looked surprised and something flitted across his face.
"Jeza? What's wrong?" he asked.
"I heard you were in the infirmary, but not that you were consorting with this creature." Jeza apparently presumed too much on her hold on Argo, whose expression darkened.
"I am not 'consorting' with a 'creature'. I am watching over the Guardian who risked her life for our people." Argo straightened.
"I heard it was your troops that saved her." The clothes Jeza wore were soft and graceful, but her voice was harsh and cutting like icy wind and her face was pinched and fraught with anger.
"You misheard then." Argo's voice grew sufficiently cold to warn Jeza. "My troops forced the monsters into a point that attacked the Guardian while she was covering Gaza's retreat."
"You should go, Argo." Alex still wouldn't look at them. "It's not worth upsetting your . . ."
"Promised One," Jeza filled in.
"Promised One," Alex repeated obediently. She felt colder and a weariness that was more than physical crept into her soul. She felt alone in the world. She didn't have the warmth of Rile's hand or the security of his arms or the strength of his chest or the softness of his lips. Her eyes stung again
"That has not been made official." Argo's tone made it sound as if it was doubtful to occur.
"Argo, please, I mean—" Jeza's jealous tone turned fearful. She attempted to touch Argo's arm, but he shoved it away, the muscles in his jaw tightening. Jeza's hunger was not for Argo's flesh, but something else. Her gaze pulled on Argo's, hungry for information, for Argo to remember.
"We'll discuss this later. I said I would keep watch over the Guardian and I keep my word." Argo turned away from her, a clear dismissal. Once the stammering Jeza left, Argo said to Alex, "I see now why Rile wanted a guard on you."
Alex sighed and turned to face him. "It's a fairly predictable occurrence. At least she didn't have a knife like—" Alex shut her mouth quickly. She knew Gabe wouldn't want stories of Cla bandied about.
"Like who?" Argo asked.
"Never mind. It was on a mission and not a story to be repeated."
"Now I'm really intrigued." Argo smiled his easy smile again.
"Important my eggshell . . . what's intriguing?" Rile's demand cut off his grumbling as he stalked into the infirmary.
Argo turned his smile on him. "Alex is holding out on stories about missions."
"Cale's the best storyteller. Ask him. What happened?" Rile's statements were staccato commands, his mood foul from a trivial meeting with Gaza.
"I saw an example of why you wanted a guard on Alex," Argo replied.
Rile sat down heavily and scrubbed his face. "Who was it this time?"
"Jeza."
"Jeza? I never knew a . . . wait, isn't that your girlfriend?" Rile asked.
"She was upset that I was talking with Alex."
Alex's sigh was so unhappy that both Rile and Argo reached for her, but Argo drew his hand back. Rile's touch on her arm was solid and soft and astonishingly warm, and he held her as though she was the most precious thing on the planet.
"I know what you're thinking and stop it." Rile was gruff with irritation with Gaza, with worry, and with jealousy.
"No, you don't," Alex said.
"Yes, I do. Every female should be paranoid about you around their males since only an idiot wouldn't recognize how absolutely wonderful you are," Rile said with conviction. Then he whispered, "I'm grateful that Gabe had been one of those idiots."
Argo chuckled, his hearing apparently better than Rile realized, or maybe Rile knew exactly how acute the Clan Heir's hearing was.
"It's not the amazing and wonderful they're worried about, trust me," Alex said in despair, eyes dull, skin sallow and hands pale. Her voice wass soft, her tone flat, that of a creature that has given up. She was resigned to the inevitable. Her breaths were short, her words clipped. She was dizzy and her thoughts were reeling.
"Alex, please." Rile laid her hand along his muzzle. "Please don't do this to yourself or me."
"Jeza said some nasty things. I take it she's not the only one?" Argo said. "I'll have some talks with my clan."
Rile's affirmative drowned out Alex's negative. He gathered her close and held her. His warm, brown eyes peered at her with emotional concern. They were telling her he would do whatever he could to help.
***
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