Once inside, Juan was pleasantly surprised to find that it was dry and cozy. It was certainly excellent at keeping them protected from the elements, unlike the tent he was used to that could barely keep the rain out, let alone a snowstorm.
Making himself comfortable on the smooth material under him, he said, "Thanks for saving me back there." He patted the squirrel's head. "And Red, too."
Liam shifted his gaze to the squirrel and said, "It's my job to save anyone who needs saving." He turned to look at Juan, drifting his gaze over the man from head to toe and noting the wet hair and soaked clothing. "You're cold and shivering."
"Just a little," Juan said, chuckling. "But I'll be all right soon. Perhaps we could get a fire started. That'd help."
Liam nodded, and then summoned a magic circle. He said, "Let's get you dry first." He looked at himself. "And me, too." The circle glowed and turned, and he said, "Gentle breeze."
Juan widened his eyes as he felt a warm breeze swirl around him, fluttering about his hair and clothing, as well as his savior himself, and of course, little Red whose fur was being swished this way and that. Within moments, they were dry, and Juan had no doubt that his wild blond hair was now a mess of a lion's mane about his head.
He flicked his gaze to his savior's and noted how silky and tamed it was, and he wondered why his couldn't be like that, smooth and easy to manage. Not to mention he noticed a rather lovely smell, like a fresh spring breeze. Was it possible for a man to smell that nice? It was as if his savior had been bathed in a pool of spring flowers.
He flicked his eyes to Red and felt the urge to burst out laughing because the squirrel was so damn adorable with his red fur poofed about him. He was indeed a ball of fluff.
"Take off your clothes."
The blunt command drew Juan's attention, and he shifted his gaze to Liam for a moment, stunned. "Excuse me?"
"Take off your clothes," Liam said. "You're injured, aren't you?"
As he watched Liam taking out what looked like two sets of small crystals, Juan said, "Yes, but I'm fi— Whoa!" He widened his eyes at the sight of the bright light that suddenly flooded the place from one of the crystals. He asked, "Is that a crystal light?"
Liam nodded. "Mm-hmm." He switched on the other one, and immediately it glowed and released warm heat. "And this one is a heater."
"A what?" Juan asked.
"A heater," Liam said. "It's akin to a fire that gives out warmth." He grabbed Juan's hand and brought it close to the crystal.
Juan was amazed. The crystal did indeed give off warmth as he could feel heat exuding from it. Of course, he was also damn stupefied that his savior would nonchalantly grab for his hand as if they were the best of friends. Did he not know of personal space? They were strangers, after all.
He said, "You call that a heater?"
Liam nodded. "Because it gives off heat." He glanced at Juan again and said, "Please take off your clothes. I saw you limping earlier."
Juan said, "I sprained my ankle, but it'll heal. And I'm not comfortable taking my clothes off in front—"
"If you don't, I'm going to strip you," Liam said.
"Strip me?" Juan said, flabbergasted. "Excuse me?" He could see that his savior was being very serious.
Now wait a moment here, he thought, he wouldn't mind being mercilessly stripped by a beautiful lassie, but by a man. Goodness gracious no! Not even if that man happened to be a gorgeous one like this savior who he had yet to know the name of.
Liam said, "If you don't take off your clothes, how am I meant to heal you?"
So that was why he wanted the clothes off? To heal him?
Juan widened his eyes. "You're a healer?"
"I'm not as good as Quinn, but I do my best," he said. "So please take off your clothes. The longer we leave it, the worse the wound will get."
Juan sighed. If his savior was indeed a healer, which he found damn hard to believe since a blessed one was very rare and would not be roaming anywhere far from the Grand Palace in the capital, let alone in this isolated land that was Norsewood.
After pulling off his shirt and pants, along with boots and socks, and leaving only his undergarment pants, he said, "I've never been healed by a blessed healer before." He frowned. "You are a blessed healer, correct?"
Liam mumbled, "Mm-hmm," as he glanced over Juan's chiseled, scarred body that was marked with cuts and bruises. "You're pretty beaten up."
"Traversing the alps does that to you," he said as he stroked Red, who was lying on the pile of clothing near the heater, looking warm and cozy.
Liam said, "This shouldn't take long. Please bear with it."
"Take your time," Juan said. "This storm will not likely pass until midday."
Liam leaned in and began his magic, releasing his mana. Juan watched, awed as his wounds healed within an instant, the cuts closed and bruises faded until his skin was completely normal. His sprained ankle, too, was completely healed, and he said, "Holy Deity!" He shifted his gaze to Liam and said, "How? What? How? You really are blessed."
Liam chuckled. "That was nothing. Your injuries are not deep, so it wasn't too difficult." He flicked his gaze to the pile of clothing and said, "Yours are very worn. I would lend you my spare clothes, but I doubt they'd fit." He glanced Juan up and down. "You're just about as tall and as big as your brothers. Must run in the family, being that... powerfully built."
Juan blinked. Brothers?
"Excuse me?" he said. "You... know my brothers?"
Liam said, "You're Juan Templeton."
Juan widened his eyes. "Yes. How did you know that? Have we met before?"
Liam shook his head. "No, we've never met. You just look a lot like Lord Aldric."
Juan, still in only his undergarment, grabbed Liam's arm, pulled him close, and demanded urgently, "You know my brothers?"
Liam nodded. "Yes. We're looking for you. Speaking of which, I should report back to HQ and Lord Aldric that you're safe." He tapped on his earpiece and said, "It's Liam reporting in. I've found Lord Juan and he is safe."
On the other side of the line at Norsewood Lodge, Mark's voice came through, along with a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."
At base camp a good distance away, Aldric said, "Good work, Liam. We have your location and will come to you when the storm dies down."
"Roger that," Liam said.
"Can I speak to Juan," Aldric said.
"Yes, it'd be great to hear his voice," Mark said.
"I'm giving the earpiece to Lord Juan now. Please hold on a second," Liam said and then took out his earpiece.
During all this, Juan watched, confused as to who Liam was speaking to and he thought his savior was perhaps a bit nutty, talking to nobody the way he did. When Liam handed him a small thing, he said, "What is that?"
Liam said, "It's a communication and tracking device. Please take it and put it in your ear. Your brothers are waiting to talk to you."
"Brothers?" Juan said. "You mean—"
Liam, refusing to waste time, leaned in and inserted the earpiece into Juan's ear who turned crimson on the cheeks at the intimate contact. The lovely spring smell exuding from his savior made him a little unsettled, making him homesick since it reminded him of his sisters. Suddenly, a familiar voice came through, and Juan jolted in shocked surprise.
"Juan?"
"Holy deity! Aldric?" he said.
"Yes, it's me," Aldric said. "Are you well?"
"As well as can be," Juan said, wondering how in heaven this thing worked. But indeed, it was miraculous because he could really hear Aldric's voice.
"Juan, it's me," Mark said from the other side.
"Mark," Juan said. "I'm sorry I... I couldn't come back sooner." He took in a deep breath and asked, "How's the people? How are they faring?"
"Now is not the time for that," Mark said. "But just to ease your mind, they're fine. It's you and your men I'm worried about."
"I'm fine now," Juan said. "My savior just healed me. He's blessed, can you believe that?"
"Yes, I can believe that," Mark said.
"Your men, Juan? Are they with you?" Aldric asked.
"No," Juan said. "They're not with me. They've been captured, Aldric. They're imprisoned in a dungeon. I managed to escape. We need to return to that dungeon. We need to rescue them."
"Tell me the details later," Aldric said. "We'll save them, I can promise you that. For now, rest. See you soon."
Juan wondered how Aldric would be able to come to them when he hadn't yet given him the location. In fact, he himself hadn't a clue where they were. Regardless, he knew Aldric would find them somehow because Aldric always could. Thus, he nodded as he said, "Yes, see you soon, Aldric, Mark." And then it was silent, and he took the earpiece out.
"You must be starving," Liam said as he took the device and put it back into his ear.
"Famished," Juan said, retrieving his pants and pulling them back on. "You brought food? Having eaten only charcoaled or undercooked wild meat like rabbits, pheasants, and partridges, I don't even mind the usual hard rye bread with cheese. In fact, bread and cheese sounds like a luxury."
Liam said, "I didn't bring any bread or cheese." He took out two meal boxes and asked, "What does the squirrel eat?"
Popping his head through the collar as he pulled the sweater over his torso, Juan said, "Nuts and seeds and fruit." His gaze came to rest on the meal boxes and mugs and a jug of some sort of hot drinks.
Liam said, "Unfortunately, I don't have any nuts or seeds. As for fruit..." He dug his hand into the satchel and out came a piece of fruit Juan had never seen before. It was long and bright yellow. What in heaven was that?
He watched as Liam broke off the hard end and peeled the skin to reveal pale-yellow flesh. Liam rested it in front of Red who sniffed and, looking excited, started nibbling on it.
"What is that?" Juan asked.
"Banana," Liam said. "A fruit. The soldiers like it because it's easy to eat and filling, especially when they're busy and on the move."
"I see," he said, noting that Red was enjoying the fruit, his cheeks puffed out as he chewed, his tail flapping about.
Liam pulled opened the lid of the meal box, and Juan stared, mesmerized at what was inside. As the delectable aroma rose and danced about the space, causing his mouth to water, he said, "That's not bread and cheese."
Chuckling, Liam said, "No, it's not. It's the only type of meal box in my satchel, unfortunately. It's braised steak served with steamed rice and vegetables. I hope you won't mind having it."
Won't mind? Of course, Juan wouldn't mind. That thing looked heavenly, the likes of which he had never seen or had before, and he eagerly grabbed the box and brought it close to his nose. He picked up the fork that came with the box and then started digging in.
The moment the meat was in his mouth, it simply fell apart and melted against his tongue, and he nearly swooned. And Juan never swooned.
"Oh, mother in heaven!" he said. "This is beyond delectable. I've never had anything this soft and delicious in my life." He tried the rice next and widened his eyes. "Wow!" He mixed the gravy of the braised steak with the rice and then popped a forkful of that into his mouth. He burst out chuckling. "I knew it! These go together so well." He popped a chunk of vegetable in next and said, "What is this? It's sweet, but it looks like potato."
"Ah, that's sweet potato," Liam said as he poured them each a mug of hot cocoa. "It's a different type of potato. The children back at the lodge love it."
"Lodge?" Juan said. "What lodge?"
"Here." Liam handed him the mug. "It's cocoa. It's sweet and hot, so take it slow. When you're done eating, sleep since you hadn't been able to all night, and possibly for days. I'll keep watch. Like you said, the storm likely won't pass until midday, and there's naught we can do but rest."
Juan grabbed the mug and then took a sip. His eyes lit up the moment he tasted the sweetness and creaminess, and he decided there and then that he was officially an aficionado of the hot drink.
Liam finally started eating, and though he loved the braised steak and rice, he thought it was a bit strange to have it for breakfast, but he had nothing else in his satchel in terms of food except for this type of meal boxes.
"This white thing," Juan said. "I've never had anything like it before. What is it?"
"It's rice," Liam said. "I've never had it before either, not until Quinn came into our lives."
"Rice?" Juan asked, astounded. "You mean the animal fed grain rice?"
Liam nodded. "Mm-hmm."
Juan stared at his meal box and said, "Then... Didn't that just mean... We didn't have to starve?"
"No, with Norsewood being able to cultivate so much rice, there's no need for the people to starve," Liam said. "I heard that come spring, Lord Aldric will be promoting rice growing everywhere in Norsewood. The agriculture department is doing very well, too, at producing the different varieties. I saw some long grain ones as well as black and purple and one that's sticky and sweet when steamed."
"Really?" Juan said, chuckling as he shook his head in disbelief. "So many different types and we didn't have to starve. Why have we never thought to try cooking it before?"
Liam said, "Because none of us have ever thought to think outside the box. That's the exact words Quinn used when anyone asked that question. So now, everyone is encouraged to think outside the box."
"Think outside the box," Juan said. "That's interesting."
Once Liam finished his meal, he pulled out a sleeping bag and laid it out. Over his shoulder, he said, "Sleep. I'll keep watch."
His belly feeling utterly warm and filled for the first time in months, Juan got inside the sleeping bag, relishing the coziness. "This blanket is marvelous. And this thing is nifty."
"It is, isn't it?" Liam said. "And that's a zipper."
"A zipper, eh?" Juan said as he closed his eyes. Red, having finished his whole banana, his little tummy very full that it was now very round and protruding, burrowed into the sleeping bag as well, and soon they both fell into a deep slumber.