In Which Riona Prioritizes Comforts

September 8, 1181

"So?" An old impatient tic wreaked havoc on Lonriad's cheek as the others turned back to him. Riona found some agreement in Ashe, who looked to be cautiously optimistic. Isidro, though...

It was late and it was cold and it had been raining so hard for so long that by all rights the path should have been a river. They hadn't seen a village since daylight and a building for hours and even the last road sign was a fuzzy half-memory. Whatever was next up ahead, they all realized they weren't about to make it there before morning. They needed somewhere to stay the night.

So when Lonriad had gone off during a quick break and returned with news of a house up ahead...

"What do you think?"

Ashe leaned back to peer into the nearest window. "I don't see any candlelight. Should we wake them?"

"More likely that no one's home."

Riona shot her husband a side-eye. She'd thought before he'd been merely wary, but there was an added layer of nerves about him that she'd missed on first glance. The rain had perhaps obscured it. It wouldn't have been the first grievance it caused that night. "That was a quick conclusion."

"It's probably not a permanent residence. Some people have hunting retreats in this area."

"But if you knew the area, you would have had us stop back in that village." Ashe had a point. Riona suspected Isidro knew it, but she wondered if he even knew his own game here. Surely there was no harm in at least knocking? "How do you know about the hunting retreats?"

"I don't know. I'm not familiar with the Carvalli coast either, but I know about the sea."

Riona tugged at her scarf. Of all the stupid things she'd ever heard him say. "Izzy, I don't think that's the same thing."

A controlled sort of panicked, Isidro cast another stare back at the house. He shuddered. The cold wouldn't have been the worst reason, but Riona would have bet any of her limbs that he had a better one. "Fine. My father has a place around here. Happy now?"

"No. We're still out here in the rain."

Lonriad! A sentiment Riona could relate to if there ever was one, but... "Um, Lonriad..."

"What, you're sick of this too. You all are. Besides, it's not as if this house is..." Isidro flinched. LONRIAD! "Oh, shit. This definitely is your father's house, isn't it?"

Sure enough, a nod. Riona hoped the sky would at least have the decency to stop pissing on them. "That is how luck tends to work for me."

"Are you sure, though?" Ashe strained back again for another look inside. "I mean... have you even been to your father's hunting retreat? From what I know about him, I can't really see him taking you on a hunting trip."

"No, but he didn't want to pay someone to cook and clean for him while he was out here." Of course he didn't. "And, uh... I had my accident here. I was stuck here a while recovering since I couldn't travel."

"How long?"

...LONRIAD!

"Longer than the doctor said it should have been. My father kept trying to make me walk too early." Isidro's boots shuffled a little closer to the rest of them--or, more likely, a little further from the house. From what Riona knew of Sir Domingo, it must have been a miracle he could walk at all. "Can we go? I think there's a cave somewhere up ahead."

"All right." Hardly glamorous, but it would have to do. What good was physical comfort at the cost of the emotional sort? Besides, she wouldn't be the one checking for bears. No, Lonriad had already earned that honor. "We'll have a quick night. We can be on the road at dawn if you--"

"Oh, God. Riona." Argh! What did her brother want this time. "Your snoring is bad enough without an echo. Izzy, I get that you had a lousy childhood and I'm sorry about that, but I'm not sleeping in a cave. Besides, it's not like your father is actually here, right?"

"No, but..."

"...but he still has a lot of horrible memories about this house!" Riona finished for him. Why hadn't Lonriad figured that out on his own? Banana-brain.

"That about sums it up. Sorry, Lonriad."

"Hmm. Well, look at it this way." What was he trying now? Riona frowned. "Your father is never going to be able to make up for all the crap he put you through, is he?"

Oy. "Thanks, Lonriad. That makes me feel so much better."

"I wasn't finished. The way I see it, he owes you big time. Anything you need--yours." Well, that was indisputable. Not that it made the place any less traumatizing. "You need shelter. Your father owes you shelter, and he has a house right here that he's not using right now, so why shouldn't you spend one night? Especially when he'll never even know?"

"He'll find out, though. He always does."

"So what if he does? You haven't spoken in years, and you live in different countries besides. He's not going to rally all of Spain to wage war on Naroni over us using his hunting retreat for one lousy night."

Isidro turned to Ashe, who shrugged, no doubt wanting to stay out of this if at all possible. That left Riona. "What do you think?"

Did it matter? Did any of the three of them matter here? "I think it's up to you."

He sighed. "I think we're all sick of this fucking rain."

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