Citrine by Jenny Molyneux Linda Kutt
***
Caleb watched out over the land surrounding the tower, checking for movement, but he thought they would be safe in the tower until morning. With the guards locked up, and still knocked out, they took advantage of the first beds that they’d had access to in a while.
“Hey,” Eve stepped out on the roof joining him.
“Eve, you should be sleeping.”
“I just wanted to get some fresh air. The bed is nice, but these men need to learn something about personal hygiene.”
“That bad?” he laughed.
“You have no idea.” she gagged at even the thought of the smell. “So, you thinking about Kevan?”
“Always,” Caleb admitted.
“You know that she’ll be okay, right?” Eve told him. “That is one thing that we Cameron’s are, we are tough.”
“I know, and I respect Kevan’s abilities, but it still doesn’t stop me from worrying about her,” he told her. “I have waited for my whole life for my soul mate.” He stared off into the distance. “It tears at me, knowing that she is out there somewhere, doing something potentially dangerous, and I am not there to protect her.”
“Oh man, that statement would so get your butt kicked if she was here,” Eve laughed.
“I know,” he admitted with a chuckle, and then he got serious. “What do you get from that Azure?” Eve stiffened her back, as she looked at him. “Yes, I sensed something off about her,” he admitted.
“Well, I know that she genuinely cares for Tyrone and Wren, but there is some serious hostility in that girl.”
“Do you think that she means to harm us?”
“No, that isn’t what I’m picking up, but it’s hard to tell. She’s keeping her distance from me, as if she knows what I can do. What I’m sensing is just bits and pieces. It’s weird that my powers don’t seem to be affected by the screwy magic here on Elden, unlike Kevan’s and Joseph’s.”
“Maybe because you’re not trying to do what Kevan was doing,” he shrugged. “I don’t know. Just do me a favor, I’ve already asked the guys, and now I am asking you to keep an eye on her. I don’t think that she is out to harm us, but something is not quite right about her, and I can’t quite put my finger on what it is about her that has me worried.”
“Of course I will,” she told him, as she came to stand at the edge of the tower wall. Looking over the land, she took a cleansing breath of fresh air, when something in the distance caught her eye.
“Caleb,” she alerted him, pointing in the direction of what she had seen. Caleb stood silently, observing the land, and then he saw it, too.
“Damnit,” he swore. “I had hoped that we would at least get a full night’s sleep, but it would seem that is not to be.” Caleb moved Eve towards the stairs. “Let everyone know we have about fifteen minutes, and then we have to get out of here.”
“The king’s guards?” Eve asked.
“That would be my guess,” he told her. “I would say that they have a real hard on for us, and I don’t want to give them the satisfaction.”
“I’ll tell the others,” Eve told him, as she hurried down the stairs. Caleb looked up at the stars for a moment, before he turned and headed down the stairs.