Page 67 of Moonless

“Riesa.” It comes out with my mouth full.

She points at my plate with the knife. “You’ve nearly finished.”

“You gave it to me first.”

She laughs, looking down at her supper, and I eat the last piece near the tail. There’s a leaf stuck under it. I pick that up too.

She eats without asking anything else. When I put my plate down, she glances at the bare bones and lifts her chin.

I leave her to it.

The fire’s low by the time her plate is empty. She puts it beside mine and wipes the little blade clean. Then she pulls at the linen above her collar.

“Will you fix this before I go to bed? It’s rubbing.”

I keep my hand on the edge of my stone.

For fuck’s sake, stop touching me.

Yesterday. She jerked away so hard the bandage pulled, and I haven’t touched it since.

She works her right fingers under the loose edge and waits.

I let a long breath out. “Yes.”

I fetch the clean linen and water and warm a little of it in the pot. She moves onto her pallet, loosens her belt, and draws her left arm out of the shirt. The cloth catches at the elbow.

“Here.” She holds the arm toward me.

I support it with my blunt fingers and ease the sleeve free. Her shoulder is warm under my thumb, and I could’ve done this yesterday if she’d let me.

She keeps the loose front against her chest with her right hand, but it doesn’t cover much. The side of her breast is bare under her arm, full and pale, and I know how it fits my hand.

Hitto.

I’m getting hard over a bandage.

The knot behind her shoulder comes loose easily. I unwind the linen, keeping my claws above her skin, and wet the edge of the pad where it’s stuck. She looks down at my hand while I wait for it to lift.

“Did I open it?”

“No.”

There’s a small rubbed patch near the top. The rest has joined, with a thin red line where it split the night she ran. I pass a wet cloth around it and check the skin with the backs of my fingers. It’s no warmer than her arm.

“It pulled when I drew the bow.”

“I saw.”

She looks at my face, then at the used dressing beside my knee.

“I’d have told you if it hurt too much.”

I look back at her.

She starts to lift her left shoulder, then stops. “Eventually.”

Her skin moves with a quiet laugh under my fingers, and my ears turn toward her while I set the fresh pad.