Seven Stones: Part Fifty-Three
Previously on Seven Stones: Anessa offers to escort Karak and his wife out of the ruins in exchange for them destroying the contents of the vault. To stop the guards noticing the escapees, she adds a sleep potion to the water supply. But, before she can sneak out of the cistern, Col discovers her.
“Thirsty work climbing over the wall twice.” Anessa straightened and rubbed a hand across her lips. She hadn’t noticed a bucket in the room; hopefully that meant the water level was close to the top.
Col swaggered forward, corners of his mouth curled up. His resemblance to a weasel stopped it being reassuring, but he kept the light out of her eyes. “Looks like you spilled half of it on your singlet. Best take it off so you don’t catch chill.”
She glanced down. Stale sweat stuck the cotton to her chest, the lantern beam highlighting every inch. He wasn’t considerate; he just preferred to shine the light somewhere else. She’d a good mind to smack him in the groin. But brawling with a guard might raise suspicion. “Couldn’t see a bucket, and weren’t no one here to ask. Anserth told me to hurry back.”
“Anserth… I didn’t…” Col put the lantern down and sidled sideways. “Take the light. I’ll be fine in the dark. Anything else I can do?”
