Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 306

Chapter 306: Leave
Mia woke in the night, startled. Was the distant thumping noise back?

No. No, it was her heart pounding in her chest. Had she been having a nightmare?

There was no fire tonight. The clearing felt special enough that the group had agreed not to risk upsetting some magical balance with flames. And so, the perfectly round place in the forest was lit by the full moon and stars, and nothing else.

Sitting up, Mia breathed heavily. Her aunt lay near her, and her young cousin on the other side of the older woman, both snug in their bedrolls. .

Other than the sound of her father’s snores, the forest was quiet. Mia stretched and looked around, pausing when she saw that Ford was also sitting up, and looking directly at her. It must be his watch.

“Trouble sleeping?” His whisper was barely audible, but she nodded. Could he see that in the darkness?

His black hair had a new depth in the moonlight, and she stared for a moment. Ford didn’t comment any further, and she didn’t know of anything more to say.

Conversation risked waking the others. She also didn’t get up and move towards the man, fearful of how that would be taken. Her aunt had rolled, and now turned away from Mia. Going back to sleep would likely just create more nightmares that would eventually wake the others. Right?

Her hands gripped her blanket, and she drew her knees up to rest her chin on them. This might be a long night. No fire to mesmerize her to sleep. Not even cricket songs. Just… quiet.

And Ford’s gaze. He had looked away, appearing to stand watch and look around, but there was no noticeable danger.

“Try to rest,” He whispered again. She pouted slightly at the advice, but it clearly was the wisest course for her to sleep as much as she could. As the one responsible for leading the way, she needed to be as sharp as possible. If she woke the others with her nightmares, they would understand.

After a moment, she nodded and adjusted to lay back down and stare at the stars. Ford had once asked her about counting them… maybe she could do that now to help herself fall back asleep.

The secondary pull she always felt vanished. Mia glanced over towards Ford but flinched when she saw he was no longer there.

Lifting her head, she looked all around, but… he was definitely gone. Had he seen something? Heard something?

Her concern growing, she began to sit up again when a gentle pressure on her hand gave her pause. Her heart beat faster. There was nothing there, at least nothing she could see. But she turned her palm up and felt the sensation of someone taking her hand.

Mouth dry, she let her eyes search the space above her where Ford’s face must be now. Nothing but the stars met her view.

He must not want to be caught holding her hand while she slept. Her lips twitched slightly at both the thoughtfulness of him knowing how to prevent her nightmares and the comedy of him turning invisible for the sole purpose of avoiding her father’s ire.

She rolled onto her side, sandwiching his hand between hers to make sure that it was actually there, and not a figment of her imagination.

A gentle squeeze assured her that Ford was really there, sitting beside her and watching over her. Involuntarily, her lips curled into a gentle smile as she closed her eyes.

_

Ford watched as Mia fell back to sleep, his right hand sandwiched between both of hers. She was smiling softly as she drifted off, and the grip of her fingers slackened.

It made his stomach behave strangely to feel her trust, her comfort at his touch.

The way that her nightmares stayed at bay when he held her hand.

He remained invisible, worried that if Seth awakened and saw him like this, there would be consequences. Of course, nothing untoward had occurred between Ford and Mia, but the girl’s father seemed determined to think the worst of the young man. He was just now softening a little, and Ford didn’t want to ruin it.

Gradually, morning dawned. Ford was supposed to wake Grandpa to change watches, but holding Mia’s hand while she slept seemed more precious than getting any rest of his own.

After all, she was their wayfinder. If she didn’t rest well enough, it would endanger them all. It surely wasn’t for self-indulgent reasons that he treasured sitting in the quiet under the stars simply holding her hand.

Daniel was the first to stir, and Ford quickly extracted himself from Mia’s grip, standing and taking several large steps to get back to his place.

He’d just reappeared when the boy rubbed his eyes and looked around. Smiling as if he’d been there the whole time, Ford nodded a silent greeting.

Daniel scratched the back of his neck and yawned as he nodded back, rising to his feet and standing to begin rolling up his blankets and preparing for the day. By the time the others rose, the two youngest males had the horses watered and saddled, awaiting their riders and the rest of the supplies.

Mia rose with a start, looking disoriented, and Ford tried not to stare. Would she be angry with him now that it was daylight and she was fully conscious?

He didn’t get the chance to find out. A chittering in the trees made all the humans look up. There, hundreds of eyes, just like from the day before, stared down at them.

Ford gulped and took a few steps forward, ready to drain all his magic to shield the group, if it became necessary. One of the creatures scrambled down from the branches and came forward, rising onto two feet and growing larger to match Ford’s size.

“Hello,” Ford greeted the being with a tight smile. The changers hadn’t harmed the humans yesterday. Maybe there was no reason for them to be afraid now. “It’s… nice to see you again. We were just about to leave.”

Large, dark eyes met his own as a single syllable emerged from the creature’s mouth.

“Leave.”