A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor
Chapter 1390 - 1390: Brilliance - Part 9

"Strange…" Oliver said.

"Well, I'm sorry for sharing. You're the one who asked," Nila said. She didn't know why she felt so quickly offended, but hearing Oliver say that was as if someone had insulted a direct member of her family. She didn't like hearing her Fragment being described as strange.

"No, I didn't mean it like that. Just, she's different for me," Oliver said.

"How so?"

"Well, she's far from childish. She's wise, and kind hearted, but she seems rather mature," Oliver said.

"…That's strange," Nila agreed. "Why do you think that is? Shoudn''t all the Fragments be the same person… Or is 'person' even the right word?"

"Well, they are Fragments… It would make sense to assume that the true personality of the Goddess is fragmented as well. Perhaps we each receive the sort of piece that is closest to us. Or perhaps the sort of piece that we need," Oliver said.

He'd paused in his thoughtfulness, as he stroked his chin. It was a side to Oliver that he rarely seemed to present to other people. Nila almost felt privileged in seeing it. To others, the masks he wore were harder to breach – but when he was thoughtful like this, she fancied that he seemed far more vulnerable than he ought to. Somehow, that made her all the more frightened. As if, had she touched him, he would break.

They scampered down the side of the ravine together, and hopped over the same stream that Nila had crossed with Lasha, all without slipping in the mud, as the Blackthorn woman had done before them. Along the way, Nila spied another rabbit, and dared to send a shot its way. Once more, her arrow found the target, and they had two rabbits in total to show for their efforts.

"Perhaps if you'd brought your bow, you might have had one by now," Nila said.

"Ah, but didn't we have a deal? A fire for a bow," Oliver said, showing her the flint and steel from his pocket.

"I don't see a fire yet," Nila said.

"You wish for one already? I'd thought we might have our fill of hunting, and then…" Oliver said. "Well, I suppose either way is fine. We could cook one of those rabbits, and take a stab at hunting some more later."

"That sounds like good news to me," Nila said. "Mother packed some food for us too. The sooner we eat it, the lighter it will be to carry."

"Ah, sorry. I didn't notice. I should have been carrying that," Oliver said.

"It's fine. Pick a spot, Ser Patrick, and get a fire started," Nila said. She saw him wince, and immediately regretted what she said. She'd meant it more as a joke, but these days, even when used as a joke, the title seemed distancing. Oliver managed to brush it off with a smile though, before he turned to begin gathering what sticks she could.

Nila bit her lip. 'Idiot,' she chided herself. 'Why have I made things the way they are? We both have to be so cautious of each other… because of me. It can't continue like this. I've got to get over it, somehow, but I have no idea how…'

She distracted herself in finding a bit of wood to use as a cutting board, and then she began on skinning one of the rabbits that they'd caught. Then she gutted it, and washed it out in the stream. By the time she was done, Oliver had already set up a nice base of kindling, and was striking a spark on some birch bark that he'd powdered up with his knife.

Within seconds, there was a small but rapidly growing flame, as steam rose from their damp kindly, and slowly, a proper fire began to take hold.

"There's your fire," Oliver said when he was satisfied.

"I hope you're going to grow it a little more than that. Unless you're planning to eat this rabbit raw," Nila said.

"Give it time, it's suffering through damp wood. I think it's doing rather well," Oliver said.

"…How have you managed to make a fire sound endearing?" Nila said.

Oliver smiled, putting some larger sticks next to the fire to dry out. "I'll leave it to fight for a little bit. Once it's settled in, I'll see it grown."

"Well, the rabbit is ready," Nila said, pointing to it.

"I can see that. It doesn't take you long at all," Oliver replied. "I wonder how many thousands of times you've done that."

"I'm not sure," Nila shrugged. "Too many to count at this point. Is there a seat by that fire? I'm already starting to get cold."

"Mm. I can drag that over," Oliver nodded to a log. It was sheltered under the canopy of some low hanging fur branches, making it dryer than many other parts of the forest. That didn't change the fact that a degree of frost glinted on its surface. "There, that should do it," he said, when it was in place by the fire.

"Are you not cold?" Nila said, frowning at him. She was wearing nearly double the layers that he was, but Oliver had yet to complain.

"Dominus would have me swim in worse weather than this," Oliver reminded her. "I find that the cold doesn't bother me these days."

"Did it ever bother you?" Nila said. "As a child, I mean? Did you grow up somewhere cold?"

"Hm… No. Not really. We had our village in the basin of a valley, but it always seemed to have the best of the sunlight. I don't remember ever being cold," Oliver said.

It was a rare treat for Nila. Rarely, if ever, did she dare to prod as far back as his childhood. She knew that to be untouchable territory. But today, the opportunity had presented itself, and Oliver hadn't shied away when she'd seized it. He'd even looked pleased to recall those pleasant memories of the past. She dared to prod a little more, in the hopes of keeping that smile on his face.