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"... There we go. This fire should hold for a while."
Jamke meticulously fiddled with a bonfire that already stood aflame and solid, lighting and warming the other two people that crouched around it.
"I'll be back soon with some meat. Expect less 'great stag' and more 'mongooses', if you catch my drift. And the most important part: don't either of you run off on your own. At least, not for any reason other than if something goes really, really wrong and my brother's armies are here. Understood? That means you, little scamp."
"Right, I got it, I got it. Loud and clear." Dew spoke in his usual upbeat tone, almost as if he hadn't noticed he was being singled out. "I'd just get lost in this big ol' forest if I tried something like that! So you have my word, mister prince man."
"And don't be so loud all the time! You'll get us all spotted in a heartbeat at this rate." Jamke responded in a harsh half-whisper.
"Please, Jamke. Be gentle." Edain intervened, in her own favoured tone – calm and soft, but undeniably imperious. "And do enjoy the hunt. Dew and I will wait for you faithfully."
Jamke scoffed, mentally mocking the idea that anything Dew does could be regarded as "faithful" – but he said nothing, and departed after one last overzealous glance at the bonfire.
For a while after he left, there was silence, but Dew had been looking all around him – and then, suddenly, he got up.
"Is something the matter?" Edain stopped him in his tracks with a glance.
"Hey, don't worry, I'm not takin' off!" Dew stretched his arms forward in figurative self-protection. "I'm just thinking that our little meal would be even better if I brought something too!"
"What do you mean?"
"I think I see a bunch of tasty things on the ground around here!"
"Is that so? All I see around here is grass."
"They say nature is rich here in Verdane, yeah? And me, I can't get enough of robbing the ri- er, I mean, check this out!"
Dew indicated a spot by the roots of a tree, only half-lit by the bonfire – and sure enough, the shapes of mushrooms could be made out.
"Ah! That's a good find, Dew. Mushrooms will likely go well with our meal."
"Right? And I think these are gonna taste amazing, too! Like, if you look at them by the light..." Dew brought a quickly-plucked mushroom closer to the firelight.
"I've never seen a mushroom with such vivid colors. It must be quite appetizing."
"I'll bet! No time for taste-testin', though. C'mon, let's get the rest of them!"
Edain didn't need much convincing; soon, the two were plucking as many mushrooms as they could find before Jamke was back.
"Hey, Jamke, check this out!" Dew ran up to him with a mushroom in hand. "While you were gone, we got us a little something to go with the ferret filet!"
Jamke eyed over the mushroom, then slapped it out of Dew's hand, visibly wroth. "You little idiot! That's a poisonous mushroom! Are you trying to get us all killed?"
Not having expected that outcome whatsoever, Dew stood in reactionless silence.
"In fact, I mean that! You're here to carry out a hit, aren't you? That blackguard Sandima sent you, I'm sure of it!" Jamke grabbed the fabric of Dew's shirt around the chest. "Well? Isn't it true? You'd better answer me!"
"Jamke, stop." Edain intervened with a tone of indignation in her voice. "It was just an honest mistake."
Jamke seemed to be about to say something, but all that came out of him was a soundless breath as he released his grip on Dew. "Fine. Although I can't understand what it is that seems 'honest' to you exactly about this little punk..."
Dew shook off the tension, grinning as if he hadn't just been put on the spot. "But geez, you can tell if a mushroom is poisonous just by lookin' at it? I had no idea!"
"Usually, the colorful ones like these are poisonous." Jamke took another disapproving glance at the mushrooms gathered earlier. "The ones that are safe to eat tend to be drab and well-hidden by their surroundings."
"Aw, man, that's just borin'." Dew crossed his arms in disappointment.
"It makes sense, in a way..." Edain mused. "Even mushrooms are living things, aren't they? So, they must protect themselves. Some rely on poison for such, and the ones that can't would be the ones that hide instead."
"That's a good observation. You still should avoid eating anything unfamiliar you find in the wild, if it can be helped... But yes, nature is quite logical, if you understand it." Jamke's thoughts quickly drifted somewhere else as he made that statement. "I just wish people were this easy to understand, too..."
"You said something about a... blackguard... who could have sent an assassin after you?" Edain let a note of concern ring in her words.
"Ah, that's..." Jamke sighed and closed his eyes; there was clearly much to say, such that he couldn't even figure where to start. "... nothing that should concern a foreigner and a commoner, honestly."
Neither Dew nor Edain seemed to want to just leave the subject on that note, but neither of them could think of good words to follow it up with; an uncomfortable hush followed instead, with nothing in the air but the sound of rodents roasting.
"Y'know, Jamke, I was wonderin'..." Dew wouldn't allow that type of mood to persist. "How come you know so much about the forest, anyway? Do they actually teach you this kinda stuff at Prince School or whatever?"
"Not really. See, I can't stand being at court all the time, so I made of habit of taking walks in the forests near the castle. And then, the walks started to become more like camping expeditions..." Jamke seemed to experience a twinge of embarassment as he explained. "It's not the most princely thing out there to do, I know. But my lineage situation is, well... long story short, the rest of the family doesn't mind all that much if I don't busy myself with portraying the perfect prince. Besides, I feel like my brothers spend enough time swaggering around the palace to pick up my slack..."
"Do they, now?" Edain seemed half curious, half skeptical. "I must admit, I don't feel as if they treated me in the most... courtly manner, when I was in their clutches."
"Ugh, I'm sorry to hear that." Jamke pressed his hand to his face. "They're normally not all that bad, right? But they're not used to being around women, to say the least. Plus, that blasted Sandima has them both so far gone in this ridiculous power trip..."
"That dude again, huh?" Dew pounced on the chance to reintroduce the subject.
Jamke drew a heavy, cringing breath. "I sound like a broken record, don't I? Sorry about that. I can't help feeling like that viper's been ruining everything around me lately..."
"Jamke, are you certain that there's nothing that Dew or I can do to help you?" Edain followed Dew's lead with a charge. "I think it's admirable that you want to take care of the entire situation on your own, but it also seems terribly lonely to me."
Jamke sat visibly conflicted for a while, thinking in silence while taking bites out of a skewered critter.
"... I'll... I'll keep that in mind. For now, though, we should really just get you both to safety."
Nothing more was said on the subject – and yet, the warmth of the bonfire and the words would stay with all three of them for a long time thereafter.