Restart Again: Volume 2 by Adam Scott (best adventure books to read .TXT) 📗

My intermittent hibernation finally ended on our third day of travel. I awoke in the back of the wagon late in the afternoon to the sound of Marin and Lia’s laughter. Although I couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason, I knew that I was back to full strength before my eyes opened. I rose with a satisfied grin and stretched, which caught Lia’s attention.

“Lux! I’m sorry if we woke you,” she said sheepishly.

“Don’t worry about it. I’d say it’s about time I stopped lying around all day,” I chuckled, moving up to the front of the wagon to take a seat on a small crate. “What have I missed?”

Marin snorted. “Trees, fields, cold wind, and no breaks.” She craned her neck past the side of the covered wagon and looked behind us. “We just drove by some flowers, so I guess that makes today pretty eventful.”

“I see,” I said, nodding enthusiastically, “very exciting.” Squinting off into the distance, I looked for any recognizable landmarks that would help me to gauge our progress. When I came up unsuccessful, I looked back to Marin. “When do you expect we’ll get to Yoria?”

“We’ll be close tonight, but it’ll take a few more hours in the morning before we get to the city proper,” she explained. “If we keep our current pace, which I’m sure we will, we’ll get to Tolamar just after sunrise, and you’ll get to the walls well before noon.”

I cocked my head to the side. “You aren’t coming to the city? I thought you were moving back to live with your parents.”

“That’s right, you were asleep!” Lia chimed in. “While we go take care of things with Val, Marin is going to go meet my parents. My father could always use some help running his business, and with her experience managing a store, I’m sure they’ll figure out something for her to do!”

“I’m not good at sitting around doing nothing,” Marin explained. “I’ll go insane if I don’t find a job. Just living at home, sitting around with my parents…” she trailed off with a shudder.

“I think that’s a great idea,” I said, laughing at her exaggerated reaction. “You and Marten will definitely get along. Plus, given how much he likes your sister, there’s no way he’ll say no to you working with him just for the off chance that she comes by to visit every now and then.”

She spun around and glared at me. “He’s going to give me a job because I’m good at what I do, not because my sister is a famous hero.”

“Of course!” I held up my hands to appease her. “I’m just saying, don’t be surprised if he brings her up in conversation. More than once.”

Lia gave an embarrassed chuckle as Marin grumbled something under her breath. Her bad mood was short lived, and she quickly shifted back to the bubbly, upbeat personality I had come to expect from her. She launched into a series of stories about her time running her store in Attetsia, both before and during the occupation, and about her layabout ex-fiancé Daeron.

It was difficult to piece together the missing details from her retelling of events, but it sounded as if the two had fallen for each other while he was in Yoria for a business deal; after she made the decision to go with him back to Attetsia, she had discovered he hadn’t been entirely truthful about either the successful nature of his business, nor his dedication to running it. Luckily, she found that her natural aptitude for both customer relations and business management far exceeded Daeron’s, and she quickly took over running the shop herself. By the time he left to join the Unbound he had given her complete control of the business, which she intended to sell for a healthy profit.

The three of us traded stories over the course of our uneventful ride across the countryside, laughing and bantering like old friends. Marin’s extroverted energy was difficult to match, but it was a refreshing change of pace after the feelings of uncertainty and anxiety that had clung to us while on our mission, and I was more than happy to take a backseat in the conversation. I had hardly noticed the fading light around us before Val pulled her wagon off to the side of the road ahead, signaling our new camping spot for the night.

I hopped out of the wagon as soon as it had parked for the night and jogged over to meet Val. As she stepped down from the driver’s bench and noticed my approach, her eyebrows twitched up in momentary surprise. “Lux. You are awake.”

“I am indeed,” I answered with a chuckle.

“That is good.” She held her hands behind her back and looked away. “I was beginning to grow worried that you required more serious medical attention.”

I waved away her concern. “Rest has always been the best medicine for me. That, and home cooked meals. I only had one of the two this time, so it took a bit longer to get back to normal.” I nodded my head towards the side of the wagon. “How’s he been so far?”

“Quiet and cooperative,” Val answered, “though that is likely due in large part to his new restraints.” I grinned at the idea of the Strategist being unable to speak, sitting silent and frustrated day in and day out. Our conversation faded away, and I found myself awkwardly waiting for her to continue, while she seemed to do the same. “Lux, I am—”

“Hey, could—” We both spoke up at the same time, ratcheting the strange tension between us up another notch. “Sorry,” I said, holding up a hand, “you first.”

She nodded and cleared her throat. “There is a matter that I had hoped to speak with you about, if you awoke before we reached Yoria. Privately.”

“Conveniently, I was just about to ask the same of you,” I replied, letting out a small sigh of relief. “Let’s talk after we get the camp