by Kara Timmins
Leit invited everyone to partake in food and drinks to get out of the cold and continue the conversation, which brought appreciative smiles and nods amid the solemn air.
Eloy relished as the heat of the dining hall stung his cold cheeks and nose. He held back as everyone piled in and took seats at the long tables. It didn’t take long for Critiko’s face to take on a pink hue from a source other than the cold bite of the outside temperature. People crowded around him, and eventually Eloy heard the sound of the laugh he remembered from the first time he heard it when they had been surrounded by embers and ash.
Eloy felt someone stand next to him against the wall. After so long together, he didn’t have to look to know the person was Neasa.
“Is he going to be okay?” Eloy asked.
“I think so. As okay as he ever can be I guess, which will probably be as okay as he has been these years without Chrys,” she said. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure for the past few days, but now I think he will be. He wanted me to make sure you had this.” Neasa handed over a cup of the heady liquid.
“I already have one.” Eloy lifted the cup he had been sipping.
“He said he wanted you to have another one.”
She smiled as Eloy shook his head and reached for it.
“You did a lot for him in this,” Neasa said. “All of it.”
“He did a lot for me too,” Eloy said.
“What happens now?” Neasa asked. “What’s your plan?”
“To do what the Seer said to do. I’ll go to the crossroads and try to figure out who this person is. I know she’s right. I won’t be able to get anywhere until I get through Nicanor and Anso. I trust that she’s sending me in the right direction, especially after all of this.” Eloy motioned toward Critiko.
“When will you go?” Neasa asked.
“Soon. Her directions seem to suggest that I should be in that place at the right time. I should be ready to go in a day or two.”
Neasa stared off, rolling her lower lip between her teeth, lost in thought.
“Everything okay?” Eloy asked.
“Huh?” She looked at him. “Fine.”
“When I first met your dad, he said I would like Valia, that it’s not like any other place. He was right. I’m going to miss it.”
Neasa looked away again. “I wouldn’t know. Other than the forest, it’s the only place I’ve ever been.”
20
When Eloy woke up the next morning, Neasa wasn’t in her bed, but she had left a ration of food on the table for his breakfast. As he ate, he found himself thinking about the trip. With everything that had happened with Chrysander, he hadn’t had much of an opportunity to think about the message he had received from the Seer. He didn’t know what she meant about the man he was supposed to find. How could a man be clothed in finery while wearing plain clothes? He hoped the strangeness of it would be enough to spot the man as he crossed at the fork. Eloy was starting to think on the other things the Seer had said when he heard a knock at the door. Gwyn’s eager face was waiting on the other side as Eloy opened it.
“Hi,” Gwyn said. “Are you awake enough for a conversation?”
“Of course,” Eloy said. “Neasa isn’t here, if you wanted to talk to her too.”
“I know. She’s with Critiko. I’m sure she’ll be on her way soon.” Gwyn made his way to the table and grabbed a cluster of green orbed fruit. “You’re heading out soon, I hear.”
“That’s the plan,” Eloy said.
“So, not to seem too eager or anything, but any chance I can take a look at what you two found?” Gwyn raised his bushy eyebrows and swallowed a lump of fruit.
“Sure. I don’t have Neasa’s stuff, but I’m sure she’ll want to show you her collection when she gets back.” Eloy grabbed his bag from next to his bed.
The two spent the rest of the morning going over the odd and interesting pinches of moss, clippings of leaves, and scoops of dirt Eloy had thought might be of value. Almost everything Eloy pulled out elicited a sound of excitement or wonder from Gwyn. Gwyn knew some of the things from seeing them for trade or in his own hunting, so he was able to explain whether the item was used for mysticism or healing. Others he guessed at their nature from things he thought were similar. A few pieces he saw didn’t excite him, and he would respond with a neutral hum from the back of his throat.
“This is good if you’re dehydrated. Just put it in what little water you have and keep it in your mouth,” he said of a spongy white moss before putting it aside, his eyes already looking for something more exciting.
Eloy held up a thick green shoot with purple stripes. “What about this?”
“That can be ground into a powder and mixed with water to pack a wound for healing.”
Every time Gwyn gave his neutral noise of mild interest Eloy put the item aside. He knew anything that wasn’t of any excitement was something simple enough for his own use on the journey ahead.
“There’s just one more thing.” Eloy noted Gwyn’s obvious disappointment that the treasures were coming to an end.
The last pouch that Eloy tucked away was still heavy with the juices of the berries, and when he looked at them, he was pleased and surprised to find that their skins hadn’t wrinkled or withered. He dumped them out into his palm and held them out for Gwyn’s inspection.
“Those are . . .” Gwyn’s eyes bulged to the point where more white shone than color.
“I thought they might be,” Eloy said. “I don’t know these things like you do, but I thought they looked like the fresh versions of the dried ones you had.”
“In all my years of hunting or trading, I’ve never seen a fresh one, let alone a whole bundle,” Gwyn said.
“Do you think they’ll be more powerful than the ones that have already been . . . processed?” Eloy asked.
“I have no idea. May I?” Gwyn reached out a cupped hand that Eloy filled with the round berries. “They’re perfect. Just perfect,” Gwyn said to himself.
“I want you to have all of this,” Eloy said. “With the exception of these, which I might be able to use.” Eloy motioned to the small pile he had set aside of things Gwyn hadn’t seemed excited about.
Gwyn leaned back and put his hands over the center of his chest. “I couldn’t take these.” Gwyn said.
“What am I going to do with them?” Eloy asked. “I’m not really in the merchant business after all. I just ask one thing.”
“Of course.”
“Can you split what you make with Critiko? I’ll feel better leaving knowing he’s going to be taken care of. Neasa too,” Eloy said.
“Of course. You don’t know what a gift this is. The money I can make off these berries alone will keep him comfortable for the rest of his life. Thank you, Eloy. Really. Thank you. I’ll do everything I can to get the most for him, but I can’t let you give them all to me. These are precious. You should keep a few for yourself.”
“But I have no idea what to do with them,” Eloy said.
“Just hang on to them. You never know.”
They heard two sets of footsteps coming up the wooden stairs to the front door as they packed away the things from the forest.
Neasa entered the room first, followed by Critiko. Eloy hadn’t left Valia yet, but he was already starting to miss them.
“Who’s hungry?” Critiko asked in a way that seemed closer to the person Eloy had first met in the forest, but the sound wasn’t quite joyful, no matter how hard Critiko tried to make it so. The undertone of fatigue and sadness would take a while to fade, if it ever did.
“I could go for some food,” Eloy said. “Just as long as there’s no drinking. I think I’ve had as much as I can take.”
Critiko faked a few punches at Eloy’s sides. “Oh, there’ll be drink, my boy. You better believe it.”
Eloy dodged the fake punches, his fists
brought up to his chin.
“If there’s food to be had,” Gwyn said, “I’m always interested. And drink too.”
The four walked to the eating area and filled their stomachs while talking about things that floated well above anything serious. Eloy watched as the three discussed trivialities and knew he should remember the moment, to capture it for later retrieval. He knew it would be the last meal he would have with the four of them together. He had sharpened this insight from other meals like it.
21
On his last morning in Valia, Eloy opened his eyes to Neasa sitting at the table, staring at the front door, lost in thought.
“Morning,” Eloy said, sitting up.
She blinked hard a few times, as if he had woken her, and looked at him. “Good morning.”
Eloy got up and took a seat at the table. “Everything okay?”
“Fine. Everything’s fine. Do you have plans for today?”
“I’d like to go to the trade square and get some dried food for the trip, then I should get to the crossroads.”
“You’re going today? I thought you said you were going in a few days?”
“I don’t want to miss the person I’m supposed to find there. As much as I would like to stay, it’s best if I go today.”
“I want to go with you,” Neasa said, fully present now.
“To the crossroads?” Eloy asked.
“Of course to the crossroads, but I want to go with you after that too.”
“But what about Critiko? Doesn’t he need you here?”
“He likes me here. It’s safe here. But he doesn’t need me here. He isn’t in Valia much. It won’t be long before he starts getting ready for his next trade trip. It’s always been that way, and it isn’t going to change now. I’ve spent years watching him go, wishing I could go too, but I never could.”
“Why don’t you go with him now? It’ll be a lot safer than going with me. I have no idea what I’m going to come across.”
“His path has never been the one I wanted. For years, I thought Chrys was being held by Nicanor, so I trained for that. I learned how to handle a weapon. I can help you with Nicanor and his fighters. I know how they work. I want to help.”
Eloy imagined what it would feel like to have someone with him again for the long journey, someone who could share the responsibly that came with surviving, but he thought of Critiko and shook his head.
“I can’t risk the only family your dad has left,” he said.
“I’m not asking for your permission to leave,” Neasa said. “I’ll leave Valia either way, but I’d rather go with you. I’d rather do something that can help. You think I like Nicanor and his fighters taking whatever they want? Sometimes it’s food, and sometimes it isn’t. If you’re going to try to change things, I have just as much of a right to try as you do. And I know I can trust you.”
“Can I trust you?” Eloy asked, sure not to make it sound like an accusation.
Neasa lowered her gaze to the tabletop. “I know I shouldn’t have done what I did.” She looked up and stared him in the eyes. “You can trust me. Even if I don’t go with you, I need you to know that.”
Eloy put his hand over her clenched fist. “I forgave you for it before we were even out of the forest. But I don’t know what’s going to happen now, and I need to trust you absolutely.”
“You can,” she said, barely above a whisper.
Eloy took a deep breath. “Okay. When are you going to tell your dad?”
“I told him yesterday. I didn’t tell him I was going with you. I told him I wanted to, but that I wasn’t sure how you felt about it yet. But he knows I’m going.”
“How did he take it?”
“Not great at first, as you can imagine. He came around, though. He wasn’t thrilled about me going off to forage in the forest either, but I did that too. He’s always known I wasn’t the type to stay in Valia my whole life. If anything, he got more time with me here than he should have. I stayed for Chrys, just in case, but now we know I don’t need to anymore.”
It was Eloy’s turn to look at the tabletop.
“He’s glad we’re going together,” Neasa continued. “He said, ‘You should be there to look out for one another.’”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen once we leave Valia, but I’ll do my best.”
Neasa stood up and looked around her house. “Let’s go get those supplies. We have a meeting at the crossroads.”
Critiko and Gwyn were already at the bustling trading square when Neasa and Eloy arrived. The four walked among the rugs piled high with fruit and vegetables of all colors and sizes. Critiko and Gwyn haggled, only occasionally looking over their shoulders at Neasa and Eloy for approval. By afternoon, Eloy and Neasa had bulging bags and no more excuses to stay.
The four walked through Valia to the same path where Eloy had followed Critiko weeks before. Eloy was following the man again, but the progress was slower now.
Critiko stopped and turned. “This is it.” He held out his arms.
Neasa walked into them and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Feels strange being on the other side of the goodbye.”
“For you and me both,” Critiko said with a sniffle.
Neasa gave her father a kiss on his prickly cheek and stepped to Gwyn to say her goodbyes.
“All right, your turn,” Critiko said, holding his arms out to Eloy.
Eloy walked forward and hugged his friend.
“I know I can’t ask you to take care of her,” Critiko said, “nor does she need taking care of, but you’ll do your best to watch out for things she might not see, right? You’ll make sure she finds her way back here, won’t you?”
“I’ll do everything I can,” Eloy said.
“I know you will.” Critiko put his arm around Eloy’s shoulders. “You’re a good man.”
Eloy felt the warmth and the ache of it in equal measure.
When the goodbyes were done and there was nothing left to say, they lingered for a moment, trying to find something else to delay.
“I’ll see you soon,” Critiko said to Neasa.
“Before you know it,” she said.
And the group of four split in half and moved in opposite directions, all parties knowing that the last words said didn’t quite ring true.
22
With minimal rest, Neasa and Eloy reached the fork at the road before nightfall.
“What do we do now?” Neasa asked.
Eloy shrugged. “You know as much as I do.”
They set up their camp on a small hilltop a little more than forty strides from the road, close enough to keep watch on anyone who walked by. The hill had a gentle slope, and long grasses covered the mound like hair and swayed with little provocation.
They stamped down the growth, making a bald spot in the middle of the hill’s head, and made a small fire. They roasted a few root vegetables—a few of the many gifts Critiko and Gwyn had acquired for them in Valia—and had a satisfying dinner.
“I was thinking,” Neasa said, reclining against her stuffed bag, “why wouldn’t the Seer just tell you what you’re supposed to do? She knows what’s going to happen and she knows whether or not you’ll be successful, why wouldn’t she just say?”
“I didn’t get the sense that she does know I will be successful. Maybe what she sees isn’t that straightforward. I didn’t have to come to this road. I could have stayed in Valia forever. I have to believe my choices still matter. Maybe she said only the things she could be sure of.”
“I almost wish I could know the things she knows,” Neasa said, “just for a minute.”
“It’s a knowledge that’s worth the sacrifice, at least for her. She could have herself out of there at any time, but she doesn’t. Whatever she sees has to be something incredible.”
“Some clear direct
ion would have been nice,” Neasa said, coming back from her imagination.
“This is better than having nothing. Trust me.”
Neasa yawned into the back of her hand.
“Hopefully, we’ll know what she meant when we see it,” Neasa said, “and hopefully it’ll be soon.” She gave Eloy a tired smile before rolling over and falling asleep.
23
The next day, they watched as men and women hurried down the path with bulging sacks weighing on their backs and hustling families pulled their easily distracted and oblivious children along. None of those people lingered near the fork. They didn’t even look down the path leading to the camp. There were a few fighters too, but if they noticed Neasa and Eloy, they didn’t seem concerned.
“What about that man?” Eloy said as he pointed to a person in an outfit of rough-looking chunky brown weave. Looking at the man’s clothes made Eloy itch.
“I don’t think so,” Neasa said. “He looks like a trader who is on his way home very late in the season. His clothes may be plain, but I can’t imagine he’s drawing any kind of extra respect. Even in the trade world, he doesn’t look like he’s at the top.”
More merchants passed as Eloy watched, some with carts and others carrying just the things on their backs, but even those were sparse.
“Can’t say I’m surprised he didn’t come by on the first day. Tomorrow might be better,” Neasa said.
The following day only brought two people down the road, a mother and her young daughter. By the fourth night, Eloy was starting to worry he had stayed too long in Valia and that maybe the man he was meant to intercept had already passed.
Eloy and Neasa sat side by side on the top of the hill and kept a keen watch.
“So, I’ve been meaning to ask you”—Neasa plucked one of the foot-length blades of grass that covered the hill and started pulling it apart in strips—“what’s the story behind this treasure?”
