Chapter 12
the Tortoise and the Hare
They left for the pub on horseback as the sun was setting. Finn let Annika ride his gentle giant Galileo and took his father’s horse instead while Talvi let Ghassan bolt ahead. He’d grabbed a couple of the guitars from Anthea’s room and wore one over his back, relinquishing the Spanish guitar to Annika. She felt like a traveling bard looking for her next gig, and was even getting the hang of horseback riding, as long as she didn’t look down. Galileo was by far the tallest, biggest horse she’d ever seen, and sitting on him was still slightly unnerving. It helped to have Finn ride beside her, and he chatted with her along the way, naming the types of trees they were passing and pointing out the differences in the leaves, in the bark, and in the shape of the branches.
The few homes along the narrow streets were lit by lamps and candles, with the families inside moving about their evening routines. She heard muffled laughter and voices down the dusty trail, where they stopped and tethered the horses to a hitching post a ways outside a large stone building with a thatched roof. The only thing giving an indication of where they’d arrived was an inconspicuous wooden sign hanging above the door. It was cut in the shape of a turtle with a white rabbit’s head painted in the center.
“How am I going to pay my tab? They probably don’t accept Euros here, do they?” she asked Finn, who just laughed and shook his head when he helped her down from the saddle.
“Don’t worry about it.” He pulled something from his pocket and jingled what resembled a keychain full of tiny gold and silver rings of various sizes. “You’re our guest.”
Talvi opened the door for them, and Annika stepped into a softly lit and very warm pub full of elves talking amongst themselves. Quite a few craned their necks to look at the human girl walking in the door, making her feel even more self-conscious. It was not a small place by any means, but it was still intimate with many of its regular clientele, which did not include humans. Trying not to make much eye contact, Annika distracted herself with observing the new environment. All of the stools along the bar and the many tables had been made of solid wood and wrought iron. Upon closer inspection, she saw that they were all etched with names that had been collected over the centuries. She heard a squeal and saw the samodivi and Yuri waving them over to their table in the corner by a window. Finn sat next to Annika, but Talvi just waved at them, handed his guitar to Annika, and headed straight to the bar.
“Hey, thanks for leaving without me this morning,” she teased as she sat down, leaning the guitars in the corner where they were safe from the other pub patrons.
“I didn’t want to wake you!” Runa cried. “I’m sure you loved sleeping in a soft bed for a change.”
“Yeah, it was pretty sweet,” Annika said. “I had an awesome day at the house. What did you guys do all day long?” Yuri looked like she was ready to burst with information about their goings-on.
“Well, first we went to the fabric shop, but they didn’t have what I wanted so we had to go to the silk mill and make a special order. Then we went to the bakery to try some of the food that will be at the party. I finally decided to have chocolate raspberry cake with white icing and red roses—that way it gives the illusion that I have even more red roses than I originally planned! It’s going to be absolutely divine! Then they had spinach scones on sale, so we of course had to have a picnic…” Yuri went on and on about the details to such an extent that Annika’s eyes began to glaze over. She had plenty of practice listening to her fellow waitresses gush on and on about planning their weddings, and then she got to hear about it all over again when the groom ran off with the maid of honor. Or his best man.
While everyone else let Yuri yammer on, Sariel rolled her eyes and took a drink from her little ceramic cup. It was smaller than the pint glasses in front of the other samodivi, which were all filled with ale. Finn looked on, assessing who needed a refill.
“What are you drinking over there?” Annika asked.
“It’s called otrova. Do you want to try it?” Sariel pushed her cup forward just enough for her to take it back if Annika declined her offer. The others groaned.
“Eww, yuck,” Runa stuck out her tongue.
“You won’t like it, trust me,” Hilda advised.
“I can’t believe you drink that rubbish,” said Finn. “Do you truly enjoy it, or do you merely drink it because no one else has the stamina?”
“Let me see what all the fuss is about. I drink gimlets at home, and they’re just vodka with a splash of lime juice,” Annika said boldly, taking the glass that Sariel passed to her. It smelled strong, like any other hard liquor. She took a drink, expecting the fiery feeling it sent down her throat, but she was unprepared for the horribly bitter aftertaste.
“Ugh! How can you drink this crap?” she said with a sour face. It was a misleading drink, promising bravery and delivering punishment instead.
“Here, wash it down with this,” Finn said, handing her the rest of Hilda’s ale. Hilda frowned irritably, but said nothing.
“Thanks,” Annika choked after emptying the glass. “I guess we’ll need a few more of these, huh?”
“Yes. Why don’t you help me carry them back?” he suggested. This earned him another sideways frown from Hilda, but neither of them noticed.
Annika was properly introduced to Dorsey, the barrel-chested, brawny creature tending the bar. He wasn’t as tall as Finn but his arms were more muscular from switching out beer kegs day in and day out. He had a bit of a belly from sampling his large selection of handcrafted brews, and his shaggy, sandy hair hung in his dark eyes. Finn ordered a round of the seasonal ale for the girls and himself, and pulled out the strange little keychain. He opened the clasp and handed a few of the smallest silver rings to Dorsey before slipping the remainder of his elven currency back into his pocket. As they weaved through the crowd with their drinks, Annika realized she was the shortest one in the entire pub aside from the samodivi. She stood on her tip toes to catch a glimpse of Talvi, but all she saw was a flash of his wild black hair before it disappeared in the crowd.
The girls and Finn lost track of time as they talked about some of the people who would be attending the upcoming party. Even Sariel had grown chatty, but the laughter died down when she asked Yuri, “What exactly is the situation with Konstantin?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Yuri shrugged innocently. “I imagine it’s been difficult for him to live only off of animals.”
“I don’t mean what’s the situation with him. I mean…what’s the situation with him and you? I happen to know you’ve been corresponding quite a bit with someone from the north country.” Yuri looked away, but her body language gave her away too easily.
“You’ve been writing letters to Konstantin?” Hilda squeaked.
“You only just realized this?” Finn asked Hilda, and guffawed out loud. “I assumed all of you knew about it.”
“What?” Yuri gasped. “You’ve known the entire time?” Her brother just laughed harder.
“I’m not a gossip like you little hens are,” he laughed and then made clucking sounds until Yuri turned red in the face.
“You and Konstantin?” Runa shrieked with full-hearted approval. “He’s so…ooh!” Annika was out of the loop, but determined to find a way in.
“Is he a hottie or something?” she asked. Runa looked confused at her question.
“Right after feeding, I suppose he’s quite warm,” she replied, making Annika laugh.
“I mean, is he good looking?” she clarified. Runa’s face beamed.
“He is gorgeous! Simply stunning!” she gushed. “In fact, he’s so absolutely beautiful that it’s impossible to look away from him when he’s speaking to you…and he’s got these hypnotic green eyes that make you feel like you’re the only two people in the world!”
“It’s called being a vampire, you ding-a-ling,” Hilda huffed, and smacked her blonde sister upside the head. “They’re all like that.”
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��No they’re not,” Runa argued, frowning at Hilda. “I mean, well I suppose that’s part of it, but you really must speak to him one-on-one to see what I mean.”
“Please don’t,” Yuri said, forgetting her embarrassment and becoming suddenly quite serious. “I don’t think it is wise for you to be alone with him.”
“But you think you should?” Finn asked. His sister scowled at him.
“Don’t worry Yuri, I don’t think Konstantin is the one Annika wants to be alone with anyway,” Runa laughed, having grown less inhibited by her fourth mug of ale since Annika had arrived.
“Runa, you really are a ding-a-ling!” Annika said, trying not to appear annoyed.
“I think someone fancies your brother,” Runa taunted, but Annika just rolled her eyes and shook her head. Yuri gave Annika a strange look, as though she were let down, pissed off, grossed out, or all perhaps all three.
“Well if you do fancy him, take a number and get in line,” she sighed, glancing over her shoulder. Annika followed her eyes to where Yuri had looked and her heart sank. Talvi was engrossed in conversation with two tall beautiful blondes, while a brunette beside him kept finding reasons to touch him on the arm, on the chest, and his face. He had one arm curled around her shoulder while holding his drink in his free hand. Every time he stopped talking, he took a long chug of ale, finishing his glass before Annika had even taken two sips of hers. She looked away quickly, before the hurt she felt registered on her own face. She didn’t want to appear jealous, but she couldn’t help it. He’d been the one to invite her to the pub, and yet he’d completely ignored her for nearly an hour.
“Tell us more about Konstantin,” Hilda asked with impeccable timing. “When did this all start?”
“We’re just friends,” Yuri insisted. “That’s why we’ve only been writing back and forth. It turned out we had a lot in common, and we’re almost the same age…”
“Yes, and he’s nocturnal, he drinks blood, he murders on a regular basis,” Sariel added coolly. “You have plenty in common.”
“He can’t help what he is!” she said and slammed her glass down. That was the end of that conversation.
A tall girl with hair slightly less platinum than Runa’s walked up to them. Her clothing was elaborately stitched with a floral design around the neckline of her blouse. She wore a shorter green skirt and black boots up to her knees. Over her blouse she wore a black vest that matched the boots, and two pins held the front part of her hair out of her face as she looked down her nose at everyone. She looked like a runway model, only with slightly pointed ears.
“Hello there Yuri, Finn,” she said and smiled, but neither her voice or her smile were sincere.
“Hello,” Yuri said back to her, not even looking at her. She was still steaming at Sariel’s comment about Konstantin. The samodivi said nothing, but at least they were looking at the tall elf.
“Good evening, Sevan.” Finn stood and greeted her much more warmly than his sister had. But he was so kind that it wasn’t hard for him to do. “I didn’t think you would be in the village for at least another week.”
“Believe me, I didn’t think so either, but Zaven dragged me out to this…place.” She looked around, wrinkling her nose in disgust. He told me the reason for our early arrival, but I was too busy loathing him to pay attention,” she sneered. As she flipped her long silky hair over her shoulder, Annika got the distinct impression that nobody at the table really liked this young woman.
“Would you like to sit down and join us?” Finn offered politely. The blonde girl gave another fake smile.
“Unless they serve champansko in crystal glasses, I don’t think I’m staying much longer.” She turned her steely blue eyes to Annika. “I can’t believe that you really have a modern girl sleeping under your roof. Has your brother no shame, endangering the village like this? He really needs to stop taking in every stray dog he finds. He can barely take care of the ones he already has,” the girl said, glancing at Talvi and his girlfriends. She squinted at Annika, wrinkling her pointy nose as if she were giving off noxious fumes. “Does she even know how to speak, or does she simply lack in civility?”
Annika was livid. She stood up, and pushed back the sleeve of her right arm, making a fist. While she valued good manners, she also valued sticking up for herself.
“Would you like to see how civil my knuckles can be to your face?” she threatened through clenched teeth. She stepped towards the girl, whose smug expression was replaced by a startled one instead. Finn took Annika by the shoulders and held her tight against his chest to avoid a fight between the girls.
“It’s a tragedy that someone as beautiful as you can be such a hideous creature deep inside,” he said to the girl. “Perhaps if something other than repugnant filth escaped your lips, you would have had a lover kiss them by now.” Annika was surprised that something so cruel could come out of Finn’s mouth, but the girl clearly deserved it. Sevan glared at him, but couldn’t think of any way to respond, and left the pub in a hurry.
“Who was that?” Annika demanded. She was still furious at being spoken to in such a degrading manner, but then, she was still wrapped up in Finn’s strong arms. He turned her around rubbed her shoulders, trying to get her to calm down.
“That was Sevan Derbedrossian,” he said apologetically. “My least favorite cousin.” Annika was in disbelief that the two came from the same family.
“That bitch is related to you? Is she coming to your party?” she asked in horror.
“She had to be invited,” said Yuri with a helpless shrug. “It would be an insult if I didn’t personally make certain that her family had an invitation.”
“If she talks to me like that at the party, I’ll—” Annika started to say.
“You’ll do no such thing,” said Finn, and stopped rubbing her shoulders. He brought her closer to him and bent down so that he could speak without the others hearing. “You know, Annika, reacting to her ill manner only robs you of your sweet nature, which I’m quite fond of.” He tossed his loose curls out of his eyes and looked at her so intensely that she felt herself blushing. Was he flirting with her? She couldn’t tell. Annika fidgeted with her fingers, wishing she had a beer or even a pixie dust cigarette to distract her. Without saying another word, he winked at her and guided her to sit back down.
“You can’t let her bother you,” said Runa. “Her whole family is like that, except Zaven.” At the mere mention of this name, Runa’s eyes misted over as though she were lost in a daydream. Finn pulled out his tobacco pouch as though he’d read Annika’s mind.
“I just can’t believe she’s your cousin. You guys are so nice,” she said to him and Yuri, still feeling miffed over the insults. “How come your families are so different?”
“That’s quite a story,” Yuri began. “Sevan and Zaven’s mother and our mother are sisters. They fought all the time growing up and they still don’t get along. Mother’s side of the family saw it as an embarrassment that she married into a less traditional family like Father’s. Rather than put up with her stuck up family, our mother came here to live in Father’s village. Together they built the first mills with their own hands, and that’s how it grew from just a few neighbors of families into the busy place it is today. Perhaps we get preferential treatment on occasion, but we know how to return a favor. Father renamed the town after my mother’s family as a gesture of goodwill. Her family has always said that we were too wild, too uncivilized, because they were formally educated while we went through the portals and interacted with humans all the time. Personally, I always thought they were too dull to be around anyway.”
“I’m sorry your cousin’s a snob, but nobody talks to me like that,” Annika said and downed the last of her ale.
“Listen here, you modern girl—you’re going to have to get used to a few things,” Yuri said, folding her arms across her chest. “You’re an outsider here. You never would’ve made it past the guards if it weren’t for the fact that you were escorted
by a Marinossian, so don’t test your luck. Especially not with her.” Annika got the impression that she probably shouldn’t test her luck with Yuri, either, by the way she was acting.
“What are you, like, the Mafia or something?” Annika asked. Yuri looked at her sideways.
“You can call it what you want, but I call it part of my duty as a Marinossian. That’s why I have to include my cousins in my birthday celebration. Their whole family is invited because to disrespect them would be, well, it would be bad.”
“Did I get you into trouble with my fist comment?”
“Just don’t carry it out or things will get ugly,” Finn laughed and handed her a cigarette. She reached out for it, but stopped her hand in mid-air.
“What’s going to happen? Will I do anything stupid?” she asked.
“Only if you’re greedy like Sariel,” he said and winked at Sariel, who sneered half-heartedly back at him. “If you share with everyone it will be fine.”
“Alright,” Annika conceded, and took the cigarette from him. He lit it with a flip-top lighter and she could see a couple tiny sparks that rose up and disappeared immediately in front of her face. It smelled like tobacco. It tasted like tobacco. No wonder Sariel had fallen for this trick so easily. She held the smoke in her lungs for a moment, not sure if it was the same concept as smoking pot. She passed the cigarette to Yuri and slowly let a stream of smoke escape from her lips.
Her anger towards Sevan quickly melted away. She looked down in front of her at her empty glass as she passed the cigarette to Runa. She wasn’t drunk yet, not with only two pints under her belt. Finn slid one of the golden key chains over to her and asked if she minded getting him another pint as well. Without consciously deciding to get up, she found herself drifting to the bar and ordering two more drinks. Compared to the secluded corner she’d been sitting in, everyone seemed giddier at the bar, far livelier and animated with talk and laughter. She found herself snared in a conversation with Dorsey about the differences between his pub and the bars in America. When she eventually turned around, she realized she was standing right next to the tall brunette and her two gorgeous friends, who were still talking to Talvi. His eyes met with hers and grew wide as the brunette kissed him on the cheek. At the same moment, one of the blondes mussed his hair affectionately.
“I know you’ll figure it out Talvi. You always find a way,” the other blonde said playfully. He looked surprised, even guilty, and he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something to Annika, but she beat him to it.
“I just met your cousin Sevan,” she said to him, ignoring the brunette’s kiss. “She’s the most delightful person. Have you ladies met her?” The brunette clutched Talvi’s arm tightly, eyeing Annika carefully up and down but not saying anything.
“Ugh, I can’t stand her!” one of the blondes said.
“Her brother is much more tolerable to be around,” the other said with a grin. “Why, I just saw him in town earlier today.”
“Zaven is here already?” Talvi asked, and glanced away from Annika for only a moment.
“And you didn’t tell me?” the first blonde said with a pout.
“If you see him, be sure to let him know that his sister was this close to losing a few teeth,” said Annika, not sure if her refreshed anger was caused by Sevan or Talvi.
“What happened?” Talvi looked concerned.
“Oh, nothing you need to worry about,” she said, and put on her bravest smile. “Finn put her in her place before I had a chance to break her nose. I’m so glad he was there looking out for me.” She turned and waved at Finn, who waved back with a big grin. “He’s a real gentleman, your brother.” She kept smiling at Finn as she sailed past Talvi and his girlfriends. She wanted so desperately to turn around and see his reaction, because nothing made a man more jealous than showing interest in his brother. She walked back to the table feeling triumphant, but when she plopped down next to Finn, he and the girls started laughing at her.
“What’s so funny?” she asked them.
“Did you forget something?” Finn asked her with a huge smile. She looked around the table, patting her pockets. The rings he’d given her were still there.
“I don’t think so. Why?”
Hilda and Runa were holding their stomachs in pain from laughter. Annika tried to remember, but she was definitely experiencing an altered state of mind. The candles burning in the chandeliers never seemed so bright. They looked like living things with their firelight dancing all over the place. And the plants that were growing outside the windows seemed to beckon to her. They moved as if they were seaweed under the water; they appeared to be living, breathing animals in various shades of green. They rose and fell countless times, their leaves moving ever so softly.
“Hey, I need another drink. I can’t believe mine’s gone already!” Annika complained, seeing no glass in front of her. Runa howled again, and fell right off her seat, causing everyone else to laugh even harder, even Sariel. Finn moved close to Hilda and made room for his brother, who set a full glass in front of Finn and Annika, before setting down his own. She scooted closer to Finn, not wanting to be next to Yuri any more than her twin brother.
“You are either a very lightweight drinker, or you’ve been in the pixie dust,” Talvi observed, sitting down on the bench between her and Runa. “And I know you can handle your wine, Miss Brisby.” Annika wanted to disappear right then and there.
“I don’t think I need any more of that stuff,” she said as the laced cigarette came her way again. “I’ll just stick with my beer.”
“So Talvi, what did Pavelina and Milena have to say?” Finn asked. Talvi muttered something too low for Annika to hear.
“What?” he called out louder over the noisy room.
“I’ll tell you later. This isn’t the best time to mention it,” Talvi replied, looking around the table. He seemed preoccupied with something serious. Annika sipped on her beer in silence, ignoring Talvi as he chatted with the nymphs and his siblings. When the pixie dust cigarette came her way again, she changed her mind and took another long puff. She saw the smoke form into the shape of a horse, and then a fish as it swam up to the rafters and dissipated. She smiled in amusement at the sight. The vote was in…pixie dust was alright.
“When are you going to play me something?” a female voice crooned nearby. It was that brunette again, hovering over Talvi, but he didn’t seem to mind the attention.
“Well, give me a moment,” he said patiently, but the girl walked over and grabbed the Spanish guitar in the corner before he could get up. He handed it to Annika, much to the brunette’s disappointment. Hilda picked up Talvi’s guitar lying nearby and passed it over to him. He straddled the bench to face Annika.
“Let’s have a duel, shall we?” he asked her as he picked out a few chords.
“What the hell are we going to play?” she asked, unsure of what songs they would both know. But the annoying girl standing next to them spoke up again.
“If she doesn’t want to play, Talvi, don’t make her. You know that I could listen to you until Dorsey locks the doors.” Annika caught Hilda and Runa rolling their eyes and pretending to gag. She suddenly felt empowered by her anger at him, and at the sappy bimbo standing before them. She let her fingers fall over the strings softly as her mind searched for the right song.
“Do you know any gypsy songs? Anything like Flamenco?” she asked him.
“Ha! Do I know any gypsy songs? I thought this was going to be a duel, not a massacre!” he snickered, and tightened a string.
Annika smiled to herself and took one more sip of beer. She was determined to kick his ass, in a musical sense. She tore into a song native to the south of France, tapping her foot hard against the floor to the beat. She closed her eyes and the song took on a life of its own, for as many times as she’d jammed in the garage with her brother while they smoked a joint, she’d never done so while high on pixie dust. It nearly became an out-of-body experience. She could hear Talvi stru
ggling to keep up with her notes, and it only made her play harder. She couldn’t hold back her overwhelming desire to give voice to the emotion of the song. If she hadn’t been under the spell of the pixie dust, she might have been content to just strum along. Her head fell back as the words came to her, pouring out of her lips in the French her mother had taught her. There were loud cheers of encouragement from the crowd feeding her with even more energy. She could hear Finn’s deep voice joining hers now, singing with perfect harmony, and incredible talent. She turned away from Talvi and sang with Finn. Together the three of them put on quite a show.
“Votre coeur est un océan, mystérieux et foncé, sauf votre fidélité n’est pas à moi, c’est aux étoiles au ciel…” they sang together, harmonizing their voices with ease. When she turned back to Talvi he was watching her intensely, keeping up and improvising complex harmonies to compliment her quick paced melody. She paused briefly to take another drink.
“Don’t stop!” yelled Runa as she stood up to dance on the table. Then Hilda joined her, and then Sariel of all people climbed up as well. All around the room there were girls getting up onto the tables.
“Keep playing!” Runa yelled again, shaking her hips like a belly dancer. Finn eventually took Hilda off the table and led her to an open section of the floor, and it wasn’t long before their end of the pub was dancing or stomping their feet along with them. Annika felt urged on by how much the crowd around her was enjoying the music. Even Dorsey had come out from behind the counter and was occupied by dancing with every single girl in the establishment. She stood up so that the music would project even further out to her audience. A drop of sweat ran down her forehead and stung her eye, but she didn’t stop.
There were whistles and catcalls as Runa jumped off the table and into Dorsey’s huge arms. She played as long as she could, letting Talvi lead her into a different song. They played some modern songs with a twist; good old rock and roll in this tavern of intoxicated elves and wood nymphs. Eventually her fingers gave out and she had to set the guitar down. There were claps, cheers and laments at the silence, but she couldn’t go on.
Talvi leaned close to her and said in her ear,
“Where did you come from?”
“What are you talking about?” she snapped. “I came from the states of madness, remember?”
“I didn’t think they made girls like you, Annika Brisby.” He leaned back and just smiled his sweetest smile, watching her with fascination. She took a drink of the complimentary ale that Dorsey had set in front of her and wiped the sweat from her head. She had no idea how to respond to his remark. She wondered how he could treat her the way he did; nearly seducing her only hours ago, and then snubbing her for three other girls right in front of her and everyone else. There was nothing she could say. The only one who knew her true level of humiliation was him, and he obviously didn’t care.
“Will you come with me to the washroom?” Yuri asked Annika while the others were busy mingling with the crowd that had gathered around them.
“Sure, I guess I could go.” She didn’t need to use the restroom, but there was a sense of urgency about Yuri; plus it was a great excuse to get away from her brother. They got up and walked through the crowded pub to a separate building out the side door. They stood in awkward silence, waiting for the last woman to leave them alone.
“You have to tell me something, Annika,” she said in a serious voice.
“What is it?”
“Runa is terrible at keeping secrets. Do you honestly have feelings for my brother?” Yuri had asked her so directly that Annika was caught off guard. She didn’t know what to say, so she told the truth.
“I, uh…well I’m not really sure.”
“I’ll tell you right now, it’s a bad idea to get involved with him,” Yuri said, looking the other way.
“Is it because he’s a cad? Oh, trust me, I’ve dealt with those types before,” Annika said, feeling quite confident.
“It’s not just that. Look, it’s like this. You’re how old?”
“Twenty-five.”
“Yes, well, my brother and I are turning three hundred in just a few days. It won’t work out; it’s not practical at all, and it’s completely unacceptable in our society.” Yuri had folded her arms over her chest once again, eyeing Annika suspiciously. “Humans and elves do not belong together. It’s not natural. It’s a devastating ending every time, always surrounded by death.”
“By death?” Annika repeated with a skeptical look. “Come on Yuri, get real.”
“I am getting real,” Yuri insisted, still frowning in disapproval. “There’s the legend of the elf that fell in love with a mortal woman from your world, but he kept his identity a secret. They went to her hometown and tried to live a normal life. It wasn’t long before his wife was old and grey, yet he remained the same. The ignorant townspeople suspected he was a demon and they burned his body to ashes in front of her, leaving her to die of a broken heart! There’s another story of the human man who loved an elf long ago. He gave her mortal children who died not long after he did. There was only one child who inherited her longevity, but he looked just like her dead husband. The boy grew up to look more and more like his dead father every day, until it drove his elven mother insane and she threw herself out of the tower and to her death!” She stopped herself just short of giving any more grisly details, and the two young women stood in that awkward silence once again.
“You can never be like us, Annika. There’s no magic potion to let you live the lifespan that we do. There’s no long-lost ancient spell, either. And personally, Talvi has so many female admirers that even I can’t keep track of them all. You’ve seen how he acts around them, especially his old girlfriend, Zenzi. She’s always all over him like that. That’s why he couldn’t be bothered to join us for the better part of the night. He loves the attention too much. He can’t ever seem to get enough of it, especially not from just one girl. I’ve seen him promise the world to so many. He’ll say anything, telling them that he’ll change for them, but he only changes long enough to get what he wants. I can’t believe I’m actually telling you this, but…” Yuri stopped, looking uncomfortable. She lowered her voice before going on. “He told me that he’s just pretending to be interested in you until, you know… He said something about wanting to try out a modern American girl because they’re supposed to be…oh, what’s the word? Dynamite. Yes, they’re rumored to be dynamite in bed.” Yuri stopped speaking only long enough to let the idea sink in, and when it did, it cut like a knife.
“He’ll never change. He’s been like that for over a hundred years. I love my brother, but I despise the way he treats females. I don’t want to see you get hurt just because he decides this week he might like to have a modern American girl as one of his lovers. It’s just not worth it. If you keep your distance, perhaps the two of you can have a pleasant friendship. Nip it in the bud and you’ll get over it like it was nothing. He’ll be distracted by the next shiny object that comes along. He always is. Besides, you’re going to go home at some point, and his home is here. I’m sure your family misses you and wants you back home as soon as possible.”
Annika felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. Repeatedly. She felt nauseous as the words sank in, realizing their meaning. It was one thing to have a brief yet meaningful romance during her unscheduled vacation in another world, and something totally different to be used like a paper tissue and thrown away. She wanted to be home, now more than anything in the world. Even the thought of a lifetime on the couch watching sports with ho-hum Danny was more appealing than where she found herself now. What was she doing, getting mixed up with a womanizing jerk anyway? She knew better than that. How could she have not put it together?
“I think I smoked too much pixie dust,” Annika said, avoiding Yuri’s eyes. “Do you mind giving me a minute?”
“Sure, that’s fine,” Yuri said in a tone that was almost cheerful. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
“T
hanks. I’ll just be a few minutes,” she lied. She waited until Yuri had left her alone, then snuck out around the front of the pub to where the horses were. Galileo was so tall that she couldn’t even get her foot in the stirrup. Without Finn there to help her into the saddle, she realized she’d have to walk home in the dark, in a strange land, unescorted, but she didn’t care. She didn’t know whether to be more upset at Talvi’s behavior, or mad at herself for being so stupid, but she was positive that Yuri only had the best of intentions.
The Flame and the Arrow Page 12
