by Brindi Quinn
Oops.
That’s right. I’d been pretending to be asleep when that conversation had taken place. Luckily, I didn’t have to come up with an excuse. Kantú skipped right over Grotts’ question and returned to my second one.
“Nope, Aura. Trib was already on her way. The feather man just had to go meet her and bring her here.”
“Already on your way?” questioned Scardo.
Trib shrugged. “Rekrap.”
“P-Parnold?!” Scardo frantically threw a shifty glance of appeal at Darch. “But she isn’t a part of you-know-what!”
“Listen, kids,” said Trib. “Let’s keep the drama down to, say, a level two. Is that ground with everybody?”
Again I looked at Nyte. Ground? What was that? And had anybody ever determined just how dramatic a ‘level two’ was?
“It’s ground with me, Trib.” Ardette smiled coolly.
Stupid Ardette.
But Trib wasn’t wooed. “Nope. Still not interested, old man.”
Old? This time I was the one to snort. And I did so quite obnoxiously.
I was thinking that a statement like that was sure to hurt Ardette’s larger-than-average pride – at the very least enough to make him sport a sour expression or over-compensate with cockiness – but he actually didn’t seem offended or put off or anything. Actually, his eyes were amused.
“Why, Trib,” – the Daem folded his arms – “see me as old, do you? Well now, that’s interesting.”
Now that he mentioned it, ‘old’ was a weird thing to say. He couldn’t have been that much older than me, and Trib didn’t look that much younger, so . . .
But there were other things to discuss at the moment.
“All right,” I said, “so you met her,” – I gestured to Trib – “and then flew here in that?”
“Yup!” Kantú was proud of herself.
“Flew?” Grotts was still marveling over that detail. “But why’d a person wanna go up into the air?”
“That’s an easy one,” said Trib. “Because travel time is so much faster.”
At this, Ardette’s cool smile turned smug. He stared at the buggy a moment and then shifted his attention back to Trib, brows raised. “Uhhh-hu,” he said. “Let me get this straight – you expect us to believe that those four little wings just lift that massive contraption into the air?”
“Yup!”
“Reeeeaaaalllly? All on their own?”
“Well . . . I had a little help, I guess.”
“You guess?”
“Oh fine.” Sighing, Trib rammed an elbow into the side of the boat and its wings glowed blue in response. Pietri’s blue.
Ardette smirked. “Thought such might be the case.”
“Ya gotta be kiddin’ me!” cried Grotts. “That git! So he did this fer ya, but he’s had us traveling all over the world on our own two feet?!”
“Well, naturally, you had to stay hidden.”
“But what about now? All of a sudden we don’t gotta be hidden? Damned ninnyheaded . . . mmbufom . . .”
“The mist’ll cover you right up! OR should I say ‘cover us’.”
“Us?” said Ardette. “So I take it you’ll be tagging along, then? All right, Darch. Have you heard? The spot of ‘new, intruding party member’ has been filled, so you can run along home now.”
“No thanks.” Darch smiled pleasantly. He turned to Trib. “Well, this is great! That means you’ll be helping us through the Mistlands? To the point of crossing, right?”
Trib nodded.
“Great!” said Darch again. “It’ll be nice to have an expert along! . . . You ARE an expert, aren’t you?”
Trib saluted him.
“Great, great, great!” Darch exploded in a fit of ‘greats’, but when he was through, he began to analyze the winged thing, and his excitement fell. “But, hmmm,” he said. “Is Pietri’s enchantment on the buggy going to be enough to make it though? Our residence songstress can’t sing right now, so our only protection from the sadness would be Elven.”
“Mr. Pietri promised Rekrap that there’d be two sorcerers to help hold the spell. One of those Elf bubbles, you know?”
“A barrier,” corrected Rend through clenched teeth.
“Right! Ahoy, lady Elf!”
“Do not address me so informally, wor-”
“Do not mind my cousin,” said Nyte. “She and I will be glad to cast the barrier. I do not think we will be able to surround the entirety of-” – he studied the buggy – “this. However, we should be able to force a large enough area to encompass all of us. We will not be able to let up until we are through, but I assure you we will hold it with all of our strength until relieved of duty.”
“That doesn’t really matter, though, does it?” said Ardette. “It’s not like you animals really require sleep, do you?”
Trib looked at Darch. “Doesn’t that seem a little contradictory to you?” she asked him.
Darch’s eyes twinkled.
I didn’t get it. Why would that be considered ‘contradictory’?
Ardette chewed at his lip. “So then, dear uncle Bergra’s actually made it through the mist before, has he?”
Grotts turned to Ardette. “What? How do ya figure that?”
“Never mind.”
Now I was really confused.
“That’s right,” said Trib. “But it’s probably best that you don’t tell anyone.”
“And have you made it through yet?” asked Ardette.
“Only to the crossing . . . just once with uncle.”
“Hmph. I assumed as much. Most of what you know is really only passed down, second-hand intel.”
There was something coded there, and I wanted to know what it was, but it was usually best to start with simple questions in these sorts of situations, where it was all way over my head and I felt the repercussions of being born into a closed city, so, holding back everything else, I asked,
“What’s the ‘crossing’?”
Trib answered, “It’s a line marking the end of the physical world. On the other side lies the afterlife . . . or so the story goes.”
“So, what’s really through there?” I asked.
“Uncle won’t tell me, but he forbade me from entering.”
Darch and Ardette exchanged a look. Always. Always. Always with the secrets!
“Seriously?!” I muttered to myself.
“And will ya listen to Bergra?” Grotts asked Trib.
“Of course! It would be highly disrespectful not to! That’s why I’ll only take you as far as the crossing. After that, you’re on your own! Ground?”
Scardo was white. “B-but-”
“Relax, salamander man, would you?” said Ardette. “That’s all the farther we’ll need her for anyway.” He let out a yawn and started back to me in his lazy saunter. “Well, then, shall we, my pit?”
“No way! There’re still a lot of things I want to ask!”
“Of course there are, but we’ll have plenty of time for that on this charming ‘buggy’, won’t we? With your boy tied up, you’ll need company, I’d wager, and I’ll be happy to help.” He ran a finger along my bottom lip.
“Arrrrgh,” I growled. “Ardette-”
But just as I was about to slap his intruding finger away, Nyte beat me to it.
“Ahoy, then!” shouted Trib. She made footing on an indentation at the buggy’s side and started to hoist her self up. But we were all still a little dumbfounded, so we didn’t move. She glanced over her left shoulder. “I said, AHOY!”
“Ugh.” Ardette turned from me. “Why must you insist on talking like a pirate?”
“Why must you insist on acting like one?” said Trib.
“Touché.” One of Ardette’s brows resumed its perched position. Then he flashed her a faux glowing smile and called, “And how is it that you’ve agreed to help us anyway, dear Trib? Venturing into danger for the sake of strang-”
“At Mr. Pietri’s request.”
Ardette raised the
other brow, so she added. “He’s paid me a hefty sum, mind you.”
“Ha! In gold, I suppose?”
“You got it!”
“Typical.” But he was grinning. I caught him grinning a grin that was genuine.
Ardette wasn’t mine. I didn’t lay claim to him. I’d rejected him. Chosen another. Given him up. But for some reason – for some selfish, inexplicable reason – the small something inside of my chest hated the grin he now bore. The grin that another had caused him.
That was it. That was the feeling: Jealousy.
It was pathetic.
I’m pathetic. So pathetic.
“Why’s that, my pit?”
“Eh?!” I jumped.
Damn. I’d been lost in my head yet again. And that proved it. Ardette really was still in there too. He hadn’t really ‘removed’ himself at all! Bitterly I answered, “Nothing that concerns you.”
Liar. It concerns no one but him.
Again, Ardette raised that damned self-satisfied right brow.
“GET OUT! NOW!”
“Geesh. Touchy today, aren’t we?”
He poked the small of my back, and I elbowed him in the chest.
“FOR THE LAST TIME, GET OUT!”
But the rest of them weren’t clued in to what had been going on, and whereas the other guard members might’ve grown used to our peculiar, bantering, one-sided conversations and questionable relationship, the new-comer wasn’t so inclined.
“She’s a little, ya know, dee-doo, isn’t she?” Trib jumped back down from the side of the buggy and squinted at me, studying me for traces of insanity.
Uncomfortable, I stepped in closer to Nyte, who was defensively glaring in the girl’s direction.
‘Dee-doo’?! What the hell did that mean!?
At the comment, Rend shifted her gaze ever so slightly to Trib’s forehead, but Trib quickly stepped away from it – leaving Rend’s eyes hanging awkwardly in the space left behind – and moved on to Scardo.
“Oh, right,” said Trib. “I almost forgot! I’ve got a message for you too, good-looking sir.”
“P-pardon, but are you speaking to me?” asked Scardo, also taking a step away from an awkward stare.
“Yup! A girl named Poendra sent this along for-”
But something caught her eye before she could finish, making her choke on her words and replace them with a girlish titter.
Scardo’s face had turned red. Bulgy red. And it looked like he’d stopped breathing.
Grotts sensed the danger in such a reaction, and he swatted Scardo square on the back with one of his enormous prodding pats. Scardo gave out a cough, gulped, and slowly started to regain his color.
Meanwhile, I was cornering Ardette.
“You lied,” I said.
Smiling evilly, Ardette looked not at me, but at Nyte, and responded. “Why, whatever about?”
“Don’t give me that! You know what I’m talking about: You are too still in-” – I tapped my forehead – “here.”
“What?!” Nyte stepped in vindictively. “Is that true, lecherous Daem? Will you not allow her to be?!”
“Excuse you,” drawled Ardette. “The Pure Heart and I have matters to discuss.” He put a hand my collar and started to tug me away.
“Where are you taking her?” demanded Nyte, grabbing my sleeve.
“What? Your prisoner now, is she?”
“Of course she is not! But I will not allow you to drag her into danger again! Separating yourselves from the group at this time is unwise!”
“It’s okay, Nyte. We’ll be right back.”
He shot me a look of disbelief – cheerless , affected disbelief. “Are you serious, Aura? Why do you . . . ?” Then it fell. “Never mind.”
That hurt expression made me wince. It tore at me and made me ashamed, and I wanted to wrap my arms around my captor in an effort to wipe it away . . . but I really needed to get Ardette out of my mind once and for all.
“Sorry, Nyte. Just give us a sec, all right?”
“As you wish.” He released my sleeve.
I felt like I’d just dealt a heavy blow of betrayal . . . and in some ways, I had.
Victorious, Ardette pulled me a few paces away – to where the mist was just misty enough to erase the features of the others, turning them into formless dark masses amidst the white air.
“Wipe that stupid smirk off, NOW,” I said. “I can’t stand how much pleasure you take in tormenting him! You know, he’s willing to die for you and everyone, and all you can do is annoy him to no end! Why are you so cruel?!”
“I will never be as cruel as you, my cherry,” said Ardette calmly.
I choked. That was probably true.
No, it was definitely true, so what could I say?
“Will you please just get out of my head?” I whispered. “I really believed you had this time, but I guess I was wrong.”
Ardette laughed, looking legitimately amused. “No. Like I said, I’m not in there.”
“Bull.”
“I’m not.”
“How can you not be?! You’ve been hearing and responding! I mean, if you wanted to keep it a secret, you shouldn’t have been so obvious about it!”
He chewed his nail a moment and then, “I’ll prove it. Think of a number, my pit.”
“But that would prove nothing! You could easily lie about that too!”
He laughed again. “I won’t. I swear on . . . hm . . . you?”
“You can’t swear on me!”
“Why not? It’s supposed to be the thing most important to me, right? Like a dead mother or something? Well, as you’ve seen, my mother’s still very much alive, isn’t she?”
Most important? I rolled my eyes.
He nodded. “Now, think of a number.”
Seven.
“Seven,” he said.
“See! You are in here, you jerk!”
“What? I got it right? Really?” He laughed a third time. “Hmmm. What can I say? You’re just that predictable, I suppose.”
“Yeah righ-”
“One for each member of your guard, am I right?”
“Ehh.” Shoot. “Yeah.”
I hung my head, frustrated. Maybe he really wasn’t in there. But would that be better? Him having that good of an intuition when it came to me . . . was that a good thing? No, it was a complicated thing.
Ardette put a finger on my temple. “I swear, Aura. I swear on you, to you – I’ll swear on whatever you want me to – that I am NOT in there. Silly cherry, just because I’m able to read you, does not mean that I can read your mind.”
“Ardette . . . really?” I tried to read him, but it was never as easy as he made it out to be. Did I believe him? Would I ever know for sure?
“Do you promise?” I asked.
He placed his hands on my shoulders and stared down at me too intensely. Why was he always so intense when we were alone together? Couldn’t he just be my friend? Couldn’t we just be normal? Couldn’t we . . .
Nope –
“Shall we seal it with a kiss?” he asked, giving my shoulders a little squeeze.
I had to get away before the small something started to act up again.
“No. Handshake?”
“I’ll take it.”
But even that wasn’t safe anymore. Before I could offer it, he grabbed my hand and took it for himself. He should have given it a firm shake, but instead he entwined his fingers in mine and proceeded to massage the heel of my hand with his thumb.
I started to tug away – and I should have continued until I was safely away from his tempting hold – but his expression stopped me. It wasn’t seductive, or cocky, or taunting. No, any of those would have been easy to escape from. The thing that got me – held me in place – was that he looked sad.
“What?” I said. “What’s with you?”
“I’ll miss this,” he whispered.
“You’ll miss . . . ?” But then I got it. “Oh. Don’t worry.”
“Hmm?”
“True, I won’t let Nyte die for me no matter what, but I know that if I die, it won’t help anything in the long run anyway, so I’m going to find another way. I’m prepared to die to save the world, but if it turns out that it really won’t do any good . . . then I won’t die on you without a fight. Okay? If I die, I want my death to be meaningful because I don’t believe in senseless death.”
But he still looked just as depressed.
“What’re ya doin’ with ‘er?” asked Grotts out of nowhere.
I hadn’t even noticed his formless shape approaching. Breaking through the mist, he brought himself to Ardette’s side and looked down at the pair of us suspiciously. “Ya know, Aura, Nyte’s waitin’.”
“R-right!” I yanked my hand from Ardette. “We weren’t . . . we were just talking.”
Wait a minute, why am I explaining myself? Since when is that necessary? Everyone knows that a relationship between Ardette and me is a big joke, right? Right? RIGHT?
“Miss Havoc?”
“Huh?”
I turned to see that Nyte had silently joined us. He wasn’t wearing the same suspicious expression Grotts had, but he did look concerned.
“The others have boarded the wind contraption. They are awaiting your return.”
“Oh, of course. Sorry.”
I loved Nyte. I had to love him. He was my emulator. And from the first time we’d touched, we’d loved each other. And we’d love each other until the end. I couldn’t imagine myself not loving Nyte, but was there ever room for someone else? Was there even the slightest possibility that I could be with someone else?
Or maybe the better question was: What was I supposed to do when an extremely handsome person that I enjoyed being around, that understood me, sacrificed himself for me, continually risked his life for me, threw himself at me, passionately persisted after me no matter how much I rejected him . . . what was I supposed to do when I was constantly around someone like that? How could I not feel this way?
Feel? What do you mean ‘feel’? Do you mean love?
Yeah, a part of me loved Ardette. I already knew that. And a growing part of me was even attracted to him . . . in that way. But I wanted it gone. It was an unwelcome feeling, wasn’t it? Then again, did that detail even matter if the feeling was already there?
There was a chuckle and then, “Miss Havoc? Are you still there?”
