“Impossible,” said one man gruffly. “Preposterous.”
Jocelyn hid a smile. She had anticipated that the locals would not like the suggestion that their legends were wrong, even if it meant a colony of dragons lived on their doorstep.
“Perhaps,” said Elddreki calmly, his unblinking gaze trained on the speaker. “We will find out soon enough. We will travel to the islands and see for ourselves.”
A frenzy of excited conversation broke out in response to this pronouncement, and Jocelyn found her attention being claimed by Eric.
“Is it true?” he asked eagerly. “Do you really think there might be dragons on Wyvern Islands?”
Jocelyn just shrugged, smiling in a friendly way at his enthusiasm.
“And you’re going to try to go there?” Eric added, a look of concern creasing his forehead for a moment. “It’s very dangerous. No one ever gets through. Aren’t you worried you’ll be drowned?”
Jocelyn just smiled again, giving a very pointed look in Elddreki’s direction. Eric seemed to understand her point—she was quite adept at non-verbal communication after all—but Kincaid was apparently unsatisfied.
“What was that, sorry, Joss?” he asked blandly. “I didn’t quite catch what you said.”
Jocelyn and Eric both turned and glared at him, albeit for different reasons.
“Don’t worry, Joss,” said Eric. “I don’t like speaking in front of crowds either.” He clearly thought Kincaid was mocking her for her earlier unwillingness to address the group. Eric smiled. “My father is a natural, being the mayor and all, but I don’t like the sound of my own voice quite as much as some people.”
“That’s hard to believe,” muttered Kincaid, but they both ignored him.
“There’s nothing wrong with not having a lot to say all the time,” Eric pushed on, smiling kindly at Jocelyn. “I like that you’re quiet and reserved, instead of chattering away constantly. It makes you graceful, and dignified.”
Jocelyn kept her head down, not trusting herself to respond. She knew Eric meant well, but she didn’t find this compliment quite as flattering as his previous ones. She tried not to look at Kincaid, but her eyes were drawn to his face without her permission. His gaze slid from Eric to her, his eyes blazing.
She looked away quickly. He had always had a way of making her feel exposed.
“Well,” Eric was saying, “if you really are going to attempt to reach the islands tomorrow, you’ll need a good night’s rest. My father has had them prepare the best rooms for you at the inn, and I’d be very happy to show you—”
“No,” interrupted Kincaid, not very politely. “We already told you, we’re just passing through. We don’t need lodgings for the night.”
“Thank you,” contradicted Jocelyn over the top of him, her attention on Eric. “I would be grateful.” The local man turned a look on Kincaid that was undeniably smug, then bowed himself off to check the rooms were ready for them.
“Eric is right,” said Jocelyn shortly, after he had disappeared from sight. “You could learn to be a little more chivalrous.”
“I thought we were all in a hurry to—”
“I’m not talking about that,” Jocelyn cut him off. “I’m talking about earlier. You knew I was asking for your help, and you refused to speak for me.”
Kincaid was silent for a moment, his penetrating gaze on her face. “It’s not helping you if I speak for you, Jocelyn,” he said at last. “I don’t want to take away your voice. I don’t believe that’s helping anyone.”
“Tell that to the boy who’ll now lie awake all night worrying his mother is dead,” said Jocelyn dully.
“That wasn’t your fault,” said Kincaid, with his usual stubbornness. “If his mother is too busy running around like a traveling minstrel, trying to make a few coins off her sensational story, to send word home to her family that she’s in one piece—”
“Enough, Kincaid,” said Jocelyn wearily. “The more you try to blame everyone else, the more I’m going to blame myself. Haven’t you figured that out by now?”
Kincaid was silent again. “Jocelyn,” he said finally. “I know your power scares you. And I know nothing I say will change that. But the solution isn’t for you to silence yourself forever, to pretend to be the demure, reserved, delicate little flower people like Eric admire.” Jocelyn rolled her eyes at the way Kincaid said the other man’s name, like it was an insult. “The solution is to—”
“Don’t tell me to train, to practice,” Jocelyn interrupted, wearier than ever. “We tried that, remember? And it didn’t end well. I hurt you, like I knew I would.”
“No you didn’t,” said Kincaid firmly, but Jocelyn wasn’t to be deterred.
“Then I hurt myself.” She turned away, not wanting him to see her face. “What I said to you is the reason you’re in such a hurry to get to the islands, so you can finish the quest and leave. Even people who aren’t afraid of my power will inevitably be driven away by it.”
“Jocelyn.” Kincaid said her name like a caress, and it was almost unbearable. She kept her face resolutely averted. “Jocelyn, I’m not in a hurry to leave you. Surely you know that. Surely you know—”
“The rooms are all ready.” Eric’s cheerful voice cut across the building intensity of the moment, and Jocelyn turned toward him with relief.
“Thank you.”
Kincaid said nothing, looking anything but thankful for the interruption.
“Let me show you to your rooms,” said Eric brightly. “My home is right next to the inn, so if you need anything at all, I would be happy to help.”
“I bet you would,” muttered Kincaid, looking at the young man with disfavor. He transferred his gaze to Jocelyn, and she could tell he was going to argue the issue of lodgings further.
“Kincaid.” She laid a hand on his arm, and his muscles jumped slightly under her touch. She met his eyes. “I’m tired. I want to rest.”
His expression softened, and after a moment of hesitation, he gave a small nod.
“Thank you,” she breathed, the words barely audible. It was true—she felt unutterably weary all of a sudden. The square was still abuzz with activity, a number of people looking like they were trying to work up the courage to approach Elddreki, but she allowed Eric to lead her away. She felt like she could sleep for two days.
Kincaid was apparently not as tired as she was, because he made no move to follow them. She couldn’t resist sneaking a glance back at him, and was not surprised that he was watching her as well, that same look of blazing intensity on his face. Their eyes met, and she could have sworn she could read their message without the need for words.
She might have claimed he was in a hurry to leave, but once again, she was the one walking away.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The next day dawned clear but cold, and not just because Jocelyn was up before the sun. It wasn’t that she had any cause for complaint. Her room had been comfortable, her bed luxurious after traveling rough. But she had slept poorly nonetheless.
She had a niggling feeling it had less to do with the furniture than the absence of a certain Valorian’s steady breathing and reassuring presence. She shuddered at the thought of what any member of her family would say if they could read her mind in that moment. But it wasn’t just Kincaid, she reasoned with herself. She had also felt the absence of Elddreki, the dragon’s steady flow of magic as familiar a part of her sleep now as the warmth that seemed to permanently emanate from his scaled hide.
Whatever the cause, the fact remained. Somehow, despite the thick blankets and the homelike furnishings, the room at the inn had felt cold and unwelcoming by comparison. And as soon as the first streaks of light became visible on the eastern horizon, Jocelyn was packed and ready to go. She let herself out of her room, making her way quietly down to the inn’s dining parlor.
She had expected the room to be empty, so she was surprised to see Kincaid there, as if waiting for her.
“Good morning,” he said br
ightly, leaping to his feet. “You’re ready early.”
“Not as early as you, apparently,” she said, raising an eyebrow.
Kincaid just shrugged, his expression cheerful. “I didn’t sleep very well, to be honest.”
“Me neither,” said Jocelyn with a sigh. She grinned. “I guess we’re just too used to sleeping rough.”
“Yes,” said Kincaid amicably. “Maybe that’s it.”
They hurried through a simple breakfast, Kincaid maintaining a light flow of cheerful conversation. Perhaps he was trying to make up for his surliness at their previous meal, the evening before. He had been less than impressed to discover that the room prepared for him was as far as possible from Jocelyn’s, and had muttered all kinds of unfounded insinuations about Eric’s intentions. Jocelyn, who doubted Eric had even had any say in the location of their rooms, had retired to bed early, sick of his griping.
The inn was situated just off the town square, and the first thing Jocelyn saw upon emerging from the building was Elddreki’s massive form, curled up around one side of the fountain in his habitual sleeping posture.
The second was Eric, hovering not far from the entrance.
Jocelyn could feel Kincaid’s cheerfulness instantly evaporate, and she sighed. She had nothing against the mayor’s son, but she had a feeling the sooner they were rid of him, the more pleasant their journey would be.
“Joss,” Eric greeted, with his usual smile. He gave Kincaid a nod. “I didn’t expect to see you up and about so early.”
“And yet, you’re here,” said Kincaid, his face deadpan.
Eric shrugged. “I’m an early riser.” He took in their traveling cloaks, and the packs slung over their shoulders, and his face fell slightly. “You’re not leaving already, are you?”
Jocelyn opened her mouth to reply, but Kincaid cut her off. “Yes, immediately. We’ve already delayed too long, and we need to be on our way.”
“I thought you were refusing to speak for me,” Jocelyn muttered, quietly enough that Eric couldn’t hear. A slight twitch of the lips was the only indication that Kincaid could. “My friend here is in a hurry to return to his home in Bryford,” she said at a normal volume, ignoring Kincaid’s sudden frown.
“He’s going to leave you with just the dragon?” asked Eric, startled.
“Of course not,” snapped Kincaid. “I’m not going anywhere until our search is complete.”
“Oh,” said Eric, his eyes still on Jocelyn. “So will you go to Bryford as well, once you’ve found the answers you’re looking for?”
“Uh…” Jocelyn hesitated, exchanging a look with Kincaid. He looked as off balance as she felt at being suddenly asked to comment on their future beyond the quest. Not their future, she scolded herself. Just the future.
“You’d be welcome to return as a guest to Arinton,” said Eric quickly. “For as long as you like.”
“Thank you,” said Jocelyn hastily. “But I’m expected in Bryford.” Power leaked out with the words, but she judged that speaking was a smaller risk than letting Kincaid say whatever he had been going to say in response to Eric’s offer.
“Well,” said Eric, “my father wanted to speak with you before you leave.” He looked dubiously at Elddreki, still fast asleep. “Should we wake your…other companion?”
“Kincaid can wake him,” said Jocelyn firmly.
She could sense Kincaid wasn’t thrilled about being sent out of earshot, but she refused to meet his eye, and after a moment he strode off.
The truth was she needed a minute. Somehow she had not fully grasped before now the significance of the fact that both she and Kincaid were ultimately bound for Bryford. But Eric’s casual question had turned her thoughts to the future in a new way. And she wasn’t sure how to deal with the realization that if she married Prince Ormond, Kincaid would be living right there, in the city where she and her husband would get married, raise their children, grow old.
They could hardly avoid ever seeing each other, in passing at the very least. Would she feel his disapproving eyes on her at every public function, as she swallowed the Jocelyn he had come to know and kept her words inside so as to protect her new kingdom? He had said his family was wealthy. Were they influential enough to interact personally with the royals? Would the two of them be forced to meet publicly, obliged to pretend they were nothing to each other, perhaps that they didn’t even know each other?
She watched Kincaid’s confident form as he approached the sleeping dragon. Was the same thought occurring to him?
“I’m sorry you’re leaving so soon.” Eric’s friendly voice cut across her thoughts, and she turned gratefully toward him, glad of the distraction. “You haven’t had time to really appreciate the east yet.”
Jocelyn smiled vaguely, and as usual he seemed to need no other encouragement to keep talking.
“But now Arinton is attracting more foreign visitors, maybe my father will be more open to the idea of me traveling. You never know, I might look you up in Kyona one day.”
“More foreign visitors?” Jocelyn repeated, distracted. “I thought you said I was the only one.”
“No one as pleasant as you,” said Eric quickly, the swirl of power that left her having an unhelpful effect. “It’s impressive to come all the way from the South Lands, of course, but I’d much rather host you.” He smiled, a little flirtatiously, but Jocelyn frowned.
“Who came from the South Lands?”
“No one of importance,” said Eric hastily, the seed Jocelyn had unintentionally planted clearly continuing to grow. “Some man, no one who holds a candle to you.”
Jocelyn restrained a sigh, frustrated. As well as being dangerous, her power could sometimes be very counterproductive. Eric was so fixated on the idea of reassuring her as to her appeal, that any question she asked would probably lead to the same answer.
She abandoned the topic, but she felt dissatisfied. It struck her as odd that someone would come all the way from the South Lands to visit this remote spot. And was she jumping to conclusions to think that if Eric was responding to her power, it must mean she had changed his mind about the content of what he said? Had he previously thought the visitor was someone of importance, and was only reevaluating that now, when his head was filled with the pleasant pastime of flirting with a pretty stranger?
She shook off the thought. There was no point speculating. If Kincaid wasn’t still talking to Elddreki, he would be able to probe deeper into the question. But then, she reflected with some irritation, he would probably refuse to do it, claiming it would be taking away her voice.
“…must be an anxious time for you, being from Kyona and all,” Eric was saying when she tuned back in. “I hope Valoria can be a haven for you.”
Jocelyn blinked, confused. Why was it an anxious time?
“I’m talking about all the problems these freedmen are causing,” Eric explained, seeing her blank look. “It’s such a pity.” He frowned. “And I was quite surprised when I heard about it, actually. I wouldn’t have thought they would be seeking to cause trouble, after so many years of peaceful living. If I didn’t know for certain they’re the ones in the wrong, I would think they’d been misrepresented.”
Jocelyn stared, her mouth hanging open in unladylike shock. News of the freedmen—prejudice against the freedmen—had spread even to this remote corner of Valoria? She could hardly believe it. And what possible reason could Eric have for thinking he knew for certain that the freedmen were in the wrong?
She was still trying to decide whether it was worth risking speech in order to dig deeper when they were interrupted, and the moment was lost.
“All right, let’s get this over with.”
Jocelyn turned to see Kincaid, Elddreki now towering behind him. Kincaid looked faintly disgruntled as he spoke, but his expression changed instantly when he took in the look on her face.
Eric started to lead them toward the other side of the square, but Kincaid fell back a step, holding Jocelyn back with a hand
on her arm.
“What is it?” he asked quickly. “Did he say something impertinent to you?”
“What? No, of course not,” said Jocelyn, impatient of Kincaid’s sour attitude toward Eric. “But he said something troubling.” She recounted Eric’s comments about the freedmen as they walked, and Kincaid’s frown grew.
“That is strange,” he agreed. “But likely he’s just sharing the same prejudice we’ve come across before.” His eyes flicked forward to Eric’s back. “He’s just the kind of person to claim he knows better than everyone what’s true and what isn’t.”
Jocelyn frowned. She didn’t see any benefit in pressing the point, but she was fairly certain it wasn’t just Eric who was affected by prejudice. By her estimation, Eric didn’t seem at all that kind of person. And he had seemed regretful about his poor opinion of the freedmen. He must have some external source for his belief.
But there was no further opportunity to ask Eric for clarification, even if she had been willing. The mayor’s farewell was formal and drawn out, and by the time they were released, the sun had well and truly risen. They were sent off with three times the provisions they had come with, and their horses had been well fed and re-shod.
“It pays to travel with a dragon, apparently,” Jocelyn whispered to Kincaid as some friendly townspeople loaded the supplies into their saddlebags.
Kincaid grunted. “If only the people at that market had responded this way, you could have kept your bracelet.”
“For goodness’ sake, Kincaid,” hissed Jocelyn, exasperated. “Enough about the stupid bracelet.”
They didn’t mount their horses immediately, opting to walk through the town on foot. Someone helpfully led the horses along ahead of them while they walked toward the far edge of Arinton, which sat atop the hill. Gulls squawked overhead, and the salty smell of the ocean increased as they climbed. Jocelyn felt her excitement mounting, and each time she glanced at Elddreki, his gaze was trained unblinkingly ahead. She tried to imagine waiting two hundred years to see something, and could only admire his restraint.
Legacy of the Curse Page 34
