by Lisa Daniels
“Between intelligence and heart, I will always choose heart.” He murmured the words more to himself than Noely. Clearing his throat Cyprian said, “Ah, well.” He paused and looked at the woman who had treated him the day before with a hint of sadness in his eyes, as if he were determining how much he should say. Finally, he asked, “Do you know much about the war?”
Noely frowned, “Do you mean the one at the border of Yuezhi?” Cyprian nodded. She shrugged in response, “I know very little. The biggest news I heard about it was a few months back when an avalanche stopped the progress of the Yuezhi soldiers. Miraculously, no one was killed, but the country lost a good number of men as prisoners. I’m not quite sure how they managed that. Since then, there hasn’t been much talk. I think the king is too embarrassed and is hoping that people will forget before the next big assault. Whatever and whenever that is.”
“It is funny what news makes it back.” The shifter was looking up at the ceiling with a wide grin on his face. “The avalanche was her idea after looking at our map for a few moments. She noticed the small movements into the cave and figured out what had been going on. Like her father, she prefers to minimize casualties, so Kerensa recommended a strategic avalanche to stop the battle before it started. Quite the clever human. Much cleverer than dear Heath.”
There were a lot of questions swirling in Noely’s head at the brief story. It seemed impossible that such a move could be possible, a strategic avalanche, but it was not the idea that stood out the most. Her years at the palace learning to talk without consulting her brain was suddenly a liability as the thing that interested her the most was the first question she asked. “Are you jealous of Heath?”
Cyprian’s head snapped so that his piercing eyes were on the young woman at the same time as she clapped a hand over her mouth. To her horror and pleasure, the shifter laughed, filling the cave with a beautiful flowing sound. When he stopped, the smile on his face was beatific. “No. Though she is truly a clever woman when it comes to strategy and books, I dare say that she has much to learn about living. She even admitted as much during our brief encounter. I suppose that was why she was hiding who she was and acting like a man, but I doubt that she will ever have the hardships that would teach her the lessons that would make her truly appealing.” He looked away and returned to his story. “As you said, that was some time ago, a few months, and apart from her desire to spare as many people as possible, I have seen little in humanity to remind me of the good they can do. Until yesterday.” Cyprian’s eyes darted toward Noely, but did not stay. “As for my strengths, nothing in particular stands out. I will do whatever it is you wish to have done to the best of my abilities.”
Noely frowned as the man kept his face directed toward the mouth of the cave, and she wondered if perhaps he was getting anxious to leave. A small part of her knew that it would be best for him to go, and she certainly needed to return to the palace, but there was a much larger part of her that wanted to stay with him for as long as he was willing. Wrestling with her thoughts, Noely decided that the best way to resolve things was to leave the decision up to the shifter. While his instincts had caused her discomfort, the young woman knew that he was right about what she wanted from him. The only thing holding her back was her fear of what would happen if she gave in. With her heritage, Noely did not feel that getting attached, no matter how briefly, would work out in the end. There was no way he could have known why she was not comfortable with a physical relationship, so it was best if he attributed her reluctance to possible shame and guilt if she gave in. There were women who wanted to be married first, and if that was what he thought, that would be best for both of them.
Clearing her throat, Noely stood up, her resolve to leave growing stronger. “I cannot believe that you have no strengths. From what I have seen in our short time together, you are the most extraordinary being I’ve ever encountered.” Noely blushed a little as she said this, but it was necessary to get the point across of what she wanted. Cyprian turned to look at her as Noely looked at the cave entrance. She could not look into those eyes and keep her resolve. Thankful that he did not disagree with her or interrupt, she pressed on. “Your movements are fluid and graceful, while being silent and, I daresay, probably quite deadly. You heal faster than any creature I’ve ever heard of. Your body is more like that of a god than a mortal creature, and your eyes are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Yet you gave me the first restful sleep I have known since my parents’ death, so there is something about you that is also calming and kind, even if you try to hide it.” Her eyes flicked to look at him for a moment, hoping to see him look surprised. Instead, she was rewarded with a gentle smile as he waited for her to finish speaking. Forcing herself to look away before she forgot what she was saying, Noely kept going. “From your story, you must be some kind of soldier. However, you are a shifter, and shifters rarely get involved with human wars. It has been a large reason why humans tend to hate shifters. Based on your words, you would probably have me believe that killing humans isn’t so wrong, except you clearly are not a soldier to kill humans. The story you just told showed that you chose the path that spared all life during a war, so I dare say that you do not hate humans as much as you say. Or perhaps you want to give them every possible chance to do better. So you are also compassionate. With all of that in mind, I don’t think that I can possibly come up with a better way for you to repay me than to ask you to save someone else. I do not have anyone particular in mind, and I do not know how you would go about doing it, however, I am certain that you will do it much better than my clumsy efforts to help others at the palace, or even my efforts to help you.” She gave a little laugh and turned her face away from Cyprian as she tried to hide her embarrassment. “I wish that I could have done more for you because it seems…” Suddenly, Noely stopped talking, not at all certain what she wanted to say.
A pair of arms circled around her waist and she felt herself getting pulled against Cyprian for the third time since they had met. “You undervalue yourself and what you do.” Noely hung her head as the voice murmured near her ear. Her hands covered his, but he made no other move and said nothing else.
As suddenly as he had hugged her, Cyprian released her and strode silently toward the mouth of the cave. Not quite ready to see him go, Noely said, “I think that you would have been just fine without me. You did not need my meddling to recover or to clumsily attempt to save you. All I did was make you feel obligated to me.”
The shifter stood still, his impressive frame outlined against the day. “You did save me.”
Noely heard what he said, but her mouth kept going as she felt the need to talk, anything to keep him from going. “You gave me peace. You reminded me that there is more to life than just the day to day. There is more I can do, but I let the little things interfere. There are bigger things to do, and I have let them go, at first out of need, then out of comfort.” Even though he turned his hypnotic eyes on her, Noely found that she could not stop talking. “And you still never told me why you left this morning.” There was a slight scowl on her face as the young woman finished on a completely unrelated topic. Her scowl deepened as she tried to make sense of her ramblings.
Cyprian gave her a serene smile. “There was a band of undine plotting to take you once you left. I persuaded them that you were no easy target.”
Dumfounded, Noely looked at the man. “Undine? Here?” He nodded. “And how is saving me from a pack of water sprites not paying me back?”
“Because you didn’t ask me to do it.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “And you didn’t ask me to help you.”
“I did when you lay with me last night.”
“Wait, what?” Noely blinked at him trying to understand what he meant. “You mean you aren’t trying to repay me for taking care of your wounds? You are repaying me for sleeping with you?” The shifter did not move as she tried to make sense of what he meant without any further information. “I mean, I know
that I didn’t save your life, not with how quickly you heal, but you weren’t even concerned about your wounds?”
“I was not concerned about my wounds, and that is not how you saved me.”
Noely shook her head, her eyes locked on Cyprian’s. “I don’t understand. You were at no risk of death, so I didn’t save you at all. You don’t owe me anything. In fact, I would say-”
Her eyes could barely register Cyprian’s movements, but the next thing she knew he was standing in front of her, his finger on her lips. His astonishing eyes looked down at her, and her body reacted almost immediately. She shivered to have him so close. For the first time she realized that he was not much taller than her, just a few inches. The shifter seemed so impressive and sinewy when he stood away from her. His voice was low and assuasive as he responded. “Talking is not meant to be a defense mechanism, and more than half of the time people do not hear your words. Save them for when it matters.” His eyes moved over her face, and the young woman found that she had no desire to speak. He blinked, then moved his hand from her lips and onto the side of her face. “Not all deaths are physical. I will do as you ask, but it will not be adequate to repay what you have done. The fact that you feel more at peace does provide me with a small sense of satisfaction as it means you will also benefit from our time together. If I could give you more peace, I would. However, I am needed elsewhere, and the need is greater than the debt owed.”
With that, Cyprian leaned forward and kissed Noely on the top of her head. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, placing her forehead against his chest, too afraid that if she looked at him she would not be able to stop herself. The shifter laughed a little and held her tightly as Noely tried to burn the encounter in her mind. She wanted to say something, anything, to get him to stay, but for the first time since she had lost her guardian, the young woman knew that now was the wrong time for words.
A few moments passed. Cyprian placed a hand on the back of Noely’s head and gave her another kiss on the top of her head. When she finally felt she was more under control, she leaned back and looked up at him. The shifter looked into her eyes for a moment as if considering something. The corner of his mouth twitched up and a sad look filled his eyes. Then he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Without another word, he turned and left the cave.
Noely wanted to run after him, but she knew that he was gone. She did not have his speed, and she knew that once he was out of sight there was no way for her to track him. She stood there in silence, regretting that the time with Cyprian had been so short. The sound of the water running at the back of the cave brought her back to reality. The young woman looked over at it, and her eyes saw the basket of the things she had collected the day before. Though she felt a bit sad, Noely also felt a sense of serenity and clarity about what she needed to do, starting with getting the collection to the herbalist.
As she exited the cave, Noely let out a heavy sigh. She knew that returning to the cave now was going to be as bittersweet as returning to the hut was after her guardian disappeared. It was such a brief encounter, but there was no doubt that her world was changed because of it. Shaking her head, Noely set off for the palace.
Chapter 4
A Change in the Routine
It seemed like the walk to the palace took no time at all as Noely’s mind spent the entire walk back to the city replaying the events since she had left. It was fortunate that there was nothing about in the woods as her attention was completely trained on her thoughts rather than on the world around her. This was not surprising as between the time she had departed the city to now the whole world seemed to have shifted for her, leaving her feeling both longing to finish what she had started nearly a decade before and driven to improve the lives of those she had already promised to assist.
Before heading to the palace, the young woman stopped by the herbalist and handed over the ingredients for the medicine for the Nekomata children. She did not know the family well, but Noely really liked the eldest boy who had helped her deal with some problematic potential suitors. He had acted like her son, scaring the men off. He may have done it more because he thought that tricking adults was a great game, but Noely knew that it was a valuable lesson for the boy as well. His family was not from this continent, and that meant they were treated poorly by many of the city’s residents, especially as they were clearly of a different race. The young boy had already shown that he was prone to fighting, so Noely thought that the lessons in tricking others would teach him to think with his head instead of always reacting with his fists. Now she had to make sure that he got better so that he could make something of those lessons. The herbalist promised to deliver the tonic to the children as soon as it was ready, mostly because Noely had paid the woman handsomely to do it, with the added incentive of another 50% if the children were better within a week. As she left the shop, the herbalist reminded the young woman of the promise and wished her well. Noely smiled, but this time said nothing as she left. Usually, she would have made some meaningless chatter and thanked the woman for her services, but today Noely was remembering what Cyprian had said, and now it was beginning to be very clear what he meant about talking less. The woman would not pay attention now that she had said what she wanted to say. As she walked past the window, Noely saw the woman already counting out the coins, her mind clearly ignoring anything that Noely would have said after the reminder. For the first time that day, the young woman wondered why she had started to talk so much when people hardly listened to anything that she said once they had said what they wanted or gotten the answer that pleased them.
Upon her return to the kitchens, Noely found that her guess about what people would think of her absence had been right. Several of the kitchen staff hurried up to her saying they thought she was as good as dead. It was clear that they were eager to hear how she had survived a night out in the forest outside of the city and come back nearly unscathed. Her story was brief as she explained that she had encountered a lovely old couple not too far from the location that yielded most of the supplies she had brought with her back to the palace. She hinted that they had given her a lift back to the outside walls to avoid questions about how she made it back so early. The last of her audience expressed their amazement that she could make even a night excursion into the woods sound dull, then went back to work. Usually she would have apologized for disappointing them, but this time she simply smiled and shrugged. Having given all of the herbs and other supplies to the kitchen staff, Noely left in silence to change into a different work outfit. Having spent a night in the woods tending to wounds, the young woman did not want to wear the same outfit for a second day. Fortunately, the blood stains had been easy to hide with a spare cloak that she had stored in the cave.
The young woman began her regular chores as the people around her talked. She soon realized that she had missed some excitement during her absence, so Noely listened as several of the kitchen staff began talking about the news from the night before, their disappointment in her dull story already forgotten.
“I heard that they caught the bastard and killed him on the spot,” Jasper murmured.
Keisha slapped his arm. “Don’t be stupid. They wouldn’t kill a spy on sight. They would bring him back so that we could all watch the bastard get what he deserves. Oh, I hope that they did catch him and that we get to watch him get a public execution. That would be the best possible way to resolve the terrible string of luck we’ve had in the war.”
There were murmurs of agreement to the last statement. Noely tried not to listen to the talk because most of the time it devolved into rather unsavory conversation that didn’t amount to anything. She did have a few polite conversations with some of the older kitchen staff. They were generally kind and had interesting information to discuss, but she had to be careful not to get too close otherwise they would try to play matchmaker with her.
The rest of the morning was uneventful as she finished up preparing a late breakfast for the late
risers of the royal family. It was only after the head of the kitchen told her to go on break that Noely realized that she had completely forgotten to eat that morning.
A cheerful voice hailed her as she moved to the staff’s dining area. “If it isn’t my little Noely, back from a night romping about in the woods.”
The young woman turned and could not fight the wide grin that passed over her face as her friend Jaylon caught up with her. The young man was handsome, as always, in his servant’s attire. His grayish hair flowed and waved around his face, accenting his almost lavender colored eyes. Jaylon was her height and thinner than Noely, and she also knew that he was much prettier than her, which may have been why she preferred his company when she had to go into town. Compared to him, she looked rather plain in her kitchen garb. He threw his arms around her and lifted her off the floor in a tight hug before she could protest. Laughing, Noely tried to push him away so that he would drop her. As soon as her feet were on the ground, the young woman put her hands on her hips. “I thought you weren’t talking to me.”
“Once I heard you had gone off to die in the woods, I realized how unbelievably silly I was being. After a full night of trying to imagine a life without you in it, I saw the errors of my ways.” He put an arm around her shoulders and steered her towards the food. “Now all I want to do is take care of my darling little girl to make it up to her.” He led her over to a seat and forced her to sit down. Her stomach growled as her friend stopped talking. With a hearty laugh, he got up. “It looks like I should start by making sure you get something to eat. I swear I don’t know what you would do without me.”
Noely smiled up at him. “I am certain I would be even more of a wreck than I am now if I didn’t have you to keep me on the straight and narrow.”
The pair chatted as they usually did while she ate the food he gave her. Jaylon sat back down and put his chin on his hands as he watched her. “I want to hear all about your excursion outside the walls. How I envy you that you can think of doing that without any fear. But for now, I think that I probably have the more interesting story to tell.” He gave her a grin as she tilted her head to the side. A bit of food dribbled down her mouth as she was about to ask him why. Looking at her, Jaylon reached out with a napkin and wiped it away. “Salivating to hear the story. Well, it is a good one. I was waiting on Lord Grimsly last night when one of those fine men in uniform came bustling into the room.”
