Iris's Guardian

by Lisa Daniels

  Noely patted her friend on the shoulder. “I would die first. You know that.”

  “I do know that you would try to make sure it happened that way. And that is precisely what worries me.” Jaylon rumpled her hair and took off in the opposite direction.

  With a whimsical smile, Noely watched her friend leave. He was the only person in her life that actually cared about her. If things had only been a little different, if their heritages had not been so similar, Noely felt that she may have even found that she could have loved Jaylon. Not that he had ever taken an interest in her himself, so it had never been an issue. Of course she was concerned that once he learned about her past, the young man would be upset, not because of what she was, but because she had never told him. Jaylon was already incredibly protective of her in his own way, and she was afraid of what would happen once he had the full story. Most people would shun her, but Jaylon would probably try to become a permanent fixture at her side. He was incredibly sweet, and he deserved so much better than life had given him, yet the young man never complained in earnest about his own life.

  As soon as Jaylon was gone, Noely’s mind went back to Cyprian. The memory stung, and as she returned to work, the young woman wondered if she should tell her friend about the encounter. It was hard to tell if he would be elated or upset by the story. One thing was certain – he would take it as a sign that she was now ready to have someone in her life. She pondered this for a while as she began kneading dough, but her mind soon forgot everything except for a pair of brilliant blue eyes.

  Chapter 5

  Words of Wisdom from a Passing Stranger

  The day passed by much faster than usual as Noely began to look at her world in a different light. Except for Jaylon, everything appeared different when she looked at the world with a more critical eye. Things that she had not noticed before now seemed blatantly obvious when she spent less time talking without thinking.

  The first thing that she noticed was how much time they spent worrying about things that didn’t matter. By the end of the day, it was all she could do to keep quiet, to not point out that there was a war happening, a plague taking hundreds of lives every day in the country to their south, and strange reports trickling in from port cities about a monster ravaging the small continent of Tepee Sialk. Even here in the city, there was a mysterious illness that was affecting children. Thankfully, a few tonics were working to counteract the problem in many cases, but no one knew what was causing the illness. All of these were real threats, things that mattered, yet the people around the young woman focused on small things of no consequence.

  As a result of this revelation, Noely felt a greater obligation to do more. A single encounter had given her an entirely new outlook on her life, and though she had heard shifters express similar feelings as Cyprian had – a near complete cynicism of humanity – Noely found that she could understand why. Humans had the shortest lifespans of all the humanoids. Instead of making the most of it, they seemed to act only slightly better than the beasts that they tried to tame. When they could band together, humans chose to divide themselves, and the worst of them tried to use the misfortunes of others to their advantage. It was entirely counterproductive. The more she noticed, the less Noely talked. A couple of people noticed that she was a bit quieter than usual, but with a quick lie about being tired after being out in the woods the day before, they began to talk about all of the little things that bothered them.

  Whenever she felt like butting into conversations and pointing out how fortunate people were, Noely would take a deep breath and immediately a pair of startling blue eyes made her feel better. If someone like Cyprian could work through his repugnance of humans enough to spare them, surely she could put up with their idle chatter and try to help them rethink life a little at a time. She knew enough about the people in the city to know that trying to change their perspective all at once would only backfire.

  Noely was finishing the last bit of work as her mind proceeded through her conversation with Cyprian for the 100th time that day. Her eyes were on the fire as she thoughtlessly asked the question on her mind, “But how do you create a strategic avalanche?”

  A noise behind her startled the young woman, and she turned to see Captain Hisa choking on a small pastry.

  “Captain!” She rushed over, whisking a small glass of wine from the table. She handed it to him and he drank.

  As soon as he caught his breath, the man looked at her. His eyes reddish and watery, he managed to ask, “What did you say?”

  “Oh, um,” Noely’s mind raced through what she had been thinking about, trying to figure out what thought she had spoken out loud. Silently cursing herself for having allowed talking without thinking, Noely tried to determine just what to say. Praying that she had figured it out, she took the wine from him, hoping that she could distract him from the question. “Are you all better?”

  “I’m fine, thank you, Noely. But what did you say?” His black eyes were very focused as he looked at her expectantly.

  “I just heard the strangest rumor today. It was beyond ridiculous, really. You know how people are, trying to explain away mistakes and losses by claiming something impossible happened.”

  His eyes looked down at her, and the young woman felt very uncomfortable under his gaze. There were some deep bags under his eyes, which she may not have noticed under most circumstances. But since he had recently been choking, she was more attentive to his appearance. She pulled out a handkerchief. He took it with a nod, then pressed her again, “From the way you asked, it did not sound like you thought it was impossible. It sounded more like you were trying to figure something out. Won’t you please tell me?” The last sentence was asked with almost a pleading tone. The way his short midnight black hair moved as he finished wiping his eyes to look at her was similar to the way her guardian had moved. There were more than a few things about the captain that reminded Noely of Augustin, but she had never discussed her guardian with anyone in the palace besides Jaylon. She didn’t want to let anyone know of her history or try to take advantage of her desire to find him.

  Hisa held out the handkerchief to the young woman. Pushing his hand back, she responded with a sigh, “I heard this crazy theory that the avalanche was a strategic move. It was designed-” she coughed realizing that she shouldn’t say anymore. Hisa may have been kind, but he was part of the military, and she knew exactly what they were capable of. Even the best people could be persuaded to do the worst things. Those in the military were much more likely to take a terrible order and execute it than to question it. If Hisa had been at the front lines, he may know more about what had happened, which meant it was risky to say anything else.

  The man’s eyes flicked around the empty kitchen before he took a step closer to her. “What exactly did you hear?”

  Jaylon burst through the door at that moment. “Nice try, Noely, but I have not forgot- Oh, Captain Hisa.” A huge grin spread across her friend’s face as he realized that Noely was not alone. “I hope you don’t mind if I steal her. We have a dinner date.”

  The captain raised an eyebrow as he looked back at Noely.

  Turning a sigh of relief into one of annoyance, she gave Hisa an apologetic look. “I hope you will excuse me. You know how he is once work is over.”

  “No, I don’t.” The captain looked at the servant. “But I am glad to see that you have finally decided to quit this nonsense about being single. You are a lucky man, Jaylon.” The officer looked a little confused as he spoke.

  Jaylon laughed, “Not that kind of lucky. She’s still available if you are interested. Perhaps if you check back again tomorrow I will finally have gotten her to come around. I would be willing to give her up to someone like you if you want a fine woman who likes running off into the woods.”

  Noely froze. Her eyes instinctively went to the captain who was eyeing her after this new bit of information. For a moment it looked like he was going to say something, but his eyes flicked to Jaylon and the c
aptain shut his mouth. Clearing his throat, he looked between the pair. “I would be honored if you would talk with me for bit tomorrow, Noely.”

  Immediately her cheeks began to feel warm as she tried to smile at Hisa. There was no doubt he was attractive, and he was at least a full head taller than her. Even the daughters of the king had expressed an interest in the man, but there was no way Noely could get involved.

  Before she could respond, Jaylon spoke for her, “She will talk with you. Just give me this evening to work on her. The poor dear needs a good night’s sleep. If you can believe it, she slept outside the gates last night, so obviously she is in desperate need of a good night’s rest before she can give anything like a competent answer.” He grabbed the young woman’s arm and dragged her out before anyone else could talk.

  She pulled her arm out of his grasp as soon as they were far enough away from the kitchens not to be heard. “Jaylon, this is exactly what caused our fight. Now you are at it again.”

  Jaylon twisted his mouth and looked at the young woman. “Yes, we are going to have quite a long talk this evening. If you still want to say no to the best-looking man in seven kingdoms, you go right ahead. But first I need to hear this story you promised me. If it convinces me that you are doing the right thing then I will never try to set you up with anyone again. Even though you have already confessed that being alone is not something you want, but something you feel obligated to do.”

  Cursing the fact that she had ever told her friend that, Noely focused on what he had just said. “Do you promise?” She was standing still, a frown on her face. For whatever reason, the man had been relatively relentless over the last year trying to find someone for her to the point where she had actually gotten angry with him. If she could avoid that again, the young woman would.

  Jaylon looked back at her, his face sporting his disarming smile. “I swear to you on my own future that if your story provides adequate justification for your obstinacy, despite your obvious and confessed desires for more, then I will stop.” He emphasized the word with a knowing look that always made her feel guilty for never explaining her situation. Going somewhat on the defensive, she tried to find a suitable comeback.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Jaylon walked away from her. Noely hurried to catch up with him. Grabbing his arm, the young woman tried to force him to talk. “Explain what you just said.”

  “All in good time. For now, we have to get you cleaned up before I have to fight off people who mistake you for a walking loaf of bread.”

  “It’s not that bad,” she mumbled, trying not to give her friend the satisfaction of looking down at her clothing.

  Jaylon simply laughed as he put an arm through hers and steered her home.

  The young man sat in the adjoining room as Noely cleaned up. They chatted about their day and what had happened since their meal together. Noely shared a bit of the revelations she had that day, and found that Jaylon took her words far more seriously than she had thought he would.

  When she walked into the room where he was, the servant looked up at her. “If I didn’t know any better, you ended up having a meaningful conversation during your time away. And something tells me it wasn’t an old married couple who partook in this conversation, as you claimed when you were talking with the rest of the kitchen staff. You look amazing, by the way. Almost like you are trying to impress someone.” He gave her another knowing look.

  “I will never be better-looking than you. And there’s no one to impress. Come on. You have something you need to pick up, right?”

  “We both do. And I know just where to go to pick up everything.”

  “I’ll go wherever you lead me. I’m just going to enjoy your company for the evening. I have to admit that I get very lonely when you are upset with me. And I do know that you will use that against me, but I don’t care because I really did miss you.”

  Jaylon wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gave her a little kiss on the side of her head. “You are so cute when you are honest. Now put that serious stuff on hold because we have a lot to do. We will pick up from right there as soon as we walk back through your door.” With that they headed to a new shop that the servant had heard about from his employer.

  As they neared the shop, Noely frowned. “For Saskia’s Sake? What kind of a name is that for a store?”

  Jaylon smiled at the young woman’s incredulity. “A brilliant one if you ask me. Apparently, it’s a pretty big deal in Senones, and they decided to expand.”

  “Oh, it’s a Senones shop? Aren’t they a little… traditional?”

  Jaylon laughed, “I think if you want to be nice, we preferred to be called quaint. Or backward. We love to be called backward.”

  Noely simply looked at her friend and smiled at his cavalier attitude toward the way people saw his home country.

  “Mind you,” he said in a mock whisper, “we backward people are rather hardy. I mean, it’s been nearly 200 years since we had problems with plague and monsters, but you know it’s only because we barbarians just don’t know that we should be behind other countries, not ahead of them.”

  Noely gave him a playful slap. “I already know. There’s no point trying to make me feel bad. I just meant aren’t Senones shops still into doing things like bartering instead of taking money? You know, traditional shopping.”

  Jaylon gasped, “There it is! Come on!” With that, he grabbed Noely’s hand and began to run.

  “Hey! I'm not the one who runs all day. Remember, I'm in the kitchens!” Noely tried to shout over the crowded streets as Jaylon pushed his way through. She knew that he could no longer hear her in his excitement, so she accepted being dragged along behind him until they finally reached the shop.

  Standing out in front of the shop was a beautiful woman dressed in what could only be called high fashion. Her luscious, light brown hair was beautifully styled and gave her a regal look. The only thing that indicated her status and country of origin was the thick Senones accent as she spoke with her customers.

  Jaylon stepped right up to the woman, still pulling Noely behind him. “Wow, you have done a fantastic job. It looks so much like a real Senones shop, it almost makes me homesick.”

  The woman beamed at Jaylon, “Oh, a fellow Senonian, huh? I'm not the only one crazy enough to leave our cozy little home for the wild shores of the unknown.”

  Jaylon laughed and held out his hand. “Jaylon Valles.”

  “Saskia Holderfeld. As in the one the shop is named after.” She shook his hand and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I hope your girlfriend doesn't mind the old familiar greeting of our people.”

  Jaylon laughed again, “She doesn't mind at all because she’s not my girlfriend.”

  “Oh ho! Your wife. Well, they do say the magic fades fast, but you don’t look like either of you is old enough to have been married long enough for that to happen.”

  Noely looked with horror between the pair. Such familiarity between strangers was completely out of the ordinary in the city. The pair were chatting like they were long lost friends instead of two people working on a business transaction.

  Jaylon was shaking his head, “No, no. That is even more wrong. She’s my little sister.”

  The beautiful woman grinned at them, “My mistake. You two look so dissimilar, you must hear that all the time. My apologies.”

  “Oh, we aren’t blood-related, but I’ve been raising her since she was just a wee thing. There are times I feel more like her father.”

  “Hey!” Noely finally found her voice and tried to get a word in as the two rambled. “Of the two of us, I am far more mature. If you had actually raised me, you would have married me off in the first year.”

  “Only to the right guy.”

  Saskia laughed, and her voice was like a calming wind chime. The gentle rhythm subsided and she looked at the two. “You certainly sound like siblings. Come with me. I have something special for a fellow Senonian in the back of the shop. If you want to fe
el real homesickness, this will do it.” There was so much excitement and feeling to her voice that Noely couldn't help but be in awe of the way Saskia could deal with people. It had taken Noely years, and she was nowhere near as comfortable as this woman clearly was when it came to speaking with strangers.

  The trio headed to the back of the shop and into a small area away from the crowd. Saskia pulled out a small bundle and held it out to Jaylon with a knowing grin on her face. “Fresh, homemade Juniper Jam Fritters.”

  Jaylon’s eyes went wide and he looked down at the bundle. “How much? I will pay anything you ask just for a taste.”

  Saskia gave him a wicked grin, “You had best be careful, boy. I may take you up on that.”

  “I don’t care. Take advantage of my stupidity as much as you like.”

  She laughed and opened the bundle. A small curl of steam rose from the middle of the fritters. Jaylon needed no other invitation. His hand shot out and took the one on top. He bit into it and immediately he groaned, “Oh gods! This is just as good as I remember. In fact, it tastes exactly like I remember.” His eyes went up and he looked at Saskia. Noely quietly reached out and took a pastry, her eyes following whoever was speaking, her thoughts completely baffled by how two complete strangers could be so comfortable in their verbal sparring. No one she knew in Antakya would have acted like this.

  “I was taught by the best in Senones.”

  “Nonsense,” he waved the fritter a little as he dismissed the claim, “I knew the best, so if you say anyone other than Naya Davon, I will be forced to call you a liar.”

  Suddenly the beautiful woman fell silent, her eyes now fixed on Jaylon, the smile frozen in place. After a pause, her mouth hitched up in a new kind of smile, one that Noely was certain meant trouble. “And if I were to say Naya Davon, what would you say, Jaylon Eliseo?”