“Sounds to me … that no one defines luck or love the same. People might say I’m lucky to have found love at all, but it doesn’t feel that way when they are taken away. I can’t hold a memory and I never planned on how to be a person without them in my life,” Rienna supplied awkwardly. She turned her (she hoped) expressionless face to look at him. His smile was unsettling in that it was as indefinable as luck at the moment. It was a smile like sunshine, like one of Belias’s rare smiles.
Rienna suddenly felt abashed and turned her attention to the tattoos on his arms. She felt bold enough to ask since he had been so open to start.
“Those are tribal tattoos, like the ones in Peneschal. They must mean something to you. You’ve been having them re-inked,” Rienna rushed to change the subject, her voice a little hurried and rough from overcoming embarrassment.
Ashe smiled fully, making a lump form in her throat. She narrowed her eyes, hoping to look unperturbed. Ashe shrugged it off and let his grin fall lopsided.
“The tattoos, eh? I like them,” he shrugged casually and turned his body towards her, leaning forward to engage in the conversation. “I have no idea what any of them mean, but I hope it’s something cool. I’d hate to think I was being used to keep track of sheep or grandma’s secret recipe for bird’s nest soup. They run along the outsides of my legs too. And there’s one on my back. That one I now know the meaning of. It’s the Mark of the Suleika Tribe. It’s the only tattoo that all the Tribe bear. Only the men received the script, whatever it means. The women get these symbols on their wrists and ankles and shoulders. I was anonymously told about my brother in a letter from another Suleika kin, but I supposed that it would be my brother that could tell me. Really wish I knew who sent it to me.”
Rienna bit at her lip when he stopped talking. Why was silence making her uneasy?
“The one on your back. Can I see it?” Rienna asked, fishing for something to say. She was curious as well, but her nerves were frazzled.
Ashe smiled boyishly again and she fought the urge to smack it off of his face. He turned his back to her and loosened the gaping neck of the shirt, letting it fall from his shoulders. She tried to focus on the tattoo itself but the attractive rippling of lean, full muscle distracted her. Her eyes traveled up along the nape of his neck and her mouth went dry. She scolded herself for the girlish reaction— no matter how much she fancied herself the warrior, she still blushed at a half-naked man, especially one as well-formed as this one. She momentarily felt the urge to touch that spot where neck and jaw met, just below the ear…
Shocked by the impulse, she suddenly felt horrified and disgusted with herself. Her hands trembled slightly so she clenched them in a ball. She had never felt this before but knew it for what it was: attraction. She felt as if she had betrayed Belias in some way. This feeling terrified her, left her feeling confused, angry, and vulnerable. It was so inappropriate but she could do little but swallow it back and school her features. At least she was not unaware of what it was and she certainly had no plans to let it take its course. She turned the feeling into anger, something she was better at. But, damn, she was ill prepared for feeling anything right now!
“Rienna… What is it? What’s wrong?” Ashe’s deeply concerned voice sounded so far away. She realized now that tears had escaped. Her fists were shaking with the effort to contain this crazy rush of muddled emotions. Apparently, guilt slipped its way out of the confusion. She had barely had time to grieve her lost husband and she should not want like this. Not him, not now, maybe not ever. She vaguely saw Ashe hurrying towards her. To what? Hold her? Gods, no!
She then heard a scuffle of feet and the sound of a fist hitting Ashe’s jaw. Ashe thumped onto the ground, rubbing his jaw bewildered as Krose knelt down in front of her.
“Rienna, are you okay? What did he say to you?” Krose asked gently, turning violently to face Ashe. “Don’t you even think about moving or I’ll run a dagger through you!”
Rienna shook her head, not sure of whether to laugh or sob. What was with Krose, jumping to her defense anyway? He already knew she could handle herself. Ashe already had a pretty good idea of why; Krose was always watching her, although Rienna was oblivious. Freesia had shown up and grabbed Rienna’s wrist, dragging her away from the confusion. Rienna was completely at a loss— who was this emotional mess she was becoming? Even with the love of her life, Belias, she had not been so uncontrolled. But she had lost everyone she loved not too long ago, and on that day, she had been carried away by love, girlishness and the silent terror of loss in so little time. Maybe she was short-circuiting. She was surrounded by people she just met, people with stories, people that meant more to her than she wanted to admit.
Night stood leaning against a tree, frowning at the dejected form of a very confused and seemingly betrayed Ashe. Ashe’s eyes did not leave Rienna. Rienna turned to look at him for a moment and her eyes were wild but there was an apology there. Would he let her explain later? Oh, but how could she?! What would she say ‘I’m sorry I lost my mind; that I can’t handle a halfnaked man with his back to me, especially one that keeps reminding me of my dead husband’? Because that was the gist of it, the trigger that was setting her off this time around, never mind the very valid chaos of emotions. She couldn’t tell the truth and she would never be able to pass off a lie. Still, he was trying to get along with her and she had asked. A flood of embarrassment at having involved everyone in this mess began to wash over her. Gods forbid anyone ask her why or she might go berserk with the need to escape. This was precisely why she had wanted to travel alone. Maybe she had known the vulnerability subconsciously.
Rienna’s head spilled over with questions and she became worried. She turned again, afraid to see hatred on Ashe’s face.
He was smiling at her in what seemed like forgiveness. Gods help her; she wanted to smack it off of his face.
Night’s frown pulled at one corner of his mouth into an amused smirk and he shook his head at Ashe, who was getting to his feet.
“You know once those two start talking, all bets are off,” Night joked.
Ashe laughed and scratched his head awkwardly, his fingertips lingering on the scar. “They’re welcome to it; I’ve had my head split like a melon but I don’t need to be told not to hand a woman my heart.” Ashe shook his head now and shrugged. “I might joke, but I’m not under the delusion that she’s really interested in me. Melchior meant something to her once and you couldn’t not see that we’re brothers. I was trying to ease her mind, but it was more than she bargained for.”
“Taking off your shirt probably wasn’t going in the right direction,” Night teased back.
“It’s more than you’ve done. You’ve been hiding your feelings pretty well but I know unrequited love when I see it,” Ashe pressed.
Night’s look darkened for a moment before he smiled again.
“You mean Freesia? Don’t read too much into it—I swore to someone very important to me that I would always look after her.”
“Sounds like that promise was more than you bargained for,” Ashe added, walking off to leave Night with that.
So the chase was on for Melchior. The six companions had a million questions in mind but they stayed silent for so long. Night, Freesia, and Ashe were not too happy about leaving the horses behind (even if they did steal them on the way) but after Dinsch threw a tantrum, thumping that Herculean foot against a tree and crushing a dent halfway through its thick trunk, they decided not to argue the point. Night was still mulling over what Ashe said unhappily and Freesia wasn’t sure what to think. It wasn’t like him, but it wasn’t unwarranted either. She did hit him when he asked if she needed a warm body to sleep next to.
“Just how do you propose we get to Melchior quickly enough to stop him when we’re on foot? You want to carry all of us, rabbit-boy? Or MAYBE, we can cut off one of your feet and LUCK can get us there. Is a bigger rabbit’s foot even luckier, do you think?” Night teased relentlessly. The other four were lost
in their own revelries but kept up their guard.
Remarkably, Dinsch seemed like he couldn’t care less. “Like I haven’t heard THAT before. It’s not even original,” Dinsch drawled out, adding a laugh. “It’s so weird, right? That it doesn’t bug me? Maybe it’s just because I could kick your ass in a fight or I’m just so used to it. Probably the first one. There’s just something about those damn horses I can’t stand. They smell awful and it’s just so much extra work.”
“I wish we could have kept the horses though. Sorry, Dinsch,” Rienna said apologetically to him. “But something tells me that even if we’re fast, he’s going to be faster and we’re also stealthier on foot. The trick is going to be in finding where they hide the machines when they aren’t in use. They need some kind of fuel to run and they need to be hidden in a place big enough and secret enough to not be discovered. Repairs and regular maintenance and that kind of thing. My guess is that each targeted place has a preselected hiding spot within so many miles. They could use Peneschal Falls to return to for several of their targets but it looks like they’re done here and heading south, starting with Morgaze.”
“It makes sense, but we’re going by a map that might have been planted as a trap or to throw us off the trail. Still, we might want to focus on places that could hide a mechanized army,” Krose agreed, pondering his knowledge of the land. Dinsch and Krose both knew quite a bit about it. Morgaze didn’t feel like a good place to hide; magicians had their own ways of keeping a good eye out for threats. He wasn’t sure if machines qualified as something magic could sense, but surely the human pilots were a different story.
“He wants us to find him. It’s a game of cat and mouse. He wants us to think that we’re clever for following his trail of bread crumbs, but he’ll keep leaving clues to make sure that we do. Like Krose said, at some point, he might just throw us off the scent to put us to heel,” Ashe added, casually.
Rienna nodded firmly in agreement.
“Yeah! You’re right. Melchior made sure Rienna saw his face at Merschenez Castle!” Dinsch chimed in helpfully.
“And then he spared the three of us in Harmonea. Who’s to say he didn’t send the letter for you to find him himself?” Night grimly added.
“I doubt he sent the letter or he wouldn’t have bothered stopping me in Harmonea. He would have known I was heading towards the Falls, but yeah… the base at Peneschal Falls was located right between the two targets, where he left marked maps,” Ashe asserted, frowning. “He seems to be hand-selecting the players in this game, doesn’t he?”
Everyone took this in and couldn’t argue with it. The question was why would he need to keep anyone around. Why not kill them all?
“It doesn’t matter what he’s doing or even why. Maybe he is selecting us, but he underestimates our roles. That is why he will fail. On sheer physical terms, he could beat any one of us, but where strategy is concerned, he’s predictable and reckless,” Rienna said without doubt. She smiled now, quickly but confidently. Rienna might have noticed Ashe’s similarities to Belias but the more she glanced at him, the more she could see the face of Melchior. Strong, soft-voiced Melchior and the monster he had become. Was Ashe the same sort of threat? He had admitted his detachment but that wasn’t enough to accuse him of wrongdoing. After losing her loved ones, Rienna had not been able to trust any of her companions just yet. Krose seemed loyal enough, maybe Dinsch, but she could question the loyalties of all who were not her. She was not about to penalize Ashe solely because of the pain his face caused her. At least, if she could consciously help it.
They all seemed to fall into silence as they pored over the options, but be that as it may, none of them actually had anything else to go on. The attacks were leading them somewhere and none of them knew why they were being led. A mutual feeling of dread made them wonder if the game was a lot darker than they imagined. Someone seemed to be thinking a lot further ahead than they were and none of them liked the thought of being pawns in an entirely unknown game.
Without knowing it, they all thought of the town ahead and the people that they would not be able to save in time if Melchior had the same plans in store for that place. Whatever Melchior planned, it didn’t bode well for Morgaze and they would stop him there if they could. Of one mind, their footsteps quickened then and none could say another word as they headed in the direction of the doomed magic city of Morgaze.
Undine River was named by the founder of Morgaze, a magician of the highest order that drew his power from the water spirits living there. The water that flowed peacefully there seemed bluer, clearer, and alive with the whispers of fleeting spirits. It was early evening when the six of them reached this spot, the city itself still two days away at the pace they kept. Freesia was being kinder to Night and although sincerity was awkward for him, Rienna noticed he was very gentle with her. She didn’t dare scrutinize too keenly, for Night was nervous like a horse and would fall back into his playboy routine within earshot. Freesia needed him more than she would admit.
With little to aid them but the maps, they began to follow the river.
They walked along the river and came upon the start of Dryad Forest (yes, Morgaze’s founder was fond of naming the elemental power sources for their spirits) around the time the sun dipped on the horizon and decided camp should be set there. Freesia noticed that Rienna seemed drained of spirits and decided it was time to help Rienna relax in a way these high-strung men could not. When camp was almost finished being set, Freesia laid her hand across Rienna’s and her eyes became gentle.
“We should bathe in the pond here. It is quite refreshing. I was here a few times when traveling with the Cirque,” Freesia offered. Rienna’s eyes softened when Freesia’s voice quavered a little. She looked skeptically back at the laughing men and Freesia smiled knowingly. “I believe your guard dog will keep them at bay,” she added, gesturing towards Krose. She couldn’t even be offended because he did like to bark whenever someone rubbed her the wrong way. Ashe had kept his distance since their last encounter and she made a mental note to resolve that sooner rather than later. Facing Melchior’s army would be no guarantee of tomorrow for any of them.
Rienna tried a friendly smile, but it was weak. She approached Krose.
“Would you mind keeping the others away from us for a while, Krose? Freesia and I need some privacy,” Rienna asked humbly, hoping Krose was reliable.
Krose straightened his spine importantly and nodded curtly.
“Not a problem, Rienna. I’ll be sure to shout a warning if they start sniffing around,” Krose barked out formally, smiling a bit at how foolish it seemed to be so formal. He was trying to be chivalrous and it was endearing at least.
Freesia laughed a little and Rienna bit back an amused smile. The dog references were too rich to ignore.
The two of them headed off through the forest, Freesia leading the way to the quiet pond fed by the Undine River.
They reached the spot and began to disrobe, carefully hanging their garments on a sturdy, low-hanging branch. They both then eased into the cool waters, wading out to where the water reached their shoulders. Rienna could not help but let out a long sigh of satisfaction. Vendettas didn’t leave much time for such luxuries as this.
Freesia watched Rienna for a moment. Rienna’s eyes were shut peacefully and she seemed serene. Freesia really didn’t want to break her mood, so she held her curiosity at bay for as long as she could.
Rienna finally opened her eyes and smiled a little shyly. She never really knew what it was to be a friend with a woman. She suddenly became self-conscious in front of such a feminine woman, at that. Freesia was a slim, petite woman with smooth, pale skin while Rienna was voluptuous and more strongly built, taller than average, and had skin tanned from training in the sun most of her life. Freesia smiled and noticed from Rienna’s frown that the time was right to ask.
“Forgive me if I am out of place in asking, but … what did Ashe do that made you cry this morning?” Freesia asked with aw
kward politeness.
Rienna seemed reluctant to answer. Freesia wanted to comfort her more now.
“It’s remarkable, really. He doesn’t appear to be affected by it. I’ve never once seen a man not hold a grudge a woman that caused him to take a hit like Krose gave him. Well, I don’t think Night has it in him to be mad at a woman either, come to think of it. Still, Ashe must know you didn’t want it to turn out like that. He seems a little less oblivious than most men at least,” Freesia offered, hoping it was the right thing to say.
Rienna looked up at Freesia now, her eyes unreadable.
“He didn’t say anything offensive,” Rienna softly confessed. Her face twisted miserably for a moment. “He opened up to me a little… It’s because his eyes and hair, even his skin, is so much like… Belias… and at the same time so like Melchior. I had only asked to see the Mark on his back and it was a mistake because I was… suddenly remembering too much at once. I was so disgusted with myself that before I knew it, I couldn’t stop crying!”
Rienna’s eyes filled with tears of guilt. She couldn’t admit the attraction and knew she was being cryptic, but it was the flood of memories that had blown it up to the mess it had become.
“It was my own fault, not Ashe’s! My husband was murdered not so long ago and he was just being kind, telling me his story and humoring my request. I wanted… more from a man than I should even be thinking of right now and it overwhelmed me! I couldn’t confront my weakness and he paid for it,” Rienna moaned despairingly, deciding to admit more so she wouldn’t have to wallow in it.
Freesia gasped in horror as Rienna screamed suddenly, a gurgle stopping it short as she disappeared underwater and out of sight. Freesia dove under the water, grasping around frantically for Rienna. She was nowhere to be found…
The Truth about Heroes: Complete Trilogy (Heroes Trilogy) Page 6
