Jaden and Ikovos looked undisturbed.
I opened the door and walked through, letting it click softly behind me.
The first thing I did was slip on my shoes so that my socks wouldn't get wet. The only thing bad about rain was wet socks. Next, I shrugged on my coat, hugging it around me tightly.
Around here it never rained. It always seemed to be sunny. Most people liked this fact, but to me there was nothing more magical then rain . . . rain and dawn. Of course it was both right now, which accounted for my inability to stay put. I was sure I'd hear about how stupid it was from Jaden when he got up.
I walked slowly around the house to the hill I had been on last night, taking in the dripping scenery as I did. Once I had reached the spot where I’d been before, I took a second to look around, but was unsatisfied with the view. I turned back to see that the top of the hill was only a few dozen yards away, and couldn't resist the urge to keep climbing.
By the time I got to the peak, I was completely soaked through. It was a wonderful feeling. Still, I guess it's just human nature to avoid standing with the rain pouring down on you, because I chose a seat on a rock under one of the few trees atop the hill.
With a deep breath I took in the sky and all the open space around me: wet . . . calm . . . clear white light with the faintest glow of blue draping everything. The rain fell slowly, reflecting the blue in each drop, causing everything it touched to sparkle.
In spite of all this, I found my gaze wandering to the cabin at the base of the hill. It must have been the first time that people had distracted me from my favorite weather.
“But they're not like other people are they. . . .” I whispered softly. I thought of last night.
Sitting there, all alone, and surrounded by the noisy wall of rain, I knew wouldn't be able to escape my own mind. I decided to give in and consider the utterly confusing aspects of my new friends.
Like that, I thought, that right there . . .
Friends.
Ikovos, I think, was a friend. He talked to me like a friend, he treated me like a friend, heck, he even declared that we should be friends. I smiled. There was no doubt in my mind, or at least very little, that we were friends. Real friends. I liked the feeling.
The happy moment was quickly smothered.
And then there's Jaden.
Forgoing the view, I laid back on the rock and looked up at what was visible of the sky through the dripping leaves.
He didn't treat me like a friend, and, although bold, he didn't talk to me like a friend either. Unlike Ikovos, any declarations he had made were of dislike or indifference.
My stomach squirmed involuntarily as I thought of the way he had been back behind my house. Before the cuffs, before the arguing, before knocking me over. I scoffed, but couldn't deny the still-present feelings . . . he had been different there for a while.
Sweet? . . . No. Sympathetic? . . . Not really. Friendly? . . . Maybe. Did I like it? . . .
I wouldn't answer this one. Probably because I already knew what the answer was . . . and I didn't like thinking about the fact that something I had done made him stop.
“Maybe I just make him crazy,” I said aloud . . . but the logic in the statement was faulty. Why, then, would he have asked Thoran to let me stay?
“Ugh.” My mind was throbbing and I wasn't reaching any conclusions. One thing I had to admit . . . or correct, as it were. He had talked to me friendly, some of the time. And obviously, though not in my presence, he had treated me like a friend also, by talking to Thoran.
My initial question hung pensively in the air as I sat back up. Friend or not? I still didn't know the answer, so I decided to go with my usual policy:
‘When in doubt, stick with the safest scenario.’
That was it. I needed to keep myself guarded. A, no honesty, no vulnerability policy with Jaden.
I sat there for a few more minutes, contemplating my decision, then decided I'd better go inside. Maybe then I'll have a chance to dry off before the boys wake up. I made a sour face when I noticed the rain had slowed and a patch of blue sky was breaking through. It was still holding in place when I entered the cabin, trying my best to be quiet.
To my surprise both the boys were still asleep. All I could see of either were distinguishing mats of hair.
I patted over to my bed, but passed it in favor of a spot as close to the fire as possible. It was still maroon like the night before, but it was, unexpectedly, just as warm as the brighter flames. I was grateful for this and, pulling off soggy socks, I moved my feet closer to the fire.
As I watched it I thought about the possibility that I could be able to control it. When Ikovos had tried to teach me magic I was a complete failure. I remembered the book in the study had said that the illumination spell was useable by both classes, and wondered if the process worked the same for offense artisans. Still undecided, I held out my hand as Ikovos had instructed and tried again to conjure the light. This time with the fire in mind.
First, I just stared at it, trying to follow the patterns that Ikovos had told me to take my mind through. Impatient as I was, I didn't give that a lot of time before moving on to something else.
I tried waving my hand around, then strumming my fingers in random orders. With some reluctance I decided to see if snapping would work. Of course there was a problem with this, because I had never really been able to snap. . . .
I concentrated, nonetheless, on my fingertips and imitated the motion I had seen others use successfully.
No noise. I tried again . . .
Nothing. I tried yet another time and it still just sounded like soft skin rubbing together.
After a few more, my fingers were starting to feel like I'd given them a rug burn. I stopped myself from complaining and stuck the edge opposite my nail in my mouth. Somehow sucking on finger injuries always made me feel better.
Without cause, I looked out from under wet hair to my left. I almost wasn't surprised to see Jaden sitting up comfortably against the wall, staring me down. There was no doubt he had seen my unfortunate attempts at snapping, but my face didn't change color all the same. Maybe my veins were still tired of pumping blood to my face from yesterday.
I kept my eyes on him, expecting a wave or a nod, some sort of acknowledgment . . . you know, the type of thing any normal person would do.
There was nothing. Just hard . . . dark . . . paralyzing . . . eyes.
Okay, maybe he had been sitting there five minutes, tops. How the heck did he look so . . . well . . . good to put it plainly? It's supposed to take people time to collect themselves in the morning. They're supposed to look disheveled!
He didn't at all.
His dark hair was flawlessly unkempt. It fell down in layers around his face, almost completely concealing his eyes, which were also free of any sign of morning, no circles, no squinting, incredibly attentive. No flinch of a yawn appeared around his mouth. His jaw was held firmly in place. For the first time I noticed a scar on his neck. My eyes followed it curiously down beneath his shirt, before realizing too late that he was probably still watching me. Like an idiot I looked up to check, and quickly discovered that my blood was having no problem circulating. I felt my face get hot and looked away as fast as humanly possible.
Though I kept my eyes barreled into the fire, I could just imagine the smirk he must have been giving me. I wanted Ikovos to wake up very badly now, believing that somehow it would make the situation less awkward.
Maybe Jaden was thinking along the same lines, because out of the corner of my eye I saw him lean forward and jostle Ikovos’s hair thoroughly.
“Time to get up sleepyhead.”
I thought of reminding him he had only woken up a few minutes ago, but definitely, definitely wasn't going to provoke him right now.
Ikovos moaned as he slapped Jaden's hand away with his head still buried down.
I watched openly now as Jaden pulled the pillow out from under Ikovos’s head. I felt a little sorry for
him when I heard the loud clunk of his face hitting the wood.
“Ouch,” he let out, before rubbing his head.
“Get up, you idiot,” said Jaden. “You're embarrassing yourself in front of our guest.” The words of the sentence should have reflected care or concern, but with the way he said, it came across the opposite.
Ikovos seemed to react to it though. He immediately leaned up and looked over at me.
I waved as his face perplexed. “Why are you all wet?”
I looked down at myself. “Oh.” I thought for a moment. “I went for a walk and it started raining.” Nothing wrong with a little fib to keep me out of the weirdo bracket.
He almost smiled before a yawn interrupted him. See? Normal morning behavior. A pillow flew into his face as Jaden hopped up off the floor. Despite my morning embarrassment, the boy seemed quite jaunty.
“I'm guessing you want coffee?” It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me.
“Oh . . . yes please,” came my all-too-lame response.
I felt Ikovos tap me on the knee. He was a little more awake now. “You should probably go change into some dry clothes. You're gonna get sick in that.”
I was grateful for his concern and nodded before turning around to grab my knapsack. Once I was up I headed for the bathroom.
Jaden interrupted. “You do know that this stuff stunts your growth, right?” He stopped what he was doing and looked up at me.
“Yeah. I know,” I smiled, “I drink way too much of it.”
A devilish smile crossed his face. “That's what I meant.” He eyed my figure, but it still took me a moment to realize what he was saying.
Once I did, I narrowed my eyes spitefully at him, trying very hard to not allow myself to speak. But the look he was giving me! Ugh! I resorted to biting my tongue. Having a fight this early in the morning wouldn't bid well for the rest of the day.
“Jaden, if your head wasn't so big you wouldn't be much taller,” said Ikovos as he hopped onto his feet and rubbed his hands near the fire.
I knew better than to laugh.
Jaden gave Ikovos a mocking smile, then went back to making the coffee.
Feeling a little shorter, I snubbed my nose at him, his back was turned at this point, and pattered off towards the bathroom.
As I got out of my damp clothes I realized how cold I was. I thought about taking a shower, but quickly abandoned the thought. Once I was dressed I looked into the mirror to put up my hair. I had chosen an outfit suitable for a wet, cold, day, hoping that if I did the sun wouldn't dare come out.
With a final smile at my reflection to remind myself how brave I was, it never really worked, I walked back onto the main room.
Jaden was still working at the counter and Ikovos was waiting for the bathroom. I moved out of the way without a glance up as he shuffled past me.
Light was pouring through the window now. I noticed it wasn't yellow which made my hopes for a sunless day increase exponentially.
The cabin felt a lot different in the daytime. warmer, though I guess that didn't make much sense. Maybe it was simply because I knew it now.
A shiver rippled through my body and I moved unconsciously to the fire. It was bright reddish-orange again, and it was extravagantly filling almost the entire concrete space.
After a few seconds I noticed the bedding and moved instantly to clear it up . . . I guess I still felt guilty about the blanket situation.
Jaden didn't seem to notice me at all. As I folded, I thought I saw him fiddling with a knife in his hands. But I couldn't really tell, I was too afraid to look at him after having been caught so many times.
When I had stacked the last blanket on the pile I walked over to the window and examined the area. All I could really see were trees and sloping dirt so I occupied myself with watching a bird bath in a puddle the rain had left.
I turned around when I heard the door to the bathroom open. Ikovos looked completely alert now. His blonde hair, though rustled, was layered nicely, and his blue eyes were in full color. I frowned when I saw that he had a sleeveless shirt on . . . that was a sign of complete support for the sun and warm weather. I was a little surprised at how muscular his arms were, though.
I don't know why, I thought to myself, that's bound to happen if you're fighting with swords all the time. My unintended ogling was interrupted when a cup of coffee came into view.
“The cream's over there,” said Jaden. He sounded a little annoyed.
It was probably just my imagination. I hadn't talked to him, looked at him, or acknowledged him in any way since entering the room, he couldn't have been angry with me.
“Thank you,” I said curtly, taking the cup.
He walked towards the fire and faced it broodingly as he drank his coffee. I'm sure he would have gotten further away if he could have, but in a one-room building it was sort of difficult, bordering on impossible.
With an inward wave of surrender, I walked over to the island counter to fix my drink. Ikovos did the same.
“So did you sleep well?” he asked, looking down.
“Mm-hmm.” I answered plainly. Whenever I wasn't around people for a while it was hard for me to pick up where we'd left off. Aka, my shyness returned.
“That's good,” he said, passing me the cream. “I guess Jaden was right about the rain after all, it looks like it's dying down now, though.”
I frowned, “Yeah. . . .”
He laughed as he looked up to take a gulp of his drink. “What, you like it?”
I shook my head quickly. “No . . . well, maybe. Yes.” I sipped my coffee pensively.
He studied me, probably thinking about how strange I was.
I tried to make a case. “Why should everyone like the same weather anyways? I think there's probably a lot of people that secretly hate the sun. I mean, it's hot for one. It’s creates very harsh lighting, and umm . . .”
I stopped when I saw the face he was giving me. “You hate the sun now, too?”
I winced sheepishly and he laughed again.
“I'm just giving you a hard time,” he said. “I know a lot of people that like rain . . . I just can't think of any right now. . . .” At least he was trying to act like I was normal.
I smiled at him before Jaden's voice interrupted us. “Ready to get out of here? We don't wanna get stuck another night.”
Ikovos gestured to me.
I nodded immediately. “Yup. All ready.”
What I really wanted to do was finish my coffee first, but somehow Jaden's suggestions always compelled me to obey. . . . Well, almost always.
“Good.” he said. Then he snapped his fingers and the fire instantly went out in a puff behind him.
“Since when do you have to snap?” asked Ikovos. I kept my eyes down on my cup.
“I don't know,” responded Jaden. “I thought it was worth a try.”
I glanced up at him as Ikovos turned around. He appeared nonchalant at first, but then looked directly at me and gave a slight wink.
I dropped my head immediately, going red for the second time today. At the rate that, that was happening, people were simply going to assume I had a pink face.
*
When we’d gotten outside I was more than a little disappointed at the slit of sun showing through the clouds. We started moving down the mountainous hill without talking much, it seemed I had to concentrate a bit more on not falling down the hill than they did. . . .
After about thirty minutes of staring dutifully at my feet, I realized both boys had stopped, and looked up.
We were at the base of the hill now. I knew the area. I crossed it whenever I went to my rock by the lake. Tiver itself wasn't more than a couple miles to the left, but the lake was quite a bit farther to the right. All that was visible right now though was a sprawling field of greenish-yellow, reed-like, grass.
“Ikovos,” said Jaden. He was wearing his heavy coat again. I was glad for the support of rain, or at least cold. “I'm going my own way now .
. . I've got something to do before tonight.”
Ikovos looked calm at the claim. “Okay,” he said. Then his eyes become perplexed. “Where are you going from here, though?”
Jaden shrugged. “Back by the lake and . . .”
Ikovos eyed him.
“. . . through the east portal,” he finished. It was the first time I'd seen Jaden hesitant to say anything, or even reply to a question he didn't seem to want to answer.
“Jaden.” Ikovos’s tone was serious.
I started to feel anxious.
“You can't keep going through there alone. You know Thoran and Cornelius said it was off limits now.”
Jaden's eyes veered to me. I wondered if he was afraid I would tattle on him. He looked back.
“Why don't you just wait till we get Evelyn back,” suggested Ikovos. “Then I can go with you.”
Jaden shook his head. “Now's the best time for—” he stopped. Both of their faces were so severe.
A moment passed, then Ikovos lightened a bit. “You better be back before dark.”
Jaden tightened his coat around him with a smirk. “You guys should get going,” he said, nodding his head towards the sky. “It looks like rain.”
My head went up instantly to see that the sun had completely vanished. I thought I felt a drop of water hit my face, and it should have made me overjoyed, but . . . it was dwarfed by stronger feelings.
I looked back to see Jaden was a ways out now.
All the sudden I had this pitted feeling in my stomach. It was stupid and I don't know where it was coming from. I definitely didn't care that he was leaving. In fact I was glad I would have some time free of his teasing.
That's what made sense . . . but a voice inside me argued.
Even if I don't like him, that doesn't mean I want him dead. It's perfectly okay to be . . . concerned about his safety. I was just being a decent person.
He was barely visible now.
Ember Page 11
