Kit was still uneasy but he couldn’t resist having his favorite spot scratched. He blew out a gusty sigh and settled more firmly into her hands, tilting his head for a better angle.
“Well now.” Beirly shifted to the side so that they could switch places. “I think it’s better you sit there. How in the wide world are you doing that?”
“There’s this one spot between his neck and his jaw that he just loves scratched,” she explained. “I’m giving him something else to focus on.”
Tran tilted his head to see exactly where she was touching. “Ahh. I see it. Tell me when your hand tires, I’ll take over.”
“It’s like magic,” Siobhan marveled. “I knew he adored you, but I figured it was due to the watermelon you kept sneaking him.”
“We bonded over watermelon,” Denney informed her, mock-seriously.
“Is that right.” Siobhan shook her head, amused. “Well, keep that up. I was afraid Kit would bolt in this storm. It’s a little more intense than usual.”
“What are you expecting with this storm?” Conli asked, worried by that last sentence. “How long will it be, do you think?”
Siobhan waved to Tran. “I defer to the sandstorm expert.”
Tran grinned, not denying this, and responded, “Most of the time, they’re a few hours long. They can move quick, but not generally. The worst storms are fast and last for days but this one doesn’t strike me as one of them. It moved slow enough for us to get under cover without too much bustle and it’s barely rocking the cart at all. So, I’d say it’s good for two or three hours, and then it’ll wear itself out.”
“I didn’t get more than a peek before Master Wolfinsky threw me in here, but it was like a wall of sand straight to the heavens was coming our direction.” Denney had to pause as Kit demanded more of a rub from her. “Are they always like that?”
“Always. But like I said, this one was slow enough for us to get under cover. Sometimes they’re too fast and we barely get the top over our heads. Even if we didn’t have the tarp up like this, it would be rather dark. Too much sand blocking out the sun.”
“And this is common?” Conli said in dismay.
“In this stretch of the desert,” Grae confirmed sourly. “The conditions of the sea wind coming in from the coast, with nothing but flat land and sand to greet it, means that this stretch of desert gets sandstorms quite often. It’s a pain going through here. Most escorting guilds avoid this stretch completely.”
“It gives me a lot of negotiating room when caravans come to us,” Sylvie added, tone cheerful. “And we can ask the nicest prices.”
Denney had only shopped with her twice, but once was enough to know that Sylvie got what she wanted for the price that she wanted. Anyone that entered negotiations with her was to be pitied.
With nothing to do, people got more comfortable, changing positions as needed, and storytelling started. Conli surprised her by speaking up twice, sharing a story from their own experiences, which gathered a great deal of interest from the rest of the guild. Even Denney switched places completely, coming in to sit snugly against Tran’s side, as that way they could both handle Kit if he became restless. Conli gave her several anxious looks but in truth, while it felt a little odd, she was perfectly at ease where she was. Tran had no ulterior motives with this position. She knew that without a shadow of doubt.
The hours did not seem like hours. More like minutes. Denney scratched at Kit, listened to stories, laughed at the jokes, and felt as if this whole situation was normal. Bizarre, to be caught in a sandstorm in a desert, but all the same normal. She didn’t feel out of place with these people. In fact, it felt more like she had finally found where she was supposed to be.
Now wasn’t that a strange thing to think? Crammed in with people she’d known six days, legs and shoulders overlapping with at least three other people’s, with sand raging in a storm around her. But Denney couldn’t think of a time when she’d felt more at ease than this moment. Strangely enough, not even the storm worried her, as she had complete confidence that if something happened, the enforcers in the group would do something about it. Silly thought, that. Were they more powerful than a force of nature?
Denney gave Tran and Wolf a study from top to bottom, their muscles especially. Yes, in fact, if she had to place a bet on who would win, it would not be on the storm.
They all felt it when the storm ended, as the oppressive feeling to the air and the battering against the tarp abruptly ceased. Tran cautioned them to wait a few more minutes, which they did, but then he deemed it safe and they all climbed out of their protective gear and stood up in the cart to see how much the landscape had changed.
The section of road they were on was still somewhat clear, although there were deep piles of sand mounded here and there. Off the road section, there were new sand dunes strung out for spans and spans in every direction that Denney could see.
“Why is the road still relatively clear?” she couldn’t help but wonder.
“It’s the highest section,” Grae explained, already climbing down. “This became the road because it’s the only part of the desert that remains mostly clear even after the sandstorms come through.”
That made a great deal of sense.
“Alright, everyone, check on the caravan.” Siobhan put boots to ground as she said this. “Miss Denney, if you would, hitch Kit back up and give him a good drink of water. Then see to the puppies.”
“Certainly,” she agreed, happy to be relied upon.
Taking Kit’s halter in hand, she tied him to the cart temporarily and gave him a long drink of water, almost as much as he wanted, although she made him take mini breaks in between so he wouldn’t founder himself. With him satisfied, she re-hitched the reinmal to the cart. Only then did she finally free the dogs, who were beyond happy to be out of that box. They immediately tried to run around, which was why she had done everything else first, as it took concentration on her part to make sure she didn’t lose one of them. When dogs got in their head to run, they could be very quick on their feet.
Conli came back to stand next to her, although his eyes were trained on the stretch of caravan ahead of them. “Everyone seems to have weathered the storm fine. Then again, they all seem to have experience in this sort of thing.”
It struck Denney that she had a rare opportunity to talk to her uncle without anyone listening, as the whole guild was up ahead and out of earshot. “Conli.”
“Hmm?” He glanced back, only to turn completely to face her as he realized she had something serious to say.
“I know we’ve only been with them for six days, but…” Denney bit her bottom lip uncertainly. “Deepwoods fits what we’re looking for, doesn’t it?”
Conli’s expression softened. “You really do like them, don’t you?”
“More than that.” Denney struggled to put the feeling into words. “I feel comfortable with them. I feel more of a sense of belonging here than I’ve ever felt anywhere.”
“They are charming,” Conli agreed, eyes crinkling up. “And certainly good at protecting you. You don’t feel uneasy at all? Not even around Tran or Wolfinsky?”
“Not anymore,” she confirmed, meaning every word. “They’ve both been kind and considerate, and both have taken the time to teach me something about my heritage, which wasn’t something they needed to do.”
“I saw that. I thought better of them after seeing how they treat you.” Conli got that taut line in his forehead that suggested he was thinking hard. “It’s true that it would be safer for you if we had a female guildmaster. And Siobhan Maley is one of the best guildmasters I’ve ever seen.”
That sounded like a ‘yes’ to Denney, and she couldn’t help but bounce on her toes in excitement. “Can we ask?”
“It won’t hurt to try.” Spying Siobhan and Grae coming back their direction, Conli lowered his voice to tell her, “Truth is, I was hoping you’d become comfortable with them, as I’ve grown fond of this guild as well.”
“We weathered the storm better than I expected,” Siobhan announced. “We’ll be moving again in a moment. Miss Denney, how’s Kit?”
“Perfectly fine,” Denney assured her.
“Good, good.”
Conli cleared his throat. “This might not be the time for it, but I have a question for you, Guildmaster.”
Siobhan’s mouth stretched into a slow smile. “I have a notion of what it might be. Or hope I do. Out with it, man.”
“By chance,” Conli’s tone was deliberately off-hand, “have you room for a surgeon and a girl who’s good with animals in your guild?”
“I thought you’d never ask. As it happens, I do.” Siobhan’s serious demeanor lasted two full seconds before her control broke and she flung her arms around both of them, bringing them in for a tight hug. “You’re both staying.”
“Shi,” Grae chuckled behind her, “that wasn’t a question. You sound more like you’re issuing a demand.”
“It is a demand,” she retorted, not letting go of them. “I like them too much. They’re not allowed to leave.”
A somewhat nervous giggle escaped Denney, and then she laughed out loud, hugging the woman back. “So we never had the option of parting in Goldschmidt?”
“Not after the third day,” Siobhan agreed and finally let go of them. “We all decided that you two were a fine fit into the guild. Although we weren’t sure how to charm you into staying with us.”
Conli had an odd expression on his face. “Then, you weren’t trying to charm us these past three days?”
“No?” Siobhan cocked her head, puzzled. “Why, did it look like we were? We hadn’t come up with a plan yet. Hard to plan when you two were always in earshot.”
“They’re charming naturally,” Denney observed to her uncle.
“Apparently. Well, Guildmaster, if you’re serious, then we really would like to stay with you. But perhaps you should talk to the rest of the guild first?”
Siobhan negated the idea with a careless toss of the hand. “I get complete say in who stays in the guild. It’s always been that way. Besides, I won’t get any objections with you two.”
That last statement just warmed Denney right to the core. “Then what do we need to do to make this official?”
“Register you in Goldschmidt and get you both crests. Which we’ll do after we’ve dropped off a certain caravan.” A demented grin on her face, Siobhan declared, “But you’re ours now, paperwork or no paperwork. Grae, spread the word! We have new members.”
The quiet man beamed at them. “Gladly.”
Epilogue
“And that is the story of Denney Icean and Conli Roroana.”
“It was a fine telling, and I thank ya for it.” Rune had turned over onto his side partway through the story and had his head propped up on his hand. “It’s true, ya and Conli seem to come as a packaged set.”
“We have ever since he came and got me in Quigg,” she admitted frankly. “Although since joining Deepwoods, he hasn’t been as fiercely overprotective as before. Not after Wolf, Tran, and Fei made it clear they would hammer anyone that looked at me cross-eyed.”
“Gave him breathing room,” Rune stated knowingly. “Denney, I do have one question for ya.”
“Shoot.”
“When we first met, ya were nervous about me, too. Was that ’cause I was an assassin or Wynngaardian?”
“A little of both,” she admitted. “And you were so incredibly hard to read. What unnerved us all was that your mouth would smile, but your eyes never reflected any sort of emotion at all. We weren’t sure if you had a heart. That first time you came to my defense, without Siobhan telling you to, I was so surprised I actually froze for a few seconds. I realized in that moment that we actually did mean something to you. Before that, I hadn’t thought we did.”
“Was that it?” Rune thought about how he was, those early days with Deepwoods. In truth, even he wasn’t sure if he felt any true emotions back then. He’d been betrayed and hurt so many times that it was a wonder his heart was still functioning at all. “I suppose we are alike in this, then. Deepwoods charmed us into staying.”
Startled, she stared at him for a heartbeat before laughing. “It’s true! We both reacted the same way. Funny, isn’t it? They don’t think of themselves as particularly charming, in fact Siobhan says all the time we’re a motley crew, but after spending only a day with them, you start to wish you could always stay.”
With him, Rune wasn’t sure it had been a full day. After only a few hours of watching how the guild interacted with each other, he’d become so envious of them he’d nearly been green with it.
Denney stretched out fully on the grass, her arms high above her head, smile dreamy. “The best thing that Conli ever did for me, aside from taking me from Quigg, was to choose Deepwoods as our guild. We would have been so lost without them.”
Rune was deeply thankful that they had joined Deepwoods as well, if for entirely different and selfish reasons.
“Well, now you have everyone’s stories. What do you think?”
He sat on that question for a moment before concluding aloud, “Siobhan’s crazy.”
Denney didn’t expect that answer and choked, curling over onto her side as she laughed. “R-really? Is that all you think?”
“I’m grateful she’s crazy,” Rune assured her, tickled to see her laughing so much at something he’d said. “But think about it. Every one of us came with a passle of trouble like a dark cloud hanging over our heads. The only exception of that being Fei. But she took us all on anyway. Makes a man wonder if that’s a requirement for getting Siobhan’s attention.”
“Tran wasn’t in trouble when he came in,” she pointed out, eyes still dancing merrily.
“He’s worse. He creates trouble.”
Denney opened her mouth in protest, paused, and hummed thoughtfully. “I cannot retort. It’s true. He’s as bad as Wolf in that aspect.”
Rune would know, after everything he’d seen, and the few times he’d been called upon to pull both men out of a fight. “Actually, when I think on it, Fei’s just as crazy for joining. Siobhan’s one thing, but he actually volunteered to try to keep the peace in the guild.”
“You do wonder just how lonely he was to be drawn into the guild.” Denney wagged a chiding finger at him. “But that’s not what you really, truly think, is it?”
“No, I truly think Siobhan’s crazy.” And he was incredibly thankful for it. He wouldn’t trade a single member in Deepwoods for the world.
“LUNCH!” Fei called out.
Groaning, Denney rolled up to her feet. “I’m just hungry enough to move.”
“I hear ya.” Rune came up faster than she did, ignoring twinging muscles, because he wanted to offer her a hand. Denney accepted the gesture, letting him pull her up to her feet, which gave him a blissful two seconds of close contact with her. He smiled at her smile and followed her readily to the cook fire.
Yes, he was completely and selfishly glad.
Table of Contents
The Story of Deepwoods
The Story of Erik Wolfinsky Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Epilogue
The Story of Man Fei Lei Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Epilogue
The Story of Tran Amar and Sylvie Waverly Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Epilogue
The Story of Denney Icean and Conli Rorona Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Epilogue
Origins: A Deepwoods Book - a Collection of Deepwoods Short Stories (Deepwoods Series 0) Page 29
