“How did you find me?”
She flashed him pictures of other blue birds.
“You were spying on me, were you?”
She did her best impression of a shrug and he laughed.
“Well, I’m glad you’re back. It’s been lonely without you.” He petted her little head. “I’m sorry about before. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
She flew up and pecked his cheek. Her head cocked to the side.
“The leg? It’s good as new. There’s barely a scar.” He grinned. “So, according to a drunk Wedelve I ran into a couple of days ago, I should be in Vinelane tonight. Was he right?”
She bobbed her head.
“Perfect. I could use some salt and cheese.” He packed his bag and hiked it onto his shoulder. “Were you in Sageden the past month?”
He watched as she showed him pictures of his family and friends. His chest tightened at the sight of the smiling faces. His mom and his Aunt Hayden sitting on a blanket while his dad and Uncle Jasper wrestled with his cousins whom he’d yet to meet. Tantara and Roben enjoying a mug of sloan while they played cards. Brice, Matthew, and Danny working on their sparring. He smiled at a picture of Bree and Brynn glaring at Kasey while he showed them how to gut a fish. He laughed at the picture of his friend Phlann covered in mud after slipping down a river bank, his golden scaly horse body black with dirt, his human torso just as filthy.
“Did you tell them why you were there so long?” He glanced sideways at her as he walked by the branch she was sitting on. She bobbed her head and flew ahead to another branch. She showed him the picture she’d shown them.
He snorted and tried not to laugh. “I don’t think I looked that angry, but thank you for leaving the bruises out of it. I’d hate to think they’ve been worrying about me.”
She cocked her head at him.
“Fine. I know they worry about me regardless.”
They made their way down the path to the town of Vinelane. He smiled as it appeared before them. Like most Wedelven villages, it reminded him of Sageden.
“Good day.” A young Weldelve with skin so green he seemed to glow nodded along with his greeting. Tyler smiled.
“Good day. Could you direct me to the Inn?”
The man’s caramel colored eyes met his. “If you go three streets in this direction, turn left and keep walking, you’ll go right past it.”
Tyler thanked the man and was glad to find the inn exactly where it was supposed to be. An older Wedelven woman, her dark tan skin striped with dark brown, smiled from her position behind the desk.
“What can I help you with, young man?”
Tyler grinned. “I’d love a room if you have one.”
“Well, now, aren’t you in luck. I happen to have one that should suit you just fine. That is if you’re not expecting anyone to join you.”
He shook his head. “No. It will be just for me.” He followed behind her as she led the way.
“It will be three pieces for the room and breakfast is on us.” She nodded her thanks as he handed her the money. “Here you are. The pub is just down the hall and to your left.”
Tyler thanked her, closing the door as the sound of footsteps made their way down the hall. He flopped back onto the bed and closed his eyes.
“Tyler?”
He sat up abruptly at the sound of his name followed by a knock on his door. The knock came again and he went to answer it. He opened the door and grinned.
“Maddy!”
She hugged him close and kissed his cheek. “I thought that was you when you walked in. Come have a drink with us!”
He nodded and followed her to the pub.
“Tyler!” Mina ran and jumped into his arms. “By the moons, what are you doing here?”
The bartender brought him a drink and he looked from one sister to the other. “I was in the area and needed supplies. You?” He couldn’t stop smiling.
“Same here! We went to Paradin and we’re making our way south again. What about you? Where are John and Heidi?”
“John’s in Harring. He found a mate there after I almost died fighting a Zerpanay.” He waved away their shocked looks. “I know, I know. Going to Swandern was not my brightest moment.” He took a drink of his sloan. “And Heidi, well, she’s home.” His smile slipped and he took another drink to cover his face.
“Home, as in your home?” Mina was making a great attempt at not looking jealous.
He shook his head. “No. Home, as in the other world home.”
Both of them gaped at him in awe.
“Yes, well, don’t look so amazed. Let’s just say it was one of the worst experiences of my life and if I ever come across another human lost in the woods, I’ll be sure to keep my mouth shut.”
He felt a pang of guilt. He wasn’t lying outright; nearly dying and being beaten had definitely not been part of his favourite moments, but the feel of Heidi in his arms, of her hand in his, those would easily have fit in the best moments of his life.
“So it’s just you again?” Mina looked at him over the rim of her mug.
He nodded. “Just me and Bird.” He grinned. “Just the way I like it.” Right? He ordered them all another drink.
Maddy thanked him and took a drink. “Where are you heading?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure, exactly. I’m heading toward the coast.”
“You’ll love it. Mina and I were there a couple of years ago. It’s beautiful. If you get to Pikerl, be sure to stay at the Gleating Inn. The service is fantastic and the sloan is second to none.”
“I’ll be sure to do that. How long are the two of you staying in town?”
The sisters looked at each other and shrugged. Mina grinned. “We play it by ear.”
He smiled and took a swallow of his drink. “That’s the way to do it.”
The conversation turned to where the sisters had been, his adventures with the Zerpanay, and everything under the moons.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tyler took a deep breath but kept his eyes shut. By the feel of the sun coming through the window, it was mid-morning. By the moons, how many drinks had he had last night? According to how his head felt, he’d had a few more than he usually did. He felt the bed move and he jumped out of it, realized he was naked and quickly wrapped the first blanket he could grab around his waist. He groaned at the sight of Mina, stretching in her sleep, her hair fanned out across her bare back, the thin sheet not leaving much to the imagination as she moved under it. The woman wanted a mate, which was the one thing he definitely didn’t want to be. How in the world was he going to tell her that last night had been exactly that; one night?
He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his hands over his face. He remembered the first couple of drinks. He was sure they’d done a few shots. These were followed by a few more drinks. By the moons, had he been dancing? Mina had been sitting on his lap, her fingers playing along his back. At one point, Maddy had found herself a man to sit on as well. He remembered Mina licking his neck and her giggle at his shiver. He groaned at the memory of carrying her to his room, barely being able to open the door as they started to pull pieces of clothing off of each other. His eyes widened and he twisted to look at his shoulder where he knew he’d see a perfect imprint of her teeth. And then, what? What had happened next?
The bed moved behind him and he tried not to jump at the feel of Mina’s arms wrapping around his chest from behind. She kissed his back softly and moved so she was kneeling behind him. Her lips rested in the crook of his neck.
“Good morning.” She pressed up against his back. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m not sure.” And truthfully, he wasn’t. He had a headache from all the drinks, he was confused as to the events of the previous night, and he was trying to not enjoy the feel of her against him as her fingers ran down his chest.
“I thought we’d start where we left off last night,” she murmured as her tongue flicked along his ear. “It really was too bad that you got such
a horrible headache when you did.”
Thank the moons, he hadn’t done anything! Of course, at the rate she was going now, it wouldn’t take long before he did. He reached around and pulled her so that she was sitting in his lap.
“Mina…” His stomach tightened at the look in her blue eyes. “I’m not looking for a mate.”
The corners of her mouth twitched and she ran her tongue lightly over her lips. “I know. You made yourself quite clear about that fact last night.” She moved so that she kneeling on the bed, straddling him. “And if you think about it for a minute, you’ll remember that I told you that was fine by me.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, her fingers lacing in his hair.
Tyler groaned, his thoughts racing through his head as he tried to decide what to do. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a thought of Heidi tried to push to the surface. He attempted to ignore it and looked into the blue eyes under him. Heidi was gone and she wasn’t coming back. Mina’s teeth ran down his neck. He closed he eyes and sat back up.
“I’m sorry, Mina, I can’t.”
She surprised him by stretching out on the bed, smiling, and he couldn’t help admiring the sight before him. “Get dressed and we’ll go get some breakfast.”
He frowned but did as he was told. He was sure she wasn’t done trying to get her way.
A breakfast of eggs and juice did wonders to alleviate the headache caused by the previous night’s drinks. Maddy grinned as she joined them.
“How’s your head, Tyler?”
He grinned. “Much better now than it was a few hours ago.”
“Any plans for the day?”
He shook his head.
“They’re having games in the courtyard. You should come.”
Mina nodded her agreement with her sister and Tyler smiled.
“Alright. I suppose I can stay another day.”
They made plans to meet back at the pub in a few hours’ time. Tyler made his way back to his room and lay on the bed. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
He was lying on his back in a meadow. The sun was beating down on him and he wiggled so that he lay deeper in the grass.
“Tyler.”
He grinned and turned his head to look at Heidi who was lying beside him. She smiled.
“I thought you’d fallen asleep.”
“I could.” He reached over and took her hand. The breeze blew the smell of the sea to them and he realized they were in Harring. He frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Heidi’s eyes squinted with her worry.
He shook his head. “I just realized this is a dream.” He smiled sadly and gave her hand a squeeze. “That’s alright. I’ll take what I can get.”
Her smile was just as sad as his as she turned toward him so she could snuggle into his side. The birds chirped overhead.
“I always wonder if you’d have stayed if I’d asked.” He whispered the words into her hair. She turned her head up so she could look in his eyes.
“I miss you,” she mumbled.
“I miss you, too.” His heart started to pound as he leaned down to kiss her.
“Tyler!”
He jerked awake and nearly fell off of the bed.
“Tyler! We’re leaving!” Mina’s voice sounded through his door.
He groaned and sat up. “I’m up. Give me a minute.” He rubbed his hands over his face. Again. Bloody hell, he had to quit dreaming about her. The first few times hadn’t been too bad. He could handle once or twice a week, but every night, that was starting to be a little extreme. He frowned. Had he dreamed of her last night? He couldn’t remember and he was sure it was due to the drinks. Well, it wasn’t like he could drink every night to keep her away, now could he?
He grabbed his money pouch out of his pack, pulled on his boots, and opened the door. The sisters grinned.
“Did you fall asleep?” Mina linked her arm with his as they started down the hall.
“I did.”
“I’ll buy you a coffee. You have to taste it, Tyler. This coffee vendor swears he gets his goods from the Gysps. Do you know what that means? It means the beans aren’t from Quelondain!” She sounded so excited at the thought of drinking coffee from across the sea that Tyler laughed.
“You can laugh all you want,” Maddy countered, “but you’ll agree when you try it for yourself.”
They found the vendor the sisters were talking about and all three of them ordered a coffee.
“Come on! We’ll go find seats to watch the games.” Mina pulled him along by the hand. “I heard someone say yesterday that they were starting with the dagger throwing.”
Tyler thought it was a shame that John wasn’t here. He’d have won the competition hands down.
“So, Tyler, tell me about home.” Mina looked up at him, curious.
Tyler blinked to rid himself of the image of Heidi that flashed in his head at the word home. “Umm, there’s not much to tell. I’m from Howel originally. My pack is in Sageden now.”
“Is that where you’re going?”
He shook his head, took a sip of his coffee and forced the swallow down.
“What do you think?” Maddy was looking at him expectantly.
He couldn’t hide the grimace. “It’s a bit sweet for me.” He smiled and handed it to Mina. He turned his attention to the dagger throwers. The crowd gasped as they hit their targets with deadly accuracy. Heidi would have loved to see this.
“You should enter the sparring competition,” suggested Mina.
He shook his head. The pressure was starting to build in his head, the sounds of the crowd sending jabs of pain behind his eyes.
“I’m going to head back to the inn.”
She grinned. “Do you want me to come along?”
“No, that’s fine. Enjoy your day with your sister.”
“Will you meet us for supper then?”
He thought about it. He really should get going. Of course, if this headache turned into the one he was sure it was transforming into, he’d sleep most of the afternoon and it would be too late to leave.
“Alright. I’ll meet you at the pub later on.” He hurried back to his room, locked the door, and managed to crawl into bed just as his head split. The tears spilled from his eyes and he ground his teeth together. He tried to keep his groans down. He didn’t need anyone coming to the door to see if he was alright. As the headache receded and he fell asleep, he swore he could feel the touch of cool fingers rubbing his head.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tyler leaned back against a tree, his concentration solely on the piece of wood he was carving with his pocket knife. A stick broke to his left and he smiled, still looking at the wood.
“You’re late.”
“It’s Maddy’s fault. She insisted I go with her to chat with Vince.”
“Your sister doesn’t strike me as the shy type.” He put the knife and wood in his pack and took the blanket from her so he could lay it on the ground. Mina set the food on the blanket.
“She’s not. She just wanted a bit of moral support when she told him she couldn’t be his mate. She wants to leave in a few days’ time.”
Tyler pulled a fresh meat pie out of the bag and stopped short as he realized it was wrapped in his grey tunic.
“Sorry, I couldn’t find a rag and the cook refused to give me one of his.” Mina frowned at the look on his face. “I’ll wash it when we get back.”
Tyler blinked and forced a smile. “It’s fine. It’s just a tunic.” He reached back for the fishing lines he’d made and handed her one. “Let’s let that cool.”
She grinned and went to sit beside him on the edge of the river.
“So you’ll be leaving soon.” Tyler glanced at her. He realized he might actually miss her when they parted ways.
She nodded. “Maddy wants to head home and quite frankly, I’m all for it. You don’t feel like traveling south, do you?”
He gazed into the water, thinking on her offer.
“I’ve got one!” Mina jumped to her feet and set the hook before pulling the line towards them. “Ooh! Look at it!”
Tyler grinned. “I think this one’s been around for a while. Look at the size of it!” He watched as she rendered it unconscious before cutting into it.
“Are you just going to stand there and watch me or are you going to start a fire?” Mina’s teasing smile made him laugh.
“One fire coming up.” Maybe going south with the sisters wasn’t such a horrible idea. He surely enjoyed their company.
“That must have been quite the dream you were having this morning.” Mina looked up from where she was filleting the fish.
Tyler frowned. “Why’s that?”
“I could hear you growl through the wall. What, in the name of the moons, were you dreaming about?”
“I can’t remember.”
Mina raised an eyebrow at him, but let it go. “Alright, here’s the fish.” He wrapped the fillets in some thick green leaves and put them on the fire. Tyler leaned back against a tree and pulled out his pocket knife.
“Did you think of crossing over?” Mina’s question caused him to jerk.
“Damn it.” He stuck the finger he’d cut into his mouth. “What makes you ask that?”
She shrugged. “I just thought you might follow her over, that’s all.” It was the first time she’d brought up Heidi since asking if she’d made it home.
He grunted. “No. I didn’t think of following her,” he lied. He busied himself with getting the fish out of the fire. He was glad when Mina decided to keep the conversation to a minimum until they headed back to the inn.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The sun was warm, the quiet of the clearing only broken by the sporadic chirping of the birds in the trees. The breeze blew Mina’s hair into her face and Tyler tucked it behind her ear. She lay in the crook of his arm, her arm lying over his chest. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the still afternoon.
Mina chuckled. “Are you going to fall asleep?”
He cracked open one eye, flashed her a lopsided grin, and kissed her forehead. “I might.”
Tyler's Story (Tales of Quelondain) Page 17
