Kol crouched on the wall next to Drynn, peering at the grounds. “All right, there’re probably guards down by the door, but it’s the dogs I’m worried ’bout.”
“I could talk to them.” He would just use Elven like he had done with the rat.
Kol rolled his eyes, twisting to pull the rope back up. “Sure, you go talk to ’em.”
Drynn skidded down the wall, and the dogs raced up to him. Large black dogs with dire wolf blood in their veins. Gorgeous. “Hey, boys. Girls. We’re just playing the game. You don’t mind, do you?”
The pack closed in, and tails wagged in response.
Kol landed next to Drynn, dagger in hand, shoulders braced. He looked from Drynn to the dogs with his mouth open. “Wot did you do to ’em?”
“Umm . . . I said hi?” The humans couldn’t talk to the animals like this, but was it really so strange that he did?
“Yeah, but . . .” Kol waved his hand back toward the dogs—the hand holding the knife.
The dogs’ tails slowed. Saliva ran down their long, yellowed fangs.
They didn’t like humans with daggers any more than Drynn did. Drynn petted the closest one to settle it down. It nosed the pocket where Drynn had stashed the bread he had no intention of eating. Drynn let the dog swallow the crusts in one gulp. “I think they’re hungry.”
“Right.” Kol put away the dagger, but his eyes stayed wary. “So . . . you talk to dogs? Can you get the birds to cook and clean for you, too?”
“Why would I want to do that?” Drynn could do that all by himself—better than a bird anyway.
Kol shrugged. “It’s just an old fairy story, like the bards tell.”
The same Bard who said people who talked to rats stole children and that iron hurt fairies?
Whoever Bard was, Drynn longed to have a serious talk with him. The man probably never even met a forest sprite or any of the other fairies if he thought they told stories like that.
“Did I do something wrong?” Drynn asked. Kol never explained all the rules to this game, but he still might get mad if Drynn messed it up somehow.
Drynn backed away from the dogs, and one of them growled again.
“No!” Kol went from panicked to relaxed in an instant, dropping his arms.
He kept doing that, changing emotions in a space of a few breaths. How was Drynn ever supposed to guess what he wanted?
Kol shrugged and gathered up the rope. “I mean, let’s just go. You can tell them to stay ’ere? So we can climb again? Window this time.” He crossed the yard and pointed to a window in the back of the stone building. “I think that one’s probably best.”
Drynn nodded, waving to the dogs and then climbing ahead. He dropped the rope down for Kol and backed into the open window, hitting something solid.
Drynn turned. The window stood open. Nothing blocked the long hallway and pale lamps before him. But when he pressed his hand forward, it was like touching solid stone with an inner heat. Like a live thing. “What’s this?”
Kol crawled onto the sill. He put his hand next to Drynn’s on the solid invisible thing and sighed. “Yeah, I figured that’d happen eventually. Here, let me try somethin’.” He pulled out his dagger and stabbed the window. Air rippled out in a sudden gale.
Drynn tightened his grip on the sill, staring.
Kol stuck his hand through the window and climbed in with a wide grin. “Can’t believe that worked.”
Drynn dropped after him, landing on the stretched carpet. His chest tightened with the staleness in the air. They weren’t supposed to be here. “Wh-what are we looking for?”
Kol glanced back, sizing him up. “Um, Drynn, why don’t you guard the rope for a while?”
“From what?”
“Just grab it and hide if someone comes through ’ere. I’ll be back in a sec.” The human took slow, careful steps down the hall.
Drynn sat on the sill, crossing his arms. Guard the rope. He didn’t think much of this game. It was stupid, and he didn’t see how it would help him get away from the humans any faster. And Kol was acting so weird—it couldn’t be a game. Something else was going on.
A door stood open at the end of the hallway, calling to him, the silent emptiness making him bold. What kind of building was this? It could fit several of the other human buildings inside.
Guard the rope.
Drynn couldn’t think of a single thing that would want to take it. It could guard itself, long enough for him to figure out where he was. He entered a room and found all the square furnishings he had seen in his vision of Saylee’s human-like bedroom. This was someone’s home.
No way this was a game or at least, not a game Drynn wanted to play.
* * *
Kol scowled at the empty windowsill, shifting the sack that now bulged on his shoulder. Where did that elf go now? He should have known leaving it behind would be just as much trouble as dragging it along. “Drynn?” His whisper carried down the hall.
The elf slipped out of an open door, and Kol caught a glance of a large bed. Hopefully it hadn’t messed with anything too dangerous. “All right, let’s go.”
The elf planted its feet by the window, mere steps away from freedom. “This is someone’s house, isn’t it?” It eyed Kol’s bag. “And you’re taking their stuff.”
Kol shrugged. It wasn’t a big deal. “Don’t worry about it. We’re done, and if The Lord is satisfied, I’ll be able to let you go like I said.” The wizard had lots of valuable things that would more than compensate for whatever risk The Lord thought would come from freeing the kid. Kol just had avoided the stuff that radiated energy, and nothing was easier.
Maybe he really could hold off their beatings indefinitely, save them both.
The elf shook his head. “You lied. It’s not a game. It’s like when we were in the alley. You wanted gold from me, and Picc wanted to hurt me for it. You said you were a thief. Cindle called you one, too. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but she didn’t like them.” Its green eyes darkened, accusing. “They’re much worse than kritta, all of them.”
Kol didn’t know what a kritta was, but it didn’t sound good. “I’m not like Picc. I wouldn’t ’ave hurt you or said nothin’ ’bout seein’ your ears.”
“Maybe not, but you aren’t a good person, and I don’t think I should be helping you.”
Kol threw down the sack. “And maybe I shouldn’t be helpin’ you. It’d make my life a whole lot easier!” The elf shied away as if it thought he was going to hit it. Even after everything Kol had done to help the little freak. Energy roared inside his chest.
Air swirled, dust skidding across the carpet. Kol tensed, trying to focus himself. But the wind didn’t stop. It spiraled outwards like a sphere, and something solid grew at its center.
The elf stared. “What’s that?”
“Magic. And it ain’t pretend. We should go.” Kol pushed the elf toward the window.
A wizard stepped out of the thick wind. He wore blue robes over broad shoulders, and his blond hair trimmed into a neat goatee. Sorren.
The elf froze in place, its eyes wide. Kol stepped in front of it with his dagger out.
The wizard blinked and held out his hands. Wind shoved Kol into the carpet with a thud, pain spiking across his shoulder. He was behind the wizard now, the elf closer to the window.
“Can I ask what you are doing in my house?” The noble man’s blue eyes swept over the elf to bore into Kol. Then he blinked, staring back at the elf as if he wasn’t sure what he was seeing even with the elf’s ears covered. “And what are you?”
Kol scrambled to his feet, still holding his dagger. “Drynn. Get out.”
Sorren shook his head. “After all the effort you put into breaking through my shields, you’re just going to leave?” He stalked toward the elf.
Its wide eyes darted from Kol to the window, torn.
“Drynn, he’s a robe,” Kol said. “You can’t fight ’im, but you can climb a lot faster than me, and you can get help. Now get.”<
br />
The wizard sneered, turning his back as he moved closer to the elf. “I’m afraid I’m more interested in him than you. You might use magic, but he is magic.”
“You mean this?” Kol threw his dagger.
Sorren spun. The blade slowed, hovering inches from his face. He waved his hand, and it clattered off somewhere in the distance. Kol cursed, dropping another blade into his hand.
Two uniformed men ran up the hall, carrying swords on their backs. “Lord Der’ray?”
Sorren rolled his eyes. “Oh, good. Here I was thinking all my guards were completely incompetent.” He pointed at the elf. “You can get him. I’ll handle this one.”
Sorren leered at Kol. Wind swirled in every direction.
The stupid elf had better be running, because this was going to hurt.
CHAPTER 20
THE MAN HAD magic, directing the wind wherever he wanted with a flick of his hand. Drynn stared, imitating a cornered deer, his gaze fixed on the robed man.
Kol glared and threw his daggers.
A man with a sword grabbed at Drynn’s arm, and the trance broke. It didn’t matter how big the house was. No one was trapping him here. He would not be shut in the dark again.
Drynn slipped the man’s grasp and ducked out the window, sliding to the ground. Pain shot up his foot, but not as urgently as before. It couldn’t slow him down. He darted past the dogs and over the next wall before he paused, rubbing his ankle until it held his weight without complaint.
Kol was probably still fighting the magic user. The human was useless at climbing and would be stuck in there. Drynn scowled. Kol shouldn’t have been stealing the man’s things. It would make anyone angry, and that man controlled the wind and who knew what else.
Kol was a thief, an evil man just like the rest. Not like an elf, not like Tayvin, though Drynn’s desperation led him to follow after the human as if he were.
Then Kol had stood in front of Drynn with Picc, with Cain, with . . . what if the robed human really hurt him? But every other human Drynn had met either ignored or tried to grab him. Who was he supposed to get help from?
Maybe he could find that girl again—Bell. She treated him like a child, but seemed the least threatening of the humans. And Kol had kissed her, so they must be betrothed or something.
Fewer people walked the darkened streets. Drynn found the bar with the picture of the snarling dragon, but he hesitated. He might be willing to talk to Bell, but there were plenty of other humans in there he would rather not see again.
Seconds passed by. Kol had said the people in the dining room didn’t know he was an elf. Maybe that would make it harder for even Picc to hold him. He might even blend into the crowd. He took a deep breath and walked in.
Most of the people who had been there earlier had left. Drynn stood fully exposed to Picc and his table of card-wielding humans. “Hey, freak. Wot’cha doin’ without your keeper?”
Drynn froze, counting the open windows and doors. He wasn’t tied down. Picc couldn’t grab him. Still, he needed Bell, and he couldn’t see her.
“Was he part of your crew?” a boy Drynn didn’t recognize asked. He threw metal disks onto the table’s center.
Picc drank from a foul-smelling bottle. His words slurred more than usual. “Should’ve been. He’s a freak. Could’ve charged people a whole bunch just to get a good look at ’im, but Cain had to get greedy. Should’ve known The Lord would never sign on to tradin’ with robes. The Lord wanted the freak dead, but then he rolls over just ’cause Kol likes ’im. They’re always lettin’ Kol get away with all kinds of stuff.”
Drynn stared. What lord wanted him dead? The magic user was called “lord,” but they couldn’t be the same if their lord hated magic users.
Though the magic user wanted to grab him too, before Kol interfered.
“It’s fun to watch ’im jump, though. Look.” Picc threw an eating knife from the table.
It pierced the ground as Drynn leapt onto a chair and eyed a window. He wasn’t going to stay here to have blades thrown at him. No matter how bad Picc’s aim was.
Bell pushed past a server, scowling at Picc. “Don’t do that.”
Picc shrugged. “I was just havin’ fun. I knew it wouldn’t hit ’im.”
“Even so.” She put herself between them, blocking Picc from view. “You all right? Where’s Kol?”
Drynn hesitated, shying from the crowd.
“Come on, Drynn,” she said. “If Kol isn’t here you have to talk to me.”
Drynn nodded. But not in here. He jerked his head toward the window. If she wanted to talk, she could follow him out.
Drynn breathed easier the moment his feet touched the dirt. He was never going into a human building again. Not for Kol. Not for anyone.
Bell’s voice carried from the side of the building; she had used the door instead of the window. “Stay here. I’m going to talk to Drynn.”
“Alone?” Picc asked. “He hasta be plottin’ somethin’. Wot do you think he did to Kol?”
“He couldn’t have hurt Kol. The only thing he’s plottin’ is to get away from you drunken fools.”
“Just scream real loud if you need us.”
Bell laughed. “Sure thing.” She rounded the corner, bending over when she reached him.
Drynn scowled. He wasn’t that short.
“Are you going to talk to me?” Bell asked.
He nodded. It was just getting harder and harder to find the human words. Wasn’t it supposed to be getting easier? And why couldn’t human maids wear proper clothing? Girls, rather, since an elven maiden would never act that way. Decent men weren’t supposed to stare at female curves, but they were there, nearly spilling out with her leaning down. Talking to any sort of girl was hard enough without the distraction. He turned away, addressing the ground. “Kol’s fighting a magic user. He told me to get help.”
“Why is he fightin’ a magic user?”
Drynn shook his head. He had too many thoughts to translate.
Bell straightened, wiping her hands on her apron as she scanned the street. “We should go inside. There’s a man who can help.”
Drynn stepped back. They would trap him inside and never let him out. Same as the cart.
“You don’t want to go in?” Bell’s smile seemed too wide. “That’s all right. Just stay here, and I’ll get ’im.”
He nodded. He could do that much. She turned back to the door, and he waited, shifting his damaged foot. He had never had this large of an injury before, that took more than a day or two to heal, but it was getting easier to ignore, only aching if he stood too long.
A few moments later, a dark-haired man with a crooked nose followed Bell out. Each step rang with authority, despite his common appearance. He crossed his arms, shoulders straight as if to discourage anyone from wasting his time. “All right. Tell me everything.”
Drynn frowned, still not sure where to start. But Kol had said this man was a friend when he came into the kitchen and made Picc leave. Maybe he could help—was more like Kol than the other thieves. “Kol told me we were playing a game. Getting into a house.”
The man nodded. “And you were able to do it?”
“Yes. But then—”
“How? How did you do it? Kol’s magic?”
Kol had magic? Real magic? Drynn glanced at Bell. Her expression didn’t waver, as if what the man said were common knowledge. Kol had lied again.
Drynn shrugged. “We climbed through a window.”
“You can’t just climb through a wizard’s windows. Did you use Kol’s magic or your own?”
“I don’t have magic.”
The man sighed, shaking his head. “Drynn, if you’re going to lie to me, you’ll need to be cleverer about it. I know what you are.”
“I don’t have magic.” Drynn wanted to scream it, but didn’t quite dare. “None of my people do. That magic user thought I did, but he was wrong. He came out of the wind and said he wanted me, but Kol threw a dagger at him. No
w Kol’s in trouble, and he sent me for help.”
The man unfolded his arms, smiling in a tight-lipped way that didn’t reach his eyes. “And I’m very glad he did. I honestly doubted your usefulness myself, but it seems the robe would have been far too happy to have you. I hate to come out uneven on any deal I make.”
Drynn tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
“Kol is going to be a powerful wizard. First we ever had under contract. Unfortunately, he’ll have to get some training before he can be any real use. His magic has grown more erratic. The Tower is the only place for him, and to go there, he needed to be found by another powerful wizard.”
“You wanted Kol to go to the magic user’s house so he would be taken?”
The man shrugged. “I didn’t know what would happen. It would’ve been interesting if he succeeded, but Kol likes to show off. It was only a matter of time before he was taken. I delayed it as much as I could, found an outlet for his theatrics and hid him in plain sight, but it wasn’t enough. Better to do it on my own terms than have the chance snatched away from me.”
“The magic users will train Kol? They will not hurt him?” It certainly hadn’t seemed that way.
“Oh, I expect Sorren to live up to his reputation entirely. But Kol’s stronger than a lot of them. They would be foolish to discard him out of hand. Besides, Kol knows his way around hard situations. He’ll be perfectly fine, and in the end, he’ll agree that this is for the best.”
“I see.” This man didn’t want to help. Bell either. Drynn turned.
“Where are you going?” the man asked.
“I wanted to help my friend, but I don’t know if I can.” It was too confusing. “So I’m leaving.” Kol was a thief, so lost to this violent world that he might not want to escape. Drynn couldn’t understand it, and he certainly didn’t want to be a part of it. He scanned the streets, dark and nearly deserted now.
“And where will you go? Do you even know where you are anymore?”
Drynn hesitated. Freedom waited, but also the dark unknown.
The man stepped closer. “You don’t know much about humans, and he’s still out there, you know—Cain and dozens other men just like him. Remember Sheargreen? I talked to all of Cain’s men, and they didn’t have to break in to take you; they talked to the innkeeper and he let them right in when they suggested your magic might be demonwork.” He clicked his tongue like scolding a young child. “You talk to rats?”
The Queen's Opal: A Stone Bearers Novel (Book One) Page 20
