“Wot?”
You continue to think of the bearer as an “it,” an object, to distance yourself from whatever happens. It’s just another mask you wear. You do the same for me. But does it ever work?
Images of fire raged stronger, covering any other thoughts. Flames so hot they burned his chest. Sweat spotted his forehead. Air coursed through the room.
The dragonet shook its head, as if it couldn’t stand to look at him. You saved him, but his life would not have been in jeopardy if you used the power you have to protect him from the first. Your early conditioning was based on lies you still allow to control you, cowering for men lower than insects and striking at wizards with the power to bury you. And unless you come to terms with that, you will be wearing masks your whole life.
“Get out of my head!”
Fire blazed across the desk, breaking through the surface. Smoke puffed out in a great cloud.
Kol stood, blinking for a moment. Then he ran to the desk, heat searing him, but the flames were already spent, unable to take the pain away. The screaming in his head. Blood on his hands, blood on his knife.
No more bandit, just the boy choking in the smoke.
“Vernack. I . . .” He killed it. Just like Redd.
The wind gusted, large flaps of the dragonet’s wings clearing the smoke. Scorch marks marred the desk, but the lizard folded its wings and preened like nothing had happened. First time, I take it? Unfortunately, I can’t say the same. Hazard of living with so many wizards.
Kol swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. “You’re all right.”
I’m a dragonet. Everyone wants to torch me, but no one can. We block magic. And fire? I practically live on the stuff. Smoke spewed from its nostrils. But can I take this to mean that you need some time alone?
Kol crumbled onto the floor. “Drynn should have never left his forest or given me his stone. How stupid do you ’ave to be, trustin’ a person like me?”
That is a very good question. Let me know when you find the answer. Then we might actually be able to help each other.
When Kol looked up, the dragonet had vanished.
Kol knocked and fidgeted until the door opened. Arius peered at him, his eyes alight with concern.
“Kol? I was on my way over. Did you hurt yourself practicing?” He reached for Kol’s face, where the thief had slapped him.
Kol backed up, nodding until he found his voice. “Yeah, yeah. I hurt myself, and I need you to teach me how to control my magic. Please.”
CHAPTER 30
RANDALL LAUNCHED HIMSELF at Tayvin. Tayvin swung the boy into the couch next to Mira. She giggled and used her book as a shield. Wendell stood at Tayvin’s side, waiting for his turn. Tayvin smiled. It didn’t matter if the twins were eerily identical or humans, they were just boys who wanted to play. Much simpler than anything else in the human village.
Nami came into the kitchen from the garden, clicking her tongue in mock distress. “Doesn’t sound like a lot of studying is going on in here.”
Mira pointed at the twins over her book. “They started it.”
Randall bounced off the couch. “We jumped on ’Ayin!”
“Fly! Fly! Like Dada!” Wendell pulled on Tayvin’s arm, climbing him like a tree.
Nami’s posture was firm, but her lips threatened to twitch into a smile. “I see.”
Tayvin put Wendell down. “I’m sorry.” He should have been reading, doing something to learn and justify his time here. He had no idea where that dreadful book went, but it was about time he looked for it.
Nami shrugged. “What are you apologizing for? It doesn’t sound like they gave you much of a choice, and I can barely keep up with them like their father could.”
Tayvin’s book peeked out from behind one of the dislodged pillows, but he made no move to fetch it back. “Where is your husband?”
Nami frowned. “Mira, why don’t you take the boys next door? I have a few house calls to make, and the Potters said they would let you help them with their stand today.”
For once, Mira put down her book and dragged both boys out by the arm without pouting.
“Sorry. I should not have asked. You do not have to tell me.” Hopefully that would make Nami reconsider her order. Tayvin couldn’t stay in the house completely alone, with nothing to distract him from the books or the walls that seemed much too close together.
“It’s all right,” Nami said after the children were gone. “He’s . . . in Kalum City—the capital. We used to live with him, but with the prince picking fights, he thought it would be safer for us here.”
“He’s a soldier? Mercenary? Bodyguard?” Tayvin tried all the words he had heard humans use for their fighters, but Nami didn’t answer. He was probably prying too much. “I’m sorry.”
“Ian’s a strong man, and I don’t doubt he’ll return soon. I just have to keep busy until then.”
Tayvin understood that perfectly. It was the same with him after first losing his mother and then Drynn. Even when Nami told him to take a break from studying, he couldn’t sit still. And now that Nami didn’t want him near patients or to go outside that often, this house and its too-close walls had become nothing but a prison in the last few weeks.
Tayvin picked up his book while Nami rummaged for something in the kitchen. “Did you fix these cabinets, too?”
“They squeaked.” Tayvin flipped through his book, but all the letters blended together, and he had no idea where he left off.
“Is there anything you can’t do?” Nami stood at the doorway between the two rooms, looking exasperated.
Did she want the cabinets to squeak? “All elves woodwork.”
“Yes, and shoot bows and climb trees and cobble shoes all through the night. It’s a good thing I can’t tell anyone all the things you can do, because I don’t think anyone would believe me.”
Tayvin just frowned at his book. He didn’t cobble any shoes at night. He fixed the cabinets during the day. But if their shoes were broken . . . did she want him to fix them or not?
“I said I would help if you teach me to heal.” And if he couldn’t even do that anymore, why was he here?
He had promised Cindle he would stay, but it had been months. She should have returned by now. He knew more about humans than he did before and would much rather look for Drynn aimlessly on his own than stay locked up here.
“Do you think . . . I could come with you today? I won’t touch anything. Or say anything or anything, I just . . .”
Nami returned from the kitchen with a long sigh. “This isn’t fair to you, is it? You’re doing the best you can, but you’re not going to learn anything alone in the house.”
Tayvin longed to full-heartedly agree, but he respected Nami too much to voice all his frustrations aloud. She still asked him about elves and the illness, combing through her books looking for clues. He owed it to her to fulfill his role as her apprentice, even in this limited fashion, for as long as possible. And he didn’t want to break his promise to Cindle either, at least not without a more concrete lead than the fact that he was bored.
She opened the door wide. “Come on, then. We’ll see how it goes today.”
Tayvin dropped the book and sprang through the door before the words were even finished.
Nami closed the farmer’s door with a firm glare.
“I didn’t touch her,” Tayvin said before Nami could start her same lecture. “Okay, maybe I held her hand for a second, but she looked like she was hurting and I . . .” Tayvin sighed. He was tired of apologizing for helping people heal faster. That was what he was supposed to do. “Do you think . . . maybe we should just tell them who I am?”
He was an elf. He could help them. It should be good news. There seemed to be no reason they couldn’t learn about each other in the open.
Nami dropped her shoulders. “I don’t know. Of course I’m happy you’re helping people, but it’s such a big risk. If the robes get involved . . .” She shuddered.
Their words
died, but the tension remained. The discussion was far from over.
Nami might think she was protecting him, but if this “slipup” meant he would be back in the house again all day, he simply couldn’t do it anymore.
They had almost reached the city gates, when the twins ran out to meet them. “Mama! Mama!” Nami bent down. The twins were wide-eyed with panic.
“’Ira hurt!” Randall said.
“Big block fall down!” Wendell added.
“What?” The word burst from Nami and Tayvin together.
“’Ira hurt!”
“Where is she?” Nami asked. It was pointless to expect much else from the twins.
Randall and Wendell squirmed away and ran toward the house, Tayvin and Nami close behind. The neighbor who had been put in charge of the children stood to meet them. Mira lay on the couch, her face gaunt. Nami dropped next to her.
“I’m so sorry, Mistress,” the older woman said. “I don’t know how it could’ve happened! We were at the stall, selling my pots. They were right with me, and then a horse comes in carting lumber to rebuild the tavern that burned, and the boys run out to see it. You know I’m not as young as I used to be. I asked Mira to fetch them back. They ran ahead of her, and she was just walking. Something snapped, and the beam jerked toward her and . . . and . . .” She broke off with a sob. “I got some help getting her here and sent everyone else off to find you. I tried to stop the bleeding but—”
“Mama, it hurts so bad.” Mira’s voice was small and raspy.
Nami’s face fell into the same mask of professional concern she used for her patients. “I know, dear, but I’m here now. Let me get you something to help you sleep.”
Tayvin took the arm of each of the twins. “We’re going upstairs.” He herded them up the ladder ahead of him.
“No nap,” Randall said as he climbed.
“Not tired,” Wendell agreed.
“I know.” Tayvin scanned the loft for something to occupy them with. He finally reached into his own small stash of belongings, hidden in the rafters. He handed them his bow. “Why don’t you play with that for a while?” It couldn’t be too dangerous without the arrows, and he could always carve another if they broke it. He had finished recarving Drynn’s a long time ago, and it would give him something to do, trapped in the house.
Once both boys pulled at the bowstring, firing imaginary arrows, Tayvin turned back to the ladder. “The men there swore the rope was new, but it was cut right through.” The woman’s voice was soft, but it still carried from below the loft. “Only thing I can think is that the spirits have twisted matters back in balance after all the spell work your witch boy does.”
“What?” Nami asked.
“Tayvin. I never wanted to say anything—he seems like such a nice boy—but I hear rumors same as anyone. You have to be more careful working with that kind of stuff.”
Tayvin swung down from the loft, and both women jerked. “What’s a witch?” This wasn’t the first time he heard something he shouldn’t have because the humans assumed him as deaf as they were, but it was the first time he had heard this word.
The neighbor shrugged. “Someone that uses wild magic. Dangerous, foreign magic that no one should be touching.”
Nami glared from where she crouched next to her sleeping daughter. “It’s also something no one should be talking about. Tayvin isn’t a witch. He can’t use magic at all.”
“What I believe isn’t important. Like I said, I would never do anything. No matter how much money they offer.”
“What money?” Nami jerked around. “Who’s asking about Tayvin?”
“Lots of people. Some no one would admit to knowing, and Lord Der’ray. Rumor says they’re all looking for a foreign redheaded boy that is supposed to be magic. They say he keeps his ears covered and can move about like a spirit. I don’t know if they speak of Tayvin or not, but my guess is someone will make the connection soon, and he will need that sword of his.”
Nami stood and opened the door. “Thank you for bringing Mira to me and for watching the twins. Tayvin and I will handle it from here.”
The neighbor left, her eyes darting back at Tayvin.
“They think I hurt Mira?” Tayvin asked as soon as she was gone. “Even though I’m her friend and wasn’t anywhere near her when it happened?”
Nami returned to Mira’s side. “Of course you didn’t, but this is bad. The rope was cut. Someone wanted her hurt badly, out in the open where everyone would see the extent of the damage. Even if you could help Mira now, everyone will be talking. They could use this to prove who you are, what kind of powers you have. Sorren Der’ray is The Lord of Wildred. He’s a powerful wizard and not a kind man. If he wants you or even someone like you . . .”
“You are afraid he would try to hurt me?”
Her silence confirmed his guess.
“Can you help Mira?”
“I will try—I am trying, but most of her injuries are internal and this may be bigger than the both of us. We need help, someone who can heal her and take the blame for any of the magic used to do it.”
“I’m not afraid of Sorren.” And if this was his fault somehow, he had to be the one to put it right. “Perhaps I should meet him and see what he wants.”
Nami’s face went white. “You will do no such thing. Can’t you see that will only make things worse?”
How? This was just a misunderstanding. He never did anything to bother Sorren and if they met, the man was certain to see that. Just like when a human boy had yelled at him for taking away a girl’s interest. After he ducked a few punches and explained he had no such intention, he offered to instruct the boy in using the sword, and soon they were both happily sparring.
Perhaps Sorren had no interest in him at all, but might know something of another redheaded boy who moved as he did. Nami and Cindle had both said magic caused trouble and that people might assume an elf had it. Maybe wizards had been behind Drynn’s disappearance all along. This wasn’t just him being bored or impulsive. This was a lead, the first one, to find Drynn.
Tayvin had to follow it, with or without Cindle.
Still, Nami and Mira had the most urgent need, and he didn’t want to upset her further with the rest of his plans. “What would you like me to do?”
“Go to Kalum City. If we could find you a horse, it would only take a few days and you can bring a message to Sage Xavian. He’ll come and use his magic to help Mira. Also, if people continue to think you’re magical, he’s the only wizard I trust to protect you from all the rest. He should’ve been the one to teach you healing all along. He’s the only magical healer I know, and there is no way that whatever is hurting your people isn’t magical. You are nothing but magical.”
Tayvin still wanted to argue that last point, but he let it pass. If wizards were at the head of all the magic, and someone accused of magic would be brought to them, it seemed their goals had completely aligned. He would not hide in this house any longer. He was a warrior and would face the danger head-on, as he always had.
“If it will help Mira then, yes. Of course I will go to Kalum City.” He wasn’t afraid of Sorren, but he would go to any city he needed to and talk to any magic user necessary if it would help his friends and maybe help him track his brother in the process.
And if someone deliberately hurt Mira or Drynn, that person would be made to regret it.
CHAPTER 31
ROOFTOPS WERE ALMOST as good as trees. Now Drynn could watch the humans, and they couldn’t see him, even though Jesp had spent several hours last night searching.
Humans never looked up.
Jesp had a wife. He had a toddler, too. Their cheerful voices carried to Drynn with the dawn, confirming all the human had said to him the night before, but Drynn hadn’t been able to believe.
Drynn still didn’t know if he believed it. Just because the human family were sitting there smiling, teasing each other peacefully, didn’t mean they would accept an elf among them once the full st
ory of his origin got out. He had no reason to stay anyway, now that it was morning. He had been drawn to this city, but his home was to the east, and his brother was . . .
Drynn had no idea where Tayvin was. He never even thought to confront Cindle for the information, too busy hiding himself.
Had he always been such a coward?
An older man with a mustache approached the door of Jesp’s house. He banged on it, like he didn’t know how to use the opening latch and was intent on breaking the thing down instead.
Drynn winced, sure another fight was looming, but Jesp opened the door and greeted the man like all the banging had been expected, normal. Humans were strange.
“Morning, Heath.” Jesp stepped outside. “I didn’t know you were up before noon.”
They moved from the door, seemingly so they could have a conversation separated from the rest of Jesp’s family, before the one called Heath spoke again. “I got another message today, from our greedy little friends.”
“Another one? Didn’t I warn you? Giving in to their blackmail will make everything worse. We’ll never be rid of them. What does The Lord want now?”
Dread swept through Drynn’s gut at the reference. His hand went to the pocket with the knife.
“He’s offering to drop his annual fee,” Heath said. “He’s asking to pay us instead.”
“That can’t be right. What brought about this sudden change in heart?” Jesp’s tone suggested he didn’t believe what Heath was saying.
“They decided they want something more than gold. They saw you last night with something that used to belong to them, before it ran off. They want it returned and will pay a lot for the favor.”
The man who had been staring at Drynn last night. He must be one of The Lord’s men and that was why he had wanted to talk to Drynn.
Jesp shook his head. “I don’t know what they could be talking about.”
“I saw it, Jesp. When you came in to town. The boy. Red hair, green eyes, and covers his ears just like they said.”
The Queen's Opal: A Stone Bearers Novel (Book One) Page 29
