by Jenn Vakey
I couldn’t think about this. “Let’s go.”
Linley dropped her head down on Leeya's shoulder. I had expected her to put her down when we started walking back to camp, but she just adjusted her hold on her and rested her head almost lovingly against my sister’s. I walked beside them, looking over more frequently than I liked. Watching as she carried her until we were close to the border, not putting her back down until the last minute.
Linley did her part and started walking with Florrie and her family when we crossed into Alkwin. She might not be happy, but she was a smart girl. Leeya stayed with us as we walked through the training field. Then she stopped and took off the bastons before splitting off and going toward the clinic.
“I'll show you to your house,” I said, watching her as she walked away. I wanted to follow, needing to talk to her, check on her. Knowing her well enough to know that she hid injuries she didn't want people to worry about. I also needed answers. I couldn’t have her using my sister to try to get to me.
“Joury can show you around the rest of Alkwin and go over the rules.” I turned my gaze to my sister. “Those rules are for you too.”
She looked up at me and rolled her eyes.
CHAPTER EIGHT
LEEYA
I was happy for Linley that she finally had a safe way to be out and about in Alkwin. I had to admit, this was a good idea. No one would question a child coming in with a family. Most of the people here had been out of Eden too long to recognize her. With her hair the way it was now, and with everyone in Eden thinking she was dead, there shouldn't be a problem in the future.
I stood in front of the mirror above the sink and looked at my busted lip. He had gotten me pretty good, splitting it nearly up the center. After cleaning it, I applied some of the skin gel and pushed it together. Lips were always more sore, but it shouldn't be more than just a little tender by the end of the day. I didn't really mind the pain, though.
I had just finished with my lip when the door opened and Rhydian walked in. I looked back at him in the mirror, then reached for the small hand one so I could see the back of my head. I hadn't expected him, and it took all of my effort to keep from showing my surprise.
“I would have thought you'd be getting Linley settled in,” I said.
His eyes moved from where I was looking at the back of my head to meet my gaze in the mirror. “I can't be seen paying too much attention to her,” he responded. Then his eyes narrowed. “How did you know her name before I introduced her? How did she know you at all?”
He didn't look mad like I had expected. Just confused. Maybe a little suspicious.
“She was terribly bored in her room and snuck out yesterday to sit with me in another room,” I answered. “As for the name, I helped her pick it out.”
I almost added that she wanted a name starting with the same letter as mine, but that was probably too much for him to take right now. I didn't want him to think I was befriending his sister to try to win him over.
I ran my fingers through my hair until I found the gash, then tried to angle the mirror so I could see it. I should have tracked down Noella.
Rhydian watched for a moment, then moved over and picked up the tube of gel from the table beside me. Knocking my hand aside, he parted my hair easily, applied the gel, and closed it for me. I tried really hard not to think about the fact that this was the first time he had touched me in weeks. It wasn't easy.
“What happened out there today?” he asked, his eyes on his fingers in my hair.
“A group of Sentry grabbed the family and tied them up in the woods before we got there,” I told him, trying to distract myself with the story. “They jumped out and one knocked Joury down when she was looking for the source of the noise we were hearing. The bastard that grabbed me from behind to keep me from knocking out his friend was wearing a hard mask that did that.”
I turned to face him when he pulled his hands down and took a step back. Then I saw his gaze land on my lip. “He got in a lucky shot. I drained him after that.”
Rhydian met my eye. He didn't ask, and he did a surprising job of keeping his expression neutral. I could see the question there, though. It reminded me of the way he had looked at me when I told him about Pax.
“He's alive,” I told him. “I whacked him good, though, so he probably wasn't happy when he woke up. And don't start saying that you should have sent more people out with us. I didn't have any problem taking care of myself.”
I turned and grabbed the supplies from the counter, then walked around him to put them away. I could feel a fight coming on, and I hated it. I didn’t want to let him take away the sense of power I had gained in the fight. It was mine. I had earned it, needed it.
So I faced him again, hoping to shift the conversation in a different direction. “Oh, and Linley likes to listen to everything. She knows about the Tainted in the city, and about the group of others coming here. The latter worries her. She's afraid they won't be safe.”
“She told you that?” he asked, looking again surprised.
I shrugged, not knowing if I should be delighted or hurt by his apparent shock. “She likes me. Especially now that I don't have the princess thing going for me.”
Rhydian straightened at my words, his eyes finding the door to the now empty room his sister had been staying in. “Why would she say that?” he asked, looking almost nervous. Like he was worried about what she had said.
I took a moment before answering, actually taking some pleasure in his reaction. Wondering to myself what exactly he had said to his sister about me. I hadn’t meant the statement in the way that I now understood he had taken it. That thought hadn’t even crossed my mind when Linley threw it out there. He was a prince, after all.
Then I put his worries to rest.
“The hair,” I said casually, as if I hadn't noticed what had just happened. Like I had no clue it could have had anything to do with the two of us. “It's apparently more warrior than princess now.”
The tension leaving him was actually visible. Rhydian's eyes moved over my hair, studying it. He hadn't said anything about the fact that I had cut it. I hadn't really expected him to.
“I can see that,” he said, then leveled his gaze with mine. “What else did she tell you?”
“No.”
“No?”
I shook my head. “I can't tell you, and I don't want to lie to you.”
Rhydian smiled at that, rolling his eyes. It was a small one, but one of his real smiles. I knew he wouldn't be able to help it. Not when he'd used the same line on me. If I was guessing correctly, also about his sister.
Although faint, it was still a positive sign. One I knew better than to push right now. Baby steps.
I turned and walked out of the clinic, Rhydian following closely behind. When we stepped out into the yard, I saw the family walking around with Joury. She had just stopped them in front of Faida, handing the parents over to her. Linley was already gone, which could only mean she was at the school house with the other children.
Alister looked over and met my eye, giving me a wide smile and waving. Joury noticed. She had a smile of her own when she grabbed his arm and pulled him back toward the dorm. His shock at the fact she was touching him was enough to take his attention away from me.
“What's that about?” Rhydian asked.
I shrugged again. “He apparently thinks I'm a warrior too,” I said, walking in the direction of the dorms. I kept my stride slow, wanting to draw this out for as long as I could. This was the longest he had talked to me since Adler, and by far the most pleasant conversation. I wasn’t ready to let it go yet. “He'll be an eager one when it comes to training. Although he was disappointed I wasn’t one of the trainers.”
“He can't be worse than you,” he mused. “The guys are starting to complain that you're working them too hard.”
That I didn't doubt. I had been trying to get in time with everyone so no one got overwhelmed, but they were still putting in more tim
e than they were used to. And, to be fair, I hadn't exactly been gentle.
“I can give them a break,” I conceded. “I know enough now that I can practice by myself. My handling of the bastons has gotten better, but I still need to work on my punches.”
“Do you want me to make time for you tomorrow?” he offered.
My heart clenched. Yes, that was exactly what I wanted. I could hear that hesitation in his voice when he asked, though, like it wasn't really something he wanted to do. I wanted to get back to where we could be comfortable around each other, but I didn’t want to push him. “You don't have to do that,” I said, trying to make the words not sound as painful as they felt. “You'll have that one, and Linley is really excited to start.”
From the corner of my eye, I could see him nod as he pushed his hands into his pockets. Was he relieved? Or disappointed? If only my siren abilities included knowing what people were thinking. I could always be brave and just ask him outright what he was thinking. I would at least know whether or not he was telling the truth when he gave me an answer. But I wasn’t brave enough for that. I doubted I would be able to handle any more pain right now, certain the answer would be one I didn’t want to hear.
“How long did it take you to get used to using a different name?” I asked, turning my head to look at him. I needed to think about something else. “It's weird calling her that.”
There was something that almost looked like guilt in his eyes when he met mine. We hadn't talked about who he really was at all. Not even that night with Adler, or the miserable day that followed. It was like a silent truth between us. I knew who he was, and he knew I did. Just as much as we both knew he had kept it from me. Not that I blamed him for that at all. That was his past, and even if things hadn't changed between us, it wouldn't have mattered.
“Rhydian is my middle name, so it wasn't hard,” he answered. “It would be harder now if I told people to start calling me by the other. Besides, I don't ever want to go back to that life.”
I nodded, silently agreeing. It would be weird to have to start calling him Evran. Although pretty much everything between us was weird.
When we walked into the dorm, I could see Joury ahead of us showing Alister around and introducing him to everyone. We had just about reached our doors when I saw her point to the room next to mine, getting ready to tell Alister it would be his.
“That one's reserved for Lillith,” Rhydian jumped in quickly, his tone a little sharper than it had been moments before. When I looked back for an explanation, I saw a hardness in his look too. Something that made me think that he wasn't happy that Alister had been paying so much attention to me. It actually made me want to smile, although I caught it in time to hide it. Was he jealous? It still hadn't been decided if Lillith would be taking that room. Or if we would be staying in Alkwin at all. That look, though, made me actually question my desire to leave. Even if only a little bit.
I suddenly didn't know how I should handle this situation. Part of me wanted to talk to Alister more just to see how Rhydian would react. I had already done enough to him, though. Trying to make him jealous wouldn't help me earn his trust back. If that was even possible. On the other hand, the very fact that Alister was paying attention might be the reason Rhydian had been talking to me at all. Maybe showing him that there were other options for me out there might make him rethink this staying away from each other thing. Especially if it could mean me moving on. Assuming he even cared about that at all.
I would have to think on it.
I turned toward my door so I could pick up a change of clothes before showering and stopped when I saw a sign on it.
“The kids made them for all of us today,” Aarys said, seeing where my focus had gone. “They were too excited not to put them up.”
It was cute, my name scrawled out in different colors on it. Definitely something made by a small child. And I couldn't help but agree. I had grown quite fond of the children. I was willing to keep it up just to make them happy. Besides, we might actually end up needing signs if there were going to be a lot more people here soon.
I grabbed some clean clothes and went to take a shower. I was beginning to think that it was just par for the course to come back from a retrieval needing one. Not that I was going to complain. I would volunteer for every retrieval there was if it meant the chance to fight like I had today.
I considered getting some training in before lunch, but I found myself walking out into the woods to clear my head instead. Stopping, once again, at the clearing with the fallen tree.
I realized now that I should have just told Rhydian when I first arrived in Alkwin what was going on. Then maybe we could have set a trap and grabbed Adler, using him as leverage to get the Tainted released. Then Rhydian never would have gotten hurt.
After the talk we'd had, I didn't feel quite as silly when my hopes raised at the sound of approaching footsteps. Looking back, though, I saw it was Joury walking out to join me this time. I tried not to let my disappointment show.
“You did really well today,” she said, taking a seat beside me on the tree. “And you really made an impression on the new guy.”
I laughed. “What gave that away?”
She smirked herself, nodding in agreement. “He's cute,” she said. “You should give him a shot. Besides, that's one wicked ability.”
I shrugged, trying not to give my inner thoughts away. “I have far too much on my mind right now to be thinking about boys. The only thing I want to focus on is my sister and getting her out of whatever hell they've been keeping her in.”
“We'll get her back,” she said confidently. “It will be pretty cool having her here. You're identical, right?”
I nodded. “Except the hair. Somehow she ended up a blonde. She's also not as stubborn as I am. She was always the sweet one.”
“We’ll have to have a big party for her,” she said brightly. “Make sure she settles in good. Was she a Healer like you?”
I shook my head, actually feeling comforted by the conversation. It gave me hope. Something to look forward to. “No, she was a Maker. Give her a few weeks and she'll be coming up with all sorts of ideas about things she can make out here.”
* * *
By the time lunch rolled around, I was actually feeling better than I had in days. Talking to Joury was surprisingly nice. It usually was when the topic wasn't Rhydian. I really liked her, though.
Alister sat down in the seat across from me, giving me one of those friendly smiles that I was beginning to think I was going to be seeing a lot of. Surprisingly, Rhydian joined us again too. He didn't really talk much, though. He just watched, muttering a few words now and them when Joury tried to engage him.
“So, when do I get to start my training?” Alister asked me.
“You'll have to ask the big guy about that one,” I said, shooting a thumb toward Rhydian. “Pay attention to what he teaches you, and you'll pick it up in no time.”
“You sure you can't teach me?” he asked, only glancing in Rhydian's direction for a fraction of a second before looking back. “I want to learn how to use those sticks like you do.”
I smiled politely, ignoring the fact that I could feel Rhydian's gaze on me. I'd decided in the shower that the best way to handle Alister was just to be nice, but not look at all interested. Just like I was with the other guys. Just in case there really was a chance of being able to fix things with us. Joury was right about him being cute, but Rhydian had my heart. I didn’t think that would ever change. No matter how things ended up.
“I'm no trainer,” I said politely. “And the only training I'm going to have time for right now is improving on my skills.”
He looked disappointed, but I looked down and pretended not to notice. Thankfully, Aarys must have picked up on what was going on and quickly changed the subject.
“It's going to be strange having the people from Hafan here tomorrow,” she stated. “I think I was five or six the last time a large group came in like thi
s. And that was for a wedding.”
I still had mixed feelings about their arrival. Orson knew them and trusted them, although his word didn't mean much to me. Rhydian didn't seem worried, though. If I was going to judge whether or not I should be concerned about something, he was pretty much at the top of my list to turn to. Especially with Linley here. He would never take a risk with her safety.
After lunch, I gave into my itching desire to work out and went out to the training field. Keeping to what I'd told Rhydian, I didn't ask anyone to work with me. I just grabbed my bastons and turned my focus on the dummy.
Ten minutes passed before I saw movement and turned to see Linley walking over. As happy as I was to see her again, she wasn't supposed to be here.
“You're going to scare people if you just leave like that without telling anyone,” I said, knowing even without asking that that was exactly what had happened.
Linley shrugged and sat down to watch me. I knew I should take her back, but I felt sorry for her. She had spent so long locked away from everything going on around her. If I was her, I probably wouldn’t have wanted to be stuck with a bunch of kids either. So I spun the bastons around and started striking at the dummy again.
“Will you teach me some stuff?” she asked a few minutes later when I stopped to get a drink.
“You're going to have to talk to Rhydian about that,” I breathed out, smiling at how much she seemed to be enjoying watching me.
She scrunched up her nose and made a face. “He's no fun.”
I walked over to her and lowered myself down on the grass in front of her.
“He loves you,” I told her, my voice gentle, but still conveying how serious I was. “He loves you so much that he risked everything to make sure you were here with him and safe. You know, I was actually out here with him when he found out you were in danger. He didn't even wait. He got Joury and Prestyn and left right away to go get you. Right in the middle of our training session. He would do anything to keep you safe.”