She set them both on the table, and Mariah’s face twisted up when she saw the herbs.
Shira chuckled. “Compliments of my ma,” she said. “You drink up. My mother knows her business.” Mariah was sure the younger woman was laughing at her.
“My shoulder doesn’t even hurt that much anymore,” she lied.
“Broken bones don’t heal in an afternoon, lady. Besides, if you’re a good girl and drink your herbs, I’ll have Da bring you over an ale. We have wine in the back if that’s more to your liking.”
“Ale sounds wonderful,” Mariah said. Anything sounded wonderful compared to Rose’s concoction. Her shoulder was definitely better than it had been when she woke up in the boat that morning, but it had been getting more tender as the day wore on. She needed one or maybe several hundred good naps before it would feel normal again.
Shira had shuffled off toward the bar, and Mariah was lifting the cup to drink, her nose wrinkling involuntarily, when the door swung open again. Xae stood in the doorway, his shaved head bare and his black eyes searching the room.
“Xae!” His eyes locked onto Mariah’s. Relief flooded over her, and she put the cup back down with a loud thunk. Her chair wobbled precariously as she jumped to her feet.
“Mari!” He met her at the table and threw his arms around her.
“Careful, careful.” She chuckled, although she couldn’t quite keep the pain out of the sound. Tears glazed over her eyes, but she couldn’t have said whether they were from pain, joy, or both.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” He stepped back. “I’m just so glad to see you … I thought … What happened?”
“I hit … I mean”—Her gaze flickered around the room—”I somehow wandered out onto one of the docks after we got separated. I fell off and must have broken my shoulder in the fall. Where have you been?”
His own gaze darted around the room. More than a few heads were turned toward them. “After I lost you, I, uh, found shelter and slept. This morning, I must have gotten turned around. I got lost.” His cheeks reddened. That part must have been mostly true.
“It’s okay,” she said, putting one hand on the back of his neck and leaning down to rest her forehead on his. “I’m just really, really glad that you’re okay, brother. I was starting to worry.”
After a moment, she raised her head, surprising him by leaving a kiss on his forehead. “Let’s get you something to eat. We can talk more later.” She looked up to get Jahl’s attention and instead found Shira coming over with two mugs in her hands.
“Ya found him!” she said. She was smiling, but there was something odd in her face that Mariah couldn’t quite name.
“Yes, yes! Xae, this is Shira. Her parents own the inn. She rescued me from the bottom of a boat this morning, and her mother patched me up. Shira, this is my brother, Xae.” Shira set the mugs down and offered a hand to him; he took it but did not speak. He only nodded a greeting, and Mariah went on. “I told her about our trip down the coast from outside Quell.” She clamped her mouth shut on the urge to explain more.
“Thank you for your help,” he said flatly.
“No problem,” Shira said. “Your sister’s good people. She spent the whole day worrying over ya. Well, when she wasn’t sleeping, she did. You relax and share tales, and I’ll fetch you a bowl of stew. You must be starving. There’s some cider there for you. Imported straight from Eaglespire. You know, their orchards are the best in Varidian.”
“Thank you,” he repeated.
Mariah bit her lip hard as she watched Shira’s back disappear through the kitchen door again. She looked at Xae and noticed that he was staring at Shira’s back as well with a scowl on his face. Ah, she’d called him a dumb bird.
“She didn’t mean it,” Mariah whispered. “She couldn’t have known it was you.”
Keeping her promise, Shira returned a few moments later with food for Xae but was quickly gone again. By this point, the common room was full of people, noise, and more delicious smells, and the light outside the windows had faded.
Xae glanced over at Mariah’s shoulder, his brows drawn together.
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “Just eat your stew. It’s fabulous.” She reached for her ale and remembered the herbs.
As she put her hand around the cup, Xae looked at her, raising one eyebrow.
“It’s something Rose—Shira’s mother—mixed up. It helps with the pain.” She raised it to her lips, and over the rim, she saw Xae’s eyes change from curious to concerned. “I’ll be fine,” she choked out after she finished it. She followed it with a few swallows of ale, much relieved at the change in taste, before going back to her stew.
They ate in relative silence. She couldn’t quite keep the smile from her face. There was so much Mariah wanted to say, but she couldn’t do it in public or where Shira or her family might hear.
When their bowls were empty, Jahl appeared at their table. His smile was not as infectious as that of his daughter, but it was no less genuine. “You two go on up. I’m sure you’re both tired after your ordeal. Rose tells me there is fresh water for washing and plenty of blankets in your room. I’ll have Shira clear all this up and check on you once dinner is finished.”
“Thank you,” Mariah said. As soon as he turned away, she stood, reaching for her pack. Xae scooped it up and carried it, along with his own, as they made their way over to the stairs and up to the room where she had been treated.
As soon as the door was closed behind her, the words rushed from Mariah’s lips. “Xae, I was so scared I’d lost you. What happened?”
He sat down heavily on the bed. “The storm. You just disappeared.” He stared ahead, his eyes sunken, exhaustion written on every feature.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, sitting down where she could put her left arm around him. “A gust caught my wing and pulled me into a hard spin. By the time I righted myself, you were gone. I tried to get above the storm. I kept circling, but I couldn’t find you.” She squeezed his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Xae, but I’m so happy to see you. I’ve been so worried.”
“Me, too” His smile was tired.
“You say you found shelter?”
“Yeah. A little while after I lost you, I found one of those little islands. There was a big pile of boulders, and I was able to squeeze into a little crevice and get out of the wind and rain until they stopped. By then, I thought it was just safer to finish the crossing in the morning.”
“You were right.”
“Anyhow, I’d gotten off course, and it took me a while to find this place. It’s not like ravens can stop and ask for directions. I don’t think they speak bird here.”
His grin was lopsided, and she laughed. “No. Just me.”
“So, what happened to your arm?”
She sighed. “Well, by some miracle, I stayed on course, even though I couldn’t see a thing. When I was coming in toward Grof, the wind caught me. I slammed into the dock and hit my shoulder and my head. I got knocked out. Fell into a little fishing boat. I’m lucky I didn’t drown. Guess I’m also lucky that I changed. If Shira had found an injured hawk in her boat this morning, she might have just tried to put it out of its misery.”
Xae looked like he wanted to say something, but he hesitated.
“What is it?”
“With your shoulder, your wing, can you—”
There was a sudden knock, and they both jumped.
“Hey, it’s me,” Shira called through the door.
“Come in,” Mariah replied, her hand to her heart.
The innkeepers’ daughter entered, smiling. “Hey there, folks, sorry to interrupt your reunion. I just wanted to see if you needed anything else before bed.”
Xae just sat there, staring at her, his lips pressed into a thin line.
“Uh, no. I don’t think so, Shira. We were just comparing stories. We don’t want to get separated again. It’s a long way to Glenley.”
“That it is,” she
replied. “Especially injured and all. Been there and back quite a few times myself. You could always stay in Grof until you’re healed up.”
“No!”
Mariah jumped at Xae’s exclamation.
Shira just plowed on, talking directly to Mariah. “If it’s work you’re worried about, I’m sure that your brother could go out on one of the boats. There’s always a need for more hands this time of year. Why, I’ll bet even—”
“Thank you, Shira,” Mariah spoke over her. “We need some time to figure things out.”
“Oh, of course. Well, you just let me know if ya need anything. My room is downstairs through the kitchen and off the hall there at the end. If you need supplies, I can tell you where to get them, or if you decide to stay and work, you just—”
“We will let you know,” Mariah jumped in. She put a hand over Xae’s fist, which was bunched at his side. Did the woman ever stop?
“Of course. See you in the morning.” Shira backed out, looking like she wanted to say more.
When her footsteps faded away down the hall, Xae said, “I don’t like her.”
“She didn’t know it was you!” Mariah tried not to laugh.
“Dumb bird?” he muttered. “I’ll show her who’s a dumb bird.”
Mariah rolled her eyes when he wasn’t looking and let him rant.
CHAPTER 15
JADENMERE
They remained in Grof for two nights after that. They both needed rest, and it gave them time to replot their route to Glenley and make sure they had sufficient supplies for a longer journey over the mountains and up to the capital city.
To his credit, Xae said nothing about how her injury would slow them down, even though Mariah could see the worry on his face. How in the world would they be able to escape with Xae’s sisters if they couldn’t even fly? Mariah pushed the thought aside. One day. Let’s get through one day and then the next. As she sat alone on her little bed, staring out at the slowly brightening sky, she muttered, “Who knows if we’ll even be able to find the girls?”
The only luck on their side was the fact that spring was turning into summer and the Highlands were passable instead of covered in snow and ice.
Fortunately, in exchange for Xae’s help at the market and in the kitchen, Rose had offered to provide them with smoked fish and bread to supplement their meager supplies. Xae took to the healer in an instant. There was no muttering under his breath when she wasn’t looking, as he did with Shira, only smiles and a willingness to do whatever she asked. Did she remind him of his mother? Mariah wondered. Her own mother had been dour and stern at the best of times, and she wasn’t quite sure she trusted Rose’s warm effervescence.
Something had changed, though, once Xae had arrived and begun to get on so well with Rose. Mariah had not seen the boy Grelem following them again or hanging around at the end of the hallway near their room. In fact, he was often behind the bar, helping Jahl clean glasses or serve customers. The previous evening, she had seen Shira’s father drop a few coins into the boy’s hand before he had run out the door, a smile on his face. Now, she had trouble believing that him being set on their room was anything more than a precaution. A skilled spy he was not.
When Mariah and Xae departed Grof a little while later, their packs were much fuller, with blankets rolled and tied to them. Rose had shaken her head and muttered something about “children” when she found out that they had only cloaks to keep them warm. “If you’re going through the Highlands, even in the summer, you’re going to need a nice wool blanket or two.”
She had prepared their breakfast while it was still dark. When they had eaten their fill and the sky was light enough to signal that it was time to leave, Rose also gave Mariah several folded paper packets filled with mixed herbs, a tin cup, and instructions on how to mix them. “If you have enough fresh water, you should take them. They’ll keep the pain manageable and help you heal up right fast.”
Mariah nodded her understanding and was surprised by the innkeeper’s sudden, tight embrace. “Thank you,” she murmured in response.
Shira, who had kept her distance for much of the morning, was standing against the wall behind the bar, silently watching. It seemed entirely out of character.
Stepping back from her embrace with Rose, Mariah lifted a hand to the younger woman. “Goodbye. Thank you again for all your help and for rescuing me from a soggy grave.”
The corners of Shira’s full lips quirked up, and she chuckled. “No problem, lady. Try not to let it happen again.” Her face turned serious again. “Take care of that brother of yours. Don’t let him go wandering off. He might get lost for good.”
Somehow, Shira had figured out that Xae didn’t like her, and Mariah hadn’t missed the barbs she had begun to toss at him. They were never exactly mean, but they were perfectly aimed to rankle an adolescent boy.
“I won’t.” Mariah turned toward the door. “Let’s go, kid.”
Before they could get out the door, Rose hugged Xae even harder and said, “If you change your mind, there is always a place for you here.”
Xae hugged her back a little awkwardly, but Mariah didn’t miss the shine in his eyes. Her resolve to get on the road despite her injury deepened. Xae needed his family back, at least what he could get of it. The thought brought a bit of melancholy to her own heart, but she was accustomed to it. It was comfortable even.
With that, they left the Herring Hideaway and began their walk through the little fishing village of Grof and toward the North Road.
* * *
By midmorning, they had passed over the rolling hills that surrounded Grof and reached the small bit of flatland that lay between the coast of the Granite Sea and the foothills of the Highlands. They had been walking for two more hours when the road began to curve away, changing direction toward the west. The reason for the diversion soon became clear. A large freshwater lake, fed by a stream from the mountains beyond, filled the valley and blocked the path northward.
Jadenmere. The map had shown it as a small dot, but it’s flat, shimmering, emerald-tinged waters stretched on for at least a mile, and a brisk wind ruffled Mariah’s hair, pushing her scarf back off her forehead. Spindly pine trees with their thick, dark green needles covered much of the shoreline. They were interspersed with the gray boulders that also dotted the grassy valley floor and even speared out of the water in places as if they were staging an uprising. The sun reflected off the surface of the lake in a million tiny mirrors.
The gently chopping waters and the surrounding forest and mountains brought Mariah a sense of peace that she hadn’t felt in weeks, not since she had left Firebend to make what she had thought was a standard supply run into Wellspring.
Jahl was right when he’d suggested that Jadenmere would be a good spot to stop for a midday meal. As the lake provided much of the freshwater for Grof, it would be a safe place to refill their waterskins. If their mission weren’t so urgent and she had been able to fly, Mariah could imagine spending many days here, hunting or catching fish, sunning herself on one of the wide boulders, and just enjoying the quiet, away from all the problems that groups of people seemed to bring along with them. Have I lived alone so long that other people seem burdensome? But I’m not people, am I? I’m Ceo San. It still felt wondrous, but she wasn’t sure she liked it.
In a sense, she had always lived alone. Even when she had lived in Eaglespire, she had kept to herself, really finding true companionship only with her father in the smithy. She glanced at Xae. He was Ceo San, too. But he had a family, sisters that were like him, people who understood him and defended him. Or he had, anyway.
He stood beside her, his mouth open and eyes wide, taking in the view before them. He might have flown over this very spot when he fled Glenley weeks before, but he wouldn’t have been able to appreciate it then. Maybe it wasn’t so bad that they had been forced to walk after all.
After they had eaten a small lunch, Xae began rummaging through Mariah
’s pack, looking for the herbs Rose had given her. Perched on a nearby boulder, her legs crossed in front of her, she watched him out of the corner of her eye. Xae had started looking for the packets as soon as Mariah had mentioned that her shoulder was starting to feel sore. He had insisted on getting everything out during their meal and filling the waterskins. Sooner or later, he was going to realize that she was not helpless, even if she had to give him a knock on the head to prove it. But for now, she didn’t mind sitting back and watching him do some of the work that she was used to taking on herself. She pretended to study the map while wishing they could stay on the shores of Jadenmere a while longer.
No! Don’t let yourself forget. Don’t let this beautiful place fool you. This land is not safe for me. For us.
As she tucked the map into her pocket, a low grunting and a strange blowing noise caught Mariah’s attention. She turned her head toward the sound, away from Xae and the shoreline and back toward the woods.
The trail back to the road was blocked by a huge brown bear. It was standing on all fours, looking straight at Mariah. Her heart stopped.
“Xae.” She didn’t take her eyes off the bear. It took a few steps forward and then stopped, looking from her to the boy’s back.
“I’ve got the herbs. They were all the way at the bottom. Let me get the cup, and I’ll be able to mix it all up for you.”
“Xae!” Her voice came out in almost a squeak.
She was still looking at the bear, but from the corner of her eye, she saw her companion stand all the way up and turn toward her, the cup in one hand and the paper herb packet in the other. “I found them!”
“Xae!” She waved her hand in his general direction, scooting back on the boulder as far as she could. “We. Have. Company.”
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