Then again, it was after he had gotten to know her that he was still willing to kidnap her, so perhaps the river really would have been her fate. Thinking about it, she began to get angry. The mug of wine Anna had purchased for her still sat by her elbow, so she finished her own mug and started in on that one.
Kai came to stand at her side. “It's all dead ends here. We should move on to the next establishment.”
Finn downed the bitter wine in a few gulps and stood to follow him. Kai seemed like he wanted to make comment, but he held it in. His restraint was a wise choice, as Finn would not have minded a reason to lash out at him.
The next tavern was called “The Green Sea”. The name was carved into an ornate wooden sign in the shape of a rolling ocean wave. A flash of memory hit Finn at the thought of the ocean. It was the first memory that had resurfaced in several days, and it drowned out all other thoughts.
She saw the sea, and her kinfolk. They gathered around a large fire, discussing what needed to be done. The war could not be won if both sides were eliminated. They would have to wait it out and preserve the clan.
“Finn!” Kai whispered harshly as he shook her.
She blinked back into reality. “Yes?” she asked, confused.
Kai eyed her warily. “Where did you go just now?”
Finn blinked again. “Nowhere. I was just thinking about the ocean.”
Kai stared at her for another moment. “Are you well enough to go on? I could walk you back to Malida's . . . ”
Finn snorted and walked into the tavern ahead of him. There was no room at the bar, so she took a small table in the far back corner, feeling slightly dizzy. She had not been sitting long before one of the barmaids came to see if she wanted a drink.
“I will have wine,” Finn told her, “though hopefully it is not quite so bitter here.”
The barmaid smiled and flipped her curly, auburn hair over her shoulder. “Best wine in the Port,” she guaranteed, “all the way from Migris.”
Finn nodded. “Good, did you see the man I came in with? He will be paying for the wine.”
The barmaid raised an eyebrow. “You're not the usual type on Kai's tab.”
Finn glared at the man in question. “The least he can do for me is buy me a drink,” she said with more heat than she had intended.
“I'll bet,” the barmaid said with a wink before sauntering away.
A few moments later, Finn had a fresh mug of wine in her hand that tasted just like the wine at the previous establishment. She sipped it, thinking about how far she and Iseult could be on their journey if they hadn't taken the time to save Anna, and if Anna hadn't subsequently kidnapped her. It was all Kai's fault, she thought drunkenly.
She could have spent the time she lost on Kai searching for the Archtree, rather than risking her life repeatedly only to get nothing in return. She wanted to blame Kai for the escape of the Faie as well, but realistically she knew that it would have happened with or without his presence.
She glanced at Kai again to find him speaking closely with the barmaid that had served her drink. Finn narrowed her eyes at them and took a large gulp of her wine. The barmaid turned and caught her eye, then offered her a small smile. Finn forced a smile onto her face, but knew it did not appear pleasant. The fake smile was cut short as a large, lumbering mass came into view.
The man was clearly drunk, though not quite at the point of belligerency. He wore the loose, sun-bleached garb of a fisherman. He also wore the smell of a fisherman, but he obviously was not overly concerned by it as he took a seat and pressed in close to Finn. His face was red from the whiskey he had been drinking, and he had two fresh drams in his large hands. His hair was concealed beneath another plain-colored swatch of cloth.
“The wine here is terrible,” the man commented, pushing one of the drams toward Finn.
She took it almost fiendishly and threw it back into her throat. As she sputtered from the burning liquid, she said, “My husband would be happy to pay you back for the drink.”
The man waved her off. “I don't see no husband around.”
Finn nodded in Kai's direction. “He is right over there, conversing with the barmaid.”
The man moved in a little closer and breathed his whiskey breath in Finn's face. “Now why is he over there talking to the pretty, young barmaid, when his wife is sitting over here all alone?”
“She's an old friend,” Finn quickly lied, though it may have been the truth in Kai's case.
Finn's head spun from the wine and whiskey. She wished the man would just go away. “I'm very tired,” she said as she stood to excuse herself.
“Well let me help you home,” the man offered, “since your husband is so preoccupied.”
“No thank you,” Finn said politely as she began to walk away.
The man reached out, grabbed her arm, and tried to pull her back down into her seat, surprising her so much that she almost fell in the process. She noticed Kai observing the slight commotion and heading her way, yet there was no need for an intervention. Her anger at Kai had found a new target. She righted herself and picked up her empty mug with her free hand, bringing it back intending to hit the man in the head with it. Before she could, Kai's fist punched the man square in the face. The man toppled backwards out of his seat, letting go of Finn in the process.
Kai pulled the mug from Finn's hand and urged her toward the door. “We need to get out of here. Now.”
Finn glanced back as the man started getting to his feet while several other fishermen came to his aid. She turned forward as she and Kai spilled out into the moonlit darkness, just as the men began to give chase.
“This way,” Kai ordered as he darted down a dark alleyway.
Finn pushed her dizziness aside and ran after Kai, though it was a struggle to remain focused on his shadowy form. Shouts and heavy footfalls followed them through the maze of alleyways.
Luckily both Kai and Finn were smaller, and therefore faster than the well-muscled fishermen. The men gave chase for a while, but after a long sequence of deft turns, Kai and Finn managed to lose them.
“You're a madwoman,” Kai huffed as they came to a standstill. “Do you know that?”
Finn shrugged as she waited for her breath to catch up with her, feeling quite sick after drinking so much alcohol. “I'm not the one who punched the man in the face.”
Kai put his hands on his hips, still breathing heavily as well. “Right before you were about to hit him with an empty mug.”
Finn sniffed. “He had earned a smack on the head.”
Kai rolled his eyes. “Only because you took his whiskey and tried to leave.”
Finn looked down at her feet, suddenly embarrassed. “I did not think you were watching.”
Kai glanced nervously at the shadows around them. “Well I was,” he admitted. “It wouldn't do to have you snatched away before I could pay my debt.”
Finn held up her nose. “I thought you said that your debt would be paid after you got me here in the first place.”
Kai looked back up to meet Finn's glare. “I thought about it, and it didn't seem like an equal trade of effort.” He watched her face closely for a reaction to his words.
Her glare softened, but her lips were still tight with annoyance. “I don't think you would have traded me in. I think you are a better man than I've been led to believe. You don't fool me for a second, Kai.” The words poured out of her mouth like water before she could think to stop them.
Kai wrapped his hands around each of Finn's arms and looked at her steadily. “Had things gone as planned, you would have been on that ship, and I would have been a very rich man.”
Finn held up her nose even higher, but did not reply.
“Perhaps I second-guessed it a time or two,” Kai added. “That does not mean I wouldn't have done it.”
Finn pulled away and began walking back toward Malida's. At least, she thought she was walking toward Malida's. Kai ended up having to correct her sense of direction a
few times, which she accepted grudgingly.
By the time they were back in their room, Finn was exhausted and filled with some sort of sorrow she didn't quite understand. There had been no sign of Malida or her daughter, though it was not terribly late at night. They were likely manning a tavern just as full as the others.
Finn sprawled across the bed as soon as the door was shut, wishing very much that she had not had so much to drink.
“And what makes you think that you will be taking the bed?” Kai asked from where he stood by the door.
Finn rolled over to look at him. “You really would have done it?”
Kai rolled his eyes. “Why is that so hard for you to believe? Or is it just the mass quantity of alcohol speaking?”
Finn curled up and turned her back on him. “I just don't understand it. I could never befriend someone, just to completely betray them.”
Kai came to sit on the edge of the bed near her feet. “I did not befriend you with that intent. I did not know who you were at first.”
Finn curled her feet up away from him. If only her head would stop spinning. “Your intention was the same. If it had not been me, it would have been Branwen and Anders.”
Kai stood abruptly. “This is what I am. This is what the world is. You must look out for yourself, because no one will do it for you.”
“I look out for myself just fine,” Finn said with a yawn. “It does not mean I cannot look out for others as well.”
Finn did not see Kai's sad smile as she drifted off to sleep. He unfurled one of their bedrolls on the hard floor and tried to sleep as well, though it did not come easily. The woman snoring in the bed above him had muddled his thoughts far too much for his liking.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kai had finally drifted into a deep sleep just as Finn awoke, feeling embarrassed and angry with herself for drinking so much the night before. Having acquired a new, sober perspective, she silently gathered her things and allowed herself one final glance at the slumbering Kai. She had trusted this dishonest man long enough. He had done his best to assure her that her trust was misplaced, and she would be a fool to not heed the warnings. She would find Iseult and Àed on her own.
She made her way unhindered through the silent home, and was reaching for the lock on the back door, when a small hand wrapped around her arm. Finn turned around, quickly trying to think of an explanation.
Malida shook her head before Finn could say anything. “He shouldn't have tried to hang onto a girl like you,” she said softly. “Did you at least give him a reason?”
Finn's heart stopped for a moment, then she let out a breath. Malida would not try to stop her. “He knows why.”
Malida nodded as she let her hand fall from Finn's arm to open the door for her. “Be careful,” Malida cautioned as Finn stepped out into the early morning light.
Finn looked back to acknowledge Malida's warning, but the door had already shut behind her. Not wanting to waste another moment, she ran quickly down the alley, fearing that Kai might wake up and come looking for her, and yet, also fearing that he would not.
Her plan was to get out of the city so that she could backtrack and find her companions. She had one bedroll, a small amount of food, her cloak, and her dagger, and she assured herself that was all she would need. She was heading in the direction of the gates through a cross-section of alleyways, going over the way back to Badenmar in her head, when arms reached out and grabbed her.
After a moment of shocked stillness, she tried to struggle, but the man had one arm wrapped around her chest, and the other covered her mouth. He used his height to lift her off her feet and carried her into a dark building.
Once inside, he let her drop to the ground. She fell to her knees, and instantly scurried away on all fours. She turned to watch her kidnapper's back as he lifted a heavy bar and placed it across the door, trapping her inside. Silver hair and cold gray eyes turned to face her.
“You!” she shouted as she rose and flung herself at him.
Óengus tried to hold her off, but she managed to get a few good scratches in at his face. Suddenly another pair of strong arms gripped her from behind, prying her off Óengus.
Finn kicked the new attacker in the shin, and was allowed to fall to the ground where she crouched defensively. She shifted around to face this new threat.
“You found me!” she exclaimed, standing straight to throw her arms around him.
Iseult accepted Finn's enthusiastic hug and patted her back awkwardly, not sure what to do with the sudden display of affection.
Àed came hobbling into the room through a door that went further into the building. His bone-tired face was the best sight Finn could have hoped for. “I found ye actually,” he grumbled. “These two are worthless as trackers.”
Iseult and Óengus took on similar grudging expressions as Finn went to Àed and stooped down to hug him. Finally she turned to Óengus. “I'm sorry . . . I suppose.”
Óengus cleared his throat, but didn't acknowledge Finn further. Instead he turned to Iseult, who tossed him a heavy looking coin purse.
“You will find the rest with Miriam in Ousepid,” Iseult explained.
With a smile and a nod, Óengus gathered his belongings, then unbarred and opened the door. As soon as the man was gone, Finn turned back to Iseult.
“Where are Kai and Liaden?” he asked her before she could speak.
“Kai and Anna, alias Liaden, are no longer our concern,” Finn replied happily. “We must begin our search.”
“They kidnapped you!” Iseult said with an uncharacteristic amount of emotion. “They were lying to us all from the start, and planned on selling you to the highest bidder. They must pay for what they did to you.”
Finn's eyes widened as she pictured what Iseult might do to Kai if he found him. “They are not here,” she lied, “and we will not find them.”
Iseult watched her face carefully as he asked, “Then how did you come to be here?”
Finn sniffed indignantly. “I have two legs,” she said, gesturing to said legs. “I walked.”
“And how did you know the way?” Iseult asked, ignoring her sarcasm.
Finn bit her lip as she tried to think of a believable explanation. She was about to open her mouth and beg Iseult not to hurt Kai when Àed cleared his throat. “Yer acting like Finn ran off on purpose,” he chided. “Stop questioning the girl.”
Iseult regarded Finn for a moment longer, then conceded to Àed's point with a curt nod.
Finn felt like she might pass out as relief washed through her. Though part of her still desired vengeance on Kai, she did not wish him any real harm. “Where do we go from here?” she asked, not wanting to give Iseult any reason to revert to the previous line of questioning.
“For now, we will continue down the Sand Road,” he explained, though he still seemed agitated. “Àed knows of someone along the way who might possess useful information.”
Àed gave Finn a knowing look. Finn supposed he knew that she had lied, and that Kai was not far away at all. She felt torn, and almost wanted to go back and let Kai know that she had found her companions. Yet, she could not very well bring Iseult to Malida's, and she did not think it likely that he or Àed would let her venture off on her own when they had only just found her. Just as well, she thought. If Kai was the man he claimed to be, he would continue living just the way he had been. He would forget all about her.
A few tears dripped down her face. Àed glanced at her again, but she quickly turned her eyes forward to follow Iseult out of the building, batting angrily at her unwelcome tears.
Àed followed behind Finn, knowing full-well what the tears were about. He'd found Finn the night before in the alleyway with Kai, while Iseult and Óengus slept. His first impulse had been to charge in and rescue her, but after listening for a moment, he hadn't had the heart to interrupt their conversation. He was glad that Finn had chosen to leave on her own. Still, he didn't appreciate the fact that someone had caused such s
adness in a girl that he looked upon like a daughter, and Kai would feel the full strength of his distaste if he bothered showing his face again.
He glanced at Finn as he caught up to her side while they walked and he pondered what he could possibly say to console her. She had pulled her green hood up to cover her features, and had even tucked all of her long hair back inside of her cloak. It would have been wise for him to hide behind a cloak as well, as Anders had proven that some might still recognize him. Any that might recognize Finn also likely knew that she traveled with him.
Still, the idea of hiding did not sit well with Àed. It seemed to not sit well with Iseult either, as his black hair blew about freely in the chilly morning air. Yet, the tall man somehow managed to blend in with the crowd. Iseult had a talent for hiding in the periphery. It made sense really, given that he came from a long line of thieves.
“They could not have been planning on taking you all along,” Iseult said as he hovered over Finn's shoulder, unwilling to let the subject drop after all.
Finn shook her head ruefully. “Their original targets were Branwen and Anders,” she explained. “Kai and Anna intended to steal the map they were making, as well as many of the books they carried with them.”
“They told you all of that?” Iseult questioned, surprise evident in his tone. “Did they actually hope to justify their actions?”
“Well Kai-” Finn began, then blushed as she cut herself off.
Iseult grunted and let the subject go once again.
Àed shook his head in disgust. Had Finn been about to defend Kai? As far as he was concerned, Kai and Anna were a lowly pair of vultures, taking opportunities as they came. Likely the thieves had discovered Finn's identity in the Blood Forest, presenting a new opportunity just as the opportunity the twins had presented slipped away. If there were no maps and books to sell, they would sell a tree girl instead.
Tree of Ages Box Set Page 22