The Flame and the Arrow

by Emigh Cannaday

  Chapter 32

  Nikola’s secret

  The remaining days on the boat were next to impossible for Annika to get through. The two week voyage was quickly beginning to feel like a prison sentence, although she was surprised at how little she ran into Talvi on the ship, and on the rare occasion that she did, she tried to act neutral. Talvi, on the other hand, made no secret that something had definitely changed between them, and inside of him. The light in his eyes had been extinguished. There was no more playful twinkle or mischievous spark, only a callous expression every time she was near. He didn’t crack jokes at dinner unless they were to belittle or insult someone, which wouldn’t be all that unusual if it weren’t for the fact that his humor had grown a few shades darker. He kept to himself, brooding quietly, deep in thought. This didn’t go on for more than a few days before the others started asking her why, but she only directed them to him, and he only said he was concerned about dealing with the Pazachi.

  The most awkward side effect of breaking things off with Talvi was her growing friendship with Nikola. When he took the trouble to speak, it was always something fascinating about the wonders of nature. He showed her a far off spray of water and within a couple minutes a giant eye was poking out of the water. Then the massive head of a whale rose from the surface, and they leaned over the edge of the boat to stroke its firm, rubbery skin. He explained to her why the wolves were still upset that they didn’t get to crunch Vaj’s bones to dust when he died. They’d disliked him the most out of everyone and were looking forward to the time when Konstantin declared his services were no longer needed. When Annika talked about her uncle Vince and the rest of her close-knit family, Nikola told her how envious he was, since his parents had died when he was very young. He told her stories of Justinian picking on him until the time he began to develop his intense magical capabilities.

  He didn’t rely on witty banter or suggestive language to charm his way into her heart. He didn’t play inappropriate mind games or let his hands wander wherever they pleased. He was just there when she needed him, which was often since Finn and Hilda spent all their spare time reading books on the deck while Runa and Zaven were obsessed with checking on the horses down in the steerage…for hours at a time. Konstantin had returned to his diurnal sleeping habits while at sea to rejuvenate his strength, and thus Yuri was nocturnal as well.

  Annika sat in the kitchen one afternoon teaching Nikola, Sariel, and Justinian how to play gin rummy while the fairies were bickering over what to have for dinner. Sariel and Justinian caught on quickly, since it was very similar to another card game they knew, but Nikola had never picked up a deck in his life. He was having trouble just holding them in one hand.

  “I’ve never understood why you call this a spade,” he said, frowning a little. “It looks like a rotten apple.”

  “There are only four suits, Nik. It’s not that hard to remember,” Justinian said, growing a little impatient. Annika had a thought.

  “Think of it as an actual spade, you know, a little shovel,” she suggested, and pointed to the spade on the card. “See, here’s the handle, and it’s black because you’ve been digging in the dirt with it.”

  “Well I can remember that,” he said, and accidentally showed her the rest of his cards. She rolled her eyes and pulled them out of his hands one by one, lying them down on the table and rearranging them into two piles.

  “King, Queen, and Jack of spades, and three fours. Rummy!” she announced, slapping the deck with her free hand.

  “Oh, right,” he hummed, and everyone threw in their cards to reshuffle. After a few hands, it was clear that Nikola had mastered the game.

  “I should teach you blackjack and then we could play for money,” Annika laughed. “Now that would be the game for people who can read each other’s minds.”

  “You two can read each other’s minds?” Sariel asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Only a little,” Annika said nonchalantly.

  “But you think you can read his mind clearly enough to play cards for money?” Sariel pointed out with a peculiar expression. Annika gave a shrug, but didn’t go into details.

  “I want to see something,” Justinian said, and scribbled a string of words onto a piece of scratch paper before turning it over. He slid it across the table to Annika. “I want to see if you can truly read each other’s minds or not.” A smile crept across Annika’s face as she turned the paper over and looked down at his writing. It resembled chicken scratch, and his spelling was much less impressive than his sword, but she concentrated on the phrase:

  Sariel is the most lovelie creechur to carie a sord.

  “Sariel is the loveliest creature to carry a sword,” Nikola announced, correcting his brother’s grammar. Sariel blushed brighter than Annika had ever seen. It was quite nice to see some color in her usually too serious face.

  “Alright you horrible card player, it’s your turn,” Justinian thundered. He grabbed the piece of paper and turned it over, writing something else. But when he showed it to his little brother, Nikola scowled at him. The last time Annika had seen him look so sour was when Talvi had broken the stalagmites in the cave.

  “I’m not saying that. Write something else,” he insisted, but Justinian stubbornly shook his head.

  “Come on Nikola; just tell me. It can’t be that bad,” she laughed. He looked mortified.

  Annika…I…I…I can’t say it. He crumpled the slip of paper and tossed it across the kitchen towards the fire, but missed. He turned away from her as if he were extremely embarrassed, and left the kitchen.

  “Did he tell you?” Justinian asked, starting to laugh. Annika was totally confused, and shook her head. Sariel grabbed the paper from the floor and looked beyond amused when she had smoothed it out.

  “That wasn’t very kind of you, Justinian,” she said, but she was grinning. She handed the paper to Annika, and it all made sense.

  My brother is jelluss of yor boyfrend.

  “Well, that’s not true,” she said quietly. “Talvi’s not my boyfriend.”

  “Oh, is that what his problem is?” Sariel asked, raising a curious brow at her.

  “Yes, among other things,” Annika replied, and put the deck of cards away.