by Nesa Miller
Aye, something happened, you idiot. He threw you away.
She shook her head. No. That was Midir, not Dar. Once Rie gets through to him, he’ll come for me. I know he will. She got to her feet, too anxious to sit still. He has to.
Her eyes closed, envisioning the man she loved. The man she knew better than she realized. Pushing out with her mind, she sent a message, unsure if he would hear. You know me, my love. Please, see me as I am. Come home to me.
Opening her eyes, she stared into the clear water, stripped off her clothes, then dove in. At the splash, the mare shook her head, ruffling her mane. Moving a few steps away, she returned to grazing on the lush grass along the bank. Etain swam to the center of the small lake, feeling her spirits lifted by the refreshing water. Inspired by a sense of recklessness, she gulped a lungful of air and dove straight down toward the sandy bottom of the lake.
Down she went, farther and farther, until the clear water turned dark. Her lungs burned, and the drop in temperature made her shiver. The lake proved deeper than she had estimated. Twisting, she kicked hard and shot back to the surface, bursting from the water, gasping for air. Razz snorted and skittered farther away. After a few more gulps of sweet air, Etain laughed and lay back, floating. Cradled in the serenity of the water, the sun warm on her skin, the worries and tensions of the past few days melted away.
He knows my heart. He’ll find his way back to me.
Linq rode up just as she stepped out from behind the waterfall, closing the last few buttons of her top. “There you are,” he said. “I was worried when I didn't see you or Razz.”
“She must’ve wandered off.” Etain worked her fingers through her tangled hair. “I guess I fell asleep. I’d forgotten how early it gets dark this time of year.” The last rays of orange and gold peeked from the horizon.
“Let’s have a chat.” He dismounted and pulled her along to the cave, telling her of an old friend he had run into in town. “I haven't seen Alaster in a long time. He's been here for several years and knows the locals well.” He chuckled. “It didn't take long to end up at the pub. My work was easy after that. They tell me there's a new arrival in town.”
“Piran.” She explained her trip to the apothecary. “He said he suffers from amnesia and the shop owner gave him the name.” At the cave, she grabbed a couple bottles of ale and offered one to Linq. They tapped bottles, glass clinking.
He enjoyed a long drink. “You were to go to the market and come straight back.”
“I know…” She took a swallow, unable to meet his steady gaze. “But I promised Spirit I’d get her some rare herbs. She can’t always get to town.”
“Was there any recognition on his part?”
“Well, no,” she said, suddenly fascinated with her bottle of ale. “Excellent brew, don’t you think?”
“Not bad,” he agreed. “What are you not telling me?”
She rushed over her words, pushing a hand through her hair. “He didn’t recognize me because I cast a glamour before I went into town.”
He swigged a mouthful of ale, his eyes on her as he mulled over the information. “Spirit, I suppose?” Confirmation was easy to read on her face. “That was the ‘woman stuff’ right before we left?” At her sheepish grin, he looked away, then back. “Did it work?
“Aye. I checked myself with a mirror before I went into town. Hair, eyes, clothes, everything looked different.” She held up her left hand and wiggled her ring finger. “Not even my wedding ring was the same. No one would ever suspect the redhead from this morning to be the silver-haired wife of Lord VonNeshta.”
“Mmph,” Linq grunted. “You kept it short and sweet? No lingering in places you shouldn’t?”
“Yes, and no… I mean yes, I was there just long enough to get supplies.”
“I hope so.” He finished his drink. “Let’s get a fire built. We’ll need it to ward off the chill of the night.”
While Etain set a blaze going, Linq unsaddled Blackjack and stored his gear in the cave. Razz rambled into camp just as he poured out a healthy portion of oats for both horses. With the two watered, fed and hobbled, the elf returned to the cave.
“Time is a luxury we don’t have. The sooner we find your brother, the better. Alaster could ask around, but too many questions and the Bok might get wind of it.”
“Maybe a couple more of these…” She held up two bottles of ale, “will speed up the creative process.”
“Mind if we sit outside for a spell? After being in a pub all day, I’d like to enjoy the fresh night air.”
“As you wish.”
Etain brought the bread, cheese, and fruit, and they sat outside the cave, Linq sharing more tales of his day in town. With another round of ales opened, his stories moved to how he met Alaster and their adventures.
“Did Dar ever meet Alaster?” she asked, tearing off a couple pieces of bread from the loaf and handing one to Linq.
“No. I met him after Dar left.” He pulled a dagger from his boot to slice the cheese. “Alaster wanted to meet him, but the time was never right. We were always in opposite directions.”
“Maybe we can invite him to our home someday.” She accepted the offered cheese, taking it from the tip of his blade and stacking it onto her bit of bread. “He sounds like an interesting fellow.”
“He is.” Linq bit into his bread, chewed slowly, and washed it down with a mouthful of ale.
“You know, maybe we should keep it simple tomorrow. I’ll go to the apothecary in the morning and explain the circumstances to the clerk, telling him who I believe him to be. Then we can leave and get back to Inferno’s.”
He eyed her, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “Who do you think him to be?”
“My brother,” she said, thinking the answer obvious.
Linq took another drink. “What makes you think that?”
Her jaw muscles tightened in conjunction with the grip on her bottle. “Well, it’s several things.” Losing her cool with the elf wouldn’t get her anywhere. “His hair is dark, like my brother’s, and he’s about the right size.”
“What about his face? Don’t you remember what he looked like?”
Her gaze matched his in intensity. “Well, he was sixteen the last time I saw him. He could look different by now.”
“He wouldn’t have changed that much, Etain.”
She blinked. “I don’t look so much like I did at fourteen.” The silver orb that had transformed her from a child to a young woman flashed in her mind. “Who knows how living with Midir has affected him?”
“Yet you continue to pursue him.” Linq leaned forward. “Sixteen is an impressionable age. Surrounded by that man’s evil, I’m sure your brother’s nothing like he was when you knew him.” He sat back. “What color were his eyes?”
Again, she blinked. “Are you talking about my brother or the man in the shop?”
“It doesn’t matter. The clerk isn’t your brother.”
“How the hell would you know?”
“You would’ve recognized something. If not his face, then his voice, his body language, things like that aren’t forgotten.” Linq added a few sticks of wood to the fire. “You’re not thinking straight, Etain. Since learning he’s alive, have you thought about anyone else, or how bringing him into our midst might affect the balance of things?”
She jumped to her feet, waving her hands to express her ire, ale sloshing from the bottle. “I witnessed the slaughter of my family, then had to find my own way in a world as foreign to me as the human one is to elves.” Her anger gave way to deeper revelations that would have been better left unsaid. “I’ve been forced to marry a man who saw fit to fuck my sister, leaving her pregnant, and now expects me to be the better person, to rise above it.” Her eyes narrowed. “I have suffered the assaults of his twisted brother not only when he was alive, but even now.” The bottle of ale, held tightly in her hand, burst. “Then I’m told it would be best if I leave my husband in the hands of people I’ve never met before or ev
er knew existed.”
Blood seeped between her fisted fingers, dripping onto the ground. “And those same people waited five years to tell me my brother, who I thought was dead…” Her voice on the edge of a scream, she threw her hand into the air, pieces of glass flying and droplets of blood sizzling in the fire, “lives only a few miles up the road from where I’ve called home. Well, bloody fucking excuse me if it seems a bit selfish to want to see my fucking brother!”
He came up fast, throwing down his bottle. It shattered against one of the random stones littering the countryside. “Við sjóinn og stjörnurnar! Hefur þú ekkert vit í því ljósa höfuð (By the sea and stars! Have you no sense in that blonde head)?” he hollered in his native tongue. “Þú ert ekki sú eina sem hefur orðið. Þú ert Alamir, takast á við það (You are not the only one who has suffered. You’re Alamir. Deal with it).”
“If you're going to curse me, at least do it in a language I understand,” she yelled back, stomping her foot.
“A! You'll be the death of me, girl.” He whirled and walked off.
“You sound just like Inferno.”
He stormed back to the fire and looked at her as though she’d lost her mind. “I know what you mean to do. You cannot go in there as yourself. The Bok is everywhere.”
“It’s the only way. If it is him, I have to be myself to convince him.” Linq paced from the fire to the water’s edge. Etain took a deep breath, sensing a tiny fissure in the elf’s anger-hardened armor, and softened her tone. “You know I'm right. Maybe seeing me as I am will bring back a memory, a thought, something.”
“I know that man is not your brother.” He stopped pacing. “What if it's a trap? I will not allow it.”
“You will not allow it? Who the hell are you? This is my brother. I must try. Dar and I have lost too much family already.”
He stalked toward her, making her step back. “I am the Megiltura of the Cala'quessir (Swordmaster of the High Elf). I fought side by side with Dar VonNeshta of Krymeria during the clan wars and saw the sacrifices he suffered. I will not see him suffer more from your impetuosity. If the Bok takes you, nothing will stop him from coming to your rescue. If not for yourself, can you not see the danger it imposes on him?”
“Impetuosity?” The word struck her as odd. “Is that even a word?”
“Lives are at stake and you make jokes.”
“Holy crap, Linq. Dar would do the same if he were in my place. You have to know I’ll do everything in my power to keep him safe, but I can't do that for him and not for my brother. If they come for me, they'll soon know who he is and none of us will be safe.”
He glared at her for a long moment. Etain held her breath. His shoulders slumped as if in defeat. “Damn if you're not right.” Shaking his head, he plopped down next to the fire. “We've brought this on just by coming here. If we leave without him, he’ll become another pawn in their wretched game.” Releasing the breath, she offered him a fresh drink. The blood smear on the bottle made him give her hand a closer look. “You should tend to that. Are there any shards in your skin?”
Etain looked at her hand, surprised by the blood covering her palm. When had she cut herself? She went to the water’s edge and gently washed her hands, feeling for any pieces of glass. Fortunately, it was clean of debris and already healing. She held up her hand, walking back toward the cave.
“All clear.”
He raised his bottle of ale. “We'll load up the horses in the morning and go in from the north end of town. We'll also leave that way, hopefully throwing off anyone who may take an interest. Once we know we've not been followed, we can veer south.”
Etain smiled and launched herself at the elf, throwing her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, great Megiltura of the Cala'quessir. I swear. I'll make you proud.”
“Just don’t get caught.” He removed her arms from his neck and set her away from him. “Let's get some sleep. I want us both sharp tomorrow.”
Up early the next morning, Etain packed the saddlebags, while Linq saddled the horses. He then helped her strap on the scabbard with the twin swords and watched her run through a routine with Nim'Na'Sharr. Her muscles warmed, she tucked away Nim, then reached back, drawing Day Star and Burning Heart simultaneously. It took several more practice moves, but she soon had it down.
On their mounts, they walked a few feet from the site and stopped beneath an old oak tree. Linq reached overhead, cut a large limb from the tree, and walked his horse around the campsite, dragging the limb behind him, sweeping away all prints, then tossed the limb into the river, making sure it drifted downstream.
Closer to Deudrath, they veered off the main road and skirted around the north end of town. Linq stayed put with the understanding that should trouble occur, Etain would leave immediately, brother or no brother. The street was quiet, except for the clop-clop of Razz’s hooves as she and her rider walked directly to the apothecary. At the shop, Etain dismounted and, glancing up the road, loosely tethered her horse.
Finding the apothecary unlocked, she warily stepped inside, listening for anything amiss. She knew life in a small village differed from the city, but not so much that a shop owner would leave a well-stocked store open and unmanned. Her hand slipped to the hilt of her blade.
The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. At the same time, a familiar burn rose in her blood. One she hadn’t felt in some time. Checking the back room, she found it empty, except for a desk and chair, but upon turning around, something else caught her eye.
“I don't remember a window.” She stepped out, then back into the office. A two-way mirror.
Satisfied that everything looked all right, she walked toward the front door.
A loud commotion from the back room shattered the silence. Whirling, she came face to face with the black-haired water god from the lake, fully clothed, his green eyes wide.
“You must leave now, milady. You shouldn't be here.” He reached for her hand, but she avoided his grasp.
“Where’d you come from?” She backed away.
“Piran isn’t the one you seek.”
“What do you know of it? Where is he?”
The earth rumbled beneath her feet. She turned toward the front window, but the young man grabbed her arm, making her face him. “I’ve sent him somewhere safe. You were here yesterday and spoke with him.”
“Let me go,” she demanded, slapping away his hand. “How did you know I was here?” The sound of pounding hooves explained the rumble.
Outside, Blackjack collided into Razz in a flurry of mane and tails. Razz whinnied and sidestepped. Linq grabbed her reins. “Etain! We must go…now.” Blackjack reared up, nearly throwing the agitated elf out of the saddle.
The young man pulled her attention back to him. “A magic man knows a glamour when he sees it. I knew who you were the minute you stepped into the shop yesterday.”
“Yesterday? But…” Her mind raced. “You were in the office.”
“Etain! There's not much time, girl! Come!”
A strange calm came over her as she looked at Linq, then back at the young man. “Bert?”
“Yes. Now, will you please go?” He pulled her to the door.
She yanked free from his hold. “Why did you say Piran isn’t who I’m looking for?”
“God! You're as infuriating as when we were kids.” He took her arm in an iron grip. “I’m Robert! Your brother. Now go.”
“You? No way. You look nothing like my brother.”
“It's a long story, little bit. Please.”
She blinked, her heart pounding in her head, feeling fourteen again. The last time she’d seen her brother, he’d called her that, then yelled in her face.
“Run!”
Shaken from her thoughts, her gaze followed his to the south.
A band of wild-eyed soldiers, dressed in the muddy brown uniform of the Bok’Na’Ra, set her in motion. She spun Robert to face her. “If you are my brother, you aren't safe, eith
er. You have to come with us.”
“Etain!” Linq called out, trying to control the horses.
She pushed her brother toward Razz. “I hope you can ride.” Her next words were for the elf. “Take my brother with you.”
“Get up here with me, nú.”
With Robert safely seated on the horse, she screamed, “Go! I'll catch up.”
Linq checked the progress of the approaching soldiers and made his decision. “Camp!” He clicked his tongue and Blackjack shot toward the north end of town, Razz in close pursuit. Etain watched until they were clear.
The Bok rushed onward, the earth trembling beneath Etain’s feet. She stepped into the road, drawing Nim'Na'Sharr. Her eyes glowed violet, her talons extending on her left hand. She attempted to extend her wings, but they wouldn’t obey. She glanced over her shoulder, trying again. “Shit.” The scabbard, so ingeniously created by Inferno and Linq, made no allowance for her wings.
Red eyes ablaze, the Bok stormed toward her, their spiked teeth gleaming in anticipation of their prized catch. Etain sheathed her sword, retracting her talons, and raised her head in defiance. Amidst howls of victory, they aimed their horses directly at the rebellious warrior. She waited until the last possible moment, then disappeared. The lead riders pulled on their reins sharply, their mounts snorting and rearing in protest. Those in the rear struggled to avoid running into those in the front. The street became a menagerie of tangled horses and men, the riders fighting to control their mounts.
“Togor, where did she go?” the captain yelled.
“I don't know, Kromok, sir. She just disappeared.” Togor turned his grey-dappled mount to keep from hitting a fellow rider.
“Cloud, start the chant to prevent the shimmer. She won’t get away so easily,” Kromok ordered. “Cromorth, take your men after those two. Do not let them escape.” Led by a man around six feet tall, with hair the color of iron, a troop of soldiers separated from the mélange in pursuit of Linq and Robert.
A boy, no older than twelve, slid from his saddle and squared his thin shoulders. A cool wind blew through his long, white hair, making him shiver, despite the wool cloak around his shoulders. With a determined look in his striking green eyes, he faced the spot the woman had last stood, closed his eyes, and began to chant. His hands rose into the air, calling on the dark powers of the Bok’Na’Ra.