A Single Spark

by Tayvia Pierce

  I sighed and lowered my voice as another couple of patrons entered the tavern. “After his injury, he decides to sneak out of the house on the very night my father is murdered? After we discovered Father, he decided to stay for a time, which baffled me until I returned to the house after Father’s funeral to see Rhian cuddling with him while sitting a little too comfortably in his lap. It was just to comfort her, he told me, but that is hard to believe. He yells at me for staying engaged to Brynmor when I have no choice in the matter, and accuses me of hurting Rhian by flaunting my happiness in her face. He needles Brynmor and embarrasses me by implying...things...” I huffed angrily, my knuckles whitening around my goblet. “He despises our guards, calling them weak and careless and trusting only himself to protect us, but then tries to leave without so much as a word of explanation, so why would he do that unless whatever his mission with our family had been completed?”

  Taliesin’s eyes fixed on mine as he spoke softly, a knowing look filling his face. “He sounds more like a jealous man to me rather than a criminal. Perhaps it would be wise to ask him?” Again with the suggestion to ask, threading another sliver of fear through me, though new possibilities slowly began to weave their way through my mind. Could Ben truly feel something for me? What if I refused Brynmor? If I were to consider a mutual desire between Ben and I, did I dare think over those possibilities?

  With my lips pressed tightly together, I looked back to Taliesin. The question that burned most was one I dare not ask... Do you love me? It was the one I wanted to ask, every other question would fade or be answered with that one truthful answer, but I lacked the courage. I shook my head again, a feeling of hopelessness settling over me. “If he says he does not love me, then all of this was a lie and my worst suspicions must be true. And if he says he does, then what? I’m still engaged and cannot pursue any relationship with him, so it is a hopeless situation regardless of his answer.”

  Taliesin gave me a sympathetic look, seeming to understand quite well the torrent of emotion that surrounded this situation. He reached out to lightly grip my hand in encouragement, murmuring softly. “I do not take you for a woman who lacks in courage, Lady Carys. Go ask him. Then either way, you will know and can make your choices from there.” I gripped his hand back for a moment, drawing some strength from him before he released me.

  CHAPTER 63

  The door creaked and opened, Rhian slipping inside the Stag timidly, Brynmor on her heels and pushing her further in as he stepped through the door. I knew the moment Brynmor saw us, his posture stiffening and the look on his face darkening. He murmured something to Rhian, her head swiveling over to look at us, a curious look forming on her face as she blushed a little and smoothed out her skirt, making her way over to us. “Hello.” She smiled at Taliesin, speaking shyly, her eyes flicking from him to me.

  “Hello, Rhian. Hi, Bryn. This is Taliesin...a friend.” I tried not to emphasize the friend part for Brynmor’s benefit, though his steely gaze was sizing up Taliesin, now that the man wasn’t fleeing the scene. “Taliesin, this is my sister, Rhian, and my betrothed, Brynmor.”

  Taliesin smiled graciously at them, dipping his head respectfully to Brynmor, then Rhian, his warmth growing as his gaze settled on the latter as he awkwardly rose to his feet. “Lady Rhian, a pleasure to meet you at last. Your sister was speaking of you earlier, as she was kind enough to recount your circumstances with the Azkaelomin. I am relieved to see you are still healthy and whole.”

  Rhian’s face paled, her features pinching as her thoughts shifted. “Why would you tell him about that?” She gave me an accusatory glare, her cheeks shifting from white to pink in embarrassment.

  I explained calmly, though I was growing annoyed. “I told him about it because he had his own experience with them. We were comparing notes, such as they are.”

  I glanced over to Taliesin, who favored his good leg as he gave his own reply to my sister. “Though it would seem you came through the experience better than I.” He chuckled softly, pulling his chair out for Rhian to take.

  She managed a faint smile to the tall Velynesian and gracefully eased herself onto the chair. “Thank you.” She murmured, watching with growing interest as Taliesin grabbed another two chairs, offering one to Brynmor and setting the other down for himself.

  Brynmor still looked angry, though it seemed the subject of his ire had shifted a little. “I hope you dealt a decent blow in return. Those foul pigs need some carving up.” Brynmor muttered, waving to the waitress to bring him an ale, earning him an indecipherable look from Taliesin.

  Rhian let out a long-suffering sigh and said, “Really, Carys. I don’t know why you keep insisting on trying to find these men. It seems like more and more people keep getting involved in the matter and I would rather it just be dropped.”

  I stared at her in surprise, as did Brynmor and Taliesin. “You don’t want to find the men who abducted you?” I asked with no small amount of incredulity. “Rhi, we need to understand why they decided to randomly abduct a teenage girl from a hillside. You know very well the one said there was more they could gain from our family and we need to know what they meant by that.”

  Taliesin looked from Rhian to myself, a thoughtful look taking hold of his features, considering our words. A moment later he rose from his chair and gave me a warm smile. “Lady Carys, I thank you for the conversation, but I see you have some things to discuss with your family. You said your guard...former guard, is in the Infirmary? Perhaps I shall pay him a visit in the coming days.”

  I smiled slightly up to Taliesin, my disappointment in his leaving carefully masked. Talking with him was a breath of fresh air in comparison to being in the draining presence of my family, but I didn’t blame him for wanting to go. I was already considering my own avenues of escape, my attempts to avoid Brynmor having failed. “Of course, Taliesin. The pleasure was all mine. I do hope our paths cross again soon.”

  He dipped his head and smiled. “I sincerely hope so, Lady Carys.” He paused momentarily, then added. “And do give some thought to my suggestion.” His green eyes were sympathetic as they held to mine for an extra moment, finally flicking to regard the other two. “Lady Rhian, Master Brynmor.” With that, he turned and limped out the door.

  Rhian’s curious gaze and Brynmor’s steely one remained on the tall Velynesian until he passed through through the door, Rhian’s mouth opening to speak, though Brynmor interrupted. “Twice in a week I find you enjoying his company. Should I be worried about our marriage?” He huffed, knowing quite well I was avoiding him.

  I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “No. He is a friend, and already married.” I wouldn’t admit that he was becoming someone I was comfortable confiding in almost as easily as I had once talked to Ben. With as much trouble as my friendship with Ben had caused, I didn’t want to make the same mistake with Taliesin.

  Rhian looked a little disappointed when I mentioned Taliesin was married, though she broke into the conversation with the question she had been about to ask when Brynmor interrupted. “Can we go see Ben?” She glanced back to Brynmor as though realizing that he might react poorly to that question, but continued despite the grimace on his face. She defended her request, now ignoring Brynmor. “The one time I got to see him, you took up all his time, made him angry, and then I didn’t even get to talk to him.” Her bottom lip protruded into a light pout as she made the accusation against me.

  Since I couldn’t deny the truth of her comments, I nodded despite my great reluctance. “If you want to go talk to him, we can.” I said carefully, trying to think past my own turbulent mindset towards the injured man.

  Brynmor gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes, groaning irritably. “Gods, you two. All you talk about is Ben-Ben-Ben.” He gave a pointed look over to me and added tightly. “And his is not the name I want on your lips.”

  I barely spared Brynmor and his jealousy a second look, rising from my chair and addressing Rhian. “We will go see him, but only for a short time, so
make good use of it.” I wanted to limit her time with the man, at least until I could determine his intentions, but hesitated to tell her anything that I had learned about the man, fearing she would tell Ben and he would flee, any justice for Father departing with him.

  Rhian frowned, but didn’t argue as she rose with me, Brynmor doing the same before they both followed me from the Silver Stag and out into the fading light of dusk.

  Rhian walked at my side as we followed the golden glow of the freshly lit lamps that illuminated the road towards the Infirmary. Brynmor followed us in chilly silence, lips pressed tightly together as the sour look on his face grew with our increasing proximity to the infirmary.

  Rhian looked over her shoulder to Bryn, then to me before halting her steps and rounding behind Brynmor. “You should be walking with Carys and holding her hand.” She gave him a firm shove forward, Brynmor glowering at her for a moment before he reached out to take my hand possessively in his.

  I let him take my hand, though I couldn’t bring myself to squeeze his hand as other lovers might do. It was difficult not to let my hand rest limply in his, but as much as I didn’t enjoy being forced into this display of affection, I would play along.

  I glanced over my shoulder to Rhian as we rounded a corner, seeing her face twisted in uncertainty and playing nervously with her fingers. “Carys, you are going to come in with me, right? What if he’s in a bad mood? You know how he gets. You are not making me go in there by myself, are you?” She asked nervously, her light blue eyes on me as I looked over my shoulder to her.

  I hesitated before answering, not sure I could look him in the eyes anymore. He would know something was wrong...he always saw right through me. But I couldn’t let Rhian go in alone, nor would I let her go in with an unsupervised Brynmor. “I will go in with you, Rhi. But this is your visit, so you will do the talking. I just saw him a couple days ago, and I doubt he will have much to say to me.” Rhian frowned and nodded, though she didn’t ask why I had seen him and not mentioned it.

  Brynmor finally chimed in. “I told Madox and Darius to meet us at The Pipe & Fiddle later, so say your farewells and be done with the man already.” He picked up his step as he found a new motivation, pulling me along and causing Rhian to trot to keep up.

  “But I still don’t understand why he is leaving town, or why he was fired. He didn’t do anything wrong!” Rhian protested, shooting a glare towards me. I didn’t answer, though, as we had reached the infirmary. I pulled away from Brynmor’s grip on my hand, flexing my fingers briefly to bring some feeling back after his possessive grip.

  Brynmor pushed open the Infirmary’s door to allow Rhian and I to enter, Rhian immediately heading down the hallway to Ben’s room. Laughter drifted out through the open door, a sound that I hardly expected to come from the room that Ben and Amir shared.

  Upon reaching the door to Ben’s room, it was not Amir in the other bed, but another injured man and his several visitors who had crowded around the bed and seemed oblivious to the fact there was another wounded man that shared the room.

  Their laughter clearly grated on Ben’s nerves as he stood across the room wearing a scowl, staring out the window. His head swiveled when we entered, Brynmor receiving a darker look than the rest of us. His hand rubbed absently at his injured thigh as he leaned heavily against the wall, lifting himself from his place and twisting to face us with a grimace.

  “There you go, Rhi.” I motioned towards Ben, giving her a gentle nudge into the room, though my attention was quickly diverted to the other bed, wondering briefly what had become of Amir? I sincerely hoped he had been tossed into a cell to rot. Or died. That would certainly solve a lot of our current problems.

  Rhian looked at the crowd, her features pinching with anxiety. “You go in first.” She whispered to me, her hand reaching out to grip my arm. I looked from Rhian to Ben with a faint sigh, Ben staring back at us with a frown. I stepped into the room and dragged Rhian towards the corner where Ben stood. Brynmor followed a short distance behind until he could lean back against a dresser, crossing his arms in annoyance and boredom, glaring at the group at the other bed.

  I pulled Rhian’s hand from my arm and gently steered her in front of me, giving her a gentle nudge forward after whispering. “Go talk to him, I’ll be right here, I promise.”

  “I don’t know what to say!” Her whisper was strangled with her sudden case of nerves, though she quickly mustered up a little smile as Ben’s gaze settled on her. “Hello, Ben.” She murmured awkwardly, taking a hesitant step towards him, trying to cover up her embarrassment.

  Ben did not look at all amused, his scowl deepening as his eyes flicked from Brynmor, to Rhian, to me, and finally back to Rhian as she spoke. “Hello, Rhian.” He said, his voice tight.

  Brynmor muttered behind me, “I told you this was a bad idea.” Rhian shot a glare back over her shoulder to him, shushing him as her face turned pink. I gave Brynmor a warning look of my own, to which Brynmor rolled his eyes, jaw tightening though he thankfully said nothing further.

  Ben watched our exchange with little patience, his scowl deepening into a dark glare. My eyes rested on him for a moment as Rhian continued to struggle for something to say, though it was my heart that began to thud harder in my chest. Could I follow Taliesin’s advice and ask if he had feelings for me? I felt sick thinking about it...what if he said no? And worse, what if he said yes?

  Rhian shifted slightly, seeing Ben’s frown, then simply dipped her head. "I see you are nearly healed, and Carys said you are planning to leave Lund soon, I had simply wished to say goodbye." She spoke quickly, her discomfort at this situation and the crowd of people nearby clear. "Come, let’s go." She gave me a pleading look, reaching out to grab my arm again to pull me from the infirmary.

  Brynmor shook his head and muttered something under his breath before commenting brashly. "That is it? You beg to come here to visit and that is all you are going to say?" For once, Brynmor and I thought alike, my own surprise written all over my face.

  Ben growled under his breath and took a few hobbled steps towards us, giving me a direct look. "The girl was likely not expecting an audience." He said flatly to me, his walk showing only a little less than his usual grace. I could tell it was an effort for him to move to the door but he did so without appearing it to be. "Come." He beckoned to us, looking from myself to Rhian, and then giving Brynmor a cold look of disdain.

  My brow arched a little at his tone as he addressed me, mildly annoyed that in his mind, her anxiety was also my fault. I sighed faintly as I motioned for Rhian to go with him into the hallway, following behind them a couple of paces with a disapproving Brynmor right behind me.

  Ben made his way to the far corner of the front room near the large windows that overlooked the park, halting near the window and cast his gaze out with a furrowed brow before turning to face us. Ben heaved a small sigh as he looked back to us, his posture straightening as though the very sight of us brought out the protector in him. "I was ordered, I believe, to stay where I was put. What is this talk of leaving?"

  I nudged Rhian forward again to continue her conversation with our former guard, my sister casting a confused look over her shoulder towards me while stammering. "She...uh, Carys told me you weren’t staying in town much longer. I thought I would say goodbye, and..." She blushed and murmured to our guard. “...And I, uh...you will be missed.”

  I barely masked my surprise at Ben's comment about not leaving, wondering why I had been under the impression that he had been leaving town? Had he said he was leaving, or had I just assumed that he would go before the truth of his heritage was fully discovered? “My apologies.” I murmured in response to my sister’s distress. “I must have misunderstood.”

  Brynmor cursed under his breath and lifted off the dresser. “I'll await you two outside, I don’t think I can stomach this any longer.” He growled, whirling around on his heel and heading out, letting the door slam shut behind him.

  Rhian’s brow c
reased with a hurt look as she called after him. “Bryn! Wait!” She stepped to the window, watching Brynmor stalk over to the nearby fountain, kicking a flower pot on his way to send the small jar crashing into a wall. She snarled over her shoulder. “See what you did, Carys?”

  Ben shook his head and closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling in short huffs as he was clearly trying not to lose his patience. My own patience had run thin and I wished myself somewhere far, far away from here with no family in sight.

  Rhian turned back to Ben and addressed him once again. “Well, I am relieved you are staying, even if he isn’t.” Her eyes slid over towards me as though considering a snide remark, though she must have thought better of it and merely twisted her fingers together in front of her. “Are you going to stay at the Stag, or find a place to live once you leave here?” She pried lightly, though Ben hardly seemed to hear her.