by Cheryl Dyson
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Toryn was heartily glad to be traveling once more, even though they did not cover much ground on the first day. Between Alyn and Garyn’s injuries, Verana continually insisted they stop and rest, as well as maintain a sedate pace. During a midday break Toryn watched Redwing set the remains of his meal aside and kneel down to speak with Alyn. Toryn frowned. The Akarskan girl was awake and talking, but she did not seem to have a firm grip on reality. It was disconcerting. And irritating. Toryn made a show of cleaning a spot from his boot in order to make his eavesdropping less obvious.
"Hello, Alyn," Redwing said. She looked at him and Toryn knew her blue eyes were open, but not piercing as they normally were. Looking at Alyn was almost like looking into a child’s face.
"Hello, Brydon. Why are we traveling through a swamp? Are we in Terris? It’s much nicer in Akarska. Can’t we go back?"
Redwing shook his head. "We need to go to Kaneelis. Someone is there who wants to meet you."
Alyn brightened. "Oh? Is it someone new? I might enjoy meeting someone new."
"I’m sure you will. Verana will tell you. They want to examine your injuries and make sure you are healing properly."
She scowled. "Of course I’m healing properly. Verana keeps forcing me to drink horrible liquids and Toryn treats me as if I’m breakable. And where did all these other people come from?"
Redwing raised his gaze to Toryn suddenly with a pained expression. They had explained it to her a number of times already. Toryn shrugged and Redwing looked helplessly at Verana.
"Where is Davin?" Alyn asked suddenly and Toryn’s jaw tightened. He was baffled by Alyn’s strange attachment to Davin. She wanted the silver-haired man beside her at all times and seemed to trust him over everyone else. Davin seemed the most bewildered of all. He appeared nonplused and tongue-tied when she wanted him near, but his silence did not disturb her. She seemed content that he was nearby and she did not ask for conversation. Davin had made a habit of sitting near her so that she could look at him for reassurance now and again.
Davin’s behavior when he was not with Alyn was also a puzzle. He often disappeared into the forest—seeking solitude? He slept at the edge of camp, far from the beds of the others, as if fearing contamination from some disease.
"Why does she always call for him?" Toryn had demanded of Verana earlier in frustration.
"I’m not certain. He must have cared for her when she was a prisoner in the cave. She remembers it, somehow, and clings to him, possibly because he was the only one there when she needed help." Toryn had felt guilty enough without hearing those words.
"Davin will be back soon, Alyn," Verana said now in a soothing tone. "Why not help Toryn feed the horses? You know he never does it right."
Alyn stood up, almost her old self with her next words. "That’s right, he never does, does he? Sometimes I wonder what he carries around in that head of his, for it is nothing that is used for thinking."
She gave Toryn a glare and marched off toward the picket line holding the horses nearby.
"Will she ever be as she was?" Brydon asked.
Verana nodded. "She is getting more lucid every day. What she really needs is rest—a lot of it—and preferably indoors. Thankfully we should be in Kaneelis soon. It will be impossible to miss the city if we continue west. Even if we reach the coast, all we need to do is follow it south."
"Good. Lavan is getting tiresome."
Toryn nearly barked a laugh; that was an understatement. Sellaris’s brother had taken up the habit of singing rowdy and disgusting songs and only the threat of a clout on the head from Toryn was enough to silence him, even then only for a while. The balance of the time he spent calling curses down upon their heads. When he saw that Sellaris and Garyn were not joining him in his threats, he included them in the diatribe. Earlier that day the redheaded idiot had made a run for it, setting heels to his mount and galloping into the trees. Toryn had given immediate chase, filled with glee at the opportunity to do something other than ride at a snail’s pace.
He had returned a short time later leading Lavan’s mount with the unconscious man slumped over the saddle. Toryn had looked warningly at Garyn, who had only shrugged. Sellaris had sighed and dropped back to nurse her brother. She had made no attempt to follow him in his escape and Toryn wondered what kind of brother would leave his sister to fend for herself.
He sighed and got up to help Alyn with the horses. Maybe if he tormented her enough her normal behavior would return.