by T. C. Edge
He doesn't.
With a final, deep breath, I step through the door and into the morning light, setting my eyes on the pinewoods that line the lake.
8
It's still morning time when I march past the edge of the treeline and into the little clearing beyond.
Eyes trace my step, those of the locals here in this little hunting community about half a dozen miles from where I live. I see women skinning game, children at play. Most of the men will be out hunting right now, the roles here largely defined by gender, as prescribed by the tenets and doctrines passed down from Olympus.
The community is small, perhaps only fifty or so, the huts and cabins arranged in a prime location within the pinewoods where game is most abundant. I come here regularly, and my presence isn't unexpected. I get a few hellos and nods of welcome as I march in, managing to repay the courtesies with my own nods and verbal greetings.
I'm working on autopilot as I go, hurrying swiftly through the village towards a shack situated at the back. I draw a breath as I reach the door, fist balling, banging loudly.
Please be here, I think. Please be here...
The door creaks open and I see Grace, Jude's auntie, appearing behind it. She's a mild lady in her mid-forties, good natured and of a quiet disposition. I'm not entirely sure she approves of me - much like how my parents don't approve of Jude - but if that's the case, she's not so vocal about it.
In fact, she's always polite and welcoming despite her reservations, a fact that probably owes to her being Jude's auntie only, and not his mother, who died - or, at least, went missing - with his father many years ago. Ever since, Jude has lived with her in this little hamlet, operating as a hunter - and a fine one at that - in the pinewoods in the foothills of the western mountains.
She draws a smile to her face at the sight of me, though that doesn't necessarily mean she's pleased to see me. That's just Grace. She's far too nice to greet even her worst enemy with anything but a warm expression. Not that she'd ever have a worst enemy, but still...
"Amber," she says, voice sweet, suiting her rather diminutive frame. "I didn't expect to see you so soon. Didn't you see Jude only yesterday?"
I nod and glance past her, eager to get to the point. The way in which she's speaking, however, suggests that she hasn't yet heard about the little incident with Ceres and the branding - or attempted branding - yet.
"I did, Grace. But, um..." I scan the cabin over her shoulder once again. "Is he around?"
She frowns, noticing the fully loaded bag on my back for the first time. One thing I will say about Grace is that she is tremendously protective of Jude. If ever she gets the sense that the two of us might do something stupid, like try to run away together or head off on some ill-thought adventure, she'll put her foot right down and set him straight.
Clearly, this situation smacks of something impulsive and probably rather dangerous. Her instincts are good, I'll give her that.
"He's...hunting," she says eventually, growing closeted. Her lips clamp shut at that, refusing to deliver any further detail.
I sigh, looking off into the woods. They surround the entire hamlet, a wide variety of hunting grounds on all sides depending upon the type of meat being sought out. At this time of year, I'm not sure exactly what they'll be after, though suspect that deer will be prevalent during the summer season. Though I'm not a hunter, Jude does tell me about that sort of stuff, and it's common to find large stocks of venison being brought to the collection ceremony at the beginning of these warmer months.
"Do you know where?" I ask softly, turning back to Grace. "I really need to speak with him."
I set that needy look to my eye, hoping it'll thaw her. It's a little crafty and manipulative, but I've little time to worry about that right now.
I see her expression change, gradually giving in to my puppy-dog impression. She's far too kind and soft to deny me for long.
"What's this about, Amber?" she asks. Her eyes glance again at my backpack, curious as to what I have planned. "Have you had a fight with your parents again?"
"I...well, it's about Lilly," I say. "She's...run away." The lie falls rather too easily. I notice the frown gather on Grace's face, an arm reach out to comfort me. "I'm going after her," I continue, sensing that further questioning will topple my stack of lies. "I've got clothes and food, just in case it takes a while. It's all been a bit of a rush..."
I lower my eyes and let out a whimpering sigh, shaking my head, managing to accumulate a sheen of tears. I'm rather impressed with my performance thus far as Grace's hand squeezes a little tighter on my shoulder, comforting me.
"Why would Lilly run away?" she asks, pondering to herself as her eyes move off to the middle distance, hidden beneath a pensive frown. "She's always been such a good girl." She scratches her chin, perhaps expecting me to answer. I don't really have one, so just remain silent.
She fixes me with another kind look, and then begins to nod. "I know how much Jude cares about Lilly too," she says, a slightly guilty look spreading across her facade. "I'm sorry, Amber. I saw the bag and I just thought..." she shakes her head. "I lied to you. He's just out the back fixing the fence around my vegetable patch. The rabbits have been getting at my produce again. Go ahead, you know the way."
Feeling a little guilty myself, I thank Grace with a plaintive nod and rush through the house, moving through the rear door and into the little garden beyond. Grace clearly takes great pride in its appearance, going by the lively arrangement of colour-coordinated flowers, the careful segmentation of her vegetables and little fruit orchards. There's even a little pond at one side; not a natural one but a water feature she's artificially created. I've never asked, but I imagine Jude was the one who built it for her.
I step into the late morning sunshine once more, and see my closest - and perhaps only real - friend at the rear, working a broken bit of fence back into place where the rabbits clearly got through. He stands to his feet, his messy hair sweaty and stuck to his forehead, his top half bare and displaying his finely honed physique and smattering of dark chest hair.
I don't see him like this often. If I had the time, I'd probably draw this moment out and savour it a little.
"Amber," he says, a wide, lopsided grin exploding onto his face. He wipes his brow, flicking sweat into the brown earth, and steps towards me as I rush towards him. I cover the ground quickly, causing that grin of his to depart. "What's wrong? What's happened?" he asks hurriedly, reaching out and steadying me, hands clasped to my shoulders.
His presence threatens to break me down. I can feel a flood of emotion coming, my words set to pour. I take a breath and glance back to the door and find Grace standing there, watching over us curiously, eyes ever vigilant.
"It's Lilly," I say, careful to control the volume of my voice. "She's gone, Jude. She's gone and I might never see her again."
I let out a sniff as my nose begins to run. That panic I felt when confronting my parents starts to boil up in me again.
"What!" he says, dark brows falling over his sultry chestnut eyes. He leans in a little closer, his voice a whisper. "What do you mean, gone?"
"To Olympus," I say, struggling to even manage the words, my expression contorting into a cringe. "She's been found worthy. That's what Ceres must have whispered to her yesterday at the ceremony. He must have told her they were coming to collect her. There's something weird going on, Jude, and I need to find out what it is."
"Why didn't she say anything?" Jude says, sighing deeply, shaking his head as he recalls the events of the previous day. "Yesterday, why didn't she mention any of this..." He takes me into a hug, cupping the back of my head with his strong, sweaty hand. "Oh, Amber...I'm so sorry."
"No, you're not sorry," I say. I shake my head fervently and pull back. "I don't want you to be sorry. That makes it sound like...like this is going to last. Like I won't see her again. I will," I announce, defiant. "I'm going after her, Jude. I'm not letting this happen."
He pul
ls away a little further and confronts me with a doubtful stare. "Are you...serious? Amber, Olympus is several days trek from here at least. You've never even been there before, and we're forbidden from going anywhere near. If they catch you..."
"I know, and I don't care," I cut in, refusing to hear sense. "You saw what happened with me at the ceremony. I spoke with grandma about it all. I'm no different from them, Jude. I'm a Fire-Blood. If I go they'll have to listen to me."
Won't they?
His eyes draw together, doubtful and yet consoling. I can see what he's thinking. That I'm just telling myself what I want to hear. That I'm lying to myself because it's the only way I'll actually see through the trek to Olympus, this wild plan to try to stop my sister from, well, doing what she's always wanted.
I hate that look. It's not what I need right now. It makes me wonder whether I have the right to do any of this at all, to interfere with this path that Lilly has always trodden.
"Amber," Jude starts, in that quiet, rarely sensible tone that tells me he's going to try to stop me. "Have you really thought this through? I mean, really..."
"Yes, I've thought it through," I say, losing some of my cool. "I've had two hours to think it through on the way here, Jude. I know what I'm doing."
"And why have you come here?" he asks, probing. "Why didn't you go and see your grandma? Surely she can help you better than I can?"
"I..."
He lifts a finger to stop me. Deep eyes fix to mine. "I know why you came," he continues, managing to summon that grin again. "You'd never ask it, but I know you want me to come with you."
"No...I..."
"It's OK, Amber." He pulls me into a hug. "Of course I'm coming with you."
"No...you don't have to," I tell him, pulling away, finding my words. "I just wanted to. I came to." I shake my head and look to the ground. "I don't want to put you in danger," I finish, voice weak.
"Danger?" he says, lifting my chin to meet my eyes. "It's me, gorgeous. You say 'danger', I say 'where?'. You really think I'd let you go alone?"
My eyes begin to water, my lips breaking into a weak smile. "I don't have a plan," I say softly. "I just...I have to do something. I can't just sit here and lose my sister to a lie."
"I know," he says gently, looking once more towards his auntie, still lingering watchfully at the front of the garden. "And anyway, I've always wanted to see Olympus up close, see what all the fuss is about. We just have to make it there, I guess. It'll...it'll be an adventure."
I step in and wrap my arms around his strong, bare chest, my hands pressing at his clammy, muscular back. A waft of his scent sweeps up my nose, sending a pleasing shudder through me.
What would I do without you? I think. I owe you so much more than I could ever repay.
"What's happening over there?"
Grace's voice interrupts the moment, and I release Jude and turn to find her stepping towards us, turning from timid house-cat to territorial lioness. Evidently, she's seen and heard just enough to know that we're concocting something she won't much like. And that what I told her was, if not a complete lie, a rearrangement of the truth.
Jude draws my eyes as she approaches, and turns his voice to a whisper. "Go head for the woods north of the village, just near the brook," he says. "I'll meet you there in a few minutes."
"Are you sure? I really don't..."
"I'm sure, Amber," he says, brown eyes displaying no doubt at all. "Now go. I'll deal with my auntie and see you there."
He smiles and then steps away, cutting Grace off as she continues to march towards us. I watch as Jude engages her, drawing her attention away from me, attempting to smooth things over with his seemingly endless well of charm.
I use the distraction to make my escape, flanking the village through the woods, heading off in the direction Jude assigned. A large part of me feels guilty as I go, forcing myself on Jude in this way, taking advantage of his affection for me.
If I really cared about him, wouldn't I just do this alone? If I wasn't so selfish, wouldn't I make sure he stays, rather than open him up to what is likely to be a highly perilous journey, with an end that neither of us can possibly predict?
The doubts begin to rise as I go, working into the pinewoods north of the village, reaching the small brook that trickles through the undergrowth towards the larger river further down the valley. I kneel down and gather cold water to my palms, splashing my face, trying to come to my wits.
Maybe I should just go alone? I think. Maybe I...shouldn't go at all?
I stand once more and pace, the positive motion working to strengthen my resolve again. I don't know what I'll say, or do, if and when we get there. I don't know whether I'll be able to do anything about getting Lilly home. I don't have any clue how my sudden arrival will be taken.
But, I know one thing, the most important thing of all.
That my path is somehow set now, and this is a track I cannot get off.
A rustle of vegetation heralds the arrival of Jude, frame clothed in beige hunting pants, dark brown boots, green vest that reveals his tanned, muscular arms. He paces towards me through the bushes with a pack on his back, dark, wet hair swept backwards, firm expression on his face.
"All set?" he asks me, maintaining his casual air, drawing upon his natural leadership traits.
I nod silently, assaulted by another barrage of doubts as I see him, so dutiful, so willing to go with me right to the end. The sight brings another strike of guilt, my resolve fractured, conflicted.
He paces towards the edge of the stream where I stand, noting the shape of my eyes, so torn between what I know I have to do, and the fear of actually doing it. He combats it with a grin, working his usual magic, and when he speaks, he does so casually, as though we're intending nothing more than a stroll through these woods he knows so well.
"Well then," he says, grin rising and holding, eyes sweeping towards the woods north of the stream. "I guess we should get going. You want to lead the way, or should I?"
He smirks as he asks the question, breaking the ice, fully aware that my sense of direction around this part of the pinewoods is rather lacking.
I don't answer immediately, which is probably what he intended.
"Ah, so that's why you came to me," he goes on, raising his eyes and, of course, leading me to raise a smile. He knows what makes me tick, how to draw away my tension. And deep down, I know full well that I'd never have considered going to Olympus without him. That I need him more than I could ever truly admit.
"No, I..." I begin, keen to tell him that he's so much more than a navigator, a crutch to lend me emotional support. That he is, in fact, the boy I've loved for years, and feel I probably will forever. "I don't want you to think..."
"It's OK, Amber," he cuts in, waving away my feeble explanation. "You need a guide and someone to support you," he says, nodding, and turning rarely serious. "That'll always be me, gorgeous. No matter what you ask, I'll always be there for you."
I hope my expression is enough to convey my unending thanks, because words fail me as he gazes into my eyes. He holds the look for a second, smiles warmly, then sucks in a sudden breath, lays an arm over my back, and turns me towards the north.
"Right then," he says briskly, "what are we waiting for?"
And with a hasty step, he leads us off, stepping over the stream and away into the deep pinewoods.
Away into the unknown.
9
The sound of birdsong wakes me.
My eyes break open, shards of brilliant sunlight cutting down through the trees, the gentle sound of rushing water setting the backdrop that, several hours ago, helped send me off into a troubled, broken sleep.
I lift myself from the roll-up mat on which I slept to find that the one next to me is absent. I find Jude instead by the little fire we - well, he - fashioned the previous night, his mat already rolled up and packed away, a small pot of something bubbling over the flames. He stirs absentmindedly, seemingly away in some distant thou
ght. I watch him for a moment until he notices me sitting up, catching sight of me from the corner of his eye.
"Oh, you're awake," he says, voice catching slightly. "Sleep well?"
I yawn, stretch like a cat, and walk lazily over to him. He laughs at the sequence of actions.
"I guess that's a 'yes'," he says.
I don't want to disappoint him by telling him it's a 'no'. Right now, sleeping well isn't something I'm expecting. I'll be happy enough if I can get a few uninterrupted hours per night.
I sit down opposite him on a little tree stump, the entire area filled with them. As Jude told me the previous night before we stopped, there's a lumber village not far away who, by the looks of things, hacked their way through here not so long ago. Unlike me, Jude tends to get around when on his hunts, which can take him a fair distance from home occasionally, so he knows these lands a fair bit better than I do.
I take a look at whatever he's cooking, before catching a waft of something earthy and warm. Coffee. Just what I need.
"Want a cup?" he asks.
I nod eagerly, and he pours me one from the pot. I blow a few times and then take a sip, the hot liquid the perfect remedy for a poor night's sleep. Coffee is a luxury that I don't often enjoy. Around here, the conditions aren't great for growing coffee plants, so those that manage it are usually able to charge a premium when trading their wares. Mostly, of course, they're forced to give their produce as tribute, but they tend to create extra for their own personal use.
Jude, though he doesn't grow the plant himself, manages to get hold of some by trading succulent cuts of meat. Generally, it's hard to come by around Pine Lake, so he usually gets it in markets and towns a little further afield.
"How is it?" he asks me, pouring his own cup.
I take another sip. "So good," I sigh, the glorious liquid drifting down my throat. "You know you're too good to me, right? I don't deserve you."
"Yeah, I know," he grins, sipping his drink, then drawing a breath of deep pleasure. "But you put up with my teasing, so I guess that makes us even." He glances over to my mat, my backpack set beside it. "I never knew you talked in your sleep."