“Straying away from simplicity distracts us from our true purpose,” Feyrith replied, frowning at Edwyr with more disapproval. “I see Edwyr didn’t explain this to you.”
“Simplicity?” Arbane chuckled. “Your robes are gold.”
Even though Edwyr knew very well that Arbane was simply poking fun at Feyrith in a good-natured way, he couldn’t help but enjoy the brief look of shock on the other elf’s face as he scrambled to defend himself.
“It’s to honor our Goddess,” he finally said, his voice noticeably a little less steady and composed than usual. And now Feyrith was avoiding everyone’s gaze again. But before Edwyr could use that as an opportunity to change the topic of the conversation to something other than food or elven culture, Arbane spoke up, patting Feyrith’s shoulder.
“Oh, come on, Fey, I was just teasing.”
Feyrith said nothing, only staring at Arbane’s hand with bafflement. But he didn’t look annoyed or offended. Unfortunately.
“I still think you should try the sweetbraids, though,” Arbane continued, letting go of the elf’s shoulder. “It’s not like you’ll start avoiding healing people, or whatever else you’re supposed to do, because of food.”
Edwyr wasn’t too sure about that. Human food was a bit too distracting sometimes, for better or for worse. But of course he wasn’t going to say it, as that would not only mean taking Feyrith’s side, but also agreeing with how the elven society did things—something Edwyr would never do.
Feyrith didn’t reply, though he was once again looking down at the pastries. Would the Council reprimand him for eating these? Edwyr couldn’t remember if he’d ever heard of anything like this happening, but given the fact that Feyrith seem to be considering this—
Why was Edwyr even thinking about this? He didn’t care. They had better things to talk about, anyway.
“We need to plan our journey better,” Edwyr said, looking at Lanna and Arbane only. “Sleeping outside is clearly not ideal.”
“You can say that again,” Lanna replied, shaking her head. “But I think if we took the time to find a cave, or something, we could do it.”
Edwyr wasn’t sure he liked that idea very much, but she was probably right. Assuming that there was no beast hiding in the hypothetical cave in the first place, but they could check that beforehand. Still, Edwyr would prefer staying in towns. He knew there were still quite a few settlements they could pass through before getting to the ruin.
“Yes, but still—”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” Arbane interrupted him, waving his arm dismissively. It was a very common gesture for him, though Edwyr couldn’t help but take it a bit personally this time. He wasn’t sure why. “I had a brief talk with the innkeeper. Apparently, this town’s been having trouble with some bloodfeathers.”
“We don’t have time to—”
“Yeah, not why I brought it up,” Arbane interrupted him again. But this time Edwyr couldn’t feel too annoyed because he wasn’t even sure why he’d argued against helping this town in the first place. Sure, he wanted to find out what was going on here, and get rid of Feyrith as quickly as possible, but helping the local hunters put an end to a couple bloodfeathers wouldn’t add more than a day to their journey.
“Those tigers yesterday, and now this…. It just got me thinking about if things were getting more dangerous,” Arbane continued, grimacing in worry as his gaze turned thoughtful. “I feel like we’ve had more problems to deal with the past two years or so than when we started doing it. Or is that just me getting old and lazy?”
Lanna shook her head at him, smiling to herself. But Arbane brought up a very good point. Edwyr hadn’t realized that, but it might have been true. In Sunwood, the average number of major attacks per month were one or two, but there had always been exceptions. And maybe those had been more frequent, now that he thought about it.
All of this left Edwyr’s mind when he saw Feyrith reach for one of the sweetbraids. Edwyr watched in shock as Feyrith hesitantly took a bite out of it, his eyes widening. It was somewhat funny to see such a strong reaction on an elf.
“What did I tell ya?” Arbane said, chuckling at Feyrith, who still looked far too shocked by what he was experiencing to react beyond a weak nod. And now Edwyr was confused, not sure how to feel about this. He did like that Feyrith wasn’t perhaps as blind of a follower as Edwyr had thought at first, but seeing it made him even more annoyed, if anything. The relative freedom human society offered was the only thing that made Edwyr’s situation at least a little less terrible.
And here Feyrith was, enjoying both magic and that freedom.
“All right,” said Lanna, rummaging in the bag she had next to her chair. Edwyr had definitely noticed her looking at him before she’d done so, however. So maybe she was aware of the tension between him and Feyrith after all. Edwyr would be hearing about this later, he was sure.
Finally, Lanna brought out her map, spreading it out over the table. “We’re here right now.”
Edwyr studied the map closely, noting that this town was larger than Sunwood, and that it was called Highbreach. That sounded familiar, actually. He was fairly certain one of his friends’ distant relatives lived here, and he was willing to guess it was Lanna’s because he didn’t think he’d ever heard Arbane talk about his family.
There wasn’t much opportunity to move anywhere when it came to humans, given how dangerous it was, and it was also incredibly difficult to join another town due to everyone being incredibly cautious and suspicious. It made sense, though, since exile was common practice for lawbreakers.
“If we leave before noon, we should be able to make it to the next village by sundown,” Lanna continued, tracing the road with her finger and stopping at what seemed to be a village called Mistglen. It truly didn’t seem to be too far away, so it would hopefully be all right. The jungle seemed dangerously close to this village, but perhaps that was simply the way the map was drawn.
“Sounds good to me,” Arbane replied, as carefree as ever.
“Are you not concerned about continuing?” Feyrith spoke up, half the sweetbraid still in his hand. He wasn’t trying to keep eye contact with anyone, which was very strange, but beyond that Feyrith’s face was entirely neutral, so Edwyr could only guess what was going on between those strangely long ears of his.
Or were Edwyr’s strangely short? He hadn’t been around other elves for so long he couldn’t tell anymore.
“Why? Because of those tigers?” Arbane waved his hand. “We do this for a living.”
Feyrith finally looked up at that, once again his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. But he didn’t say anything. Not that he needed to. He was definitely thinking something along the lines of how strange humans were.
“Yeah,” Lanna joined in, smiling at Feyrith. “No worries, Fey. Besides, we’ve got you and your magic to help out.”
Edwyr gritted his teeth in the most subtle way he could manage, so as not to show that this was bothering him.
“Why do you insist on calling me that?”
“It’s a nickname,” Arbane replied with far too much enthusiasm for Edwyr’s taste. “We humans do that.”
Feyrith didn’t seem offended anymore—he mostly looked curious as he leaned onto the table with his elbows and stared intently at Arbane. “Yes, but why?”
Arbane shrugged, finishing his milk. “I don’t know. It’s friendly and easy. Names are hard, elven names are harder.”
Feyrith nodded seriously. “Fascinating.” And then to Edwyr’s absolute shock, Feyrith proceeded to take a journal out of his satchel and write down something with a pen that didn’t seem to need ink. Of course Feyrith would have that.
While Edwyr was busy staring at Feyrith, Arbane laughed again and turned to Lanna. “He’s cute. Can we keep him?”
Lanna laughed too, putting a hand over her mouth to muffle it. Edwyr wondered if his friends’ lack of awe when it came to elves was due to him working with them for so long, but he was d
efinitely glad for it. He wasn’t sure how he’d handle them treating Feyrith as someone to revere.
Feyrith for the most part looked a little annoyed, but he was clearly doing his best to hide it as he closed his journal again, putting it and the pen back in his bag. “I simply find your culture interesting.”
“Right, well, add friendly teasing to the list of things humans do, then.”
Edwyr couldn’t tell if that had been sarcasm on Arbane’s part, or if he was being sincere—probably a bit of both—but after a brief, suspicious hesitation Feyrith once again retrieved his journal and actually wrote it down.
“And what is the point of that?” he asked once he was finished, looking up at the two humans curiously. Edwyr wasn’t sure what the answer to this was either, and he’d lived among humans for a long time. He was somewhat curious about what they would say as well.
Arbane and Lanna looked at each other and then shrugged at Feyrith in unison. “I don’t know. It’s just something we do.”
Feyrith was apparently unfazed by this, only giving them a nod and writing something else down. Edwyr would love to look at what else was in that journal. He was sure it would be amusing.
“Elves are really different from us, huh?” Lanna mused, finishing the rest of her tea before continuing. “I didn’t really get that impression when we met you, Edwyr.”
Edwyr shrugged and picked up and eating the last sweetbraid to busy himself with something. This wasn’t a topic he would enjoy discussing—he knew that much.
“Well, Edwyr is Cursed,” Feyrith replied, making Edwyr flinch and freeze mid bite. “He is not truly one of us.”
It was one thing to say this to him in private, but it was another to hear Feyrith talk about him like this in front of Arbane and Lanna. Edwyr didn’t even look at the two humans to see their reactions—he could only focus on Feyrith, the source of his anger.
“And I could not be happier about being exiled,” Edwyr said through gritted teeth, his voice so cold that it surprised even him.
“Whoa, wait, what?”
Edwyr continued glaring at Feyrith, who was now glaring back, not bothering to look over at his friends despite them continuing to speak. He could barely even hear what they were saying until he was suddenly pulled to his feet and out of the inn by Lanna.
Before he could protest, they were already outside. Edwyr sighed, yanking his arm out of Lanna’s grip as he glared off to the side at the two humans unfortunate enough to be passing by just then.
“Damn, Edwyr, you okay?”
Edwyr sighed. He was so tired of that question by now, but it was warranted. He breathed out, forcing himself to unclench his fists. He needed to calm down.
“You looked like you were about to hit Fey just then.”
Had he wanted to do that? He didn’t think so, though the elf would deserve it. Edwyr shook his head. No, it wasn’t Feyrith’s fault—it was their society that had taught him Edwyr was…different in the worst possible sense of the word. It was just so difficult not to turn all that bitterness against him.
“Apologies.”
Lanna gave him such a tired look that it made Edwyr forget what he’d wanted to say next. And then she proceeded to narrow his eyes at him. She didn’t even need to say anything—he knew exactly what she was thinking. He could practically hear the words in his head.
“I want to help him travel to that ruin. I do,” he began, sighing again. He wasn’t sure how Lanna did it, but she always managed to get him to talk. No matter how much he didn’t want to. “But I get…furious with him over the littlest things.”
Lanna patted Edwyr’s shoulder, grimacing. “I think you two will just need to talk this out.”
Edwyr had feared that she would suggest that. And it was unlikely to help, in his opinion, but silent resentment hadn’t worked well so far either. And he wasn’t so sure he would be able to keep up the silence for long enough, either. They still had two days of journey left, at the very least. And that wasn’t counting the journey back.
“Come on, let’s get our squawkers. We should get going.”
Edwyr nodded, grateful that Lanna wasn’t pushing the issue further. At least he would hopefully be able to avoid Feyrith and his opinions as long as they were actively traveling. Edwyr really needed time to get his thoughts in order, and his emotions under control after this incident.
15
“Did I not tell you not to say stuff like this?”
Feyrith tried not to scowl at Arbane’s tone. Yes, he probably should have respected what the human had said earlier and not pointed out that Edwyr was Cursed, but he’d not meant to make Edwyr angry. He was simply offering an explanation for why Edwyr had seemed different to the two humans than Feyrith.
“I apologize. I meant nothing by it.”
“Yeah, well, Edwyr’s upset now.”
Yes, that much had Feyrith gathered. He supposed he understood why, though Feyrith still wasn’t used to the idea of not stating facts or even outright lying to avoid making someone sad or angry. And the idea of someone getting upset over anything like this, in general, was also strange to him. He would have assumed this was another human thing, but Edwyr wasn’t human.
Arbane rubbed his eyes and let out a long sigh before looking back at Feyrith. “Are all of you like this? Just pointing out bad things about each other all the time?”
Feyrith thought about it for a moment. He supposed that was what elves did when he tried to look at it from a human perspective. They didn’t go out of their way to point out flaws and negative aspects, but when it was appropriate to the conversation, they tended to simply say it. It was expected.
“Yes. I’ve been told many times that my control of elements other than fire is…lacking.”
“And did that make you feel good?”
The way Arbane was looking at him, his arms folded over his chest, Feyrith was getting the feeling he didn’t actually want him to reply to that. Another strange human concept, but Feyrith was at least familiar with it.
He supposed the answer was no, though the comments he’d received had always been fair. His magic wasn’t as good as it could be in some areas, so it warranted pointing out. And with his relatively high stature for an elf his age came a rather high pressure.
But he’d chosen that. Edwyr hadn’t.
Even though Feyrith was still unsure of how he felt about being near a Cursed elf, he supposed he should try not to remind Edwyr of his situation if it upset him so much. After all, he was helping him without the promise of anything in return, and that should be appreciated, no matter what Edwyr had done or would do to make the Goddess punish him.
“Get it now?”
Feyrith gave a nod if only to end this conversation. He didn’t particularly enjoy being talked to like a child, but strangely he found it difficult to argue back, even if he wanted to. But what was holding him back wasn’t his people’s general rule about staying respectful and calm in all situations—it was something more personal this time, but Feyrith didn’t want to think about it.
“Great. Let’s go then.”
Feyrith quietly followed Arbane out of the inn. It was a good thing he’d paid the innkeeper up front for the food because he didn’t want to face anyone there after what had just happened. He was sure he’d not made a good first impression at all, and he was also likely the first elf they’d seen in a while, which made people witnessing him being lectured by a human so much worse.
He’d not even realized that during the argument, but now he couldn’t help but feel very ashamed.
Since Edwyr and Lanna weren’t to be found outside, Arbane suggested going to the stables. Since Feyrith agreed that it was the most likely place for the two to be at, he followed without a word. And soon enough Arbane’s guess turned out to be correct as they heard loud voices coming from the stables before even entering.
“Aggra, let go of the broom!” came Lanna’s muffled cry. It almost sounded like she was talking to an unruly child. Arbane
chuckled at it, making Feyrith frown at him. The elf wasn’t sure what was humorous about a quasir misbehaving, but he said nothing. While the two humans didn’t seem to have a problem with answering his questions, he could tell that right now, after what had happened, it wasn’t a good time to pose them.
Feyrith simply retrieved his quasir, doing his best to both avoid Edwyr’s gaze at all cost and to leave the stable as fast as possible. After climbing onto the quasir’s back, Feyrith absently stroked the animal’s feathers as he waited. It was strangely therapeutic, both for him and the quasir it seemed, based on how it pushed against his palm and cooed.
He only looked up again when the three passed him by. “All right, let’s go. While there’s still enough daylight to get us to Mistglen.”
And so they went. Feyrith stayed in the back, deciding that not talking or bringing attention to himself, in general, was the best course of action for now. Though he did wish he could continue talking with the two humans. Their culture was strange and fascinating to him, and while he didn’t want to get too distracted, he wouldn’t mind asking them a few more questions. He’d never paid particular attention to any of the books other elves had written about humans, and now he was regretting that. Maybe they would have given him answers to what were clearly very basic concepts, so he wouldn’t need to trouble Arbane and Lanna with them. But it was too late for that.
He stared off at the horizon on his left, watching a grazing herd of quasir in the distance, at least a hundred of them, as he thought over his experiences some more. Particularly eating that pastry at the inn. He still wasn’t sure if doing that had been the right thing to do. Actually, he knew it hadn’t been because now he desired to try more human food. It wasn’t a particularly strong desire, but he knew it was a distraction he would not have otherwise experienced.
But that could be said for almost everything here. There would be no avoiding it, no matter what he did.
The Circles of Magic Page 15