Wren couldn’t wait to discover what hers would be, but the sight of the colorful market a few streets away from the mansion thoroughly distracted her from thoughts of anything else. The breeze carried many different scents as she came closer, and not one of them was unpleasant to Wren’s pleased nostrils.
Here, also, was the racial diversity her town had always lacked, people of so many ethnicities scattered among the stands it almost took Wren’s breath away. She entered the crowd of many-colored robes and diverse peoples and began to excitedly look around.
Sia explained while they walked how their society operated. Most things were free, but the market involved a barter system—you traded the use of your particular magical power for something from a person’s stand, and these trades were apparently going on all over the place as Wren walked around. She took in the varied aromas from a spice vendor’s stand, all the heaps of spices looking like they would make quite a mess were the wind to pick up. Next to that was a booth full of mind-bogglingly beautiful flowers, with many familiar types and a fair number she’d never seen before, probably native to the Winged Blue’s world. It was interesting to Wren to see the “cross-pollination” between the humans’ world and the Wingeds’. She had assumed the worlds would be very different, and in some ways they were, but thankfully, there was enough familiarity here to keep Wren feeling right at home.
More at home than she’d ever felt back on Earth, she realized as they reached a stand full of jewelry, each piece dangling from small, copper-colored trees with tiny, dark green leaves on their branches. Wren jumped a little when one of the branches reached out in her direction, brushing against her arm in a gentle caress.
“It’s saying it likes you, miss.” The woman who spoke had a long, blue-black braid down her back, and a small, Egyptian-looking eye was painted in the middle of her forehead. Wren almost jumped again when the eye blinked, but the woman’s sweet, welcoming smile helped to reassure her enough to smile back. “I see you’re here with my sister-in-law, so might you be Wren? I’m Kriss’s wife, Yhen. He told me about meeting you last night. Seems he really liked you.”
“That’s nice. Thanks for telling me, Yhen,” Wren said. She allowed her eyes to wander away from the pretty woman’s face and back to the jewelry. One piece in particular caught her eye, a delicate female figure made of blue-painted metal, her arms stretched out about a centimeter from her robe-covered sides.
The woman must have noticed Wren looking at it, because she said, “She’s yours, if you’d like. Kriss and I wanted to give you a gift from our stand, a welcome-and-Happy-Birthday one. Here, let me show you something.” Yhen reached down and picked up the delicate silver chain, its pendant twinkling in the sunlight falling over Yhen’s stand. Then she placed her fingers on the pendant’s arms, pushing them down, in tandem, three times in a row. When they popped back up the third time, glowing, transparent wings appeared at her back, slowly flapping up and down as the pendant swung forward and back.
“That’s awesome!” Wren exclaimed. “I love it. And thank you, very much,” she added with much gratitude as Yhen handed it over to her.
“Here, let me help put it on you,” Sia said.
Wren, delighted at her crush’s offer, quickly turned around, and the magical little woman was soon hanging a few inches beneath her robe’s neckline. The feel of Sia’s hands against the back of her neck as she fastened the chain in place stole the show from her lovely gift, but it didn’t make her appreciate it any less. She thanked Yhen again, who smiled shyly and said, “Anything for our Savior.”
Wren was getting a little sick of being referred to with that particular word, including a mild touch of entirely physical sickness from the nerves it caused to tumble around in her stomach. But she chose to ignore as best she could the anxiety those words seemed to cause in her.
“What’s next?” she asked her dad, whose arm was resting on Rysha’s narrow shoulders.
“Next is a trip to Piru’s, for lunch and knowledge,” Torien said. “And a swim, if you’d like.”
“I’d more than ‘like’!” So Wren followed her father and Rysha down the long pathway through the rest of the market, trying to pay attention to the stands and their wares instead of the way Rysha’s hand was holding on to the far side of her dad’s waist. She was starting to think she would just have to get used to Rysha being around; it was obvious that her dad felt just as much affection for this woman as Rysha felt for him. Did her mom stand a chance with him, anyway? And did she even want to get him back?
Wren was also starting to think she shouldn’t try to meddle in her parents’ lives. Especially with the way her mom had been looking at Quiq only the second time they’d seen him, when they had encountered the triplets downstairs. She hadn’t looked that way at Wren’s dad once since they’d arrived. Maybe she’d fully moved on by now, and maybe Wren would just have to accept that fact.
All this didn’t mean that liking Rysha would be easy for her, but maybe with time it would become a bit easier. Rysha hadn’t really given Wren any reason to dislike her, after all, other than the fact that she’d replaced her mom at her father’s side.
But Denise didn’t seem to be paying the least bit of attention to Torien’s affection toward his girlfriend, so Wren chose to do the same and to just enjoy her walk through the city’s winding streets and past all of its diverse, winged people.
After about twenty minutes of walking, with Torien and Rysha leading the way and a tired-looking Denise taking up the rear, their path began to go a little uphill. At the top of the small hill sat a house the color of the summer sky, with open-shuttered windows and an also-open front door. Out on its porch sat an older-looking gentleman wearing wire-rimmed glasses and a robe with a golden tree woven over his chest.
“Wow, nice robe,” was the first thing Wren thought to say to him, and she almost slapped herself after those dumb words escaped her lips.
“I do quite like this one, and so did my wife. You have good taste!” He rose from his rocking chair, looking surprisingly spry for a man with so many wrinkles decorating his tanned skin. “Would you like to come inside, Wren? And Denise, how have you been liking your stay so far?”
Both Denise and Sia spoke at the same time, Sia with an annoyed, “Grandpa, you knew and you didn’t tell me?” and Denise told him, “It’s amazing here, beyond anything I ever could have imagined. I love it.”
“Well, may I be one of many to welcome you here, and to let you know you’re never going to wear out said ‘welcome.’”
“Thank you.” It wasn’t Denise who said this, but Wren, because she finally felt certain she’d made the right choice in bringing her mom to Shyon and the city of Azyr. Hopefully the Winged Red wouldn’t make her regret her decision.
“So, are you all ready for lunch, or do we have time to talk first?” Piru might have been asking all of them, but his intelligent-looking eyes were trained on Wren.
“I’m up for talking, if everyone else is,” she told him. Sounds and nods of assent came from the other four people. But first, Wren’s strong curiosity led her to ask Piru a question before she could feel ready to enter his house. “What will we be talking about?”
“You, Wren, you and your future. I would wager that you’d like to know all you can!”
“Yes, I really would.” Her words couldn’t have been more true. The fact that she knew so little of what would come to pass had been weighing heavily on Wren for days.
“Then come inside, and I’ll fill you in once we’re all seated.” Piru placed his hand on her upper back and gestured to the front door. He turned his head away seconds after his hand met her robe. It seemed he might have been trying to hide his face from her, but he didn’t move fast enough: Wren could see him beginning to wince just as his thumb first pressed against her bare neck.
“What is it, Piru? Are you okay?”
Piru turned back to Wren, and then she could see that his pain wasn’t coming from himself: it was coming from her,
and only with the lightest touch of his skin to hers. “Oh, my dear, dear girl. Yes, I am fine. You…I…if you could just please go inside, I’ll let you know anything you want.” So she did as he asked, entering his home after he gestured toward his front door for the second time.
Piru’s living room held a large, unlit fireplace, two long tan couches, and a rocking chair. The six of them sat down on the couches, with Wren seated between Sia and Piru on the one farthest from the door. Denise, Torien, and Rysha sat opposite them. Between the couches was a pale wooden table laden with trays of sandwiches, a bowl full of sliced fruit, and two pitchers containing something that looked a lot like iced tea.
“I apologize for touching you without asking first,” Piru said once everyone was settled. He was turned in Wren’s direction, his left hand resting a few inches away from her thigh but not touching it. Wren was glad of this, because while she hadn’t minded him placing his hand on her back at first, the sign that he might have gotten a glimpse into her mind had troubled her a fair deal. Wren decided then that she didn’t want him looking inside her brain without asking first, ever again.
“Apology accepted, as long as you…as long as you don’t do that again without getting my permission. Please,” Wren added, because Piru seemed nice enough, despite his intrusion into her head.
“I didn’t even intend to read your thoughts, I promise. I would hold my power back if I could, I swear.” His look of contrition was more than believable, so Wren took him at his word. “Now, before we eat, would you allow me to touch you again? It will tell me, and everyone else who’s here, much more than I’ve been able to foresee for you before now. And it will likely help you with your lack of knowledge about what is to come. Would that be all right?”
She paused to think for a moment. Would it be? It seemed it was probably entirely necessary, so she answered, “I think so. Yes, I definitely think so, because I really do want to know more, as much more as you can tell me. This not knowing anything about my future, when so much seems to depend on me, well, it’s really kind of scary.”
“I can’t blame you for feeling that way, so, with luck, gaining some knowledge about your future will help to lessen your fears. But in order to help you, I need to touch you again. Would you be kind enough to give me your definite permission, Wren?”
“Yes, you have my permission.”
Piru took her hand after she’d spoken. He ever-so-gently turned it upside down and rested his thumb on her palm. Then he shut his eyes. It was almost completely silent in the house for the next few minutes, only the occasional sound of birdsong from outside interrupting the quiet. Then Piru began to speak.
“I see you becoming a very skilled archer in almost no time at all, but you already knew that, of course. I see…I see that Torien’s power will not be passed down, but you will be gaining your own power soon, a very strong one, a very mighty one, and it will cause you pain, until it finally…until it finally changes everything for you. Permanently. The power is…the power…I can’t see what it will be. That part of your path, for whatever reason, is blocked to me.”
Piru’s eyes opened again, and he blinked a few times. His unfocused gaze wandered back and forth across the room. Then it rested on a large, shiny blue cloth hanging from the ceiling in the far corner of the room. “That’s all for now.” Piru’s voice sounded distant, but then he seemed to come fully back into the present, back from wherever he’d been. “Thank you, Wren, that was very helpful.” He rubbed his hands together swiftly, then spread them in a gesture that was directed at the food and drinks scattered across the table. “Now, would everyone like to eat? And after we’re done, I have a gift for you, Wren, over in the corner, by the fireplace.”
Wren hadn’t noticed it before, but a small gray box sat on the hearth. “Thank you, for whatever it is. You really didn’t have to.”
“That’s the point of a gift, my dear—that you don’t really have to give it.” Piru lifted one of the pitchers off of the table and pointed to the glass in front of Wren. “I hope you like iced tea?”
Once everyone had eaten almost all of the sandwiches and a large amount of the fruit salad, Wren retrieved the box and opened it. Inside was a two-piece bathing suit, with ivory-colored vines winding across its chocolate-brown background. It consisted of a pair of shorts and a sports-bra-like top, with delicate, lacy strips of cloth crisscrossing the back of its top half, which gave it a subtle touch of femininity. “It’s beautiful,” Wren told Piru. She kept silent about the fact that she in no way had the figure for the suit.
“I think you’ll look great in it,” Sia told her, and Wren turned away from her and toward Piru, to hide both her delight at Sia’s words along with the doubt that they could possibly be true.
She couldn’t wait to try it on. “Where’s your bathroom?” Wren asked him.
As soon as she’d changed, everyone else stripped down to their suits, and Sia looked Wren up and down, then said, “Yep, I was right.”
Wren turned away from Sia again, this time to hide her reddening cheeks and her grin. She couldn’t fully accept that Sia had meant it, but a small voice in her head told her that maybe it actually was Sia’s honest opinion.
Everyone went outside, into the bright, warm backyard. The temperature was perfect for a swim, and the waters of the impossibly clear pond beyond a richly green spread of lawn beckoned to them. In the water, bright-colored fish swam beneath Sia and Wren, and a teasing remark from Sia led to a lengthy splash-fight between the two of them.
Wren couldn’t remember the last time she’d had this much fun or felt this free. It had to have been before her dad left. But now, wonderfully, he was back in her life, sending a smile in her direction every few minutes.
After a long swim, everyone went up to the shore to dry off. Piru brought out more iced tea and some rich, buttery cookies to go with it. Wren didn’t even care that after eating three of them in a row she had become completely coated in crumbs. Any chance of embarrassment was washed away with the pure happiness she felt at this time spent with both loved ones and new friends. Besides, another dip into the water washed away the crumbs.
For once, though, she didn’t need water to wash away any worries. Just then, in the pond’s cool waters, under Shyon’s hot summer sun, Wren didn’t have a single one.
Chapter Twenty-one
When Wren took note of the location of the lowering sun, she guessed it was around six by the time everyone was done swimming and sunbathing, and she left the waters behind with a touch of regret. But she knew she could come back there any time she wanted, as Sia’s grandfather had said as much. After everyone had changed into dry clothes, they began the trek back to Torien’s home, arriving there just as the sun was starting to dip below the city’s surrounding hills. Piru had come with them, and he’d told Wren he wasn’t willing to miss the festivities that night. “After all,” he’d said, “your father throws the best parties in the whole city. I’m guessing that will be especially true with this one, considering it’s in the honor of his incredibly missed, well-loved daughter.”
It felt great to Wren, hearing those words secondhand, even though it was more than clear that her father was elated to have her in his life again. Wren shared those strong feelings, which were refreshed and strengthened every time he glanced in her direction on the walk back to her new home, always with a beaming smile.
Once they’d arrived at Torien’s door, he suggested that Wren go upstairs and change clothes. “Something’s waiting for you on the bed, something special to wear to your party. Then I want you to meet me at the foot of the stairs, and I’ll lead you there. Blindfolded, of course.”
“Of course?” But instead of waiting for a single word more from her father, Wren rushed upstairs to her room. Laid out on her bed were robes even more beautiful than Piru’s. They were every shade of blue possible, and the fabric even held a few colors Wren had never seen before. The sleeves contained an even vaster array of blues, and all these blues we
re made up of small, downy raven feathers, every single one of them iridescent and incredibly soft against her fingers as she ran a hand reverently across them.
When Wren had almost reached the bottom of the stairs, dressed in what was now her new favorite outfit, her father sighed softly and took her hand as he helped her down the final two steps. “You should know that those feathers came from every single Winged Blue I invited to your party, and all of them were given with great respect to you. Do you like your robe?”
“I more than like it. Much more. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever worn.” Wren didn’t add that it was also the most beautiful thing she’d ever owned.
“And you do it complete and utter justice, my dearest girl. Happy Birthday.”
The robe was so incredibly beautiful Wren wasn’t sure her dad was right, but she chose to believe that he meant his words, even if she couldn’t completely agree with him. She stood at the bottom of the steps while he tied a strip of black fabric around her eyes, placed his hand on her back, and slowly led her forward, then left and right a few times. He might have been trying to confuse her, and the thought made her smile.
Soon, she guessed she was outside. She could feel the warm breath of early night, and the unfamiliar, yet still-soothing sound of Azyrian crickets echoed through the space where she now stood. She could also hear sounds that implied she and her father were no longer alone. Torien took off her blindfold, and possibly upward of one hundred Winged Blue, with Denise standing in the very front, all yelled, “Happy Birthday, Wren!” A single tear rolled down her cheek after all those happy-looking people called out their welcome, but an almost impossibly wide grin joined it.
Believing in Blue Page 14