by Brindi Quinn
“Sorry.” I looked down at my feet.
“Oh, don’t fret. It’s quite all right. Throughout history Daems have sort of made a name for themselves by siding with darkness. Just like any group of people there are good and bad eggs. There are plenty of Daems that are evil and all, but not all of us.” He smiled. “Plus, the whole being part shadow thing doesn’t help misconceptions, I suppose.”
He paused and waited for a response.
Ardette, huh?
What did I think of this flashy person? What a way to expose oneself, springing out at the last minute and saving the day like that . . . but that was just his style, it seemed. Flirty . . . flashy . . . and kind of gaudy. But there was a valor about him too. Even aside from his charm he was likeable.
I smiled back.
“Oh, made up your mind about me, have you?” he asked, rubbing his chin.
Could he really sense that?
I nodded and gave him a small grin. “I guess you’re all right. We can be friends.”
“Friends, eh?” He laughed lightly, and I felt the urge to brace myself. “Then how’s this for you?” He leaned in close to me and dragged his lips against my cheek lightly on the way to my ear. “I have a secret to tell you,” he whispered.
I pushed him away. “What was that?”
Whatever it was, it’d been too forward.
“Hmmm, it seems you aren’t as affected by me as I’d hoped.” He looked disappointed.
As he’d hoped? What did that mean?
He continued, “How I enjoy making beautiful women nervous, but alas, your reaction was angry. I wonder why that is.”
“Quit harassing her!” Nyte walked over, and with fierce green eyes, shot the Daem an angry glance.
“It’s all right,” said Ardette. “I’ll behave myself. My ploys seemingly have no effect on her anyway.” He shrugged at me.
It was true; the seductive gesture hadn’t made me nervous in the least.
Weird. I got so giddy around Nyte, but that had done nothing.
“Miss Havoc?”
“It’s all right, Nyte. I’m fine,” I said, interested to find out just what Ardette was playing at.
Nyte made another strange grumble and then jogged ahead into the house. I watched him trot away and tried to imagine what my reaction would have been, had he been the one drawing his lips along my cheek. The thought made my heartbeat quicken.
Ardette leaned in close again. “Ah, I see. Already have your eye on that one, have you? Most unfortunate.”
“Eh?! No, that’s not it!” My eye on Nyte? Ardette was as good at messing with my head as Kantú.
“Quite defensive, aren’t you? Well then, I suppose we can be friends, but I’m not going to give up on you, just to warn you. I will make you nervous one way or another.” He smiled widely at me. “I just can’t resist.”
I understood then. It was a game he was after.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” I said, smiling calmly. “I’m quite sure I’m immune to your charm.” I accepted the challenge. I always was one for games.
“We’ll see,” he said, pleased. He stopped at the ranch house door. “Though I wasn’t lying, you know.”
“Lying? About what?”
“I do have a secret to tell you, and I’m afraid it won’t make you happy. But we’ll save that for later.” He winked and stepped through the door.
~
“Well then, Ardette, do share your most recent findings,” said Scardo, stoking the fire.
We’d settled into the den of the seemingly abandoned house. It looked like the owner had been out for some time, but they hadn’t taken anything with them. A light coat of dust blanketed the home’s interior.
“Is it okay to be trespassing like this?” I asked, looking around.
Ardette took my hand. “Does it worry you, my cherry pit?” he asked, trying to get a rise out of me. Apparently the game had already started.
I slapped his hand away. “Not really.”
“Leave her alone,” said Nyte, settling into the worn wooden chair across from us.
“Nyte, was it? Would you like to take my place, then?”
Nyte narrowed his eyes.
The air was tense a moment until Kantú cried out, “It worries me! It worries me so much!”
Oh, geez.
Ardette flashed her a smile and said, “We’re only borrowing the property. Besides, it’s quite apparent that the owner isn’t going to be using it anytime soon.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
Ardette studied his nails almost boredly for a second before answering. “I suppose because Grotts found the man’s body up in the bedroom.” His tone was droll despite the weight of the statement.
“What!” Kantú and I jumped at the same time. There’s a dead body up there?!
Kantú glared at Grotts, and he rubbed the back of his head nervously.
“I was gonna tell ya, Kantoo. I just didn’t wanna scare ya.”
She thought for a moment before lowering her glare; in response to which Grotts looked more than relieved.
“What caused his demise?” asked Rend stiffly, not looking at anyone in particular. It was one of the first things she’d said since meeting Ardette.
“Well, I’m glad you asked, Rend. Nothing particularly interesting, I’m afraid. Old age most likely.” He leaned at her with a delightfully coy smile on his face. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to piss her off or charm her.
She curled her lip in disgust and Ardette smiled, looking wholly pleased with the reaction he’d earned. I studied him with suspicion.
Guess the answer was ‘piss her off’, I concluded.
“In that case, I’m gonna go look for meat!” yelped Kantú. It seemed the osterflit keeper’s ‘demise’ was of little importance to her.
She bolted up and grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her into the dirty kitchen. I followed reluctantly. Looting the recently deceased wasn’t on my list of favorite things.
Once within the small dirty room that barely qualified as a kitchen, Kantú waited only a moment before stealthily peeking around the corner at Ardette. Meat hadn’t been her only objective. She now took in several helpings of Daem-ogling.
“What a dreamy man that’s joined us!” she said, and her voice was even higher than normal – like she couldn’t contain her bubbling emotions.
“Well, he certainly has flair, though I don’t know if he’s dreamy, per se.”
“You’re just saying that ‘cause you already have Nytie.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean have him?” I gave her tail a tug to pull her away from her gawkings.
She ignored the question and started rummaging through the osterflit keeper’s cupboards.
“This feels so wrong,” I said, flicking a dead spider off the windowsill.
“Come on, Aura, we’re on the run. We need to take opportunities like this when we get them!”
“I guess,” I muttered. But her argument didn’t make me feel any better when I thought about the lonely corpse in the upstairs bedroom. At least we’d only be staying one day.
Kantú continued her rummagings for a few minutes, tossing aside useless empty containers and dust-covered packages, until she finally found something worth keeping.
“Score!” With a giant squirrely grin, she held up a hidden stash of dried jerky.
I eyed the find warily. “What kind of meat is that?”
“Does it matter?” she squealed. She threw a thick piece into her mouth and started happily chomping away.
I cringed and turned from the unknown animal meat, desperately hoping it wasn’t squirrel.
On one of the shelves I found a small bag of dried citronge pit that had been ground into a fine powder. Delighted, I heated some water and mixed in the powder. It was a drink called piit that we made during the summer festivals in Farellah. I poured enough for everyone, sure that even the fruitarian Elves would be able to enjoy the concoction.
&nb
sp; The piit’s steaming aroma filled my nose and brought back memories of last year’s Mooncoming Festival. The priestesses had been out in full force that night, dancing ankle-deep in the tide. I’d watched between Laria and Kantú, sipping piit in the shallow sand and laughing at the village boys as they tried to interrupt the dances with wild catcalls.
I sighed at the memory and carried the kettle of steaming piit back to the others. How long had it been since I’d enjoyed a luxury like this?
“What is this?” Rend sneered when I handed her a cupful. “We do not drink tea.”
“I know,” I said. “It’s not tea; it’s piit.”
I explained the process to her.
“Oh.”
“It should be okay for you guys to drink, right?”
Rend looked at Nyte, he nodded, and they each took a sip. Rend didn’t say anything, but her lack of spiteful comment was gratification enough for me.
“It is very good,” said Nyte.
“Really?” I blushed at his approval.
He nodded, downed the whole thing and then requested another. I brought him one, and he made some comment about being surprised at the Heart of Havoc’s adeptness at ‘wifely skills’. I hit him in the arm, and he pretended to be hurt, all the while grinning with an impish glint in his eye.
Meanwhile, Ardette was studying Nyte and me with a strange expression of concentration on his face. I pretended not to notice.
Why was he so interested in our relationship anyway? He seemed to be making up his mind about something . . . but what? I sensed it was more than just part of his plan to ‘make me nervous’.
What else are you after?
Though I was curious, I didn’t say anything. Until I figured out his intentions, I’d let him observe us uninhibited.
We sat around the cracking fire and sipped the hot piit, letting its aroma diffuse into the stuffy den. It was the coziest I’d been since leaving Farellah.
I stared into my cup.
I should’ve been enjoying the drink on a beach’s warm sand, surrounded by festival songs. That was how it was meant to be enjoyed. Once again, the memory threatened to push its way back into my mind. It made me homesick, but the emotion was fleeting. There were matters that needed discussing.
“Well then, down to business?” Scardo set down his cup.
Grotts gave a great nod. “Yeah, Ardette, find out anything useful?”
Ardette paused for a moment, like he was thinking very carefully. Then he looked at me, and I suddenly remembered just what task the mole had been charged with.
Was this it? Would I finally find out Illuma’s fate? What would I do if she was alive? What would I do if she wasn’t?
I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I just stared back at him, unblinking, and held my breath.
“It seems her sister is alive, as we suspected.” His voice was calm.
The room fell silent. All eyes turned to me and cautiously awaited my reaction to the news.
It took a moment for the words to sink in.
Illuma . . . was . . . alive.
“You’re sure?” My words were barely audible.
He nodded and stared at me intensely.
Alive?
Alive!
After a decade, she was alive, and I’d be able to see her again.
“Illuma,” I whispered her name. All along I’d tried to restrain my emotions in preparation for this day, always stifling any hope that arose. Just in case. Just in case she’d already passed through the Mistlands. It wouldn’t hurt so much if it was something I already expected. But now she was alive for certain. That changed everything!
The emotions I’d been bottling up for so long came rushing out. The hope, the grief, the longing, the wonder, the heartsick. My lost sister was found.
I couldn’t stop the tears, even though I silently fought them. They just came.
I hid my face in my hands and tried to brush them away, embarrassed by my emotional vulnerability. Everyone’s wondering eyes turned sympathetic. Even Rend’s expression was unusually soft. She stared at the floor.
I looked back at them and struggled to remain composed.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, upset that I’d interrupted the meeting.
Scardo tried to soothe me. “M-Miss Heart, there is no reason to apologize. It is to be expec-”
“Let’s go for a walk.” Kantú cut in, voice soft.
Nyte had risen from his seat, but Kantú stepped in front of him and reached for my hand. I nodded, grateful for an escape from the internal struggle I was facing. She pulled me from my chair and drew me out of the room and into the deserted night.
Alive. Alive. Really? Alive?
She led me to the center of the fenced-in area and pointed to the eastern moon. It was at crescent; its beams a lovely faint orange.
“See, the moon is here for you, and so am I.”
She wrapped her arms around me.
Oh, Kantú. How I cherish you.
I buried my face in her chest and allowed the tears to come freely.
We stood together under the pale moonbeams for a third of an hour or more, and during my vent, my feelings turned from relief and release to urgency and worry. Illuma was alive. It was shocking and wonderful and hard to swallow, but she was also in danger. She was a captive, she was going to be ‘struck down’, and time was running out!
Alive, but in danger!
These thoughts were what finally pulled me out of my emotional whirlwind. It meant we had to hurry, and therefore, I really didn’t have time to waste in this state. I had to pull it together if I hoped to rescue her. I didn’t even know how much time I had left before . . .
No, I couldn’t think like that.
I’m going to be strong for you, Illuma. I swear it.
Remarkably, a new sense of determination and purpose came over me.
Yes, alive, but hurry!
“Alright.” I pulled myself away from Kantú.
“Alright?” She looked at me, confused.
“I have to save her.” I looked up at the moon. No, not just ‘have to’. My tone turned to one of conviction. “I will save her.”
Kantú looked at me for a moment with wide eyes and then grinned brightly. “Aaaalright!” She threw her fist into the air. “Let’s do it!”
I wiped away the last remnants of tear with my shirtsleeve.
“Thanks, Kantú.”
“Aw, don’t be so sappy. You know I’ll always come to the rescue!”
“I know.” I smiled, grateful for such a faithful friend. Though it was by chance that we were on this journey together, I was glad she was with me.
“Ready to go back in? I’m sure Nyte’s worried . . . .” She fluttered her eyelashes innocently and let her voice trail off.
“Kantú!”
Her gleeful chitterings lit up the silent night. I looped my arm through hers and together we walked back to the house.
The den was filled with the hum of quiet conversation when we rejoined the others, but it stopped as soon as we stepped into the room. Scardo hopped from his seat and scurried toward us.
“Miss Heart! Are you all right? Shall we retire for the eveni-”
“No. I’m fine. Please, let’s continue.”
Nyte looked concerned. Gently he asked, “Are you sure?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but Ardette cut me off.
“You certainly aren’t very good at reading her, are you? Clearly she’s gained new resolve, isn’t that right, my cherry pit?”
Nyte bared his teeth.
“Just tell us what you know,” I said, not wanting to admit he was right.
Ardette winked at Nyte. My avoidance only served to reinforce his statement. Nyte looked murderous.
Great, another standoff.
“Alrigh’ ya two,” said Grotts. “Knock it off.”
“My, my, your boy certainly gets upset easily,” said Ardette, directing his attention at me.
Whether it was Ardette�
��s obvious disrespect for Nyte or the implication that he was somehow ‘mine’, Rend finally reached her breaking point. She stood from her chair, eyes ablaze, and took a defensive stance in front of Nyte.
Tread carefully, Ardette.
But Ardette didn’t heed my non-uttered warning. “Oh, have I upset you too, Rend? So this is more of a love-triangle, is it? But I wonder which he prefers?”
Kantú and I exchanged astonished glances of worry, concerned for the foolish Daem’s safety. Who’d challenge the relentless woman so openly? Was upsetting Nyte that important to him? And besides –
Love-triangle? Please.
As expected, Rend readied her binding attack, an evil gleam in her eye, but Nyte grabbed her arm, stopping her before she could follow through.
“Sit, cousin. Do not worry yourself for my sake,” he said. His voice was calm, but his expression was cold.
She looked at Ardette with the same murderous intent but returned to her seat. Now there were three involved in the standoff.
“That was close,” whispered Kantú.
Next time Ardette wouldn’t be so lucky; Rend definitely wouldn’t give him a second chance.
“Ahem. I must insist that we move this meeting along. The moon is already high in the sky.” Scardo fiddled with the collar of his tux. He and Grotts both appeared very uncomfortable.
“Why of course,” said Ardette, rubbing one of his horns. “If it’s all right with Nyte, that is.”
Nyte nodded silently.
I caught his eye, but he looked away, embarrassed. Was it the comments themselves or the fact that he’d let them get to him that caused him discomfort? Either way, it was apparent that Ardette had no intention of making things easy for Nyte.
Why, Ardette . . . Why Nyte? What was this special interest?
“Well?” I said, trying to hurry along the awkward silence.
Ardette looked at me and his smile fell. It was then that he remembered the importance of our meeting, for his tone was serious when he responded,
“While we lesser guards were not made aware of the entire plan, there was talk of a songstress to be sacrificed.”
I tried not to let the words affect me. I had to stay strong.
“And it’s Illuma?” I asked, leaning forward. “Did you see her? Is she all right?”