Before he could let his mind wander any further down the spiral of thoughts, he heard Theia call for attention and saw Athan begin to walk down the line, evaluating each of them carefully. It had begun.
Chapter Four
Icelyn approached the training field slowly, not wanting to distract the people who were strewn across it practicing training maneuvers. She had been sent out into the field to collect some of the long, dry grass so that those who were working on gathering the supplies that they would need when they left Uoria could weave them into baskets. These would be used to pack the extra food, clothing, and other supplies that they would pack into the ship, but also be given to each of the members of the new army who would be able to pack their personal belongings to take with them. She was meant to stay on the edge of the field, not disrupting the crew, but she had found herself wandering further into the field, drawing closer to them and scanning the smaller groups to find Malcolm.
Her gaze finally fell on him and she paused, her hands stopped where they gripped the grass she was going to pull from the ground. Icelyn felt fascinated by him, unable to turn away or stop herself from watching him as he trained. His body looked strong and agile as he moved through the maneuvers that Theia was calling out. His hands grasped a long rod that he swung through the air and thrust ahead of him as if attacking some unseen enemy. Behind him, another person involved in the training brought his own rod up as if to bring it down onto Malcolm’s head. Though she knew that it was just an exercise, something planned and measured with the intention of planning movements and strategy and not with the goal of hurting anyone, she felt a shock of nervousness when the rod neared him. In one swift movement, Malcolm turned and brought his own weapon up to block the blow, forcing the other man back.
Icelyn was drawn to him, seemingly unable to turn away from him though she knew that she should. This was partly because of the responsibility toward him that she felt. Athan had chosen her to help him and this was something that she intended to take seriously. Malcolm was under her care and protection, and she was going to do what she could to ensure that he was kept safe. Beyond just the protective feeling that she had toward him, Icelyn could also feel an attraction toward him building. This thought made her feel very uncomfortable. That was not what this was supposed to be about. She was not supposed to feel this way about Malcolm, or truly about anyone. She knew, possibly better than anyone else, the seriousness of what was brewing on Uoria, Penthos, and Earth, and she was going to have to put all of her energy and attention into making sure that all of this unfolded in the way that it should.
As if he could feel that she was looking at him, Malcolm turned and looked across the field toward her. Their eyes met and Icelyn looked down sharply, turning her attention back to the grass. She tightened her grip on the dry strands and gave them a hard yank, pulling them from the ground. They came up out of the dirt in a tight bundle that she put into the basket on her back. She continued this way, not looking up again, until the basket was completely full, and then hurried her way back across the field and into the kingdom. Leaving the kingdom was something that they did rarely, usually venturing out only to gather the supplies and materials that only existed beyond the stone wall, and though she hadn’t encountered any sort of danger in her brief time in the field, Icelyn felt strangely like she understood why they tended to remain in the more familiar, protected kingdom.
She kept up such a pace on her way back to the meeting hall that she was breathless by the time that she stepped through the doors and lowered her basket to the floor. Several of the people in the room looked up at her as she entered and then turned back to their work, moving with urgency as they wove baskets and stitched garments. A man stepped up to her and grabbed her basket, flipping it onto his back where he carried several others and scurrying away. Icelyn drew in a breath and reached up to wipe a drop of sweat away from her forehead. Just as Theia had been guiding the training of a blended army in the way that she did for the Denynso warriors on the compound, the group that was around her handling the preparations was a mixture of men and women of various ages. These were the people who were either not in good enough condition to join the army and participate in the fighting, but who wanted to support those who were, or who planned on going along with them to Penthos but to help them handle their needs while they were there rather than participating in the battles themselves.
They had decided to handle the preparations in the meeting hall to ensure that they had enough space and to keep them all contained, protecting both the people and the materials that they were gathering. This filled the space with sounds, smells, and sights that created an almost overwhelming experience. Icelyn could see people clustered in one corner preserving food in cans while others wrapped fruit, nuts, and larger foods in cloth and boxes. Scattered in the seats were women stitching new clothing, blankets, cloaks, and harnesses for weapons. Older members of the kingdom and the human settlement sat on the floor weaving baskets with fingers so fast and nimble that Icelyn could scarcely see them moving as they progressed through the spirals and thatch work of the different types of baskets.
“Icelyn.”
Icelyn turned toward the sound of her name and saw Ellora coming toward her. She was carrying a basket of blankets on her hip and her face looked flushed as if she had been moving continuously for some time.
“Hello, Ellora,” she said. “How are you?”
The older woman nodded and looked around.
“Things are coming along,” she said. “I hope that we’re able to get everything finished in time. Athan and Theia say that the training should only take a few days.”
“Do you really think that they will be able to prepare the army enough in that short of a time?” Icelyn asked.
“I honestly don’t think that they have much of a choice,” Ellora said. “The people on Penthos have already been waiting for some time. They need the help. We have no idea what they might be facing right now and the longer that we take to get to them, the more danger that they are going to be in.”
Icelyn could hear the fear in the woman’s voice and knew that Ellora was thinking of Maxim. One son had been gravely injured on Penthos already, though he was mended enough that he was now participating in the training session, and the other was still on the distant planet, facing down a fearsome enemy that had made it clear that they were their primary target. She couldn’t imagine how terrifying this was for Ellora and this only strengthened Icelyn’s resolve to do anything that she could to help with the preparations. Though she had yet to make a decision as to whether she was going to go to Penthos with them, she wanted to help the crew be as prepared as they could be so that as many of them as possible would be able to return home safe and victorious.
“Theia is a good trainer,” Icelyn said, trying to comfort and reassure the woman. “She has trained the most powerful clan of warriors in the galaxy. She’ll be able to get them ready in time.”
Ellora nodded again as if she were trying to reassure herself, then tilted her head slightly to look at Icelyn more directly.
“Are you doing alright?” she asked. “You look exhausted.”
“I’m fine,” Icelyn said. “Everything’s just happening so quickly. I’m just trying to get used to it all and make sure that I’m getting everything done.”
“Athan tells me that Malcolm is going to be staying with you until the crew leaves for Penthos.”
“Yes,” Icelyn said. “He came last night.”
“That’s good,” Ellora said. “I like that you aren’t alone, at least for now. It’s been too long.”
Icelyn tried to force a smile, but looked away so that Ellora couldn’t see that the expression didn’t reach her eyes. She knew that the older woman had meant well with the comment, but it only worked to bring up difficult memories that Icelyn didn’t want to contemplate. It was too much for right then. There were other things that she needed to have on her mind.
“I’m going to go help wit
h the blankets,” Icelyn said, taking her leave of Ellora.
She moved across the meeting hall toward where several people were gathered near a towering stack of fabric scraps they were making into blankets. Taking up a needle and thread, she grabbed a scrap from the stack and began to stitch it onto the edge of a blanket that three other people were gradually building. Her fingers moved swiftly and soon she had slipped out of her thoughts and into a gentle meditation, swept away by the continuous, rhythmic pattern of the stitches forming in the fabric.
Chapter Five
Malcolm felt like his legs could barely carry him as he made his way back through the village and toward Icelyn’s house. Though Athan walked along beside him to make sure that he arrived safely in the darkness, neither of them spoke. They had trained hard throughout the day, pausing only for short times to eat. It left Malcolm exhausted and sore, and he knew that the next day would be just as hard if not harder. He had been through training with the Order to ensure that he could face the conflicts that they entered, but it had been nothing like this. The exercises that they had been put through in the training field were like those that trained up the Denynso warriors, intense and explosive, seemingly unrelenting as they pushed to teach every part of their bodies to respond, react, and fight.
The light that burned in the window of Icelyn’s home was reassuring and inviting, and Malcolm felt himself smile at the thought that the end of the night was finally closing in. He would soon be able to sleep, if only for a few hours. He bade Athan goodnight and walked into the house, closing the door behind him with as much energy as he could muster. Icelyn stepped out of her bedroom and walked into the living room when she heard it, her eyes widening when she saw him. Malcolm knew that he looked rough. He could feel the sweat and the dirt caked onto his skin, and the trickle of blood that moved down his arm from an injury sustained from a wayward blow dealt by another of the members of the new army. Athan had been almost happy when he saw Malcolm injured, telling the rest of the group that they should take the incident as a warning, demonstrating to them just how important it was that they follow through with the instructions that they were given just as they were given rather than trying to make assumptions for themselves and do what they thought was right based on their own understanding.
“Are you alright?” Icelyn asked.
Malcolm stepped forward into the room, resisting the urge to just drop down onto the couch as he was and fall asleep. He could only hope that this night was the worst that he would suffer and that his mind and body would adapt to the training quickly so that he could do his part. He still felt stung from their exchange that morning and he wasn’t sure how to respond to her.
“I’m fine,” he said.
Icelyn stepped closer to him, her expression regretful.
“I’m really sorry about what I said to you. I didn’t mean it the way that it came out. It’s just that all of this is just as new and sudden for me as it is for you. I don’t think that I responded to it the way that I should have.”
“I know,” Malcolm said, relieved that she had been the one to bring up the confrontation, but feeling strangely awkward now that she was trying to apologize. “I shouldn’t have been so sharp with you. I can’t expect you to be thrilled that you got me shoved on you all of a sudden. You don’t even know me and Athan volunteered you to become my keeper.”
“I’m not your keeper,” Icelyn said, her tone softening. “That’s not why he has you staying with me. He wants you protected and I can do that. It might have been a major change, but there was no reason for me to react to you that way. I just don’t want you to think that I was trying to make you feel bad for your decision…or that Athan had you come live with me.”
The statement made Icelyn sound vulnerable and Malcolm could sense that that was a state to which she was not accustomed. He didn’t want to make her feel any more uncomfortable, so he made the decision to push past it, starting again.
“I survived the first day of training. I think that’s really all I can feel good about right now.”
Icelyn gave a soft laugh and gestured down the hallway.
“Why don’t you go take a bath. I’m sure that it will make you feel better to get all of that dirt off of you, and your muscles will loosen up better with a soak. There’s plenty of hot water. Since it’s just me usually, the solar cells are able to maintain the heat well.”
The thought of a hot bath sounded glorious and Malcolm eagerly agreed. He made his way down the hall into the bathroom and turned on the water. Even though the air outside had still been oppressive when he got to the house, he turned the temperature up nearly as high as it would go. He knew that Icelyn had been right about the water easing his muscles and reducing the pain. Hopefully time spent in the bath would help to make him more limber for the next day and prevent injuries in his tight joints.
When the tub was full, Malcolm stepped down into the deep sunken tub and allowed the water to surround him. His eyes closed, and he let his head fall back to rest against the side. After allowing himself to spend several long, relaxing moments reclining there, he sat up slightly and reached for the cake of soap that sat on a small shelf on the wall. The smell that rose up to him was like Icelyn’s skin, surprising Malcolm with the realization that told him that he was paying far closer attention to her than he even recognized. He breathed in the smell as he bathed, losing track of time as he washed away the dust, dirt, sweat, and blood, and rejuvenated himself. It seemed the longer that he bathed, the deeper the effect went. Soon he wasn’t just washing away what his training and the time that he spent outside had left on him, but also the lingering feeling of the Order on his skin, the sound of their voices in his ears, and the look of their masks in his mind.
When he finally felt that he had spent enough time in the bath, he reluctantly pulled out the stopper and stepped out. He took a towel that smelled of the sun and breeze from a basket on the floor and began to dry himself. Malcolm was running the towel down one of his arms when he heard the door behind him open. He turned to see Icelyn step into the room and then stop abruptly, her face growing red and her mouth opening as her eyes fell onto his naked body.
“I’m sorry,” she finally managed to stammer, looking down and away. “I didn’t realize…”
“It’s alright,” Malcolm said, wrapping the towel around his waist.
Icelyn looked up cautiously and, seeing that he was concealed, straightened. She held out a stack of clothes.
“I realized that you probably didn’t have any fresh clothes to change into, so I brought you some of the things I’ve been working on for the crew.”
Malcolm felt ridiculous for not having thought of his need for clothing when he got into the bath and reached for the clothes gratefully. Their hands brushed slightly, and he felt the contact tingle through him. The attraction that he was feeling was undeniable, but he didn’t want her to know. His sudden appearance in her life, and her home, was enough. Icelyn pulled her hand away from his quickly and hurried out of the room as quickly as she could, closing the door behind her. He dressed, noticing that the pants fit him perfectly, but the shirt was too tight, and hesitated in the bathroom for a few moments, unsure of how he was supposed to interact with her. The discomfort that she felt at coming into the room with him undressed was obvious, but he had also noticed the way that her eyes had lingered on him, if only for a few seconds.
Finally, he knew that he couldn’t remain there for any longer and he walked out into the living room. Icelyn turned away from where she was laying out a fresh sheet on the couch.
“The shirt is a little tight,” Malcolm said. “Thank you for this, though.”
“That’s alright,” Icelyn said. “I have others. I can find another one for you.”
She took a step toward him and reached for the shirt, but her eyes seemed to lock on his arm.
“What?” he asked.
“What happened?” she asked.
He glanced down at his arm and saw
the injury from training.
“Oh,” he said, “that’s nothing. My training partner just got too enthusiastic during one of the exercises and didn’t follow through with a maneuver properly, so he hit me.”
“That looks like it hurts,” she said, coming up to him and resting her hand on his arm so that she could examine the cut more closely. “Let me put a bandage on it.”
“It’s really alright. I’m sure that I’m going to get plenty of other scrapes and cuts along the way before we make it to Penthos.”
“That’s probably true, but that doesn’t mean that you should just let yourself get an infection because it would be a good reminder of the experience. Just let me put a bandage on it for you. You don’t want to get any dirt in it tomorrow during training.”
Malcolm relented and Icelyn rushed off to the bathroom, returning a few moments later with a shallow box. She opened it and withdrew a glass jar of salve and a roll of bandages. The salve stung slightly as she rubbed it across the cut, but the feeling of her fingertips on his skin was worth the hint of pain. Icelyn massaged the thick medicine into his skin for a few more moments and then began to wrap the bandage around his muscle.
“Thank you,” he said. “For everything. I don’t know if I’ve said that yet.”
“You have,” she said without looking up from what she was doing.
“Well, thank you again. For everything that you’ve done and for everything that I’m sure that you’ll keep doing for me.”
Icelyn smiled and finished wrapping his arm.
“You’re welcome,” she said. “For everything.” She put her supplies away in the box and turned to him again. “If you go ahead and give me the clothes that you were wearing during training, if there’s anything left of them of course, I’ll wash them for you tomorrow.”
Malcolm and Icelyn's Story Page 3