Tree of Ages 1

by Sara C. Roethle

  “Oh, um, yes recent,” Finn mumbled in reply.

  “No need to be shy lass,” Malida consoled as she nudged Finn companionably with her elbow. “I'd just like to get to know the woman that finally settled Kai down.”

  Finn blushed. “How do you know him?” she asked, truly interested.

  Malida smiled as her eyes turned distant with memory. “Known him since he was a boy. He wasn't the only one better off away from the Gray City. I left a few years before he did, then ran into him on his travels years later with that Anna. Glad he's rid of her.”

  Finn went over the story of Kai's past in her mind, glad he had told her, though hopefully what he told her was the truth. “So you know about what happened to him then?”

  Malida's aged face settled into indignant lines. “The Gray City is not a kind place for those of the lower classes.”

  So perhaps Kai had indeed told her the truth. Somehow Finn knew it had been so. She wondered why Malida would still look out for a man she had known in a town she had left a very long time ago, but she did not press the issue.

  “How did the two of you meet?” Malida asked when Finn made no effort to fill the silence.

  Finn cleared her throat, deciding to tell as much truth as possible so that she would not have to remember too many lies. “We met in Garenoch,” she explained. “Our parties had decided to travel together, as the roads can be unsafe.”

  “Go on,” Malida urged.

  Finn glanced at the tub, secretly willing the water to heat more quickly. “We fell in love,” Finn blurted, then turned to Malida as the blush returned to her face. “It's hard to explain,” she finished apologetically.

  Malida patted Finn's shoulder. “Calm down, lass. I had no intention of causing you embarrassment.”

  Malida stood slowly like it hurt her bones and went to dip her hand into the bathwater. Nodding in satisfaction, she turned back to Finn with another warm smile. Finn found that she enjoyed Malida's smiles, even with the missing teeth. “I'll take your dirty clothes and leave you to your bath,” she said as she dried her hand on her skirts.

  Finn stood and stripped her clothes off quickly, glad that the conversation was over, and anxious to be clean. As a tree she had never worried about the dirt that built up on her bark, but she was beginning to find that the same dirt felt far different on human skin. She slipped down into the warm water as Malida left, closing the door behind her.

  While she bathed, she considered the strange events of the past several days. The events of the Blood Forest seemed like they had occurred ages ago, and her life as a tree seemed even farther back still. Though she felt less and less like a tree every day, she had not regained any more of her previous self, the self that had existed before she was a tree. In fact, the few memories of that long ago life she had acquired seemed to be fading as they were replaced by more recent events. Àed and Iseult seemed real, as did Kai and Anna. The Cavari and the past events that had been told to her all seemed like a story, interesting and meaningful, but not at all real.

  She had almost drifted off to sleep in the hot water when knock on the door pulled her back into awareness. “Yes?” she called, hoping that Malida had returned with her clothes.

  “Will you hurry it up?” Kai called through the door.

  Without waiting for a reply, he opened the door and walked into the room, pausing to set a bundle of fabric down on the wooden bench. He came to stand in front of the tub, wearing only a towel and an annoyed expression. Road dirt was evident on his tanned chest and wrists where it had reached beyond the edges of his clothing.

  “Malida already took my clothes,” he explained. “So if you wouldn't mind hurrying it up, it's a bit drafty in here.”

  Finn quickly sunk down into the bath so that only her head could be seen above the rim. “And what am I supposed to wear if I get out?”

  Kai gestured to the bundle of fabric on the bench. “She seems to think these will fit you better than your old ones. Not that she bothered getting me any new clothes.”

  Finn glanced at the bundle of clothes on the bench, the returned her gaze cautiously to Kai's irritated face. Her eyes widened as he took a step closer.

  “Get back!” she demanded, almost sitting up in the water before thinking better of it. “I'll get out when I'm ready.”

  Kai rolled his eyes and took a step back to sit on the bench next to the clothes. “Well I'm not waiting around the house in a towel. Malida's daughter is terrifying.”

  “Daughter?” Finn questioned, hoping to distract Kai from standing up again.

  “She's eighteen,” Kai explained as he pushed his tangled dark hair out of his face. “And very, very forward.”

  Finn snorted. “She sounds like just your type.”

  Kai raised his eyes from the floor and smirked at her. “Oh but I already have a wife. A wife who happens to be very selfish when it comes to bath time.”

  “I haven't even washed my hair,” she complained.

  Kai sighed. “It will take hours to wash all of that mess hanging off of your head.”

  Finn rolled her eyes and dunked her head down into the water, ignoring the sound of Kai's foot tapping on the wooden floor. She came back up and used a hard, yellow bar of soap to clean her scalp. “You're the one who told me to go first,” she commented as she scrubbed, then ducked down into the water again. She re-emerged to find Kai's eyes already resting on her. “Hand me a towel and turn around so I can get out,” she demanded.

  Kai stood silently and handed her a towel from one of the hooks on the wall, but failed to turn around.

  Finn raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged, finally offering her a small smile. “Can't blame me for trying.”

  Finn shook her head as Kai turned around so she could exit the bathtub. She was reluctant to leave the water, but also intrigued by the new clothes Malida had found for her. She was quite done with wearing too-long, dirty skirts.

  She wrapped the towel tightly around her and gathered the clothes from the bench, but paused as she noticed Kai’s bare back. Silvery scars crisscrossed his flesh, starting at his shoulders and trickling all the way down to the top of his towel, evidence of the whipping he’d received before escaping his past.

  Realizing she’d been staring, she schooled the emotion out of her face, then stepped in front of Kai with an expectant look.

  Kai just stood there with an infuriating smile.

  Finn huffed. “I need to get dressed.”

  When Kai only looked at her, still smiling, she checked to see that her towel was firmly in place, then turned to leave. She would take her chances changing in the room Malida had given them.

  “Don't leave on my account,” Kai said as she walked toward the door.

  Finn turned around with a witty remark on her tongue, only to find Kai had already dropped his towel and was stepping into the tub. Feeling like her face was on fire, Finn fled, slamming the door behind her.

  She had hoped to make a quick dash to the room they had been given, but instead she was met by an angry eighteen year old, much taller than her mother. In fact, the girl was taller than Finn, and looked down on her with cool, dark eyes.

  “Good day,” Finn said hesitantly.

  The girl glared at Finn, then whipped her long dark hair and skirts around as she turned and stormed off. Finn let out a breath and escaped the rest of the way to the specified room.

  Once inside, she set her towel on the drab blanket that covered the bed, and dressed as quickly as possible. The bodice of the new dress was done in a deep burgundy and hugged her ribs closely. The skirts, which did not drag on the floor like those of her last dress, were a purplish red so deep they were almost black. The color of the dress would show road dirt horribly, but she was just pleased to no longer feel like she was swimming in too much fabric.

  Once she was dressed, Finn searched through her belongings for the wooden comb Àed had given her before they had set out on their journey. As she pulled the comb through her damp l
ocks she thought of her missing companion sadly. He had done so much for her, and she had only caused him trouble to the point of risking his life repeatedly.

  She had begun to cry when Kai finally entered the room, dressed in his now-clean clothing. He smoothed the extra water out of his hair, looking irritated until he glanced down at Finn, then his face fell into concerned lines. “Do you not like the dress?” he asked, half-joking.

  Finn sniffled and attempted to rein in her tears. “The dress is wonderful. It was very thoughtful of Malida to give it to me.”

  “Shall we go?” he asked as he approached where Finn was perched on the bed, making no further comment on Finn's tears.

  Finn nodded as she wiped at her face and stood, feeling nervous about going out, even though she had insisted that she come along. Kai grabbed her green cloak from the wooden chair she had draped it over, and wrapped it snugly around her shoulders, giving her arms a reassuring squeeze as he did so.

  “Will we be outside much of the night?” Finn asked curiously as she looked down at her cloak.

  “We do not want you to be recognized,” he explained. “Keep your hood pulled up. Many who pass through Ainfean don't want to be seen. No one will question it.”

  Finn nodded and pulled the hood up. The tattered green fabric looked out of place with her new dress, but it would have to do.

  As Kai led the way out of the small home, they came across Malida's daughter once more. The girl smiled sweetly at Kai, then turned a fiery glare toward Finn as soon as he walked past.

  Finn quickly averted her gaze, and walked forward pretending not to see the jealous, young girl. She inadvertently bumped into Kai's side as she reached him. He looked at her questioningly, but she simply pulled him forward and out through the door they had first entered.

  Finn let out a breath as soon as they were outside, understanding fully why Kai had avoided the young girl.

  They crossed the alleyway and walked back out to the main street, which had grown far more crowded since they first arrived. Every other building seemed to be a tavern, but Kai chose the one called “The Blushing Butcher”, a particularly loud and colorful establishment.

  Once inside, Kai purchased Finn a mug of wine and left her sitting at the long oaken bar. The wine was bitter and sweet all at the same time, nothing like the wine she'd had in Garenoch. She had to force herself to take small sips while Kai sat at a table with a few fisherman.

  She darted nervous glances back at her companion, wishing she could hear what he was saying. She didn't like that she wasn't allowed to be included in the search for information, but had eventually settled in to stare into her mug of wine when a conversation caught her ear.

  “It looked for the life of me like a battlefield,” a man a few seats to the left at the bar said.

  The bartender poured the man another drink with a stern expression on his face. “But no bodies ye say?”

  Finn turned to see the first man shake his head. “No bodies, but blood, lots of blood. Kicked up dirt too, like some huge struggle.”

  The bartender let a huff of air out through his lips, disturbing his bristly mustache. “There's been word lately. Rumors. People are saying the Tuatha have returned.”

  The man shook his head in reply. “I heard them too, but this weren't no Faie trick. The blood was real. Had my hounds in a frenzy.”

  Finn tuned out the conversation. The Blood Forest no longer seemed distant. Perhaps the Travelers had been doing the countryside a favor in keeping the other Faie trapped. Or perhaps it had been another battle against the Travelers that the hunter had stumbled upon.

  A cloaked woman approached, sat on Finn's right, and ordered two mugs of wine. Once the mugs were delivered, she sat the second one in front of Finn.

  “I owe you a drink,” the woman said. “It's not often that my quarry escapes me.”

  Finn glanced at a face partially obscured by a cloak, just as her own face was obscured, then turned to fully face the women as recognition dawned on her. “Anna! How did you get here?”

  Anna snorted. “I walked, silly girl. As soon as I escaped Mius' camp, I was delayed by a group of Trow. I assumed you had something to do with that, but I honestly expected to find you back in ropes. It's not often that Kai loses a quarry either.” She paused to look back at Kai, who was yet to see her. “Oh look,” she said sarcastically. “He hasn't lost you after all.”

  “What do you want?” Finn asked sharply.

  Anna's face showed mock surprise. “Now, now, you can be friends with Kai, but not with me?”

  Finn glared. “I never claimed to be friends with Kai. He is simply repaying a debt to me.”

  “A debt, hmm?” Anna paused to take a sip of her wine. “Interesting.”

  When Anna did not continue speaking, Finn cleared her throat. “What do you want?”

  Anna chuckled to herself. “Well now, I originally came here wanting to recapture you and get my bounty, but I believe my plans have changed. I think I'd rather like to see how this all plays out.”

  “How what plays out?” Finn pressed, but Anna didn't answer. Instead she stood with her cloak still pulled up to block her face, and made her way out of the tavern.

  Moments later, Kai approached and took Anna's seat. “Who was that? She was speaking to you.”

  “Just some woman,” Finn lied. “She spoke of her day then moved on.”

  “She bought you a drink,” Kai observed.

  “She said I looked like I needed it,” Finn lied again.

  “Well I can't argue with her,” he conceded. He raised his own mug in sláinte. “Someone matching Àed's description was seen in the woods south of here, and there is likely more information to be found. It's going to be a long night.”

  Finn took another sip of her wine and thought that it tasted even more bitter than before.

  Chapter Twenty

  Àed ran ahead like a hound with a scent, impervious to the darkness, with his mule-horse bouncing right along behind him. Iseult and Óengus pushed their horses to a trot just to keep pace. The old man moved astonishingly fast.

  “Where is he going?” Óengus asked. “We lost any sign of tracks hours ago.”

  “I do not know how he does it,” Iseult replied, “but I know he goes toward Finn.”

  Óengus grunted. “You still have to pay me, you know, given that I will be losing out on a large bounty.”

  Iseult nodded. He did not care about the money. If it would eliminate the threat from Óengus without bloodshed, then he would pay.

  The distant glow of braziers in Port Ainfean came into view, raising a spark of hope within Iseult. Óengus had claimed that Finn would be taken to a Port. Perhaps they could find her before she was sent down the river, for if that happened, she could well be lost to them.

  Óengus eyed the distant spires, dully illuminated by moonlight, in a calculating manner. “If she was taken to Ainfean, she may be on the river by now, or at least waiting to board a ship.”

  Iseult cringed as Óengus echoed his thoughts. “Then we will go directly to the pier, and search for her from there.”

  “It is a large port . . .” Óengus began.

  “We will find her,” Iseult said flatly.

  Óengus did not argue, surrendering to the futility of that endeavor.

  Finn scowled as Kai left her uncomfortably alone at the bar once more. She could be of better use if he would allow her to go with him to talk to people, and she didn't like sitting at the loud bar alone. Seeing Anna had made her feel unsafe, which brought to light the fact that she'd felt somewhat safe in the first place. She knew she shouldn't trust Kai. The man had wanted to stick her on a boat to some unknown fate, after all. Yet she was not on the boat, and she was not sure she would have ended up there even if the Trow had not helped her.

  Then again, it was after he had gotten to know her that he was still willing to kidnap her, so perhaps the river really would have been her fate. Thinking about it, she began to get angry. The mug of
wine Anna had purchased for her still sat by her elbow, so she finished her own mug and started in on that one.

  Kai came to stand at her side. “It's all dead ends here. We should move on to the next establishment.”

  Finn downed the bitter wine in a few gulps and stood to follow him. Kai seemed like he wanted to make comment, but he held it in. His restraint was a wise choice, as Finn would not have minded a reason to lash out at him.

  The next tavern was called “The Green Sea”. The name was carved into an ornate wooden sign in the shape of a rolling ocean wave. A flash of memory hit Finn at the thought of the ocean. It was the first memory that had resurfaced in several days, and it drowned out all other thoughts.

  She saw the sea, and her kinfolk. They gathered around a large fire, discussing what needed to be done. The war could not be won if both sides were eliminated. They would have to wait it out and preserve the clan.

  “Finn!” Kai whispered harshly as he shook her.

  She blinked back into reality. “Yes?” she asked, confused.

  Kai eyed her warily. “Where did you go just now?”

  Finn blinked again. “Nowhere. I was just thinking about the ocean.”

  Kai stared at her for another moment. “Are you well enough to go on? I could walk you back to Malida's . . . ”

  Finn snorted and walked into the tavern ahead of him. There was no room at the bar, so she took a small table in the far back corner, feeling slightly dizzy. She had not been sitting long before one of the barmaids came to see if she wanted a drink.

  “I will have wine,” Finn told her, “though hopefully it is not quite so bitter here.”

  The barmaid smiled and flipped her curly, auburn hair over her shoulder. “Best wine in the Port,” she guaranteed, “all the way from Migris.”

  Finn nodded. “Good, did you see the man I came in with? He will be paying for the wine.”

  The barmaid raised an eyebrow. “You're not the usual type on Kai's tab.”

  Finn glared at the man in question. “The least he can do for me is buy me a drink,” she said with more heat than she had intended.