“I want to spend our lives together running naked through green fields while slapping the sky and giggling wildly,” Liselle said with a straight face.
The dance stopped while Vevin’s face twisted in thought. He took a deep breath and nodded decisively. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”
Liselle’s mouth twisted in a restrained grin before she burst into laughter. Vevin stared at her in confusion. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Oh, my dearest Vevin, I’ve fallen madly in love with you.”
“I love you too,” he said with hurt in his voice. “I don’t understand why you’re laughing at me. I agreed to do what you wanted.”
She stepped back, keeping her hands on his shoulders. His eyes were swirling and his body was slumped. “I’m so sorry, Vevin. I wasn’t laughing at you,” she said. That wasn’t entirely true. She had been laughing at him. “I’m really sorry.” Tears started to well in her eyes.
“I just don’t understand, dearest.” Vevin spread his arms out. “First you laugh at me then I make you cry. What did I do wrong?”
“Oh, Vevin. You didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” Liselle said tearfully. “I was just playing around and making a joke. Then when I saw that I hurt your feelings, I was afraid you wouldn’t . . .”
“Wouldn’t what?” he asked in confusion.
“I . . . I was afraid you wouldn’t forgive me or love me anymore. I know it’s silly, but . . . I . . .” Liselle had never in her life wanted someone to love and like her so much. She didn’t understand why she felt so weak or why her knees where shaking.
“I still love you and I . . .” He stopped with a frown. “What am I forgiving you for?”
“For being silly and making a joke and making you feel bad and hurting your feelings and . . . and . . . I don’t know!” she wailed, breaking into tears and hiding her face in her hands.
Vevin wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her without understanding why she was crying. He opened his mouth a few times, but didn’t know what to say to comfort her. After a while, the sobs stopped.
“Mmssrr,” she mumbled.
He didn’t understand that. “Umm . . . huh?”
Liselle straightened. “I’m sorry.” She looked up at him with timid eyes and sniffled.
“I forgive you,” Vevin said immediately. He didn’t want her to start crying again. He caressed her back, hoping it would help. “I love you.”
“I love you too. I don’t know what came over me or why I started crying.” Liselle took the handkerchief he offered her. He made it appear out of thin air with a shake of his hand, but she hadn’t been paying attention. “Everything is just so different since . . .” Fresh sobs wracked her body.
Something was upsetting her. “Since . . . the tunnels?” he guessed.
“No. Since mommy and daddy died.” Liselle cried harder than she had ever done before. Vevin held her and ran fingers through her hair because he knew she liked that.
Liselle didn’t remember how long it had been since the attack. Tathan had come home one morning and everyone was happy to see him. The next day, desert warriors of the Iynath Empire attacked, killing her parents and uncle as well as Tathan’s mother.
Now that Liselle stood crying in her lover’s arms, she realized that she had never fully dealt with the loss. Her heart ached as she remembered the terrible way in which they died. Tathan had tried to save them, but he wasn’t fast enough to fend off the thirty warriors.
She couldn’t help but think that if Vevin had been there instead of Tathan, her family wouldn’t have died. At the same time, if the event hadn’t happened, Liselle never would have traveled and met Vevin. The conflicting feelings confused her.
“It’s terrible that you suffered the loss of your parents, darling.” Vevin’s eyes were swirling with concern as he wiped away her tears with another handkerchief. “And it’s perfectly natural to mourn them. Let the grief wash through you and flow into the universe to be dealt with there.”
Vevin cared for her and loved her. As long as he was around, Liselle didn’t care where the two of them traveled or what they did with their lives.
“So . . .” Vevin began. “Does this mean you don’t want to spend our lives running naked through green fields while slapping the sky and giggling wildly?”
Laughter burst forth from Liselle once more. Just as abruptly as it started, it stopped. “No, my dearest Vevin. I don’t want to giggle through green fields or anything like that.”
The mood changes were confusing the poor dragon. “Oh . . . alright. So . . . what do you want to do?” he asked. It seemed very important for him to have clarity on the matter.
“I don’t know.” Liselle walked over to splash water on her face and refresh herself after all the crying. “I haven’t thought about it a great deal. So far I’ve traveled with Tathan, letting him lead.”
Vevin watched as she dried her face with a towel. “Oh yes, Tathan’s a good leader. Shall we keep following him?”
“He does seem to be a good leader,” Liselle agreed cautiously. “But I think there are things in his past that haunt him, and I worry.”
“Yes. He jumps at shadows,” Vevin agreed. “He attacks the air around him a lot as well. I’ve never seen anyone hold such a terrible grudge against air.”
Liselle giggled. “He is hostile toward air. I wonder sometimes what terrible thing happened to him.” She stretched all the way to her tiptoes, loosening the muscles in her body while Vevin watched appreciatively. “I think our plan for now should be to travel with Tathan. I’m sure he’ll find plenty of adventure and trouble for us. When we’re ready, we can settle down in your home in Aaltdiin.”
“Oh yes!” Vevin did his happy dance. “That would be wonderful. There’s always treasure at the end of adventure and trouble. We can put it in the vault and live happily ever after.”
Liselle laughed as he danced her around the room. They danced their way out the door and down to their usual table in the common room, ignoring disapproving looks from the few patrons having breakfast.
Chapter 3
Tathan saw Sir Danth talking to a merchant opening a stall for the day’s business. The knight was effortlessly carrying a heavy crate out for the man while they talked.
Sir Danth was from Morhain, an ancient country now in ruins. An event called ‘The Great Disappearing’ wiped out his people. Sixteen hundred years earlier, he had been charged with guarding the Crown of Morhain.
When Tathan, Liselle and Vevin arrived at the vault in Aaltdiin, Sir Danth begged to go with them and even broke his vow to guard the crown, not knowing someone had dug a hole to the back of the vault and stolen everything within. His body had decayed and dissolved long ago. Now only his spiritual awareness occupied the powerful magic armor he wore.
“Ho there, Master Tathan,” Sir Danth called out. “How goes your roaming? Did you find anything exciting?”
Tathan decided not to discuss his fruitless chase of a nameless blur. “Nope. Just more buildings with wings and plazas with statues.” He grabbed a box to help.
The merchant was a dark skinned man, most likely from a desert tribe. He listened to the exchange and then spoke in a rasping voice, “Aye, that’s mostly what there is around town: buildings, wings and statues. Sometimes I wish something exciting would happen, like that princess being kidnapped.”
The statement piqued Tathan’s curiosity. “A kidnapped princess you say?”
Sir Danth carried out another crate. “Franklin here was telling me the story before you came by. It seems a princess has been kidnapped from the Kingdom of Mayncal.”
The merchant nodded as he set up an awning over his goods. “Yeah. It’s a rumor I heard from a couple of travelers arriving from the east last week. They told me the princess was to marry a prince from the Kingdom of Brindlyn in order to forge an alliance between the two countries.”
“Haven’t those kingdoms been hostile toward each other for centuries?�
� Tathan asked.
“That they have.” The merchant wiped sweat off his forehead. “I don’t know the whole story of why they’re fighting. I believe there was something about a river and a dog attacking each other centuries ago or something like that.”
“I thought it was a dove and a mountain that attacked each other.” Tathan had heard too many different versions about why kingdoms went to war.
“Could’ve been. It’s hard to tell sometimes. Kingdoms fight each other for the silliest reasons.” The merchant began putting various leather goods from the east out on his tables. “In any case, the princess was supposed to marry the prince soon.”
“I do love a good wedding,” Sir Danth said. “There is always laughter and dancing.” The knight took Tathan by the arms and began dancing in circles outside of the merchant’s stall. Franklin and a few nearby merchants laughed. Tathan rolled his eyes as Sir Danth twirled him in a circle. Then the knight bowed to him and Tathan bowed back. The merchants applauded, cheering heartily.
“Do they know who kidnapped the princess?” Tathan asked the merchant.
“Some suspect Emperor Kravka is behind it,” Franklin said. “If the two kingdoms unite, it’ll be much more difficult for Iynath to conquer them.”
“A typical strategy to weaken kingdoms,” Sir Danth agreed. “I’d rather have a wedding with dancing.” He attempted to grab Tathan again, but this time the rogue was ready and tumbled out of the way, causing the merchant to snicker.
“Weddings are fun,” Franklin agreed. “Anyway, I don’t know what’ll happen or if the rumors are even true.” He shrugged. “That’s about the only news I’ve heard around here recently. Thank you, gentlemen, for your help setting up.” The merchant clapped them both on the shoulder and went back into his stall to finish.
Sir Danth leaned near Tathan as they walked back to the inn. “I found that bit of information very interesting, didn’t you?”
They strolled past merchants who were finishing the last preparations for the day’s business. “It’s not a big deal. Princesses are kidnapped all the time. I’m fairly certain it’s part of the job,” Tathan said with a wry grin.
Sir Danth chuckled and gave Tathan a friendly thump on the back of the shoulder, causing him to stumble forward. “Perhaps that is true,” the knight said while Tathan rubbed the sore shoulder. “But rescuing princesses is just as much a knight’s job as getting kidnapped is for a princess.” Sir Danth pointed a finger to emphasize his argument. “I’m not saying we should run to save the girl. I’m just saying that once we’re done, it might be worth checking into.”
Tathan thought about it for a moment. Saving princesses was not something he was interested in. Royalty tended to be fickle and almost never paid on time. Still, Sir Danth had become a true friend. If the knight wanted to save a princess, who was he to say no. “Alright. After we finish our current business, we’ll see about the princess. If it’s within our abilities, I don’t see why we can’t give saving her a try.”
He was quick enough to dodge the next pat on the back. “That is excellent, Master Tathan,” the knight said with a smile. At least Tathan got the impression that Sir Danth was smiling.
Tathan looked again at the dark platemail that made up the knight. He could see barely perceptible runes throughout and knew they channeled extraordinary power. The most powerful wizards of the ancient civilization had made it. The hilt of a greatsword rose above his shoulder. Tathan had seen him whirl the beast of a weapon around, cutting through anything, including stone. The helmet had ridges with sharp grooves on it that would break swords should they hit him there. The eye and mouth slits were small, making it easy to hide the fact that he was without a body. Sir Danth’s overall look was intimidating down to the blood red cloak that flowed down to his feet and never seemed to become soiled. Most people avoided irritating the daunting figure, and that included the Rojuun. Somehow, with all that armor, Sir Danth still managed to convey expressions and mood when he wished.
Tathan looked around the merchant’s plaza as they walked through. It was cleaner and less raucous than most markets that he had seen in his travels. The merchants sold their wares enthusiastically, but didn’t try to push them on a person to the point of being obnoxious. He found it amusing to see a few vendors that sold wings for humans to wear, much like the ones on the buildings. They were a favorite of children. In fact, he had even seen a couple of Rojuun children wearing them.
A few minutes later, they were at the White Tree Inn, a large stone building that took up half a block, with stables taking up the other half. Hulda, a jovial woman from the kingdom of Swelth, owned it. She and her sister, Renna, had traveled to Puujan in order to get away from unrest between bickering lords in their country. The smell of cooking breakfast wafted from the kitchen windows causing Tathan’s stomach to growl in anticipation.
They entered the common room and saw Liselle and Vevin sitting at a table. The couple waved them over. A waitress told Tathan that she would bring him breakfast right away, having already brought food for Liselle and Vevin.
“How were your nighttime adventures, Tathan?” Liselle asked.
“It was uneventful,” he lied. “You look as though you were crying. Is everything alright?” he asked, giving Vevin a suspicious glance.
Liselle narrowed her eyes. “Everything is fine and don’t look at Vevin like that. I was crying for the loss of our family, but Vevin held me and let me release some of my grief.” Liselle smiled sadly. “It still hurts, but not so much and I feel better now.”
Sorrow clenched Tathan’s heart for a split second before he took a deep breath to let it go. The loss of his mother and family had hurt, but years of traveling and watching the suffering of others had toughened him. “I’m sorry, cousin.”
She squeezed his hand. “I’m handling it. I was in a safe place this morning with someone I love.”
“Alright,” he said with a nod. “I still worry about you is all. How are you two feeling?”
“I’m doing much better, as is Vevin,” she answered.
Vevin nodded in agreement. “Oh yes! I’m still not at full strength, but I can handle . . . well, just about anything.” He chuckled and the rest of them laughed. Dragons were the most powerful creatures in the world and anything that would attack them was positively stupid.
“We’re well enough to travel. In fact, we wanted to talk to you about that, Tathan,” Liselle said.
“Mmmph?” Tathan asked. The waitress had brought his food and he already had a bite in his mouth before she finished setting it down. He tried swallowing before he was finished chewing, but ended up choking on it. Sir Danth banged on his back helpfully. After a few strangled noises, the food slid to his stomach. He leaned on the table, gasping to regain control. His companion’s hysterical laughter didn’t help. “What did you want to talk about, Cousin?” he asked.
Liselle wiped tears of mirth from her eyes. “I wanted to let you know that Vevin and I are ready to travel. We were wondering what the plans are.”
“Right, plans.” Tathan thought about it for a minute then shrugged. “I don’t see any reason not to leave right after breakfast. How long will it take you to get ready?” he asked them.
“About half an hour. We don’t have a lot,” Liselle answered.
“It will take me all day to get ready,” Sir Danth told them. “. . . Why are you all staring at me like that? I have tons of things to get ready. My extra cloak must be folded exactly right you know.”
After a pause, they burst into laughter again. Sir Danth didn’t have anything extra besides a cloak made for him in the Rojuun caverns. He was always ready to go.
Tathan took a drink of juice that had come with the meal. “After we eat, gather your things and we’ll head out to the gate. Then we’ll go to deliver our report to Mother Tree.”
“What are we going to tell the guards about why we’re leaving?” Sir Danth asked. “We don’t want to make them suspicious in case there is a need to
come back at some point.”
“We’re going to tell them we don’t like it here and want to go home.” Tathan looked around to make sure nobody could overhear. “I figure if we say the Rojuun are too weird and we don’t like the way they treat us, they’ll understand.”
“I don’t think they’re weird,” said Vevin. “I kind of like them.”
“I like them too, but we need an excuse and that’s a good one,” Tathan replied. “If we decide to come back, we can just say the Druids wouldn’t let us past.” He leaned back in his chair.
Sir Danth nodded. “It is a good plan. I say we go with it.”
After eating, they gathered their things and said farewell to Hulda. If the innkeeper had had her way, she would have kept them there the entire day saying goodbye, but Tathan managed to get them away.
The companions strolled to the forest gate. The sun had risen, bathing the city in warm light. A slight breeze caused the wings to flutter. Vevin had mentioned wanting to see it from the air once and Tathan imagined it would be a breathtaking sight.
The large gate was closed as usual. It was made for wagons and larger traffic, none of which went into the forest. Those foragers brave enough to go outside exited through the postern gate, which was where the party went.
Outside the gate were four members of the guard dressed in chainmail and red tabards. Sergeant Soam, who had been there when the companions first came to the city, commanded them. “Hello there. What brings you back to this neck of the woods, so to speak?” The other guards rolled their eyes and went back to being bored.
Tathan altered his voice to a drawl. “Well now, those Rojuun are some funny folk and, don’t tell them I said this, but they talk weird.”
The sergeant chuckled again. “Aye. That they do. Lots of people like it, but some just can’t get used to it.”
“The hardest part was being told I had to do things all the time.” Tathan stood up tall and poked his thumb to his chest. “I’m my own man and there ain’t no person or . . . Rojuun that’s going to go around telling me what to do all the time.”
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