Kurt smiled. “Sure. That sounds fun. But I want to make sure I’m at least a few minutes early. Create a good impression this time, so next time your dad trusts me more. If there is a next time.”
I blushed and looked at my feet. “Well, there can definitely be a next time if you want.”
We took a short drive to the ice cream stop, just over a mile away from the theater. We grabbed a single scoop cup each and sat across from each other on chairs outside. For some reason, I found my ice cream cup very interesting. Probably because I didn’t want to look up at Kurt and be caught staring.
“You definitely don’t talk much,” Kurt commented.
That got my attention. I looked up, horrified. “Oh my God, am I boring you?” I asked.
He chuckled. “No. It’s just, you know, usually most girls like to talk. A lot. About their friends, or school, or online drama or whatever.”
I looked down, my cheeks burning. “Yeah, well, like I said. Not much social life these days.” So stupid and embarrassing.
“Hey, don’t be upset,” he said gently. “I like it. They always want to talk about their problems. You don’t really seem like someone with a lot of problems. Which I like.”
I smiled, embarrassed. He thought I didn’t have problems? Of course, how could he ever know exactly how many problems I had? He couldn’t. Not unless I told him about Midrealm, which wasn’t something I could do.
Suddenly my good mood evaporated. How could I ever think that going out with Kurt could work? Not only would I go on to live half my life in a world he’d never know about, doing things I could never tell him about, but if Greystone was right (and he always was) I was immortal. What, Kurt was going to grow up into an old man while I stayed seventeen forever? If we were even together that long, that is.
Honestly, if we were in love, I probably wouldn’t have cared. But we weren’t. I wasn’t dumb enough to think that. And how could I go down a road that might lead to love, knowing how it would have to end eventually?
My ice cream tasted bitter on my tongue. I forced down another swallow and stood suddenly from the table.
“I guess we’d better get back,” I mumbled.
Kurt stood across from me. “What is it?” he asked, concerned. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “Seriously. I just think I have to get back. I…forgot about something I was supposed to do.”
He cocked his head. “What? Like a school thing? It’s Saturday.”
I shook my head again, more forcefully this time. “No, not a school thing. I…I’ve got to talk to Raven. You know, Ester.”
He looked surprised. “Oh, right. She’s your friend, right?”
“Yeah, and she got hit by this sleep thing really bad. Her parents are trying to take her to some sort of—”
I shut up immediately. I couldn’t tell him about that. We didn’t want word of the Medicorp test getting around. We didn’t want to raise any flags, for people to start talking about it online and create some sort of trail that could lead back to us.
“Anyway, she wanted to talk. So we should go.”
Kurt looked upset, even angry. “Are you mad at me or something?”
I gave an exasperated sigh and put a hand on his arm. “No. Listen, I swear, tonight has been fantastic. It’s just…I don’t know why I thought about it, but now I’m thinking about it, and I know that Raven’s having a really bad time right now. Okay? That’s all. I’m worried about her.”
He snorted and looked at me suspiciously. “Okay. You’re sure it’s nothing I did?”
I shook my head firmly. “I swear. You’ve been really, really awesome all night, and I hope we get to do this again. It’s not you.” It’s me and my immortality.
His smile returned. “Well, okay then.”
But I got the feeling it wasn’t totally okay, a feeling that grew stronger the whole car ride back when we hardly said ten words. By the time he finally pulled up in front of my house, I was desperate to get out of the car. I threw the door open before he even put it all the way in park.
He got out on the other side and came around to my side. I expected him to look angry, or annoyed, or at least a little uncomfortable. But he didn’t. He looked totally carefree. It lessened my bad mood somewhat. Maybe there wasn’t any awkwardness there after all. Maybe it was all in my head.
He came in cautiously, his arms outstretched. Smiling uncomfortably, I opened up and returned the hug. His body felt so warm, despite the chilly autumn night. I took a deep breath. All thoughts of Midrealm flew from my head as I smelled the herbal shampoo in his hair, the tangy smell of his deodorant.
He backed away slightly, and I saw only a smile on his face as he looked into my eyes. Suddenly, I was at a loss for words. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move.
“Thanks for going out with me,” he said. “I’ll give you a call. Maybe we could do it again next Friday.”
“Um, oh,” I said intelligently.
He gave a little chuckle. Then he leaned in once more. I turned away at the last second for the hug. He planted a soft, gentle kiss on my cheek. He hadn’t been trying to hug me—he’d been trying to kiss me.
“Ah, hum,” I added, solidifying my appearance as the world’s biggest idiot.
“I’ll see you Monday at school,” Kurt said. He gave me one more smile to remember for the rest of the night, and then he turned to get back into his car.
It took me a long, long time to fall asleep. When I did, my fingers were glued to my cheek.
KIRSCH
SARAH
THE LAND OVER WHICH WE traveled in Midrealm was a mountainous, uneven place. To the north, wide and open forests stretched as far as the eye could see. To the south, mountains stretched for the sky. They made the mountains we traveled over look like gently rolling hills.
“It’s Switzerland,” said Calvin knowledgeably. “We’re basically in the northern part of Switzerland. I think.” He looked around uncertainly, as though expecting to see a road sign. “We might have moved far enough to get into Germany by this point, or far enough east to have crossed into Austria. We didn’t pass a big old lake yet, did we?”
“Calvin, you’ve been here with us the entire time,” I said in exasperation. “Did you see a big lake?”
He waved his hand expansively. “Oh, you know. I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking. Trying to figure out the secrets of the universe, conducting science simulations in my mind. That kind of thing.”
“Seems more to me like you’ve been trying to hold on to your horse,” said Barius, his voice a booming drum that resonated from the back of the line.
Blade and Raven laughed while Calvin’s cheeks burned. He turned back to look at the old Runegard.
“For your information, I’m ten times a better rider than I was when I got here,” said Calvin, offended.
“Hold up, I’m not too good at math,” Miles said, his brow furrowing as he stared around into the empty air. “What’s ten times zero?”
“I’m no math genius either,” said Blade thoughtfully, “but I’m pretty sure it’s still zero.”
Calvin ducked his head into his shoulders, muttering darkly, and we continued on.
On the fourth day of our travels, we came upon the city of Kirsch.
“City” was a generous term for it. It had two castles, just like Morrowdust back home. But other than that, it was closer in size to the town of Elladorn than to Athorn’s great capital city. Also like Elladorn, Kirsch had obviously seen better days. The buildings we could make out as we approached were dilapidated, some falling in upon themselves as their support beams rotted away from within. We could see above the walls as we rode down from the pass we’d emerged from, but there was hardly any activity within the town. A few stragglers paced back and forth along the streets, most of them seeming to wander.
“Welcome to the happiest place on Earth,” said Blade.
“That would be the happiest place on Midrealm, which it isn
’t,” remarked Calvin.
“We must stop here for at least the night,” said Cara. “It is another long stretch of road before we will see another city where we can buy food and supplies. I want us to be well-stocked before that happens.”
“Aye, we don’t want to run out of food on the way,” said Melaine casually from beside Miles. “Otherwise I might eat the little one.” Calvin looked nervously over his shoulder.
I turned in my saddle to look at the others. “All right, be careful in here, guys. Remember, no one knows who we are. It won’t be like in Morrowdust or Elladorn. Try not to talk—if anyone knows how the Realm Keeper magic works, they’ll notice when you talk to them that your lips don’t match the words they hear. And no magic.”
“What?” said Raven, her eyebrows rising. “Why?”
“Because we don’t want to give ourselves away,” I said. “If word gets out that six wizards, each with command over one element, rode through Kirsch with their six bodyguards, it won’t take Terrence five minutes to figure us out. Hopefully nothing happens while we’re here, but if it does, you use your weapons.” My own hand strayed to the hilt of my sword. I’d learned how to use it pretty well, but I didn’t like my odds in a real life-or-death sword fight. I was happy Cara and the other Runegard were there to watch over the six of us.
“Or call me,” Blade said with a smile. “If you’ve got a problem, I can knock some heads together. Me and Sammy boy.”
“I am not overly fond of this name,” Samuel said amiably. “I suggest you don’t call me by it if you really end up needing my help.”
“Okay, guys,” I said. “Rein it in.”
We rode up to the city gates. It was mid afternoon, so they were standing open, but two guards were standing there with spears held loosely at their sides. Their eyes were small and cunning, and their faces and uniforms were smeared with dirt. We pulled up a good few yards away, and Cara held up a single mailed hand.
“We seek leave to enter the city,” she said. Her voice was neutral, neither friendly nor threatening.
One of the guards, the shorter one with black hair, spat. The other one, taller with light brown hair, looked her up and down. “There’s a toll,” he said.
Cara’s chin raised slightly. “What sort of toll? We’re only travelers. We’re merely passing through.”
“That’s why the toll,” said the tall guard. “The King’s own subjects pass freely within his walls. But with all the dangers on the roads these days, his majesty takes a bit of extra coin from those what use his capital as a waystation. To help guard the paths and passages through the kingdom, you see.”
“I do see,” said Cara, her voice drifting toward steely. “And how great is the toll?”
“Half a mark each,” said the guard. “That’ll be six for the dozen of ye.”
“What do you think we are, half-witted goblins?” said Barius loudly from behind me. “There’s none but merchants carry around that kind of coin.”
“Merchants and noblemen,” the guard said with a nod. “And what else am I to think of six younglings traveling with armed escorts, but that noble blood runs in their veins?”
“We are not their escorts,” Cara said stubbornly. “And if put to it, you would find that they would have very little need for protection.” She looked at me, and I took it as a cue. I pulled back the hem of my cloak to show the hardened leather jerkin and the hilt of the sword at my hip.
The shorter guard spat again, still silent. The tall one shrugged. “A noble with a sword is still a noble. You’ll pay the toll, or you’ll camp in the woods tonight. Though I wouldn’t recommend it,” he said with a hard smile. “Rumor has it there’s dire wolves aplenty in the trees these days.”
“Aye, and we’ve killed plenty of them in our day,” Samuel said, his voice barely masking his contempt. “Come on, Cara. We can spend another night under the stars. We’ll send one or two in for supplies.”
But Cara held her place, looking down at the guard with hard eyes. “I’ll give you three marks for the dozen of us,” she said. “Not a copper more.”
The guard’s bored face turned to a scowl as he looked up at her. I saw his fingers tighten on the haft of his spear. “Listen here,” he said angrily. “I’m no highwayman, out to make some extra coin off of fat travelers. This is the King’s law, not some chance for me to fill my purse. You’ll pay the full toll, or you’ll sleep in the dirt. If I let every wayward straggler through without their tax, how d’ye think the King’ll clear the roads so his own people can walk freely cross the lands?”
Cara’s horse nickered at the tone of the man’s voice and took a cautious sidestep. Cara patted its neck to calm it, but her gaze never left the guard’s. “Are things really so bad in Kirsch?” she asked.
“In the city? No,” said the guard, his temper flagging slightly. “We’ve managed to miss the worst of it. On occasion we’ll hear of Shadows moving nearby, but every time the King sends his men out, Chaos has moved on. But across Kirkland…that’s another story. Seems there’s a new tale every week of some town being ravaged by the black monsters, Realm Keepers be damned.” He spat in the dirt, grinding it under his heel. Seeming to take it as a cue, the other guard did the same—apparently, any contribution to a conversation beyond mucous was beyond his ability.
Realm Keepers be damned. The phrase set my nerves on edge. The guard said it in the same tone of voice people said “Chaos take you,” back home. Like a curse. I shifted uneasily in my saddle. Cara spared me a quick glance, but as she caught my eye I saw her give the barest shake of her head. She’d explain it later, when she had time, I knew.
Slowly Cara dismounted, stepping toward the guard at the gate. Both guards tensed slightly as she reached for her belt, but when her hand met her purse instead of her sword, they relaxed. Carefully, Cara tipped the edge of her purse to the faint sound of clinks and a glint of sunlight from her palm.
“Six marks for the twelve of us,” she said, placing the coins carefully in the guard’s upturned hand. Then she fished in the purse again. “And another in two silver boots, one for each of you. For carrying out your King’s orders and taking none for yourself. I know men back home who wouldn’t show the same restraint.”
The guard’s eyes widened slightly as she held out the other two coins. The shorter guard looked at him pleadingly, but the tall one sighed and shook his head. “We can’t take bribes, m’Lady.”
“And how is this a bribe?” Cara said, her smile condescending. “I’m not asking you to do anything.” She dropped the coins into the grass at the side of the road. “Let them sit there if you wish. But they’re yours. I may do with my property and my coin as I choose, and I choose to give them to you.”
Without another word she wheeled and came back to us, leaping into the saddle. With a firm nudge, she spurred her horse forward, and the rest of us followed. Just before we passed out of sight of the gate, I turned to see the taller guard stooped at the side of the road where the two coins had fallen, the shorter one bending over him eagerly.
“Was that the smartest thing we could have done?” I asked Cara quietly. “This doesn’t seem like the kind of place where you want to be known for having a lot of money.”
“It was the honorable thing,” she replied. “I took him for little better than a bandit, but he was only doing his duty. It was recompense for my unknowing slight upon his honor, and for carrying out a hard job. I would face even the most fearsome and deadly battle rather than take the task of a taxman, even a lawful one.”
“If he was telling the truth, that is,” said Darren innocently from my other side. I hadn’t realized how close he was riding to me. It made me flush a bit as I turned and, for a moment, imagined I saw Kurt’s face beside me.
“If he was telling the truth,” Cara admitted with a nod. “But if he was lying, I doubt he would have refused the silver.”
The roads of Kirsch were every bit as muddy and filthy as they’d looked coming down the mountainside, an
d the people twice as despondent. Beggars huddled in the arches of what seemed to be half the doorways we passed, and the few children I saw sprinting about looked at us not with awe, but with fear. Every building looked to be on the verge of collapse. We rode the streets slowly and cautiously, each of us feeling without speaking that there was a sense of danger, or at least oppression, in the town. I was so caught up in staring that I completely forgot we were even looking for an inn to spend the night.
Then we rounded a corner, and a dark, looming shape appeared above us so suddenly that I started in my saddle. The horse shied sideways nervously, whinnying.
I was looking up at a circular stone tower. It was a good several blocks away. After the initial shock wore off, I realized that it was the central tower of one of the castles I’d seen from outside of town. It was tall, perfectly circular, and looked near impenetrable. The rest of the castle was obscured by the outer wall that lay at the end of the street we stood on.
The longer I stared, the more I realized that there was something familiar about the tower.
“Cara, what is that place?” I asked quietly, nodding my head in the castle’s direction.
She looked at me in surprise. “Don’t you recognize it?”
I shook my head. “It seems familiar, but I can’t place it.”
“It’s a Runehold,” said Calvin in awe.
I gave the place a second look. He was right. The battlements, the construction of the tower, the shape of the windows. It wasn’t the same castle, but all of the elements were identical to the Runehold in Morrowdust.
“Right you are,” said Barius. “The Runehold of Kirsch.”
“Can we stay the night there, then?” asked Blade. “No offense, but I’d definitely rather sleep in my own room than share one with five other dudes.”
“We can’t,” said Raven. “Look at it.”
There were black streaks running up and across the circular tower. I saw similar marks on the outside of the wall. And almost out of sight behind the buildings nearby, there was a gaping hole in the stones at the wall’s base.
Wyrmspire (Realm Keepers Book 2) Page 4