by Lana Axe
None of the men expressed any interest, so Pia continued to snack while the gear was unloaded from the boat. Her first step on land didn’t feel as strange as she expected. The earth here was no different from home. It was solid and true underfoot. Was all land just the same? There were few trees, and the port city ahead of her was similar to Lyraeus. Except for her lack of family and friends, it seemed a lot like home.
Turning to her father, she hoped to tell him goodbye. She wanted to run to him, to beg him to change his mind. But something held her in place. Staring at him, she waited for him to make the first move.
“Take care, girl,” Danik finally said. He climbed back into the boat and began to row without looking back.
“Papa?” she whispered as the boat pulled away from shore. With tearful eyes, she looked at Embyr. “He didn’t say goodbye,” she said.
“Some people have trouble with that word,” Embyr replied.
“He doesn’t love me,” Pia said, her voice hollow. Saying it out loud was painful.
“He does, Pia,” she said. “I know he does.”
Pia knew better. He hadn’t loved her since he knew she was different. He’d sent her sent away, and now she was alone with strangers. She clutched at the bundle her mother had given her. It was all she had left of her old life, and soon it too would be gone.
“Call me Uncle,” Taren said.
“Are you my uncle?” Pia asked. Maybe she had family that she’d never met.
The sorcerer shook his head. “I am not your uncle by blood, no. But I don’t want to draw extra attention. We want the townspeople to think you are my niece.”
“Otherwise they might think you kidnapped me,” Pia said. She understood more than her companions realized. “I won’t scream or cry,” she said. She would act like a woman grown, for she was no longer a child.
“Let’s find a clothier,” Embyr said. “Pia can’t travel with only one thin set of clothes and no shoes.”
“I’ll leave that to you,” Taren said. “I have other business to attend to.” He walked away, pulling up his hood.
“What does that mean?” Pia asked.
“It means he likes to be mysterious,” Leko replied.
Pia studied the elf’s face. It was different from any she’d seen before. His skin was light, his hair completely white. Blue eyes looked out at her, kind eyes. He seemed young, definitely older than her, but probably too young to have a child her age. She wanted to ask but didn’t.
“I’ll see to the clothing,” Embyr said. “Why don’t you find provisions for the trip?”
Leko nodded and trotted ahead. Embyr reached for Pia’s hand, her brown eyes sparkling in the early morning light.
Before she could think better of it, Pia accepted the hand, intertwining her fingers with the young woman’s. They entered the town, drawing no attention. That was unusual for Pia, but none of these people knew what she had done, or what she was suspected of doing. It was nice not to be noticed.
They entered a small shop filled with fabrics of every color. “My sister needs new clothes for travel,” Embyr said. “Shirts, pants, and a cloak. We’ll also need a good pair of boots.”
“I’ve got all you need except for the boots,” the woman behind the counter replied. “Those you can get two shops down. He’s the best cobbler around.” She showed them a few garments, mostly plain colors. “Large enough to grow into.”
Embyr frowned. “Too much growing room, I think.” She glanced down at Pia. “She’ll never be that big.”
Pia giggled, her defenses dropping. She liked Embyr. Maybe they really could become sisters.
“I can alter them,” the woman offered. “You’ll have to come back around midday. I’ve got two orders ahead of you.”
“That’s fine,” Embyr replied.
The woman took a few measurements. “You are a skinny thing,” she commented.
Pia shrugged. A splash of blue caught her eye, a satin dress fit for a bride.
“I don’t think you’re ready for that yet,” the woman said, smiling.
“Let’s get you some boots,” Embyr said, taking Pia by the arm.
The shoemaker was a friendly man, tall and skinny. He fawned over the young girl, measuring her feet for the perfect fit. “I have just what you need.” He ducked behind a curtain and returned within seconds bearing a pair of brown leather boots. “These will walk a thousand miles before you outgrow them.” He smiled and mussed her hair.
Pia wondered how many miles she’d be walking. She still had no idea where she was headed. Slipping the boots on her feet, she could tell they fit perfectly. The stitching was lovely, too lovely for her. She’d never owned a pair of shoes so fine. Going barefoot was her preference, but it wasn’t always practical. Her mother used to yell at her to wear shoes, but she’d always kick them off. A few years of that and her father had refused to buy her any more. She didn’t care. But these boots felt special, and she liked them right away.
“Stand up,” the man said. “Walk around.”
The girl obeyed, feeling the soft leather beneath her feet. They molded to her body, tracing every muscle and bone. She felt like she wasn’t wearing any shoes at all. She nodded eagerly to the shopkeeper.
“Those will do,” Embyr said. She offered the shoemaker a few coins and led Pia outside.
The sun was higher now, the world bright and alert. The morning air was fresh, the scent of a bakery nearby setting Pia’s stomach to rumbling. She looked inside the bundle her mother had given her. There was only one honey cake left. Home was already fading.
Chapter 6
“Come on,” Embyr said. “We’ll find Leko and get something to eat.”
“The bakery smells nice,” Pia said.
“Then let’s go there,” she replied.
Inside the bakery were all manner of sweets. There was nothing like this in Lyraeus. The bakery back home sold one type of bread, the plain kind. Most women baked their own breads, and sweets were a rarity. Jeya’s mother had indulged her when she could. Pia would miss that.
“Cinnamon bread,” Embyr said. “Have you ever tasted it?”
Pia hadn’t. She’d never heard of it either. Embyr handed her a sticky piece of round bread, coated in a brown, sugary substance. Small dark dots were spread throughout it. The smell was intoxicating. Biting down, Pia savored the mingling flavors of cinnamon and raisins. It was the best thing she’d ever tasted.
“You like it?” Embyr asked.
Pia nodded, her mouth too full to speak. Embyr laughed and collected a few sweets for their absent companions. “I’m not sure there will be too many bakeries along the road,” she said. “But when there are, I promise we’ll stop in.” She offered the girl a warm smile and extended her hand.
Their next stop took them all the way to the far side of town. Pia was still licking the sugar from her fingers when the smoke of a smithy assaulted her nose. Now her fingers tasted only of ash. She wiped them against her shirt.
“Hello!” Leko called cheerfully.
“Did you get everything?” Embyr asked.
The elf nodded. “That and more,” he said. His pack was full, bulging behind his back. “I’ll let Taren carry some of it,” he said, adjusting a strap. “It’s heavy.”
“What’s in there?” Pia asked.
“A few tools, food for the road, and three waterskins.”
“We need four now,” Embyr reminded him.
“Taren still has his,” Leko replied. He extended one to Embyr. “Now you have yours.” Winking at Pia, he said, “I’ll carry yours.”
Pia felt herself blush. She was going to like Leko too. His exotic look caused her to stare, and she had to make herself look away. Her tongue burned to ask him where he was from, but she wasn’t ready to question him. It was too forward, or as her mother would say, “unladylike.”
“Have you ever seen a river, Pia?” Leko asked.
She hadn’t. “I’ve only seen the ocean.”
“Then you’re in for a treat
,” the elf said. “We’ll be taking the ocean around and then up a river. It runs through one of the finest forests you’ll ever see.”
“Is that where we’re going?” she wondered.
The elf shook his head. “We won’t be stopping,” he said. “We’re passing through and then to the other side. Then we’ll be in a new ocean.”
“There’s more than one?” She had thought a single ocean wrapped around the world.
“Technically, no,” Leko answered. “There’s one huge one, but it’s called by different names depending on where you are. I think it stops people getting confused about where they’re going.”
“Where are we going?” Pia dared to ask.
“A long way,” Leko replied. To Embyr, he said, “Looks like we have some time to kill before Taren rounds us up.”
“Let’s find the fletcher,” she said. “I’ve got broken feathers on half my arrows.”
As they proceeded through the town, Pia kept her eyes wide open. There were so many shops, all of them seeming to offer something different. She wondered if her parents had ever come to this place. Surely half the goods in Lyraeus were crafted here.
Embyr spent over an hour in the fletcher’s shop, fiddling with her arrows and purchasing supplies. Leko did his best to keep Pia entertained. He told her that the city had sprung up in the last twenty years, when he was very young. It was an abandoned elven village, but he couldn’t say which group of elves had lived there. They’d been gone for hundreds of years.
“You can still find artifacts,” he said. “They had a beautiful form of writing. The scrolls are too rotten to read, but there are stone carvings.”
“Can we see them?” Pia asked.
“Sadly, they’ve all been sold to collectors,” he replied.
“I’m ready,” Embyr finally said. They headed out of the shop and decided to stop for some lunch. Food aboard ship wasn’t likely to be as good.
“Should we get something for Taren?” Pia asked.
Leko and Embyr exchanged a glance. “Taren likes to catch his own food,” Leko said.
Wrinkling her brow, Pia asked, “Catch it?”
“He’s a hunter,” Embyr explained.
“But he’s a sorcerer,” Pia replied.
“Yes, that too,” Embyr said.
“It’s probably best if Taren explains all that,” Leko said.
Pia wasn’t sure she wanted to ask him. He was dark and mysterious, and she didn’t know him at all. She felt more comfortable with Leko and Embyr, though she barely knew them either. They were fast becoming her friends, and she enjoyed their company. They kept her mind from straying back to all she’d lost.
Lunch consisted of fresh bread and smoked fish, some of the best Pia had tasted.
“I guess we’ll have nothing but fish for the next few weeks,” Leko commented.
“Is that how long we’ll be on the ship?” Pia asked.
The elf nodded. “Yes, and that’s with Taren’s magic helping us along. Without it, I’m not sure I’d be up for the journey.”
“Why?” she asked.
“I like having my feet on solid ground,” he said. “Ships are all right, but walking is better.”
“What he means is,” Embyr cut in, “that he likes to be the one in control. On his feet, he can steer where he wants. On a ship, he goes where the captain and the wind take him.”
Pia felt like she was at the mercy of the wind. None of this had been her choosing. Others had made the important decisions for her, using her young age as an excuse.
“I don’t mind the wind,” Leko replied. “Sometimes it leads you where you need to be, whether you know it or not.”
Pia smiled inwardly. Maybe the wind was leading her somewhere too.
A hooded figure appeared as if out of nowhere, startling Pia. She tried to hide it, but Embyr’s sideways glance suggested she had noticed it. The woman remained silent rather than draw attention to it. Pia was grateful.
“I’ve found us a ship,” Taren announced. “We can leave now.”
“We need to pick up Pia’s new clothes,” Embyr said. “They should be ready by now.”
On their way back to the docks, they paused to retrieve Pia’s new garments. Fresh and clean, Pia ran her hands over the fabric. One shirt was dyed blue, reminding her of the dress she’d given away. She hoped Sekai would make good use of it. “Thank you,” she said to Embyr.
“You’re most welcome,” the red-haired woman replied.
Pia noticed that Embyr had bought nothing for herself. Her leather traveling clothes accentuated her curves nicely. They had obviously been tailored to her body. Pia wondered if she would develop a similar shape as she grew into womanhood.
The ship was surprisingly cozy. Embyr led Pia to a small cabin below deck and helped her put away her things. “We’ll share this room,” she said.
Pia was glad. She didn’t want to be alone, especially at night. When they returned to the main deck, Pia got her first glimpse of real magic. Taren stood at the bow, muttering incantations, lights of blue shining from his hands. A wave of energy slowly crept over the ship, and she watched as it neared her feet. There was no use stepping away. It covered every inch of the deck and traveled on until it reached the very end of the ship. Pia wondered what spell he’d placed on it, but she couldn’t ask. The sorcerer appeared as if in a trance, and she dared not disturb him.
With his attention focused on the sails, he unfurled them without the need for any sailors to work the knots. They billowed, despite the lack of breeze, and the ship began to move. Pia watched in awe, wondering what other spells the sorcerer would demonstrate along the way. She looked forward to watching them all.
The first night seemed to go on forever. Embyr slept soundly on her cot, but Pia was restless. She tossed and turned for hours before finally giving up. Moving toward the window, she gazed out over the sea. Lit with the pale light of the moon, she stared at the water’s surface. Tiny dots of bright blue flickered, the magic of the ocean’s smallest inhabitants. She knew it wasn’t really magic, but it still seemed that way.
With the moon high, there was plenty of light to see by, but there was no land within view. She wondered how long the journey would take, but she realized it didn’t matter. She had the rest of her life to get wherever they were going. A shadow passed in front of her, large and imposing on the water’s surface. She tried to look up, but the edge of the window didn’t reach high enough. Whatever it was disappeared in an instant. The shape reminded her of the dragon figurehead she’d seen back home. Could there be dragons in this land they were headed to?
As their journey continued, Pia found it easier to sleep. She often joined in with the sailors’ chores, if for no other reason than to pass the time. Taren was scarce, rarely speaking to any of them. When he did appear, it was to place more spells on the ship. Pia couldn’t be sure, but Leko reassured her that the ship was making good time. They entered the river two weeks later.
Far more massive than Pia had pictured, the river stretched out for at least a mile to each shore. The length she couldn’t guess. It went on toward the horizon and disappeared like the ocean. They passed a few port towns, and then civilization died away, leaving nothing but dense forest on either side.
“Have you ever seen forests so beautiful?” Leko asked.
Pia shrugged. “There were forests near Lyraeus.”
“But not like these,” he replied. “Elves lived in these forests. Elves who performed the greatest feats of magic ever seen in this world.”
“Your ancestors?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No, I’m not related to them. My people were around at the same time though.”
“Who are your people?” Pia asked. She finally felt comfortable quizzing him about himself.
“The Mountain Elves,” Leko replied.
“I thought dwarves lived in the mountains,” Pia said.
“They do,” he replied. “My people have had many dealings with the dwar
ves.”
“Is that where we’re going?” she asked. “To the mountains?”
“No,” he answered. “At least, not the mountain where I was born.”
“Do you miss your home?” she asked.
“Sometimes,” he admitted. He thought for a moment, looking out at the forest. “I think I love traveling more than I miss home,” he said. “Does that seem strange?”
Pia tilted her head sideways. “No,” she replied. “It doesn’t.” There was great appeal in seeing the world. She’d already seen magic, and she’d been away only a short time. She found that if she didn’t think about never returning, it didn’t seem so final. Besides, there was no guarantee she’d never return home. Her future was undecided.
“How did you and Embyr meet?” she asked.
“Taren,” he replied. “Embyr was with him when I went looking for him.”
“How do you know him?” she asked. Taren was human and Leko an elf. They couldn’t be related.
“Taren had visited my village,” Leko explained. “One day I decided I wanted to find him again.”
Pia didn’t understand. “Why was Taren in your village?”
The elf thought a moment before answering. “He was looking for you.”
The comment only further confused the girl. “Why would he look there?” He’d touched her mother when she was still in her womb. He knew she wasn’t in a mountain village.
“It’s a complicated story,” Leko said. “Maybe Taren should explain it.”
“Please,” Pia pleaded. “I want to hear it from you.”
Leko let out a sigh. “Two generations ago, Taren came to my village and visited my grandmother. You’re human, but your silver hair is common among my people. So you see, he thought you might be one of us.”
“Why was he looking for me?” she wondered.
“A prophecy,” Leko replied. “He didn’t know when you would be born, so he looked for a very long time.”
“How long?” she wondered.
“You’d have to ask him that.”
“But he’s too young.” He didn’t look old enough to have known Leko’s grandmother as a child. He barely looked old enough to be Leko’s father.