“Tis not your fault,” Meena replied more softly. “You are a dear friend, Amicia Spicer. I have enjoyed knowing you.”
“And I you,” the girl agreed with a small nod, blinking at tears. Bending over her work, she put her shoulders into it. She didn’t know how they would get the ship away from the shore, but Meena obviously believed that they could. Otherwise, why would she help to build it? She must know a trick or some way to get around the magic barrier.
While she worked, her mind wandered, and she realized that in the end, Piers might change his mind and take them all. There are lots of islands within the rim, she mused. Perhaps he intends to find one for all of us, away from the evils and pitfalls both places present.
Adjusting her grip, a darker thought tickled the back of her mind, one that brought a deep sadness to her heart. What if the Mate is deceiving us and he never intends to leave here at all? She didn’t dare look at the cabin. She knew the detail and work he had put into its construction. Don’t, she warned herself, but she knew things felt wrong. You can only lie for so long before others see the cracks in your façade.
Over the next two weeks, the group fell into a routine. While the girls prepared breakfast at sunrise, the men went out and combed the woods around the cabin. If they found more of the mutilated bodies, they did not divulge it to any of the four women.
The work of felling, stripping, and cutting wood planks continued the entire time, and each day felt only slightly warmer than the last. The snow, however, attested to the changes as it had all but disappeared from the places that the sun touched, and only lay in thin wisps in the protected areas beneath the trees.
Pulling on her coat and gloves to visit the outhouse, Amicia felt as if a rock had settled in her gut. Rey had asked her the night before if she had given any thought to her plans for the future, and it had ended in a spat when she insisted that she should not say or do anything that would sway his choice.
Marching up through the trees, she paused when she heard the sound of birds singing in the crisp morning air. Spying two large blue birds with red tips on their wings, she gasped, “How beautiful!”
Over her shoulder, she caught the hint of movement and swung to see that he had noticed her and come to join her. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she clipped, forgetting the chirping couple and edging closer to her target.
“I don’t either,” he sighed, ambling forward. “I just wanted to tell you that I’ve decided I’m not going with the others when they leave.”
“What?” she gasped. “Rey, you don’t belong here!”
“I belong with you,” he defended, holding his hand up to stymie her protests. “Besides, there’s only three of us. How the hell are three of us going to sail a ship?” he laughed, then sighed. “I don’t think that vessel is ever going to sail, and if it does, I won’t be on it.”
Smiling as he looked up at her, he continued, “I just thought you should know. I mean, I know there aren’t a large number of suitors around, but I’d still like to be considered if and when you’re ready to be serious about it.”
Turning his back, he walked away, leaving her to complete her business in the shed. Slamming the door when she entered, Amicia fumed. He has no right to put this on me! She hated the way it made her feel, as if she would one day be forced to accept him for lack of options.
When Ami finally returned to the cabin, the group had sat down to their meal and were halfway done with it. “Are you feeling all right?” Meena asked, standing to touch her forehead.
“I’m not ill,” the girl sulked, cutting her green eyes over to glare at Rey. She did, however, feel anger roiling from deep within. Taking her seat, she clipped, “So, how many more dead animals have you found?”
The men did not reply, all frozen over their plates as they looked at one another. Folding his arms, with elbows on the table to lean on, Piers glowered at her. “None.”
“You don’t say,” she grunted back. Narrowing her eyes at him, she knew it was more than that by the way the others were acting. “When do we start building more on the boat?”
“We will start back on the ship when we have a sufficient number of boards. A few more weeks and we should be ready,” he replied calmly, sipping from his water.
Staring him down, she made her final attempt, “And how many men will it take to sail it?”
The silence that followed filled the room, as no one dared to breathe. Cutting her eyes around so that she could examine each face, she could see the truth etched in their features, as if she were the last one to discover it, or the first one to be bold enough to state it.
“I see,” she whispered, pushing her chair back and leaving her empty plate where it sat. Lifting her coat off the rack, she opened and closed the door before anyone moved or spoke.
“What did you tell her?” Piers demanded as soon as she had gone.
“Nothing!” Rey shrugged, turning his palms to the ceiling. “I informed her I intended to stay here in Eriden with her.”
“You didn’t say anything about the bodies?” his elder grunted.
“Hell no! We agreed that we wouldn’t.”
“You found more?” Oldrilin sniveled, her bottom lip quivering.
“It’s ok, Lin,” her friend soothed. “Drink your broth. We’ve taken care of them.”
“Unlikely,” Meena inserted, laying down her utensil. “The trolls are displeased with our presence, and they won’t be satisfied as long as we remain here.” Glancing at the Mate, she sighed, “Perhaps we should go. The cabin is beautiful, and the forest is amazing, but they are no good to us if we’re dead.”
Her eyes wide, Zaendra squeaked, “Dead?”
“Now see what you’ve done?” Piers scowled, then changed his tone in an instant. “Do not worry yourself, love.” He turned to the girl. “We’ll take care of the trolls. Once they figure out we aren’t going to hurt them and we get things worked out with them, things will be great here.”
“Until you leave,” Zae accused.
“Ugh,” he grunted, rubbing his face with his hands. “You fix this,” he commanded, eyeing Meena as he pointed at the nymph. “I’ll go out and have a talk with Ami.”
Shaking her head as he left, Meena frowned deeply. She knew things were getting out of hand. “I never should have allowed us to come this far,” she sighed.
A Price to Pay
Standing on their shore, Amicia stared at the frame which held the base of their boat. Behind her, Piers approached, cautiously creeping forwards. “I threw a fit when we left Riran,” she observed, shaking her head. “Not this time.”
“What about this time?” he replied calmly.
Nodding, she glared at the beginnings of a ship. “Who’s the boat for, Piers?”
“It’s for us,” he replied flatly.
“No, it isn’t,” she turned to glare at him. Her eyes were drawn to the house they had taken such care with. “It will make a nice home next winter, as it did this one,” she observed. “And the one after that, and after that…” Her voice faded into the future.
“A home for who,” he clipped. “We’ll be finished with the ship and be gone by then.”
“No, we won’t,” she snarled. “Why do you keep saying things you know aren’t true?”
Thinking of Meena’s words the day he met her, he swallowed hard. “I can’t leave her, and I can’t take her,” he shrugged. “What’s a man to do?”
“Why are we building it then,” she hissed. “Why did we even come here?”
“Because sometimes people need things,” he informed her, blinking rapidly. “Things to remind them or things to believe in.”
“And which is this?” she scowled.
Grinding his teeth, he studied her.
“You never intended to leave Eriden or to find a way home,” she defended, standing taller and wrapping her coat tighter around her. “The night you told me you were leaving the glen, you said I could come, but you didn’t mean it. You wanted to leave us th
ere and be done with us, striking out on your own. Why did you then… let us come?”
“You wanted to,” he whispered, swallowing visibly. “Have I ever been able to say no to you?”
“Oh, you know that you have. I’ve pushed you to court me since we met, or near enough,” she sighed.
“That’s different,” he snapped turning away and staring across the water.
“Yes, it is. You like the fire, just not enough to let it burn you. You want the friends and the lovers. You just can’t risk getting hurt,” she assumed.
“Ami, I’m an old man. You promised we were finished having this conversation, and yet here I am, having to explain it to you once more.”
“Only we’re not talking about me, now are we,” she countered.
“You mean Meena,” he said with a quick laugh. “She is perfectly happy with the way things are.”
“I know you love her, Piers. You should declare it and ask for her hand.”
“I’d rather build the boat,” he whispered.
“One that will never sail even if it could,” she sighed.
“We need this, Ami. We need something to believe in, that one day we might see home again. Something to remind us this is not from where we came,” he finished by wiping tears from his face.
Laughing, she turned her cheeks into the stiff breeze, feeling the chill upon them. “Anything to keep from admitting that this is home. We all belong here, Mate. Every one of us has a stake upon this land, only you can’t admit it. Who hurt you so badly?” she asked, shaking her head.
“You’ve been talking to her, haven’t you. She put you up to this,” he accused, staring at the ground before him.
“No, I have not, and she never would. She understands you perfectly, all your flaws and weaknesses, but she also sees your strengths and the things that make you great. She loves you, Mate. More than I ever have or could. As much as I wanted to be called your wife, she deserves it far more than I ever did or will,” she stated confidently.
The wind whipping around her, she marched into it, towards their home, leaving him to ponder the words that they had shared. Inside, she noted the others remained at the table as she removed her coat and gloves, hanging them over the back of her chair. Turning without a sound, she sat in her favorite seat, in the window that overlooked their beach, and curled her knees up before her.
“Lamwen,” she called into the abyss, her eyes staring out across the sea.
Getting no reply, she sighed. Slipping her hand into her pocket, she cupped the hamar and tried again. “Lamwen, please speak with me.”
“I’m busy,” he growled. “Dragons have lives, you know. We don’t lie about all day watching over flimsy mortals with untamed manes.”
“Something’s happened,” she replied, blinking back tears. “Something terrible.”
“What’s the matter?” he coaxed, his tone softened.
“We’ve found dead animals. They’re gutted and impaled on long sticks. Out in the woods around the cabin.”
“Trolls,” his voice echoed. “Gather your food and stay inside,” he instructed. “Do not go out, and I will arrive as soon as I am able.”
Smiling, she felt comforted that he would come when she called, only hoping it would not be too late.
“Where are you?” Rey demanded, giving her a shake by the shoulder and interrupting her thoughts.
“What?” she asked meekly, blinking up at him. Behind him, she could see the others had noticed her trance-like state, and Piers stood glaring at her. She hadn’t even noticed he had come in from outside, she had been so deep in her thoughts.
“Who are you talking to? Is it Uscan, about the posts and corpses?” the older man inquired gruffly.
“Oh,” her mouth dropping open, she moaned, “No, it isn’t Uscan. I haven’t spoken with him since we entered the foreboding forest and faced the goblins with the hamar gem.”
“Then who is it?” Piers questioned more sternly.
“It doesn’t matter,” she replied, licking her lips. “He says that we need to gather our food and stay in. They are a message from the trolls, and we are in danger,” she informed them, her voice fading as she confirmed the older woman’s fears.
“It does matter,” Meena intervened, gingerly approaching her to take the other half of the window seat. “Amicia, you have a rare gift. Some level of telepathy is common among magical beings, but few can use it so easily. Who is it that draws you away from us?”
“I…” she began, unable to form the words as she looked at their expectant faces in turn. A single tear spilling over to streak her cheek, she managed, “I should have told you. So many times, I’ve wanted to. We formed a connection that night in the glen.”
“The dragon,” Rey breathed. “You’ve been secreting away with him. I told you,” he spat, spinning to face Piers. “I told you he had followed us, and he’s gotten inside her head!”
“No,” Amicia denied, dropping her feet to the floor, prepared to stand. “You’ve got it all wrong. Lamwen, he’s looking out for us, and has been since we left our meadow. In the desert, he sent the rain that preserved us,” she confessed. “He means us no harm.”
“He went from wanting to kill us to our protector in a single night. How convenient,” Piers observed, slinging his arms across his chest.
“It’s not like that,” she replied, shedding more tears. “He’s away, but he will come and protect us from the trolls. We must stay inside until he arrives.”
“We don’t need a dragon as our protector,” the Mate spat. “Rey and I will visit the trolls. We will offer peace and explain why we are here.”
Shaking her head, Meena also began to cry. “I think that would be unwise.”
“Unwise would be to wait here to be slaughtered,” her lover growled, his eyes still on the girl. Grinding his teeth, he fought the urge to berate her. He had done his share of hiding the truth, and in the end, he could not blame her for guarding this secret. “You have put us in a dangerous position,” he said instead. “This dragon could be the very reason they are upset.”
“The dragons rule all of Eriden,” Meena reminded him, wiping at her drops of sorrow. “Not even the trolls would question their presence. It is ours that offends.”
“Then we will set things straight and gain their permission to be here,” he vowed. “Rey, get your sword and walk with me. We know the direction of their dwellings based on the tracks we’ve seen. We’ll follow them and return as soon as we have their blessing,” he informed the rest, picking up his own blade and waiting for Reynard to join him on the porch.
Clomping down the steps, the younger man followed a few paces behind until they reached the line of trees at the back of their cottage. Running to catch up, he could see the Mate’s rage by the way he carried himself. “I don’t think this is a good move,” he challenged.
“You agree with the women then,” Piers snarled, never breaking his stride. “Perhaps you should turn tail and join them, cowering in the cabin.”
“I’m not afraid,” Rey snapped, “I’m simply concerned about your state of mind. You seem tense. If I were the king of the trolls and you presented yourself before me, I would doubt you were looking for peace.”
“Shut up. You’re only a boy –”
“I am not a boy!” Rey cut him off. “I’m a man, same as you. Maybe not as old, and I certainly haven’t seen as much as you, but my opinion is as valid as yours.”
Pushing limbs out of the way as they moved, the Mate held one for a moment, allowing his comrade to step forward before he released it, smacking him square in the face. “Man, hmm?”
“That’s a dirty trick,” Rey growled, wiping at his bloodied nose as the other man left him where he stood.
Ignoring him, the Mate marched on, his fever cooling. Regaining his head as they reached the large clearing that lay northeast of their cabin, he waited for him, then said in a calmer tone, “Aye, a dirty trick indeed. You’re a good man, Reynard Daye. One of the
finest I’ve ever served with.”
Instantly on edge as they walked across the mud-covered field, he replied, “Thank you. I’m glad you think so, but why are you telling me this now?” His eyes darting around, he searched the sky for any sign of Amicia’s new friend, then the far side of the clearing, where the forest closed in and carried up the side of the mountain. “I don’t like this,” he said more quietly.
“Aye, I gathered that,” Piers chuckled, pausing to stand for a moment. “I was thinking we should plant those crops we spoke about here. The soil appears dark and rich,” he observed, lifting a boot to expose the ebony mud-coated soles.
Frowning, Rey studied him. “You really think the trolls will allow us to stay here?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t they?” He clapped him on the back. “We haven’t done anything to harm them.” He smiled, his mood greatly improved at thinking about their future.
“Well, you’ll have to ask Bally about the crops. We raised cattle and ran a dairy, remember?”
“I do,” Piers laughed, his voice carrying across the open field. Catching movement among the trees, he raised his chin in their direction as he said more quietly, “It would appear the trolls have come out to greet us.”
Continuing to meet them, but at a much slower pace, the pair tromped over the wet earth. Gripping his sword anxiously, Rey again wondered what the hell they were doing. “There are so many of them,” he observed as more of the creatures cleared the shadows and grouped together, waiting for them.
“Just don’t make any sudden movements and leave the talking to me.”
“Aye.”
“Hello!” Piers called when they were only twenty feet away from the gathering.
Holding a smile and hoping to appear amicable despite his weapon, the Mate inspected the group of males before him, or at least he assumed that they were male. Most wore no covering across their chest, exposing a large amount of bluish flesh. A few appeared to be heavy set, but most were on the thin side to the point of being boney.
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