by Jeri Baird
“He’s about big enough for a pelt.”
Anger blocked Zander’s throat until he spotted the grin his father tried to hide. As quickly as it rose, the anger disappeared. He joked back, “He’d make a fine pair of gloves.”
Father snorted. “Barely.” He threw his arm around Zander’s shoulder. “You’ll stay for dinner?”
Zander nodded and ducked, blushing. He couldn’t remember the last time his father had come close to hugging him. Maybe being apart had been good for both of them, and Father hadn’t been upset to see him. Of course, it helped that Father was sober.
They relaxed in comfortable silence at the table and made a meal of roasted rabbit and stewed parsnips. Zander was surprised when Father snuck a piece of meat to Shadow, who lurked under the table.
Shifting in his chair, Father asked, “That elder treating you right?”
“Yes.”
“Not working you too hard?”
“No.”
“What happened to your face?”
“I’m learning to ride.” Zander glanced at his father and shrugged. “I fell off.” Reliving the embarrassment made his heart thump.
“Why? When will you need to ride?”
Zander started to speak and then shook his head, unable to explain his dream. Father wouldn’t understand, and Zander didn’t want to hear why it would never happen. What did his father know of dreams? He pelted. No one dreamed of pelting.
Instead, he said, “Elder Warrin’s all right, and his son, Greydon, works in the stables with me. But the other son, Dharien, takes every opportunity to annoy me.”
Father snorted. “Zander, you might as well understand. Elders and Protectors are men, and men can have good hearts or bad hearts. Having wealth or position doesn’t give you honor.”
Zander nodded, and they finished their meal in silence. When Zander stood to leave, his father reached for his shoulder. Searching Zander’s eyes, he said, “Sit a minute, Son. I appreciate the pelts today, but it’s not your responsibility to take care of me. Your life is with Elder Warrin now. Spend your time pleasing him and be a good servant. Pay off your debt and hope Moira will assign a good apprenticeship for you.”
“But Father, I don’t mind hunting for you.”
“No, Zander. You don’t understand. It’s better for you at the stables. He doesn’t know anything about you. You’ll be safer when you quest.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Trust me. We’ll talk after the quest, but until then, stay with Elder Warrin. I don’t want you hunting for me.”
Shocked, Zander nodded and said, “All right, Father, if that’s what you want.” He stood. “Come on, Shadow.”
When he and the pup reached the comfort of the woods, Zander slumped against a tree, and the hard bark pressed into his shoulders. Father was talking crazy, and he hadn’t been drinking. Zander hadn’t always been happy at home, but Father was his only family. Tonight he’d made it clear he didn’t want Zander.
As the calm from the tree seeped into Zander, his distress resolved into determination, and his mind cleared. In Father’s eyes, Zander had once again seen the secret woman. If Zander knew the truth of who she was, he might understand Father’s decision.
Before Zander could leave, Father stepped outside and headed to the back of the house. Zander followed in the dark. Father packed the rabbit meat in his bag and threw it over his shoulder. Then he disappeared down the path the led to the village.
Zander followed. He’d find out where Father took the meat and maybe find out about the woman he hid in his thoughts. He stalked Father to the market and the back of the bakery where Alexa lived. After Father knocked, a woman opened the door, and Father handed her the bag. She threw her arms around him.
This was the woman Zander had seen in the vision. As he crept closer, she said, “Theron, we’ll be together soon.”
“I hope so, Lark,” Father replied, his voice muffled.
The woman pulled away and wiped at her eyes. “Can you come in?”
The door closed and shut Zander out, alone in the dark. His father loved Alexa’s mother? He stumbled backwards into a cart and shoved it. Copper pans crashed against the brick wall. He shot away, but his anger propelled him straight into the path of the Protectors.
“Hoy, we have a thief!”
A club smashed into his stomach and Zander collapsed to the street. Two men grabbed his arms and jerked him to his feet. Zander swung blindly and connected with the side of a head, but six against one were not good odds. Thrown face-first against the wall, Zander struggled until his wrists were tied behind him. He hung limp as two men dragged him down the alley. They shoved him into the same dark cell he’d been in not many days before.
“What do I do with the coyote?” the jailer asked.
“Put him in with the boy,”
Sliding down the dirt wall, Zander gathered Shadow onto his lap and cried for the first time since he was five.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Alexa
When Zander wasn’t in class, Alexa nearly wept with frustration. Where was he? She needed to talk to him, although the idea of confronting him about his father made her stomach knot up. Could Zander be her twin?
She paid no attention as the priest’s voice rose and fell in boring crescendos, warning of omens. Her mother’s words jumbled over and over. Alexa had her father’s eyes. Merindah had been right. She had the eyes of Zander’s father.
Mother said the village was keeping their secret. Alexa spent a sleepless night puzzled until Melina Odella’s words came to her. Twins didn’t both survive the quest because one almost always sacrificed their life for the other. Mother and Father had separated her and Zander so they wouldn’t know they had a twin during the quest. And the whole village was in on it. They all wanted her and Zander to survive. Alexa thought she’d cried out all her tears, but her eyes grew blurry and she pressed her palms into them. She needed to talk to Zander, but would it be better if he didn’t know?
Next to her, Merindah whispered, “What’s wrong?”
Alexa shook her head and mouthed, “I’ll tell you later.”
Dharien cocked his head at her, and Alexa had an idea. He might know where Zander was. After all, Zander lived at Dharien’s estate. She’d been avoiding him, but now she needed Dharien’s help. He’d know if Zander was sick or injured. Or maybe he’d been sent home. Alexa’s mind churned her fears over and over. She hardly noticed when the priest dropped a thorn omen on the table in front of her when class dismissed. She snatched it and chased after Dharien before Merindah had stuffed her journal in her bag.
She stumbled out the church door and glimpsed Dharien as he mingled with the villagers on the path to the market. “Dharien!” she yelled as she sprinted to catch him.
He turned to glare. “You’re talking to me now?”
She took a minute to catch her breath. “Where’s Zander?”
He snapped, “Why would I know?”
“He lives with you.”
Dharien snorted. “He lives in the stables because of the idiocy of my father.”
Alexa hated what she would have to do next. She fluttered her lashes and reached for him. He stood rooted, but allowed her to take his hand.
“You’re kind to look after him.” Alexa pulled him closer and whispered. “I’m worried. Could you find him?” She hoped he didn’t feel her hand shaking. She was taking advantage of him, but Dharien was her best chance to find Zander.
He blinked without speaking.
“Please?” Alexa searched his eyes. He appeared shocked, but when his eyes softened, she knew he’d decided to help.
“Uh, I guess I could try.”
“Thank you, Dharien.” Alexa leaned in and kissed his cheek. He blushed bright red. “I trust you to find him.”
After Dharien bolted, Al
exa turned to find Merindah standing behind her with crossed arms.
“What was that?” Merindah asked.
“I’m worried about Zander. I asked Dharien to find him.”
“When did you start worrying over Zander?”
Alexa stared at Merindah and tipped her chin up. “When I found out he might be my brother.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “You have to keep this a secret. I think Zander and I are twins.”
Merindah gave Alexa a satisfying gasp.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Zander
In the dark cell, Zander slumped with his back to the earth wall. A dank smell wound up from the ground, and he sneezed. He didn’t expect a rescue. Elder Warrin wouldn’t use his influence again. And if he did, Zander would never be able to work off the additional debt.
He dozed and woke to the revelation that he was on his own. His father had dismissed him, probably glad to be rid of him, so he could be with Alexa’s mother. Was Alexa his half-sister? Nothing made sense. Too many questions rattled through his head, and he had no answers. Well, he had one. He knew where the bread had come from. The coins Zander believed went for fancy bread probably had bought more mead. Or maybe Father had given them to Alexa’s mother. It was one more unanswered question that no longer mattered.
The noon bells rang, reminding Zander he’d missed another morning of class. And breakfast, but he wasn’t hungry enough to eat the slop the guard brought for the noon meal. He poured a little in each of the men’s bowls he shared the cell with. He slept again, curled around Shadow, dreaming of carrot cake and warm oat bread.
The iron door clanked open, waking him. The jailer called out, “Zander, son of Theron, come forward. Your charges are cleared.” The man grabbed Zander’s shoulder and guided him through the dark passageway. When they emerged at the end, the late afternoon sun created deep shadows in the street.
Unable to believe who stood in front of him, Zander rubbed at his eyes and sputtered, “Dharien?”
Dharien spat at Zander’s feet, but motioned for him to follow. As they traipsed through the village, Dharien broke the silence. “I still hate you.”
Zander’s head jerked up. “Then why did you come?”
“Alexa asked me to find you.”
“I thought she hated me too.” Zander grimaced. Why would she send Dharien to rescue him? Did she pity him?
Dharien shrugged. “I thought she hated both of us.” He blushed deep red. “But then she kissed me.”
Alexa had kissed Dharien? Zander suddenly felt protective. He shook his head. “Well, thanks for getting me out.”
“I did it for Alexa.” He glared at Zander and added, “You know she’d choose me.”
“What?”
“Alexa. If I asked her, she’d pick me over you.”
Zander started. “What makes you think I want her as a girlfriend?”
“You’re always watching her. You lie if you say you don’t.”
That was true. He did watch her. “Having money doesn’t mean she wants you. Alexa’s better than that.”
“I could give her a better life than you could.” Dharien kicked at a rock. “When I’m a Protector, you’ll still be living in Father’s stable paying off your debt to him.”
“What will it take to repay you?” Even as he asked, Zander feared the answer.
“Stay away from Alexa.”
Zander nodded, but somehow he didn’t think it would be possible. He glanced at Dharien puzzled. “What’s your patron? I never see you with it.”
Dharien’s face darkened. He reached into his pocket. “If you make fun of him, I’ll kill you.” He opened his hand.
It was all Zander could do not to laugh. Dharien’s patron was a mouse. A black mouse with a cute white face. He sputtered, “Nice, Dharien. A very handy patron.”
“Mice are smarter than you think.” He scrunched his eyebrows. “I’ve taught him to sit up and beg.”
After he hid the mouse in his pocket, Dharien sped up. The boys matched each other stride for stride as they trekked to the estate. They parted at the path to the stable. Zander slipped in the back door and reached for the door of his room. Fulk’s heavy footsteps stomped in the hall.
“Not so fast.” Fulk eyed Zander up and down and muttered, “You look like death.” He hesitated and his forehead wrinkled. “You can skip your chores tonight. Get cleaned up and ready for dinner.”
Grateful for Fulk’s tact, Zander ducked into his room. After a quick wash, he downed a plate of roasted venison and apple cobbler. Then he fell into bed where he tossed through the night. Visions of Alexa flitted through his dreams. In the haze between sleep and wakefulness, Zander recalled a memory long buried. He was young and he chased a girl his size. As he caught her, they tumbled together laughing. The warm yeasty smell of bread wafted through his memory as it often did in his dreams. When the girl gazed at him it was through the dark eyes of Alexa. The same eyes his father had.
Zander’s heart raced, and he stroked the wooden heart token to calm himself. It didn’t work. Bless the fates. Alexa wasn’t his half-sister. She was his twin.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Three Months until the Quest
Alexa
The next day, Zander walked into class with a nasty bruise on his cheek. Alexa hoped she could gather the courage to talk to him after they dismissed. The more often she snuck glances at Zander, the more Dharien scowled. Zander looked up once and caught her eyes before he blushed and appeared to find his hands more interesting.
She needed to know the truth. If they were twins, they needed a plan. The embroidery she stitched of the village hung at the fringes of her thoughts, unclear in meaning, but heavy with promise.
She caught Melina Odella’s stare, obviously still angry, but why did the priest glance at Alexa and then drop his eyes?
When Melina Odella told them to dump their bags, Alexa complied without thinking. She automatically matched tokens with omens. She’d done this a dozen times. The priest and fortune-teller strolled around the room commenting here and there to help a quester who appeared puzzled over which token to use. They encouraged good deeds to gain the tokens needed, but warned only actions done with a pure heart would earn them. The same words they always said.
As usual, Zander’s tokens outnumbered everyone else’s. He blushed as the others teased him about his pile. Dhaien scowled and tapped his fingers on the table, as if deep in thought.
Near the end of class the priest announced, “I need the day and month of your birth. It determines where you enter the forest for the quest.”
The fortune-teller wrote as the questers called out their dates.
Merindah, “First of February.”
Paal, “Twenty-eighth of April.”
Alexa blushed. If she’d thought to ask Paal his birth date, she would have known they weren’t twins.
Dharien smirked. “The village celebrates my birthday. It’s the first of May, the same as the May Day Festival.”
Mulling over what she wanted to say to Zander, Alexa stopped listening. At her turn, she called out, “Eleventh of November.”
Alexa glanced up at the silence as the class waited for Zander to respond.
He hesitated and then blurted out, “Twelfth of November.”
She blinked confused. Did they not share a birthday? Was she wrong to think they were twins?
The noon bells rang, and Zander dashed for the door before Alexa could stop him. When she stepped from the church, he’d disappeared into the market-goers.
“Have you talked to him?” Merindah asked at her side.
“No, and it seems I won’t find him today.” Alexa kicked at a rock and sent it scudding against the side of the church.
After she parted from Merindah, Alexa meandered toward the market lost in thought. As she passed an empty booth, Zander rea
ched out and pulled her into the stall his father used on Saturdays. With the cloth overhang pulled over the opening, they were hidden from the crowd.
“We have to talk.” Zander’s eyes searched Alexa’s. Dizziness washed over her, and Alexa grabbed at the side of the stall.
“I think my father . . .” Zander started.
“. . . is also my father.” Alexa finished.
Zander collapsed against the wall of the booth. “My birthday isn’t November 12, it’s November 11.”
“I remember you!” Alexa had a vision of Zander chasing her through the house, their father laughing, with Mother on his lap. Her knees buckled. “We’re twins. Dear fate, by the graces, we are twins!” She felt the energy tying her to Zander. Memories flooded through her and filled her with joy.
They sat cross-legged on the dirt floor, as if the village surrounding them didn’t exist. The voices outside disappeared, and the darkened booth seemed their world.
Alexa glanced up at her brother and stared back at the floor. “I . . .” she started and then couldn’t find the words to continue.
Seemingly equally tongue-tied, Zander twisted his hands. After a few moments, he said, “Tell me about our mother. I don’t remember her.”
Alexa hesitated. “She’s the best baker in our village.”
“No, I mean what’s she like? Does she kiss you goodnight? Does she talk with you at meals?”
Blinking back tears, Alexa confessed, “She works hard, and she’s tired at night. She doesn’t have much time. What about Father?”
Zander shrugged. “The same, I guess. He works hard, and he drinks too much. He hardly ever talks to me. I thought it would be different if I had a mother.”
She reached for his hand. “We have each other now. It’ll be enough.” She searched his eyes. “We can’t tell our parents we know. We need to keep the secret until after the quest.”
“But why did they separate us? Why the secret?”