Anilyia (39 page)

“I agree,” Tathan said. Everyone nodded.
“Let’s stay here for at least three or four days, possibly a couple
more if needed until everyone is well rested.” The nods became even
more vigorous.

They went up to the third floor and found a
suite that overlooked the intersection. There was a fireplace on
the front wall, which would keep them warm. Four rooms gave them
each their own space with Vevin and Liselle sharing a room. Even
though it was only noon, everyone laid out their sleeping bags and
went to sleep. Sir Danth took his leave and went to sit on the
grand stairway. Tathan had noticed the knight liked to sit still
for long periods of time and wondered if it was his way of
resting.

***

Tathan felt lips on his neck. He woke
without opening his eyes or moving. Her lips touched his neck
again, sending thrills down his body. The smell of Anilyia’s hair,
which tickled his cheek, was lovely. He opened his eyes and turned
to his back to look at her. Moonlight came in through the open
shutters, gently illuminating the room.

Princess Anilyia was kneeling next to him,
one hand running through his hair and the other on his arm. She
stared intensely into his eyes. He looked into hers. They were such
a deep blue, like the ocean. Her platinum hair glistened ethereally
in the moonlight making her all that more alluring.

She leaned down and timidly kissed his lips.
He felt her trembling as he reached one hand around her waist and
the other behind her neck. She lay down atop his chest as he kissed
her strongly. They separated for a moment and looked into each
other’s eyes again. Tathan knew she was willing.

“We can’t,” he whispered, not really meaning
it. Tears instantly welled in her eyes. He hated it when she did
that. “Let’s take a walk. The air feels nice and Siahray is full
tonight,” he suggested. She stood up and wiped away tears with an
arm. Tathan didn’t get out of the sleeping bag right away. He had
become aroused and had to think about carnivorous fairies to settle
things while getting his pants and shirt on.

A moment later he was up and ready to go.
Anilyia was wearing a sturdy nightgown Vevin had bought for her to
go with the traveling outfit and a nice dress. The glow of the moon
highlighted her curves underneath, causing Tathan to take a deep
breath and think about carnivorous fairies again.

He put an arm around her waist and led her
out of the room. Instead of heading toward the main staircase, she
pointed him down a side hall. It led to another hallway along the
back rooms. They walked the entire distance down that hall to a
stone door that opened onto stone stairs zigzagging on the outside
of the building from the ground to the top floor. The moon lit the
grassy yard through a light mist that refused to go away.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I explored a little
bit and found this exit. I didn’t want Sir Proper telling us we’re
bad for being together,” she explained as they walked down the
stairs.

Tathan chuckled at that. “You couldn’t
sleep? I thought you would be exhausted.”

She shrugged. “I was alone in that empty
room and I heard Vevin and Liselle growling from theirs.”

Tathan raised an eyebrow. “Growling?” They
walked toward one of the buildings away from the inn. A nearby owl
hooted at their passing and the tranquil splashing of the river
helped him to relax.

“Yes. I think they’re having sex again, but
it involves a lot of growling and snarling,” she said in disgust.
Tathan barked out a loud laugh. She stuck her tongue out and
pointed at the building they were approaching. “I think this was
someone’s house.” She pointed at a long building along the Ancient
Road. “I think that’s a barn, large enough to fit all the steeds
belonging to my father’s personal guard.” She pointed to two
buildings on the other side of the river, upstream a ways. “I don’t
know what those are for. There’s another bridge crossing the river,
but I didn’t feel brave enough to get that far away.”

They were at the door of the house. “I’ve
only seen a few inns so big with this many buildings. This must
have been a major crossroads. I bet those are servants’ quarters,”
Tathan said, pointing at the buildings on the other side of the
river. “I’m not sure what the rest are.” Anilyia shrugged and
opened the door. Tathan followed her inside.

Surprisingly, there was a stone table and
chairs near the riverside window. “I opened the shutters when I was
exploring. I like it in here,” she said.

Tathan looked around. The living room was to
their right with a cold fireplace on the far wall. Anilyia stood
next to one of the chairs at the side of the table and looked at
him. He pulled it out for her to sit and then took the one next to
her. “It’s nice,” he agreed.

Anilyia rested her elbows on the table, but
quickly pulled them off. She looked around with a blush on her
face. “If my nanny were here, she’d smack my hands for putting my
elbows on the table.” The princess put them back in a moment of
disobedience. She looked guilty for doing so, but there was a smile
on her face.

Tathan put his on the table as well. “I’m a
rogue. I do this all the time,” he said with a wink. She giggled
and then became serious, searching his face with her eyes. “What?”
he asked in curiosity.

“I love you, but I don’t understand you,”
she said quietly.

His heart about leapt out of his throat.
Love was a strong word and he believed she really meant it. Tathan
wasn’t sure whether or not he loved her, but suspected he might.
Instead of addressing that, he asked the easier question. “What
don’t you understand about me?”

She smiled sadly and looked down at the
table. He knew her feelings were hurt when he didn’t reciprocate
her love. The princess took a deep breath and looked at him again.
“I don’t understand you or your friends. None of you make any
sense.”

Tathan opened his mouth only to close it
again. She had a good point. He wasn’t sure he understood his
friends or even himself. “Well . . . I’ll agree with that.”

Anilyia raised a pretty, platinum eyebrow
and giggled. “Why did you rescue me, Tathan?” she asked seriously.
“You, not the others. Why did
you
rescue me?”

Tathan thought for a moment before
shrugging. “Everyone wanted to do it. I didn’t have anything else
to do and it sounded like something that would be difficult and
fun, so I agreed.”

The eyebrow rose again, this time with a bit
more attitude. “So you saved me because you didn’t have anything
else to do?”

He pointed. “And it sounded like fun. Don’t
forget that.”

She glared, but only for a moment before
bursting into laughter. It didn’t last long though. “I think I
heard about you at court one time. Somebody mentioned a ‘Tathan of
the Shadows’ as being a famous thief who was creating a lot of
trouble.”

“That was another Tathan of the Shadows.
It’s a very common name you know,” he replied with a smirk.

“Uh huh. I’m sure. Why do you travel with
them?” she asked, abruptly switching subjects. “I understand
Liselle is your cousin and you both lost your family, but why do
you travel with the knight and dragon?”

“We met them in Aaltdiin. I wasn’t sure
about it at first, but Liselle said we should take them.” He took
her hands in his. “I don’t trust many people in this world, but I
do trust Liselle. Her instincts have been exceptional.”

Anilyia frowned, not convinced. “There is
something wrong with the knight. He’s disturbed and I don’t think
his sanity is intact.”

“You may be right. Sir Danth has been a good
friend and valuable ally though,” Tathan said, trying to reassure
the princess. “If he
is
going through trouble, I think he
needs friends and we’re the closest he has.” Tathan didn’t make
many friends, but was fiercely loyal when he did.

She nodded. “I can live with that, but the
dragon . . .”

“I know dragons are supposed to eat
princesses, but he promised not to,” Tathan protested. “He’s kept
his word.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said intensely.

“I honestly like Vevin. At first, he scared
me, but he’s a lot of fun to be around. I’m not going to lie, being
friends with a dragon is pretty awesome,” he told her with a
grin.

Anilyia was not amused. If anything, her
frown became even more severe. “But he’s purple.”

Tathan stared at her, not knowing why that
mattered. “Purple is a nice enough color . . .”

“Don’t you know anything about dragons?” she
asked.

“Umm . . . they have sharp teeth and lots of
treasure,” he replied, hoping to lighten the mood.

Anilyia’s voice lowered to a whisper.
“Purple is evil.”

Tathan stared at her, not understanding.
Still speaking quietly, the princess explained. “There are four
colors of dragons: white and orange are good and pure, though they
still like to eat princesses. Purple and black are evil. Your
friend Vevin is purple. Purple dragons are evil. Vevin is evil.”
Anilyia’s face was right next to his. The terror in her eyes was
strong. “Vevin is evil,” she hissed.

Cold fear struck Tathan’s heart. He did know
that there were good and evil dragons, but very little else. The
princess had received a royal education and would know for
certain.

That meant he was traveling with an evil
dragon. That meant his cousin was in love with an evil dragon. That
meant Liselle was lying with evil at that very moment.

Anilyia gripped his hands tightly. “
Vevin
is evil
.”

###

***

John H. Carroll was the youngest of seven
children and was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1970 where he was kept
in a dresser drawer with the clean socks. Luckily, he wasn’t kept
with the dirty socks or else he might have grown up to become
slightly warped.

As a child, John spent most of his time
wandering through the Mojave Desert in an attempt to avoid people.
He would stare at the sky, imagining what it would be like to
explore different worlds. One of his favorite memories is watching
his dad build the fuselage of Evel Kneivel’s skycycle in their
garage. One of his least favorite moments was watching that
skycycle fall into the Snake River. (Not his dad’s fault and he has
documentation to prove it, so nyah)

As a teenager, John spent most of his time
driving wherever he could in an attempt to avoid people. He would
stare at the road, imagining what it would be like to explore
different worlds. He was the captain of the chess team, lettered in
golf and band while in high school, and wasn’t beaten up anywhere
near as much as one might imagine.

As an adult, John spends most of his time
staring at a computer screen in an attempt to avoid people. He
stares at the monitor for hours, imagining what it would be like to
explore different worlds. He has been married to his wonderful wife
for sixteen years and they have three obnoxio . . . wonderful
children who always behave . . . when they’re asleep.

Emo bunny minions surround John at most
times. He is their imaginary friend and they look to him for
guidance. At one point, they took over the world. No one noticed
because they left everything exactly as it was. They gave the world
back after a week because it was depressing.

The Willden Trilogy is his first endeavor
into the field of writing. Other series and standalone works will
be forthcoming. In addition, John has written a number of short
stories that can be found at most eBook sites. He writes in the
evenings and weekends whenever possible. Regrettably, the family
mentioned in a previous paragraph desires food and shelter,
requiring the author to possess a full time job until his writing
makes him rich.

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Odd tales of anti-heroes doing their best to
survive odd circumstances.

The Emo Bunny that Should (Illustrated)

Zachary Zombie and the Lost Boy

Drippy the Peg Legged Rainbow

Unholy Cow

Attack of the Sugar Plum Fairies

Naughty Nanoworms

Zachary Zombie and the Wicked Worm

My full-length novels are set in the world
of Ryallon. They are high fantasy with rogues, knights, dragons and
flower children. You can get them at the store where you found this
one.

Willden Trilogy
(Written first)

Rojuun

Anilyia

Kethril

Dralin Trilogy
(Set in time before
the Willden trilogy)

Dralin

Ebudae

Pelya

The Wyvern Trilogy
(Parallel to the
Willden Trilogy, set in time after the Dralin Trilogy)

Wyvern