Ember (11 page)

“Yes,” agreed Selene, “if you're on foot, but
you weren't. My brother told me you had a horse in the stables, and
. . . a
guy
came to pick it up.”

Curse you, Trendon.

“I knew you would loosen up one of these
days, Evelyn. You absolutely
must
tell us all about
him.”

They each took a sip of their drinks and
waited expectantly for me to speak.

For seventeen years these two had made
no
attempt to include me in their little circle. All I do is
leave for three days and they want to be my best friends.

“Guys, I'm not lying. I don't—”

“Time to clear out ladies,” came Lina's
voice.
Saved by the boss.
“I'm a growing woman too and now
it's my lunch break.”

Gwen turned around to Lina. “Could we please
stay with Evelyn while she finishes her break? We promise not to
make a mess.”

Those sparkling blue eyes and glowing golden
hair, even Lina wouldn't be able to resist it. I spoke first.

“Actually I'm done for the day. My mom needs
my help back at the house with some sewing.”

Gwen turned to me and smiled. “Even better.
I’m supposed to get some lace from your mother today.”

I forced a smile.
Oh joy.

“I'm coming too,” added Selene. “You still
have to tell us about your boyfriend.”

Great, the imaginary person has been upgraded
to boyfriend status in less than a minute. By tonight I'll be
married.

I decided to just let it lie and attempt to
stay off the topic on the walk home . . . though, I doubted it was
one of those rumors that would be forgotten overnight.

As we made our way down the less crowded,
afternoon street. I listened to Gwen and Selene discuss the latest
gossip, nodding periodically.

Every once in a while I would stop listening
until I heard my name.

Man, did I miss being called Eve. . . .

We barely made it out of town when a voice
yelled from our right.

“Gwen, Selene, wait up.” It was Garret. Why
not? I might as well run into everyone the first day back. In fact
I think Garret might have been the last.

He walked up to our small group which had now
stopped moving, and gave Gwen and Selene a crisp smile before
turning to me.

“Evelyn. You're back. I heard you were gone.”
I couldn't help but study him for a moment. His appearance had
changed during his months away, though . . . I couldn't quite put
my finger on it. His hair was still crow black and he still had the
same five or so inches on me. It was something in his eyes . . .
something I wasn't so sure I liked.

“Only for a couple days,” I said in reply to
his statement. “I got back yesterday.” I tried to keep it short and
to the point, I didn't want to remind Gwen and Selene of their
boyfriend theory.

When I looked up at Garret, he was bearing
his gaze down hard on me.

Odd.

I shifted my eyes to Gwen quite obviously,
which she evidently took as an invitation to speak.

“Garret was telling us all about his trip to
Kirne yesterday. They have an entire shop there just for jewelry;
can you believe it? Weren't you telling us that, Garret?”

He nodded then put his hand up on the wall to
my left and leaned in. I guess Gwen and Selene took this as a hint
because they quickly drifted a few feet away and began their own
conversation.

My throat constricted as Garret resumed his
talking.

“I saw a lot of stuff in the other towns.
Things you've probably never heard of.”

I cringed back slightly.

He leaned in more, body language screaming of
self-adoration. “I could tell you about it sometime. You know, get
to know each other a little better.”

For a moment I wondered how I had been so
strong back in the woods, but felt so weak now. “Actually, Garret,
I . . .”

He chuckled. “You don't have to explain. I
know how much you want to. How about tonight? We could go walk in
the woods, just the two of us.” He rubbed a finger across my arm
and I just might have been ready to have at him, when I felt a body
come up beside me, and a hand wrap around my back.

“Hi, guys. How's it going?”

I didn't have to look. I knew who it was.

For a moment I felt completely secure, and
relieved . . . about everything.

Garret on the other hand did
not
look
happy.

“Ah . . . who are you?”

For the first time I looked up next to me to
see Ikovos. He acknowledged my glance with a slight squeeze around
my back, but kept his gaze on Garret.

“Ikovos.” he said, then he threw out his free
hand.

Garret just sneered at it.

“Well,
Ikovos
, I don't know who you
are or where you came from, but you're sort of interrupting
something here.”

Ikovos smiled at this. “Is that so? Well, why
don't we ask the lady if she wants me to leave.”

In that moment I couldn't have been more
grateful that Ikovos was as assuming and straightforward as I was
shy and indirect.

They both looked over at me waiting for my
answer. All they got was a forced cough
somewhat
disguising
the quick, back and forth motion of my head.

I held my gaze on the ground as Ikovos looked
back to Garret.

“Sorry. Looks like I'm staying.” He said it
flatly.

Garret looked like he might attack, but
before he could a gasp from the street interrupted.

By now most of the relief I had felt was
turning into anxiety. Apparently Gwen and Selene hadn't noticed the
new visitor until now. As they came up next to Garret I was hoping
desperately that Ikovos would move his arm . . . somehow I got the
feeling he wasn't going to do that anytime soon.

Ikovos spoke first, acknowledging the girls
in turn. “Hi there.”

They both giggled then Gwen spoke. “Evelyn,
is this the guy?”

Please stop talking right now.

“The guy you left town for.” she
clarified.

“The one you like.” added Selene.

This isn't happening. What did I do wrong
today to get put into this situation? Normally Garret ignores me as
much as Gwen and Selene do, and why is Ikovos even here?

I need a chance to prepare for this kind of
stuff. . . .

Unfortunately, right now I didn't have one,
all eyes were, once again, on me.

Gwen and Selene stood bright-eyed, awaiting
an answer. Garret looked as if he couldn’t comprehend what was
happening, or even conceive of the words that had just passed
Selene's lips. And, worst of all, I had no idea what Ikovos was
thinking, he just kept grinning as usual.

“He is not the guy!” I exclaimed, then
corrected. “There is no guy! I already told you guys this.” They
just kept staring. “In fact I never even said I went to visit
anyone. You thought of that yourselves.”

Garret, at least, looked relieved, not that I
was sure I wanted him to be, but when Gwen and Selene burst out
laughing his face soured again.

“You're such a kidder. This is him, isn't
it,” stated Gwen.

She was followed by Selene. “There's no
reason to hide it, Evelyn. He's quite handsome.”

Ikovos scratched the back of his head
uncomfortably and I dropped my head into my hands.

“Ah, Eve, err . . . Evelyn. Can I talk to you
alone for a minute?” asked Ikovos through the side of his
mouth.

I wanted to
scream
yes just for the
chance to get out of this situation, but kept my composure. “Of
course. Umm, guys, why don't I meet you back at my house?”

The girls looked a little disappointed, but
then smiled mischievously.

“Well, alright. Just don't be
too
long.”

Yeah, sure. I'll probably sleep outside
for avoidance.
“No,” I said. “Of course not. . . . I'll see you
guys later.”

I started to spin around, before Garret
interrupted.

“Hey! What about me?” I looked back at him.
“You never answered my question.
He
—” Garret tossed his head
towards Ikovos “—can wait.”

“Oh . . . right. . . .”

I was about to brush him off, but then
thought better of it. Ikovos was here today, but in a while he'd be
gone and I'd be stuck in this town with these guys, Garret
included. If I offended him I would never hear the end of it from
my mother, or anyone for that matter.

I put on a pleading face and looked up at
him. “Is it okay if we talk more about it tomorrow? Meet at the
cafe?”

“Well, I—”

“Thanks, Garret, you're the best!” With that
I swung around and headed off. This time pulling Ikovos along with
me.

When we were safely behind a tall building
closer to town, I turned around.

“What are you
doing
here?!” I sounded
a little more zealous than intended, but Ikovos didn't seem to
notice.

“I don't know . . . but those guys are
crazy.”

I rolled my eyes, though inwardly I was
trying very hard to keep from laughing, and made a serious face.
“You don't know why you're here?”

He gave a lopsided grin. “No, I do. I just
wanted to make sure you knew that—”

“They're crazy.
Believe
me, I know.”
It got quiet for a moment. “It didn't help that you came without
telling me. Do you know the kind of rumors you just started?”

He studied me. “I didn't take you for a
person that worried about rumors.”

I sighed absently, then leaned back against
the wall. “You're right. I'm not. . . . It's this place. It makes
me crazy.”

He leaned on the wall next to me. “Seems like
it would make anyone crazy.”

I smiled again. But it only made me feel
worse.

“Plus,” he chipped me on the shoulder, “I
thought you handled the situation quite well.”

I thought back on it with that view in
mind.

The next second we were both laughing out
loud.

He caught his breath and wrapped around in
front of me. “I want you to know that I would have come to say
goodbye no matter what had happened.”

I smiled back at him for a moment, then
adapted a confused expression. “What do you mean? Isn't that why
you're here?”

He grinned wide and shook his head.

Now I was really confused.

“I'm here because . . . well, because you can
come back. I mean, Thoran said you can come back. Of course he
didn't
just say
you could, he needed some convincing. But
the point is you can . . . come back.”

He said the whole thing so fast that I wasn't
quite sure of what I was hearing till he'd finished.

“You mean . . . I can come back? For good?” I
don't know why I felt the need to repeat as a question what he had
just told me quite a few times.

“Yeah. . . . That is, if you want to, you
don't
have
to. I just thought that—”

I stopped him. “Of
course
I want to! I
was just telling you how much I hate this place.”

He looked incredibly relieved and grinned
happily. Before I could say anything further though, he had his
arms around me in a hug.

I was never very good at the hugging thing,
so I just sort of stood there uncomfortably. Fortunately for me, he
let go quickly to grab onto my shoulders.

“Okay -we can't go back tonight,” he said.
“The part of the forest we'd have to walk through isn't safe when
it's dark.”

So the stories about Sharadeen aren't
completely a myth.

“Where are we going to stay?” I asked.

“Well,” he started, “I thought you could stay
here the night and I—” He stopped when he saw my shaking head.

“Please don't make stay here. I . . . I don't
mind sleeping outside, or
wherever
I need to.”

He laughed. It was that deep throaty laugh
again. “I'm not going to
make
you do anything . . . but
there's no guarantee you'll be safe where I'm going.”

I gave an exasperated face. “
Ikovos.
That's the reason I had to come back here in the first place.”

He put up his hands. “Hey, I'm not your boss.
If you happen to follow me, there's nothing I can do about it.” He
ended with a sly grin.

I felt pretty pleased with myself over my
persuasive skills. Not that I really think I had to do much. . .
.

“Besides,” I added coyly, “if it's not safe
you shouldn't be going alone anyways.”

A sound came from the other side of the
building. He glanced over then looked back, replying distractedly.
“I wouldn't be alone, Jaden'll be there.”

Until that moment I didn't know how fast a
stomach could tie into knots. The last time I saw Jaden I'd yelled
at him like a crazy person. The thought of seeing him again so soon
. . .
ugh.

I tried to concentrate on the present.

“Well then, you wouldn't need my
protection.”

He grinned. “I don't know. He can be a little
scary in the morning.”

He looked fine to me.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I
gave myself a mental slap. Then tried to save my lack of laughing
at his joke with a smile.

I
think
it worked. . . .

“If you're coming now you might want to go
get some clothes and, you know, anything else you'll need.” He half
turned and pointed to a high ledge beside the town. “Just meet me
there when you're done, okay?”

“Got it.” I said, still trying to concentrate
on acting normal. I wanted to say something more to him, but
couldn't think of anything.

He gave me a serious look. “Are you okay? You
look a little sick all of a sudden.”

This reminded me of the first time I'd met
Ikovos. I thought to myself that I wouldn't be able to hide much
from him. Apparently, I was right. Then again . . . I wasn't so
sure the most imperceptive person in the world wouldn't have
noticed the change in my demeanor once Jaden was mentioned.

“I'm fine.”

He gave me a skeptical look. It didn't fit
him at all and I laughed out loud.