Ember (16 page)

He looked up thinking. “Ah . . . what's your
favorite color?”

I didn't have to consider this long. “Blue
and purple. Especially together.”

“Hmm, okay. Go ahead.”

“Same question to you,” I stated. I was
starting to get comfortable enough around him that I could, almost,
just say what I was thinking.

“You can't keep doing that,” said Ikovos.

“What?” I looked over at him.

For a moment I was stunned by the eyes and
smirky smile looking back at me. Water was dripping down the
strands of hair that dangled around his face. His pale skin damp as
well. It fit perfectly with his crystal blue eyes and the lips
below them that had gone pink from the cold.

I blinked double-speed for the moment.

“Asking me the same question I just asked
you,” he finished.

After a second of thought, I stuck out a
pinky. “Last time I promise.”

He locked it and released before answering.
“Greenish-blue.”

“Like turquoise?” I asked.

“Nope,” he stated plainly.
“Greenish-blue.”

I paused. “One color just doesn't cut it,
does it?”

He laughed heartily. “I guess not.”

I jumped over a root and spoke. “Your turn
again.”

He thought about it. “What are your
hobbies?”

“Nope,” I retorted. “Can't do that one . . .
I already asked it.”

He looked at me with a playfully, incredulous
face. “First of all, that is just ridiculous, you did it three
times.” I bit my lip smiling. “And second of all, you asked what my
favorite
hobby was, not all of them.”

He made two inarguable points. “Okay.” I
sucked in a breath. “I don't know if I have any . . . my mom always
says it's arguing, but, “ I thought about it more, “well, I bake,
like pastries and stuff. Actually I work at a cafe. And . . . I
train a lot. Self defense with this older lady in Tiver. At least I
used to. She died. After that I started running though. I guess
that counts. Oh, and I like to draw.” I put a hand on my chest.
“And
books
, God, I love reading . . . I think I might have
told you that already though.”

When I checked up at him he held a lopsided
grin.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“You said you didn't know if you had any
hobbies. And here I'm wondering if there's any you don't have.
“

Oh.” I looked down. “Sorry, I was rambling
wasn't I.”

He chuckled. “I don't know about rambling,
but I think it's the first time you've said more than one sentence
in a row since I met you.”

That's it, I was definitely rambling.

He looked back ahead. “You're probably going
to start talking less again now, right?”

I didn't say anything. He was too right to
argue with.

I noticed now that the forest was thinning.
It was easy to tell because we were starting to get rained on
again. The vines had all but disappeared as well, and the ground
was nothing more than squishy, green, grass. I was happy to see
that the sky had turned a very dark grey, but felt bad for Ikovos
all the same time.

“Oh great, “ he said. “I was just starting to
dry out.”

I winced. “Sorry.”

He grinned and looked over at me. “Despite
your weather-influencing wardrobe attempts, I don't think you‘re
responsible.”

I was a little taken aback that he had
noticed this, but was much too embarrassed to reply.

“Well, we're almost there,” he sighed. “Feel
like running?” He stopped and looked at me curiously.

“Yes, only . . .” I bit my lip. “It can't be
a race, okay? I'll get to nervous if it's a race.”

He laughed. Apparently there was something
about me that he found very funny today, because he kept doing
that.

“No racing, I promise.” He stuck out his
smallest finger. “We can even pinky swear if you like.” He was
barely able to hold back his laughter as he said it.

I narrowed my eyes at him playfully, then,
forgoing his pinky, pushed him over onto the slippery ground and
started running.

*

Between heavy gasps, Ikovos spoke. “You . .
.” more gasping, “. . . you are very fast.”

We'd made it to the lodge in less than thirty
minutes and were now bending over with our hands on our knees,
bright red, and very sweaty.

I sucked in a heavy breath. “I told you I was
competitive.”

He tilted his head up to me still gasping.
“No, you said you get nervous.” He inhaled again. “That is not what
nervous means.” I lifted my eyes up at him as he shook his head. “I
don't even think competitive covers it.”

I smiled at him, but then lost my balance and
fell onto the ground. He started laughing, at least as much as
possible through gasps. I just sat up and made a face.

When he was finished, he put a hand over his
stomach and grimaced. “Ouch. I have a cramp now.”

“Serves you right,” I stated as he leaned
into the ground and turned to sit next to me.

After giving me a look mirroring mine, he
threw his hands back behind him and gazed up at the sky. “I'm
getting so sick of this stuff.”

I scoffed teasingly. “It's barely been a
day.” He put his eyes on me. “Think how I feel getting stuck with
the horrible sun all the time.”

One side of his mouth went up. “If this is
how it feels to you, then I'm very sorry.” We sat with locked eyes
for a moment before he turned ahead and began to get up.

“I have to go now,” he said. “You should be
able to make it back from here.” His hand gestured to the building
next to us as I eyed him wickedly.

Attempting to hide my disappointment, I asked
as indifferently as possible, “Where are you going?”

He was standing in front of me now. “I've got
to . . .” he eyed me. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but his
face was unusually serious. “I'm going to check on Jaden.”

“Oh.” I said, too obviously upset by it.
First Jaden had gone somewhere unsafe and now Ikovos was going
too?

Come on, Evelyn. You have to get used to
this stuff if you're staying here.
I forced a smile up at him
and he brightened.

“Cornelius should be around, but just head to
the study if you like.”

I nodded. “Alright.” He offered me a hand,
but I waved it off. “No, thanks. I just want to sit here for a
minute . . . catch my breath.”

He nodded somewhat apprehensively, turned
around slowly, and started walking in almost the same direction we
had come.

“Hey, Ikovos.” I yelled after him. He turned
around to face me. “Back before dark, right?”

He smiled, one of his big ear to ear smiles.
“Back before dark.”

He started walking backwards for a moment,
then turned quickly around and jogged off.

I looked back ahead of me as I wondered how
long it would be before I saw either of them again. I forced the
thought to pass. The last thing two teenage boys wanted was a
‘mommy’
to worry about them every time they went out.

With a sigh I pushed up off the ground and
patted through the puddly ground to the side door. I followed the
hall down to what I thought was Cornelius’s study, it took me a few
tries. When I entered the room it was cold . . . empty and cold. I
frowned sufficiently when I saw there were no magic flames to be
found. It was the first time I'd been in there without them. I was
glad that it was still fairly light out, because I wouldn't have
been able to see anything without it. The small window of the
bathroom was the only thing giving off light.

Apart from the lack of fire, which was still
causing me to scowl, the study was exactly how I'd remembered.
Cozy, loaded with books, ridiculously comfy furniture. I sighed
with relief. What more could a girl want?

Ah . . . magic fire.

I rolled my eyes at myself and moved towards
the bathroom to change. I was, after all, soaking wet. I turned the
water on first thing. It was hot almost immediately and felt
fantastic on my frozen hands. My body shivered with anticipation as
I stripped and entered the steaming water.

It was one of the longest showers I'd ever
taken. At least I felt like it was. My mind kept wandering to
Ikovos and Jaden, if they were safe, if they were back yet. When I
was out and dressed I felt a lot better though, the chill
momentarily gone from my bones.

With nothing to do I scanned over the books
on the walls absently, still wondering if I should go look for
Cornelius or Sophie . . . Thoran wasn't in the mix.

Tucking a loose hair behind my ear, I read
the title of a book. “
Lost Works of Efreet
.” I ran my finger
across each as I said them aloud. “
Notes, Letters, Maps, and the
Art of Compiling.
” “
Mere Observance and Pose.
”
“
Lumination of the Haraatars
” I could barely pronounce that
one. “
The History of Sharadeen Forest and its Expansion.
”
Now that one sounded interesting.

Why aren't any of these books at our stores
in Tiver?

I was about to pull the last one off the
shelf when I heard a door open behind me. I spun around quickly and
was relieved to see Cornelius standing in the doorway.

He looked much more calm and rested then when
I'd seen him last. I was glad for it, but I hoped I didn't cause
the same reaction after a few days.

“My dear, I'm so glad you're back.” He said
it with the warmest smile I'd ever seen.

I couldn't help but smile back. “Me too.”

He moved closer. “I came because I thought I
heard the shower running and suspected it was you.”

I nodded. “Yeah . . . I was all wet.”

His smile turned to concern. “Oh yes, I'm
sorry you had to travel in the rain,” he said. “It got quite heavy
there for a while.”

I decided not to tell him that I liked the
weather and rocked my head casually. “It wasn't too bad. We were in
the forest for most of it.” I scratched my neck absently. “I felt
bad for Ikovos though. He didn't seem to take well to it.”

Cornelius’s smile returned with a chuckle.
“Yes. He acts quite like he's melting, doesn't he?”

I laughed too, then asked without thinking,
“Is he back yet?”

Cornelius looked perplexed. “Didn't he come
back with you?”

Dang it, Evelyn.
I slapped myself
mentally. The look of suspicion from Jaden popped instantly into my
head. I collected my thoughts as quickly as possible, trying to
remember the storytelling skills that had saved me repeatedly over
the years.

“No, he and Jaden just said they were going
to hang out by the pool for a bit. . . . I think. . . .” I added
the last part because of how instantly guilty I felt.

He pondered this. “Oh. That's strange in this
weather.” I did a small, but not too exaggerated, palms-up. “Then
again,” he looked up a bit, “they are strange boys.”

The corners of my mouth inched up at the
words, but I quickly hid it.

“They said they'd be back before dark.”

He nodded his acknowledgment, then put a
finger to his mouth. “We'll just have to move you out sooner than I
expected. Every time Jaden leaves, the study gets too blasted dark
to see anything.”

I was seeing a firsthand view of this. The
light from the bathroom window had dimmed considerably and I was
now barely able to make out Cornelius’s face. I didn't want to
leave the study though. I loved the books and . . . well. It felt
safer to me than anywhere I'd ever been.

“Aren't there other offense artisans besides
Jaden?” I asked, feeling very proud of myself for using all the
proper dialect.

He considered this for a moment. “Yes, but I
wouldn't trust any of them to use magic in here.”

“What about Thoran?” I questioned.

Cornelius chuckled. “Well I suppose he could
do it, but . . . are you sure you want to stay in here? It's not
very close to any of the other sleeping chambers and there's no
bed.”

I nodded. “If it's okay with you, I'd rather
stay here.” I was surprised by my own candidness, maybe all this
action was making me braver.

Cornelius smiled. “Then
this
is where
you will stay.”

I didn't know how relieved I would feel.
“Thanks, Cornelius.”

He chuckled again. “No, thank
you
. A
girl like you is just what we need around here.”

I gave him a yeah-right face.

“I’m completely serious.” His brow scrunched
in thought. “These young men have gotten too rough, they need to
learn to be more sensitive.”

A moment after he said it I started laughing.
It was probably the hardest I'd laughed since I came here. “Well,
then,” I said, grinning broadly, “I can't really argue with you. I
pretty much have ‘please be sensitive to me’ written on my
forehead.”

He laughed too, understanding the deeper
meaning of my words. When we'd caught our breath he spoke. “I'd
better go ask Thoran to start a fire in here, or else you're going
to be standing in pitch dark.”

I looked over my shoulder to see that the
bathroom was now giving off no light. I was surprised at the way my
body rushed because of it. I told myself it had nothing to do with
two certain people promising to be back at this time.

With a now ambiguous smile, I looked back at
Cornelius. Despite my fears he seemed quite un-attuned to the
intricacies of the thought patterns.

He gave a last comforting smile. “I shall see
you later, my dear. Have a good night.”

“Same to you,” I said warmly.

With that he moved through the silhouetted
door and shut it quietly behind him.

It really was pitch dark in here now.

I thought about moving, but was fairly
certain I'd injure myself. Especially since my head was still light
with adrenaline. I tried to tell myself to stay cool, but in the
darkness, where my big, stupid, smile was visible by no one, it was
very hard. I succeeded, though, in not letting myself think about
it . . . at least that's what I thought. I must have taken longer
than I gave myself credit for, because suddenly two bright flames
of green appeared out of nowhere, filling all corners of the room.
One sat on the long table in front of the couch where the fire had
been before. The other was closer to the ceiling in the corner of
the study.