Ember (29 page)

“Ouch,” a voice ahead of me yelped.

I looked up and a ridiculously excessive
smile covered my face.

Ikovos was a dozen feet ahead, rubbing his
leg with one hand. “Ever consider soccer?”

I noticed the rock down near his foot, but
paid little attention to it as I ran closer. “Oh, sorry. I . . .” I
stopped mid-sentence. He was looking up at me now, and flashes of
how he had been last night came flooding back. My face set.
“Ikovos, I need to—”

He stopped me, standing up straight. “No,
don't. It wasn't your fault, it was me. And I shouldn't have—”

“Yes, you should have!” I rested a hand on
his arm. “I needed it, and it
was
my fault. I'm old enough
to know what I should and shouldn't be doing, and smart enough to
see that I should listen to people that know better than me.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but I gave him
insistent eyes, tightening my grip on his arm. “No. This one's on
me.”

He twisted his hand to grab my arm.
“
No,
it's not. It doesn't matter how right I was. I blew. I
yelled and—”

“And it was the most upset anyone has
ever
gotten over me, because they
cared
about
me.”

We both stopped. Even as I said them, the
words seemed foreign to me. How was it possible that the strong,
confident, brilliant, boy standing in front of me could give a rip
about what happened to me? That part just didn't fit in my head.
But he did, his eyes, right now, made it impossible to deny.

Unable to hold the stare, and far past
embarrassed, I looked down uncomfortably. I could already feel the
blood rising in my face.

After a moment he released the grip on my
wrist and backed up.

When I couldn't stand it anymore I looked up
at him. “So are we good now?”

A grin crept across his face. “Yeah. We're
good.”

I sighed, feeling so full of relief that I
might explode.

“Ready to go then?”

I looked up quickly and nodded excessively.
“Yep. All ready.”

With that we started walking through the
sparse forest. I thought we would probably make the trip without
much conversation, but Ikovos quickly broke the silence

“So, did you make it out of the cave
okay?”

“Yeah, it was fine. To be honest I don't
think I was even completely awake by the time I left . . . I was
sort of in a hurry.”

I caught the corner of his mouth raise and
decided to change the subject. “What about you? Why were you headed
back anyways?”

He eyed me. “Well, let's see, I turned around
as soon as I ran into you, so. . . .”

“Oh, right.”
Very observant,
Evelyn.

“That's reminds me,” started Ikovos, “you're,
ah . . . squirrel thing is in the study.”

My eyes widened immediately.
Tanis! I
can't believe I forgot him.
“Is he okay?”

Ikovos laughed. “He's fine. . . . He's
actually pretty smart for an animal.”

Though I was still a bit horrified by my
negligence, I couldn't help but laugh.

And that's more or less how it went the whole
way back. We'd had a rough night, but, much quicker than I would
have thought, we were back to normal. Well, maybe not
normal
. . . closer? Somehow I trusted him more. . . .

This came out a few times during the walk,
when I would say something I wouldn't have before. Sometimes he
noticed, sometimes he didn't, but none of the responses were as
horrible as I imagined they would be.

By the time we arrived at the lodge, we had
talked about everything from magic drink preference. The
conversation was now taking an odd turn towards Jaden. That was
something I still wasn't ready for.

“He's going to the meeting tonight by the
way,” stated Ikovos. We had stopped outside of the lodge doors and
he was now leaning casually against a tree. “Are you still going to
go with him?”

I looked off. The whole Jaden thing seemed
like too big of an issue right now. I had just gotten things
straightened out with Ikovos for heaven's sake. How was I supposed
to handle two at once?

Still . . . the longer I was here, the more I
wanted to see how the whole Meoden politics really ran . . .
And
I wouldn't really have to talk to Jaden. . . .

I bit my lip. “I don't know. At this point
I'm not sure if he's still willing to take me.”

Ikovos crossed his arms. “Why? Something
going wrong with the training?”

I smiled, though any real humor was absent.
“I don't think so, we haven't even started that yet. I'm not sure
that we're going to. . . .”

The fact that the last part was barely a
mumble didn't keep Ikovos from perking up. “What? Why?”

I had a lot of plausible answers to that
question.
He's a jerk. I can't seem to control myself around
him. He thinks I'm a mental case .
. . . None of these seemed
like reasons that would appease Ikovos, so I just shrugged. “We
don't seem to be meshing.” He didn't appear satisfied. “Maybe
Holdan could teach me.”

Ikovos pursed his lips in a downcast sort of
way that looked more like he was holding back a smile. “Maybe.”

I looked down. The subject of Jaden always
made this painful feeling in my stomach.

Ikovos straightened, tapping my arm. “Either
way, I think you should try to go tonight. Eventually you'll want
to see how things work, and like it or not Jaden's pretty much the
only person you can hitch a ride with.”

I furrowed my brow. “Don't you go?”

He shook his head. “Not anymore. Not a big
fan . . . too boring for me I guess.”

There was something more he wasn't sharing,
but I reigned in my skepticism. Demanding no secrets would just be
too hypocritical.

“Cornelius doesn't go either,” Ikovos pointed
out, “. . . and I don't think you know any of the others. I
wouldn't advise asking Master Thoran, you'll be lucky if he lets
you tag along at Jaden's request.”

Oh great, he has to ask? Now I know he's not
gonna take me.

“But,” said Ikovos, straightening up,
“whether you go of not I probably won't see you till tonight.”

I tried to ignore the drop in my chest. “Why?
Where are you going?”

He smirked. I wondered if he could sense my
disappointment. “My bed, for at least ten hours.”

I cocked my head before realization hit. “Oh
. . . you don't sleep on guard duty.”

He shook his head, yawning right on cue.

I felt bad, then, for keeping him out longer.
He wasn’t leaving still, so I whisked a dismissive hand. “Okay, go
on. Time for bed.”

He grinned as I walked to open the door. “You
sure you're gonna be alright a whole day without me?”

I held the door open behind me and looked up
at him. “Probably not, but you're no good to me tired.”

He stopped in the entryway. “Oh, I see how it
is.”

I pushed him through. “No, you’re so tired
you’re imagining things, now go on.”

After a few steps he stopped. “Aren't you
coming inside?”

I threw a thumb back. “I left my pack
outside.”

His eyes narrowed. It was easy to see now how
tired he was. “You did that on purpose.”

I inched the door closer. “Don't be silly, we
both know I'm not that smart.”

With a small shake of his head he threw his
hand up.

I waved back. “See you later.”

Closing the door behind me, I turned around
and let out a sigh. I could get used to this friend thing. It was
fun.
Really
fun. So fun, in fact, that I couldn't believe I
hadn't tried harder at it back in Tiver. I walked over to my pack
as I considered the options. No, maybe it was a good idea to hold
out for someone special. And he
was special,
my best friend
really. I sighed again as I leaned over. The wind was blowing
excessively.

How pathetic is that? My best friend . . .
I'd better not disclose the information.

I headed inside to make my way to the study,
but couldn't get the subject off my mind.

Can you even call someone a best friend if
you're not their best friend? Who was Ikovos’s best friend?

I clicked the door of the study shut,
scoffing.

Jaden, of course. . . . I can't really
compete with that.

I tried to distract myself by checking on
Tanis. He seemed fine, sleeping now, must not have gotten a lot of
shut eye last night.

After setting my pack down in the corner I
decided I'd better take a shower . . . then I decided I had better
spend half-an-hour fixing my hair . . . then I decided I had better
take even longer than that picking out which outfit I should
wear.

As I checked my appearance in the mirror for
the millionth time I tried to tell myself that this had nothing to
do with potentially seeing
someone
today.

I rolled my eyes.

For all the time I’d spent I looked rather
normal. My hair was fixed up in pins. My shirt was a fairly modest,
long-sleeved, turquoise, blouse, and my pants were just simple
leather. I had spent more time fussing over the reflection than
actually doing anything . . . which clearly signified that I was
nervous.

I sighed and walked through the door into the
hall.
Nervous is understandable if I'm gonna be around the
Meoden.
I took the left turn towards the cafeteria. I was truly
undecided on whether I should go or not, but, much the opposite of
the indifferent assertions I had made to Ikovos, the choice felt
intensely dire. I had very good reasons for wanting to go, and very
good reasons to stay. . . .

By the time I reached the cafeteria I still
hadn't made a decision, but once my thoughts had drifted back to
Ikovos, I got very excited. The thrill was still buzzing through me
when I walked up to the counter.

“Hello, Sophie,” I chimed.

She looked over, smiling. “Oh, hello Evelyn.
You seem chipper.”
Wow, that obvious, huh?
She wiped her
hands on her apron, puffing flour into the air around her. “How was
your first night on duty?”

I grinned, pouring out a cup of coffee. “It
was fine. Not so much with the duty, though, Ikovos is pretty self
sufficient.”

Sophie laughed, then nodded. “Yes, I suppose
he would be.”

I pursed my lips a moment at the odd way she
said it.

Sophie didn't seem to notice. She was
reaching for a plate. The kitchen was a bit of a mess around her.
Baking utensils, dough, and flour everywhere. Behind me the
cafeteria wasn't too crowded. I figured in a while, more would be
piling in for lunch. The thought reminded me of my absent
breakfast, but it looked like Sophie needed some assistance
first.

I rolled up my sleeves. “What can I help you
with?”

She turned around, plate in hand, and pointed
to a stool. “You can sit down and tell me how I did on this
muffin.”

I smiled and obeyed as she set the plate in
front of me. I took a bite. “Mmm, good . . . blueberry?”

She nodded, eyes glowing.

“Really excellent.”

She looked pleased as she turned back to her
work. It made me feel beyond special that she'd asked for my
opinion. I couldn't hold back a plastered smile now, today was
going very good.

“So, whatever happened to your trip last
night?” I asked.

She licked a doughy finger. “Ah, mix up with
Thoran. There's a meeting with the Meoden today and . . . we had
some things to go over first.”

I nodded, chewing another bite slowly. “What
time is the meeting?”

She shrugged. “Usually around dusk, but it's
a fairly long trip, they'll be leaving a couple hours before that.”
She continued to roll out the dough.

I was glad for her distraction. I don't think
she would normally be answering in such detail, or at least not
without a reason. I decided not to press my luck on the subject,
though. If I wanted to go I would have to find Jaden before three,
and that was far enough away to ignore for now.

“So, do you go to the towns often,
Sophie?”

She shook her head. “No. Once a month at
most.”

“Do you like it? Going I mean.”

She rocked her head. “Sometimes. . . . It's
nice to get out every once in a while. But . . . after a day or so
I'm always ready to come back.”

I grinned. I understood the feeling. This
place was special.

After finishing my breakfast, I helped Sophie
with some cooking, cleaning up in spare moments. Eventually the
boys started piling in for lunch. When I noticed Trevor, Nathan,
Vincent, and Jacob all sitting together, I decided to bring over
some cookies.

For a long while I sat with them. As they ate
they talked about their usual topics. This time I tried to be more
observant, more involved. What had happened in the cave had made me
really t
hink about these boys, and I wanted to do what I
could to make things good for them. Or, at best, let them know how
amazing they were. . . .

After lunch, they moved on to studying and I
offered to help. We were in the midst of this when I looked at the
clock and saw that it was three.

“Shoot.” I muttered.

The four boys, who had been listening to the
lighter-haired boy, Vincent, recite his paper, looked over at
me.

“Oh. Sorry guys. . . .” I would have thought
up a good excuse for the utterance, but I didn't have the time.
Instead I was forced to do the worst. “Ah . . . does anyone know
where Jaden is?” My heart skipped as I said it, but I'm pretty sure
I didn't blush at all.

Vincent and Jacob shook their heads.

Nathan shouted a curious: “Why?”

Trevor spoke calmly. “No. But you could ask
Sophie, she might know.”

I felt ridiculously obvious, but the boys
seemed oblivious. Nathan had even, apparently, forgotten his
question.

“Well, I'd better go guys,” I said, rising.
Before they could respond, I reached quickly for the cookie sheet.
“I, uh . . . have to get this back to Sophie.”