The Warrior Elf (40 page)

Nikki looked up at him with big brown eyes and let out a low sigh.

“Yeah, I hope so, too,” Kevin whispered as he stroked the top of her head. “Maybe I’ll tell her how much you miss her. Think that’ll bring her back?”

“Couldn’t hurt,” a voice said from behind him.

Kevin jumped up and spun around. His parents were standing behind the couch, which was a neat trick as it was flush against the wall.

Badec chuckled. “You should be getting used to us by now.”

Kevin nodded and took a deep breath. “You took me by surprise. You usually wait until I’m in bed.”

“We didn’t want to disturb your sleep,” Yvonne explained, “especially as you haven’t been sleeping well lately.”

Kevin frowned. “I’ve been sleeping fine.”

“Don’t bother denying it, son,” Badec said. “Mothers always know.”

“He’s right,” Yvonne said, “and you haven’t had a good night’s sleep since your elf left.”

“She’s not my elf.”

Yvonne shrugged. “Maybe not, but you want her to be.”

Kevin shook his head.

Badec laughed. “Give it up, son. We know you’ve fallen for her, hard. And you need to do something about this little tiff you’re having. Little things can become big things if you’re not careful, and by the way, I agree with the advice your governor gave you earlier. You need to apologize.”

“I’m going to, tomorrow evening, when I take her to Kyle’s, but I still don’t understand why. She was the one who messed up, not me. All I’m trying to do is keep her safe.”

“Then you should be pleased,” Badec said. “She’s perfectly safe at Wildcat Mountain. Is that what you want?” When Kevin just looked at him, Badec took a deep breath. “I think what you want is for things to get back to the way they were. If so, apologize, and then figure out how you’re going to live with whatever she does.”

“But it’s up to me to keep her safe while she’s here. How can I do that if she’s out wandering around at all hours by herself?”

Yvonne shook her head. “She’s a warrior elf. She can look after herself and you need to respect that. She’s going to do whatever she wants to anyway, so you might as well quit fighting about it.”

“But as long as she’s under this roof, she’s under my care.”

Yvonne shook her head again. “You are not in charge of anything where she’s concerned and you need to stop acting like you are. She’s a guest, a friend. She’s your peer, not your subordinate, and she won’t put up with being treated like one. I wouldn’t have either.”

“Your mother has a point.” Badec paused. “You know the war you two are trying to prevent between Rolan and the elves?”

“You know about that?”

Badec looked at Kevin and shook his head. “You and Chris have talked about it right here in this room half a dozen times. What did you expect? We’re dead, not deaf! Anyway, if war breaks out, it’s going to be a major headache for you, but for her, it’ll be personal. She’ll be on the front lines fighting to defend North Amden.”

Kevin frowned. “She did mention that once, shortly after she got here, but it didn’t register that she might actually be involved in the fighting.”

“She’s every bit as much a soldier as Cpt. Lawrence or Gen. Crandal, and that’s what soldiers do, son.”

“But she could get hurt.” Kevin’s frown deepened.

“She could, but I doubt she would. From the little I’ve seen, she’s good. But that’s not the point. She worked hard to become a warrior elf and she trusts her training. You should, too. You trust her to protect your apprentice. You need to trust her to protect herself as well.”

“But she wasn’t with Landis to protect her. She was there as her friend,” Kevin argued.

“They may be friends, but I’d bet her real reason for following Landis to Wildcat Mountain was to keep her safe.”

Kevin shook his head. “You’d lose that bet.”

Badec grinned. “Ask her some time.”

“I might do that.”

“Do, but in the meantime, apologize.”

As Kevin nodded, his mother began to fade.

“You need to get some sleep,” Yvonne said as she and Badec joined hands. “Your dog’s already gone to bed.”

Kevin glanced towards the bed. Nikki was sound asleep on her back right in the middle.

As he turned back towards his parents, Yvonne said, “Our time’s up for tonight, son. We’ll be back before long,” and right before they disappeared, he heard her whisper, “And good luck with your elf.”

~ ~ ~ ~

When Kevin woke up Saturday morning, he wasn’t as depressed as he’d been the past few mornings, but he was a lot more nervous. He had a plan for getting Rhianna back in Milhaven, but he hadn’t worked out the details. He had no idea what to say or when to say it. Should he apologize before they went to Kyle’s? Or should he wait until he took her back to Wildcat Mountain and apologize as he told her good night? He liked that idea, but would she think he was apologizing as an afterthought? And how should he word it? Should he apologize for what he’d said? But he’d be lying if he said he was sorry about that. Maybe he could apologize for the way he said it. But she was smart enough to see right through that. Maybe he should apologize for making her angry and leave it at that. That might work, provided she’d accept it. But there was no way he was going to apologize for wanting to keep her safe.

All of this was on Kevin’s mind as he ran through his morning exercises in the willow grove, and his routine showed a definite lack of concentration.

Chris watched the rise and fall of light and shook his head. Things needed to get sorted out soon so Kevin could get his mind back on what he was doing. Several things needed his attention, but not while he was so distracted.

Chris left the family quarters and headed down to the kitchen for coffee. While he was getting it, Cryslyn walked in. “You’re here early for a Saturday morning,” Chris said as he poured her a cup of coffee.

“Thanks,” Cryslyn said as she sipped the coffee. “I need to see Doreen today, and I wanted to catch her at Jana’s before she left for the construction site.”

“Anything wrong?”

Cryslyn shook her head. “The furniture should be arriving Monday. I wanted to be sure she was ready to receive it. If not, I need to make arrangements for someplace to store it.”

“Let me know what she says,” Chris said, thinking this might be just the thing to get Rhianna back in Milhaven, at least for the day. “I’ll make sure you have some help getting it unloaded either way.”

Cryslyn nodded as she finished her coffee and turned to go. “See you later.”

When Chris got back upstairs with their coffee, Kevin was back from his practice. As he dressed, he asked, “When do you think I should talk to Rhianna? Before we head out to Kyle’s? Or after I take her back to Wildcat Mountain?”

Chris thought for a moment. “After.”

“Why?”

“She’ll have a good time at Kyle’s whether you two are speaking or not. There’s no way anyone can stay angry around those dogs. They won’t let you. So chances are she’ll be in a good mood when you leave, and this will go better if she’s in a good mood.”

Kevin nodded. “I’ve been thinking about taking Nikki with us this afternoon.”

“So you’ll have her with you when you drop Rhianna off at Wildcat Mountain?”

Kevin nodded.

“You’re hoping she won’t yell at you in front of Nikki?”

Kevin grinned. “Something like that.”

“Worth a shot,” Chris said. “Cryslyn’s expecting Doreen’s furniture to arrive Monday. Think Rhianna would want to be here when it does?”

“Probably, but if I asked her it would seem like, I don’t know...”

“What if Doreen asked her to come?”

“How?”

“Cryslyn’s going to see her at Jana’s this morning to tell her about the furniture. If she wants Rhianna to be here to help her set it up, she could write her a note and you could deliver it this afternoon.”

Kevin frowned. “How can we do that without Rhianna figuring out we’re behind it?”

“What if Rigel suggests it?”

“I hate to involve him in this. If Rhianna ever finds out, I’m not sure how she’ll react.”

“Let me talk to Rigel. He knows how to keep his mouth shut and he’s already asked if there’s anything he can do to help make things right around here. I think he feels guilty because he and Doreen took off without her.”

Kevin shook his head. “Not his fault in any way. Not Doreen’s either.”

“I know, but he still feels guilty, so let’s give him a way to make up for it. I’ll talk to him this morning.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin and Nikki left the castle around three that afternoon, armed with a note from Doreen asking Rhianna to be there when the furniture arrived Monday. When they reached the giants’ house, Nikki looked around in confusion. She didn’t recognize where she was. Kevin leaned down to tell her everything was all right just as Rhianna opened the front door. As soon as Nikki saw Rhianna, she tried to climb into Rhianna’s arms, licking every inch of her she could get to.

Rhianna laughed as she knelt down and hugged the excited dog. “I missed you too, girl,” she said as Nikki flopped over on her back so Rhianna could rub her belly. “I think you’ve grown a couple of inches while I’ve been gone,” Rhianna said as she stood back up. “I was hoping you’d bring her. She’ll have fun at Kyle’s.”

Kevin nodded and thought how nice it was to see Rhianna so relaxed, so happy. “Are you ready to go?”

“Just a minute. Torrey made a cake for us to take with us and Ashni’s sending Kyle’s dogs some treats. Everything’s packed in a basket. I’ll go get it,” Rhianna said as she headed back into the house.

Nikki didn’t want to let Rhianna out of her sight. She started to follow her inside, but Kevin told her to sit and stay. Nikki sat, but she didn’t take her eyes off the door until Rhianna returned.

When they reached Kyle’s, Nikki darted off to play with her friends while Kevin and Rhianna visited with Kyle. Between chatting with Kyle and playing with dogs, the evening flew by, and all too soon it was time to head home.

“I had a lovely time,” Rhianna said when they got back to Wildcat Mountain.

“I did, too.” Kevin took a deep breath and said, “Rhianna, I’m sorry about the other night. You’d had a really nice day and I ruined it. I was afraid something had happened to you, and it came out as anger.”

Rhianna paused, remembered Torrey’s words, and said, “I’m sorry you were worried. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She bit her tongue to keep from saying anything else.

“I want you to come back. I thought we were having a lot of fun until Monday night.”

“We were,” Rhianna agreed. “And I’d like to go back to Milhaven, but I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to stay at the castle.”

Kevin hesitated. He wanted her back in the castle, but even more than that, he wanted her back in his life. “I’d rather you stay at the castle, but if you’d feel better somewhere else, I’m sure you can stay with Joan and Karl.”

Rhianna shook her head. “I think I’ll stay with Doreen for a while once her house is finished.”

“Oh.” Kevin reached into his pocket and pulled out a sealed note. “Glad you mentioned Doreen. I almost forgot. Rigel brought this note to the office this afternoon and asked me to give it to you.”

Rhianna frowned as she broke the seal and opened the letter. After she read it, her whole face lit up. “Can you pick me up Monday morning? Early?”

“Sure, I guess so.”

“Cryslyn told Doreen her furniture’s arriving Monday and she wants me to be there to help her figure out what to do with it.”

“When do you want to go?”

“Around eight, your time?” Then Rhianna frowned. “Can you give me a minute to write a quick note to her? It won’t take long.”

Kevin nodded.

“Do you want to come in while I write it?”

Kevin shook his head. “I’ll stay out here with Nikki. She’s still muddy from rolling around in Kyle’s yard this afternoon.”

“All right,” Rhianna said. “Back in a minute.”

After Rhianna brought him the note to take back to Doreen, he and Nikki left for home. They went to the stable first so Kevin could clean her up a bit and then stopped by the office. Chris was still at his desk.

Kevin pulled a slice of cake wrapped in cheesecloth out of a large pocket on his tunic and handed it to Chris. “From Torrey, by way of Kyle.”

Chris’s eyes lit up as he unwrapped the cake. “Chocolate with strawberry filling,” Chris moaned. “One of my favorites.”

“They’re all your favorites,” Kevin said with a laugh.

“True, but it’s still one of my favorites,” Chris broke off a bit and popped it in his mouth. “Ummm.” After he ate another bite, he asked, “Where did she get strawberries this time of year?”

“Who knows? She’s up there with Ashni and Glendymere. Where did Ashni and Joan get all those fruits and vegetables while we were staying there?”

“You know, it never crossed my mind at the time,” Chris said as he ate a bit more.

“We had other things to think about.” Kevin sat down beside Chris’s desk.

“So, how did things go tonight?” Chris asked.

“Well, I apologized for ruining her day, and she said she was sorry she’d scared me,” Kevin said, “so I asked her to come back to the castle.”

“And?”

“She said she’d come back to Milhaven, but she doesn’t want to stay at the castle. She’s planning to move in with Doreen when the house gets finished.” Kevin reached into his pocket. “She sent this note for Doreen and wants me to pick her up Monday morning.” Kevin shrugged.

“It’s a start,” Chris said. “And Milhaven’s better than Wildcat Mountain.”

Kevin nodded. “Anything happen while I was gone I need to know about?”

“Not unless you need to know Cameryn’s working for Elin tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“Cameryn’s interested in a young man who lives on the other side of Milhaven. A group of teenagers, including the young man, are going on a picnic next Saturday and Cameryn wants to go with them, so Elin volunteered to work in her place,” Chris said. “Then Cameryn insisted on paying Elin back by working in her place tomorrow.”

“Are we going to be losing Cameryn?”

“Probably not in the next few months, and possibly not to that young man, but someday,” Chris said. “We knew this was going to happen. We need to keep an eye out for some new pages.”