Aerenden: The Child Returns (Ærenden) (13 page)

Nick
trailed him to the entrance. The ground moved again, revealing the deep blue
evening sky, and Cal strode through the opening he had created. Nick followed.
No trace of yesterday’s storm remained, not even the faint wisp of a cloud to
hide the stars appearing overhead. Though it would soon cool, the air remained
balmy from the sun’s late afternoon caress and it warmed Nick’s skin, though it
failed to ease the chill that had formed between he and Cal after Nick had
halted their previous conversation.

Cal
walked to a slab of rock and sat down. “It’s nice to have dry weather again,”
he said, setting the mugs and jug down at his feet. He gestured toward a spot
next to him. “Are you joining me?”

Nick
remained standing. “I thought you brought the rain.”

“You
know I can’t create it,” Cal responded.

“But
you kept it going.”

“It
would’ve dissipated after a few hours if I hadn’t. I thought your safety was
more important than following the Guide’s primary rule.”

“You
mean ‘don’t change the environment on a large scale’?” Nick asked.

Cal
chuckled. “That’s the one. It’s nice to know your studies stuck with you. 
I don’t think my meddling affected anything though. The weather’s already
returned to normal.”

But
the man who had spent two days controlling it had not. Cal looked pale. His
eyes appeared dull, the corners of them drawn with deep lines. Nick frowned.
“The rule is meant for more than environmental protection.”

“I
know,” Cal said and picked up the jug at his feet. He uncorked it and poured
two fingers worth of liquid into each mug. “I’ll be fine soon enough. I can’t
say you would’ve been if I hadn’t intervened.”

“I
suppose not.” Nick sat down next to Cal, accepting a mug. He passed it under
his nose. “Is this what I think it is?”

“The
famous spirit,” Cal confirmed. “I promised you a drink when you were old
enough, didn’t I? It’s a bit delayed, but nevertheless.” Raising his mug, he
tapped it to Nick’s and then took a large gulp from it. When he lowered it
again, his cheeks had taken on a rosy glow.  “It’s a shame I had to
abandon my still a few months back. This is the last jug I have.”

Nick
examined the spirit. It was colorless, reflecting only brown from his clay mug,
and other than the fumes bearing the weight of high alcohol, it was odorless.
He raised it to his lips and took his first, careful sip. It warmed his throat
and settled into his stomach, calming his nerves within seconds.

He
had always heard Cal made the best spirit. The Guide guarded his supply well,
offering it as a gesture of friendship only to those he deemed worthy. As a
child, Nick had hoped to earn the honor someday, but after the Mardróch grew
more aggressive and his mother deemed it unsafe for him to visit Cal, Nick let
go of his hope.

He
took another sip, relishing in the complexity of the spirit, and felt his heart
warm from the memories it brought back to him. He could recall James’ laughter
as Vivian had tried the spirit for the first time, curling her nose up in
disgust at the taste. He remembered his mother’s enjoyment of the same
beverage, and his father’s. He could see the fireplace in his house as it
blazed in the late winter hours while Cal and a woman who had all but escaped
Nick’s memory passed the jug to family members who had yet to know the pain of
war and death. He could recall their laughter and joy as he watched from the
stairs, too young to comprehend the scene below him, but comforted by it
nonetheless.

They
had thought he was asleep, as a five-year-old boy should be, but he had stayed
up to watch them, and that night had made a lasting impression.

He
wondered if it was because it was the last night he had seen them all together.
The woman whose face had faded in his memory would not live much longer, and
James and Vivian would soon be gone, spirited to another world by a magic Nick
had yet to understand.

A
world James often lamented had nothing close to Cal’s masterpiece. Nick took
another sip from his mug and marveled at Cal’s talent with a still. Although
the spirits Nick had enjoyed on Earth were more polished than this, the unusual
mix of spice, sweet flowers, and smoke smoothed the rough edges.

Cal
finished his own drink, and then refilled his mug before adding more to Nick’s.
He set the jug down. “What do they call this on Earth?” he asked.

Nick
rolled the liquid over his tongue, contemplating. “I think the closest they
have is called whiskey, but it’s a brown color and they don’t have anything of
this caliber.” He clutched the mug between his hands and stared at the sky,
inhaling the fresh air with an appreciation he had not understood a year
before. “It feels good to be home. Earth was too much for me.”

Cal
raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t care for it? Vivian told me she loved it.”

“I
suppose if I’d stayed a few more years, I might have acclimated to it like she
and James did, but I never had the chance. Too much of the world is different
than ours.”

“Like
what?”

“It’s
easier to tell you what isn’t different,” Nick responded. “Their lives are
filled with gadgets and electronics, with noise and lights, and it’s hard to
keep up with them.  I couldn’t figure out how they were able to deal with
all of it at once and stay sane.”

“I’m
not sure I understand.”

“I
didn’t either at first. Too much is foreign. Instead of commcrystals, they use
things they call telephones to talk to each other and instead of walking or
using horses, they ride in planes and cars. Cars are sort of like wagons and
planes fly through the sky like birds. Everyone has a car, so I had to learn
how to drive one. It wasn’t easy.” He sighed. His head started to ache, so he
lifted his mug and took another sip from it. “On top of that,” he continued,
putting the mug down on the ground, “everyone had a television and a computer.
Televisions transmit plays, and computers allow people to write without paper
and perform research without books. It’s complicated.”

“Sounds
like it,” Cal agreed. “I can’t believe Viv liked it there.”

“She
found it convenient,” Nick said. He clasped his hands together between his
knees. “It was overwhelming at first, but once I understood it, I could see why
it appealed to her. Telephones, despite their constant beeping and ringing,
allow people to call and have food delivered to their doors. They only have to
hunt if they want to. In a similar way, people use computers to order items
like clothing, and cars and planes can travel large distances in a short amount
of time. If I had one of those here, I’d be home by now.”

Cal
shrugged. “I suppose so. But I doubt you’d stay hidden long, and I highly doubt
they’re faster than teleporting, so we win on convenience there.”

“When
we can use that power,” Nick pointed out. “Are the Mardróch still monitoring
it?”

“For
the most part, but I can show you a place tomorrow where it’s safe to teleport.
That should cut some time off your journey.”

“Good.”
Nick smiled when a streak of white shot across the sky. Another star followed
it, and then a third. “I think I missed this the most. The stars were hard to
see on Earth, except when we visited the mountains. The lights from the cities
block them.”

Cal
drained his mug again and set it aside. “Earth wasn’t your home,” he said. “You
belong here.”

Nick
nodded, and then closed his eyes to block out a sudden wash of pain. “Aunt Viv
and Uncle James belonged here too,” he whispered. “They should have come back
with me.”

“I
know.” Cal laid a hand on Nick’s shoulder and Nick opened his eyes to look at
him. “The river was in the cave with you and Meaghan this morning,” Cal
continued. “I heard your conversation.”

“All
of it?”

“Yes.
Meaghan’s right, Nick. Vivian had a vision about this, but it wasn’t recently.
She had it her first night on Earth fifteen years ago.”

“I
don’t understand.”

“She’s
known all along when she and James would die. The last time I saw her was about
four years ago. It took her a week to find me. The Mardróch were on my trail,
so I lived deep in the mountains, but she went through the trouble because she
wanted to tell me what she had seen. She needed me to know what she and James
had decided. They had the option to return earlier, to bring Meaghan home after
her fifteenth birthday, but they chose not to.”

Nick
stared at Cal. “Why? If they knew, why didn’t they come home? They could have
prevented this.”

“Because
Vivian was a gifted seer. Some say she was the best this world has seen in
hundreds of years. I agree. She understood that saving her own life meant
jeopardizing our future. She knew she and James had to die for our cause to succeed.”

Nick
rose to his feet. Unable to stay still, he paced as he mulled over Cal’s words,
then turned to frown down at the older man. “They didn’t have to be martyrs,”
he said. “They should have told me. We could have worked something out, figured
out another way. Instead, they let me believe I was there to integrate myself
into Meaghan’s world. I wasted so much of my time—”

“Getting
to know her,” Cal interrupted. He stood and placed his hands on Nick’s
shoulders. “Viv was never wrong. If she said that’s how it had to be, then
that’s how it had to be. If she’d told you what she had wanted to do, you would
have tried to stop her, and you wouldn’t have done what you needed to do to
keep Meaghan safe. You had to get to know Meaghan for her to trust you.”

Nick
shoved his hands into his pockets. He looked away and Cal tightened his grip.
“Nick, listen to me. Viv kept this secret to protect you.”

“How?”
Nick countered. Pain shadowed his voice and tears filled his eyes, despite his
best efforts to control them. “Because she kept her secret, I wasn’t prepared
to take over. I’m not ready for this, Cal. Meaghan’s too important for this
world to lose, and I don’t know how to protect her.”

“She’s
too important for
you
to lose,” Cal corrected. “And you're scared. I understand,
but don’t let fear control you. You’re ready. You may not have the experience
you think you need, but you’re meant to be her Guardian.”

Nick’s
eyes came back to Cal’s. “You don’t know that.”

“Actually,
I do.” Cal dropped his hands. “I’m sure your mother never told you, but you
weren’t slated to guard Meaghan. It’s rare for the Elders to assign a charge to
a Guardian of the opposite gender. I can understand their reasons, but they had
no choice once you developed your personal power and she developed her power.
It’s fate. If they couldn’t dispute it, I don’t see how you can.”

“I
don’t believe in fate,” Nick argued, then blew out a hot breath when Cal
grinned. “Fine, let’s call it fate, but it doesn’t make me feel any more
prepared.”

“Maybe
not, but you’ll get there. In the meantime, don’t let on. The Elders may not
have been willing to argue against fate back then, but Viv and James’ deaths
will alter their views. You may have to fight to stay as Meaghan’s Guardian,
and I expect you will. Meaghan trusts you. Don’t fail her.”

“I
won’t,” Nick promised.

“Good.
While you’re at it, you need to learn to trust her.”

“I
trust her.”

“Not
fully. The hardest part about being a Guardian is letting your charge make
mistakes. You can’t protect her from everything or she’ll never learn. And if
she doesn’t learn, she won’t develop into the person we need her to be to
succeed.”

“What
if she gets hurt?” Nick asked. “What if she…?” he faltered, incapable of
completing the thought.

“She
won’t get killed,” Cal assured him. “You won’t let her. As far as getting hurt,
it’s okay. She was tough enough to make it all the way here on a sprained
ankle, so I think she can handle injuries.” He picked up Nick’s mug and handed
it to him. “She can also handle the truth.”

Nick
frowned. “We’ve already had that conversation.”

“We
started it, but we never finished. You ended it when Meaghan stirred.”

“She
didn’t need to find out about it by overhearing us.”

“I
agree, but she does need to find out, and soon.” Cal nodded toward Nick’s mug.
“Drink up. I’m on guard duty tonight. You need a break.”

Nick
did not feel like drinking any longer, but he pressed the mug to his lips
anyway.  An awkward silence stretched between him and Cal, but as the
liquor settled into Nick’s stomach and added a film of haze to his mind, the
tension eased, and so did the conversation.

“I’ve
always been told I was assigned to Meaghan from her birth,” Nick said. “It’s
funny how stories change over the years.”

“Funny
had nothing to do with it,” Cal responded. “May wouldn’t allow the story to be
told any other way. Your family has been protecting Meaghan’s for generations
and your mother wasn’t giving up your family’s heritage no matter what the
Elders said.” He chuckled. “Of course, while you were gone, May was promoted to
Elder status. I think there’s justice in that.”