Ember (13 page)

He looked to Jaden. “I thought for sure you
were going to make her stay.”

I checked Jaden's face cautiously. He was
looking snide again.

“I was.” stated Jaden, then he held up his
right hand, linked to my left, in the air in front of Ikovos.

I tried to act nonchalant as Ikovos
considered it. “
No!
” he said in a gasped voice, still
looking at Jaden.

He turned to me. “You did this?”

I bit my lip and gave him a
‘whoops’
face.

He stared at me, then at the cuffs, then back
at Jaden, all without a word. I started to fidget as his eyes came
on me again.

Then, without warning, he burst out laughing.
I mean
really
laughing. He spoke between gasps. “You mean .
. . you mean you guys walked all the way here—” more laughing “—
like
that!
”

I just stood there, pale-faced, not knowing
how to react. Jaden gave Ikovos a look to kill, though I don't even
think he noticed.

“God, you're worse than her,” said Jaden.

I was going to make a pouty face, but before
I could I was being pulled to the corner of the room by my hand.
Jaden leaned down to grab a thin knife from the floor, then put his
hand over mine, balling it into a fist like I was too stupid to
not
attack the knife with my fingers.

He jabbed the tip of the blade into the
keyhole and within seconds the cuff was free of my hand. I watched
him do the same to his side.

When he was done he looked up at me.
“
These—”
he held up the cuffs “—are mine now.”

I thought about sticking my tongue out at
him, but for some reason nodded robotically instead.

“Good.” He released his gaze.

I looked over at Ikovos who was pretty much
done laughing now.

“Are you hungry? Want something to eat?” he
asked.

I put a hand over my stomach and shook my
head. I didn't feel like eating. “Can I just sit down for a
minute?”

“Ah . . . sure,” he said, before scratching
the back of his head. “Only we don't have any chairs.”

I smiled. “That's fine, I'll just sit on the
floor.” I went over by the fire and bent down into a sitting
position.

The past few hours were quite unexpected and
had me slightly shaken. The fire made me feel a lot better, though.
I hugged my knees as I wondered absently if it was real or if Jaden
had started it.

Ikovos was making room for a seat to my left,
stacking weapons carefully against the wall.

I decided to risk a glance at Jaden, though I
wondered if I would get evil eyes glaring back.

There weren't, he was busy getting food out
of what must have been the pantry.

It was silly after all, I guess, to think
that I could do much to affect him, bothering not excluded.

I lost track of time watching him work in
front of the counter and he looked up at me through strands of
hair. I quickly turned back around, attempting to act
disinterested.

Ikovos was sitting down a few feet away now.
He looked over at me, eyes looking strikingly blue against our warm
surroundings.

“So seriously,” he commented. “Was the trip
up here okay?” I could tell he was trying to control his
amusement.

I smiled. “Yes, it was fine. It's hard to
imagine this place is so close to where I've lived my whole
life.”

He nodded then looked over at the fire. “Yeah
. . . that would be strange.” After a slight pause he turned back
to me. “You seemed very popular there, though.”

I couldn't help but laugh at this. “Not
usually. I don't know what was up with them today.”

He resumed his stare into the fire. “So do
you regret coming back then?”

I leaned my head on my knees, relaxed by the
easy conversation.

“Not in the least.”

“That's good,” he said, smiling at me. “I
thought maybe you were having second thoughts. . . . What was
taking you so long anyways?”

I tried to think of a simple and
un-embarrassing explanation. “Well, I had to climb up to my room
and- “

Jaden interrupted, setting a plate of food in
front of me. He had taken off his overcoat, now in a very comfy
looking loose, sleeved, shirt.

I narrowed my eyes at him while his back was
turned, then did the same to the platter of food. I seemed to
remember saying I didn't want anything.

“You should have seen her,” said Jaden.
“She's quite the expert climber.” He couldn't have sounded more
sarcastic. I watched as he sat down across from me on the other
side of the fire, a wicked grin was covering his face.

I refused to give him the satisfaction of
letting him know that he was bugging me, and turned to Ikovos.
“What about you?” I asked. “Where did you grow up?”

His eyes twinkled. “Eh, it's a long story . .
. I'll tell you some other time.”

“Oh. Okay.” I didn't want to press him.

“Hey,” he noted, “speaking of that, what was
it you wouldn't tell me earlier? Remember, when you got sick.”

Not a good time Ikovos.

Jaden was watching us absently as he ate. I
tried to keep my face from going red, but it isn't really the type
of thing you can control.

“I umm . . . I was just cold. It's a bit cold
now actually. . . .” I pretended to rub my arms, wondering why I'd
even said the last part.

I saw Jaden look distinctly at the fire then
back at me quizzically. I tried to ignore it, opting to stare down
at my plate and pop a grape into my mouth.

“Yeah right,” said Ikovos. “I think it was
something I said.” He put a finger to his jaw and stared off. “What
were we talking about?”

The question wasn't directed at me, but I was
all too sure he was going to figure the answer out immediately so I
tried to lead him astray. “Ah . . . we were talking about me being
able to come back.”

“Oh, right, right. . . ."He considered it and
I felt safe that I had gotten him off the trail. Jaden, at least,
appeared once again uninterested.

I took a bite of food then looked at Ikovos
with a thought. “How did you convince Thoran to let me back,
anyways?”

I heard Jaden cough over some food. Ikovos
replied distractedly. “Oh, ah . . . I didn't convince him.”

Jaden continued coughing. It sounded like he
was choking.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

He cleared his throat once again. “Fine.”

I watched him skeptically for a moment, then
turned back to Ikovos who was still trying to remember what he had
said to bother me.

“What do you mean you didn't convince him?” I
asked. “You told me he only said yes
after some
convincing
.”

“Hey, Ikovos, did you make sure the chimney
was clear?” asked Jaden.

Ikovos waved him off. “Of course I did. We'd
all be burning otherwise.”

Jaden seemed un-consoled. I was about to
remind Ikovos of my question when he interrupted again.

“What about the wood? Did you bring it
inside?”

I looked at Ikovos, who turned around to
Jaden. “Does it look like I did?”

Jaden responded. “We should probably go do
that.”

Ikovos glanced out the window then back at
Jaden. “Why? It’s not raining.”

I followed each as they spoke.

“What if it starts?” asked Jaden.

“There weren't any clouds earlier,” said
Ikovos.

“I have a good sense for these things.”

“Since when?”

“Since I said so,” declared Jaden.

“Oh, great, here we go with this
argument.”

“
Guys.
” This time it was me talking.
They both looked over and, for once, I was glad for it, the back
and forth thing was making me very dizzy. “I'll just go get the
wood.”

Jaden looked appeased, but Ikovos argued.
“No. We can do it. You should rest up.”

I shook my head. “No, it's okay. I wanted to
get some fresh air, anyways. . . . Plus,” I added. “I need to get
used to helping out.”

I ended with a wide smile that denied him a
chance at arguing further. Jaden, on the other hand, looked like he
was relieved that I was leaving.

Like five minutes without me around would
make his night. . . . Jerk.

I got up, at this point only sorry to leave
the fire -and headed over to the door.

As I turned the handle and started through
the entryway, Ikovos called after me.

“Oh,” he said, “and it was Jaden that
convinced Thoran to let you come back.”

Instantly I was uncomfortable and my ears
felt hot. I guess it was good they couldn't see my awe-struck face,
the half opened door was hiding it.

I tried quickly to think up a response that
made sense, but instead I panicked and just closed the door behind
me.

“I don't understand.” I whispered out
loud.

Part of me wanted to sit down against the
door to think, but a larger portion told me to start on the wood.
It was cold out now. I could see my breath. It was dark also, but I
found the wood easily enough. I decided to stack it under the
slight out-cropping of the roof rather than inside.

I guess since they were boys they didn't know
this, but you don't usually put piles of wood
inside
the
cabin. I began picking up the pieces and arranging them against the
wall so that they wouldn't tip.

Besides,
I continued from my previous
thought,
I don't really want to be in there right now.
No
sooner had the thought come, when a welcome realization hit
me
.

It was a joke.

I slapped my head. I always missed jokes back
home, in fact even when people told me
plainly
afterwards I
usually didn't get them. This situation was obviously no
exception.

I felt a little relieved at this and I spent
the rest of my stacking time trying to figure out what was supposed
to be funny about the statement. Maybe Ikovos was aware of Jaden's
true feelings of dislike for me and was just being ironic about it.
It seemed unlike him to be so callous though.

When I was done I wiped my now, dirty, hands
on my skirt. I wasn't really ready to go inside yet. I
was,
on the other hand, beginning to freeze. I let down my hair as a
compromise. The one nice thing about the puffy mess was it could
double as a hat, scarf, and earmuffs.

I walked around to the back of the cabin.
Behind it was a steep hill of deep, green, grass. I climbed up a
few dozen feet before, falling back into the velvet blades.

The first thing I noticed when I landed was
the clear sky.
I guess Jaden isn't so great at predicting the
weather after all.
I smirked at this then studied the stars
intently.

I still couldn't believe I was finally free
of my empty life. This time last night I thought I was never going
to see Ikovos, Cornelius, or anyone from the lodge ever again.

The smoke rising from the chimney brought me
out of my current thoughts into different ones. It made me think of
fire, which made me think of magic, which made me think of what
Jaden had said in Cornelius’s study.

For the first time I really let myself ponder
it.

I couldn't quite put together why he would
have told me that with the way he treated me. He acted so strange
sometimes. Like just now, in the cabin, with the coughing and the
wood thing, what was that? I considered my words while looking for
shapes in the stars. Suddenly an unwelcome realization came to
me.

Jaden started acting weird when Ikovos said
he wasn't the one that convinced Thoran to let me come back. Which
means that what Ikovos had said to me wasn't a joke and . . . Jaden
wanted
me to stay?

“Evelyn,” called a voice below. “Evelyn,
where are you?” It was Ikovos.

I stood up quickly and started running down
the hill. “I'm here, I'm coming.”

I turned the corner to see him standing in
the doorway. He had changed while I was outside, the same leather
pants, but a looser white shirt. Like Jaden's.

“You scared me for a minute there,” he said.
“It's not really safe around here.”

I followed past him inside, feeling a little
self conscious of my hair. “Oh, yeah, right . . . sorry.”

He closed the door and waved it off.

“What's so unsafe about this place anyways?”
I was only subconsciously aware of Jaden sitting by the fire.

“We've had trouble here before, with some of
the Meoden,” said Ikovos. “Sylvanus' doing mostly.”

I backed against the counter as Ikovos
continued.

“He's got a nasty habit of getting much too
close to the cities. It's gotten him in trouble with the council on
more than one occasion.”

“What's his deal anyways?” I asked. “Could
you tell me more about him?”

Ikovos grinned, but it was different than
usual. Courser . . . like his laugh. “Yeah,” he said. “But why
don't I get the beds laid out first. Then we'll be more
comfortable.”

I nodded a slight acknowledgment and felt my
curls bobbing with my head. I twisted it around a bit. “Umm . . .
is there a shower here?”

He nodded and started towards the open door.
“It's in here. Just let me get the blankets out real quick.”

I picked up my knapsack, which still sitting
by the door, and followed him in. examining the bathroom as he went
for the shelved closet.

It was a simple bathroom . . . like the rest
of the cabin. Though, the fixtures looked nicer than I would have
expected, and everything was very clean.

Ikovos passed me a towel before picking up
the pile of blankets. “Make sure to give it time to get hot.”

“Alright,” I responded and he walked into the
main room.

I closed the door behind him, then turned to
look in the mirror. I grumbled at the sight, my hair was frizzing
out everywhere. God, and I looked so pale. I sighed as I reached
over to turn the shower on.

*

Twenty minutes later I was out and dressed. I
looked once at my reflection, but decided it was too much work to
fix my hair. Besides that, I was looking forward to hearing about
Sylvanus. With that in mind I exited the bathroom.