Ember (22 page)

“Or how about having to hear about you and
Jaden from someone I barely knew.”

He looked confused. “About me and Jaden
what?”

“Oh, I don't know, just like being the most
powerful artisans here. Besides the Masters,” I corrected quickly.
“And like all . . . uber-important and stuff.”

After a few seconds of silence, probably to
make sure that I was finished, he scratched the back of his head.
“You know, some of the boys actually say we're better than the
Master's.” One corner of his mouth went up and I tried to hold my
narrowing gaze, but almost instantly it fell to a weak smile.

I tried to force a frown. “I'm serious,
Ikovos.”

He smirked. “I can tell. And here I thought
you would be all closed off again when I got back.”

I blushed thoroughly. “Well . . . that was
the plan until you started with the super-nice thing. I guess I'm
just a wimp.”

His smirk turned smug. “I don't know, you did
a pretty good job of it around Jaden.”

My body tensed instantly. “Aren't we supposed
to be eating now?” I asked, avoiding his eyes.

From my peripheral vision I could see him
shaking his head. It prompted me to spring into step.

“Let's go,” I said, walking out of the
rink.

He laughed openly now. After a moment I heard
him run up behind me.

“I know a better way,” he informed me, before
grabbing my hand and pulling me off towards the right.

He can't have known, then, how the small
gesture affected me. I wasn't even sure that I did . . . but it was
enough to make me forget ever being mad at him. In fact, for a
while, it was enough to make me forget just about everything.

I was vaguely aware that we had entered the
lodge through an unfamiliar door and were now moving through a maze
of corridors. Things looked different though. The halls were
narrower, in many places divided by railings instead of walls, and
often below and above you could see more walkways. . . . It was all
very confusing, and it didn't help that Ikovos was pulling me
through rather quickly. Every once in a while he would glance back
at me with a smile, but the walk was surprisingly quiet.

Somehow we ended up in the kitchen. Ikovos
released my hand when he saw Sophie waving ahead.

“Ikovos, you're back,” she said gleefully as
he ran up to give her a hug.

“Yes, just.”

I slid up carefully beside them.

Sophie's eyes went grave. “Have you seen
Thoran yet?” she asked.

Ikovos rolled his head around. “Ah . . .
maybe.”

She eyed him.

“Well, Jaden did. And it was really him who
started it.” He elbowed me. “Isn't that right, Evelyn?”

I stuttered trying to think of an answer that
would please Ikovos without getting Jaden in trouble. Somehow the
truth got lost in the decision between the two. Either way Sophie
saved me the trouble.

“Don't you
dare
use her to get you out
of this,” she said, wrapping an arm around me playfully.

Ikovos grinned, then raised his hands in
surrender. “Whoa. I'm not brave enough to take on two girls at
once.” He said it so sarcastically that Sophie reached for her
rolling pin and swatted it at his head.

He ducked easily, then backed up towards the
tables nodding to me. “Lunch time.”

I couldn't help but giggle and, after
checking back at Sophie to receive the okay, I followed him
over.

The cafeteria was already starting to fill up
with lunch-hour activity. As Ikovos swerved through the tables I
quickly realized that walking with him attracted even more
attention than walking with Thoran. He didn't seem to notice, of
course, and finally chose an empty table near a large window.

As I sat across from him I tried to ignore
the quick glances. Still, all things considered, the boys were
exceptionally polite about it.

Pulling my attention back, Ikovos casually
passed me a plate then reached for his own food.

“So, what else did you do?” He took a bite.
“I mean besides train with
Holdan.
”

I smirked. “Well, I ate and I spent some time
in the study . . . I helped Sophie in the kitchen a couple
times.”

“Yes,” said a voice above me, “I've been
hearing a lot about that.”

I didn't need to look to tell who it was, but
I did anyways. To be honest I hadn't actually expected him to show
up, let alone on time, and I couldn't help but feel privileged as
the slim figure slid in beside me.

“What about it?” asked Ikovos.

It took me a moment to catch up with the
conversation. They never re-clarified anything.

Jaden reached for some food before speaking.
“You don't want to hear all the descriptions I've received. Suffice
to say, high opinion of her pastry making abilities is unanimous.”
He finished casually, very blasé. But Ikovos beamed.

I smiled back once, then looked away from the
table shyly . . . it didn't help much. I thought me and Ikovos had
been getting an awkward amount of attention, but now that Jaden had
joined the other boys were staring and speaking freely.

I turned, almost panicked, back to Jaden and
Ikovos, but they were just eating regularly. If they were aware of
the attention, they didn't show it.

“Evelyn!” called a voice from a few tables
away. “There you are.” It was Trevor and following close behind him
were my other breakfast buddies: the two whose names I kept
forgetting that sat on either side of Trevor, and Nathan.

To my slight horror they all came towards the
table. Nate took the space between me and Jaden, who was looking at
all of them incredulously as they sat.

“Good afternoon, Evelyn,” said Trevor.

“Hi!” shouted Nathan much too loud beside
me.

I smiled at both. “Hey, guys. How was your
morning?”

“Good,” they responded in unison. Trevor
continued.

“I guess I don't have to ask you how yours
went.” He eyed Ikovos and Jaden significantly and winked.

I about fainted, hoping that the two boys
hadn't seen it. . . . From the grin on Ikovos’s face and the slight
corner of a smirk on Jaden's, it seemed I had had no such luck.

Nathan continued my torture, supposedly
whispering in my ear, only it was loud enough that everyone could
hear. “What he means is, you must be happy since you get to sit
with Master Jaden and Master Ikovos.”

It was all I could do at this point to smile
sweetly. “Yes, I got that. Thank you, Nathan.”

I was glad when it seemed Ikovos would take
the attention.

“Well,” he said, “it looks like you've been
busy while we were gone.”

And there it goes back on me again.

I smiled, blushing profusely now, then looked
down at my food.

“Hey,” started Trevor after barely a moment,
“I just realized this is the first time we've eaten lunch with you,
you usually eat alone with Holdan.”

Oh my God.
I wanted to drop my head in
my hands at this point, but resisted the urge. Somehow I found
comfort in Ikovos’s wide, wide grin across the table, he was
obviously reading my thoughts again. What
didn't
give me
pleasure was Jaden's set in scowl.

I would have let the subject die, but from
the look on Trevor's face his words weren't as much of a statement
as a question.

“Yes,” I admitted, “but he had to go see one
of the Masters today.”

“Oh. . . .” said Trevor.

There were a few seconds of silence following
this where I had the chance to notice that Jaden and Ikovos were
already finished with their food. In an out of character move I
jumped up from my seat.

“Well, I'm all done. I think I'll head back
to my room now.”

Ikovos got up immediately. “Great, we'll go
with you,” he said, apparently speaking for the other boy as
well.

“Actually, Ikovos,” said Jaden, “we have to
go see Master Thoran.”

Ikovos looked like he might argue, but Jaden
shook his head, eyeing the other boys, and probably me,
quickly.

Ikovos sighed wearily. “Alright, but—”

More eyeing from Jaden, who had somehow
managed to stand up without my notice. Then, without a goodbye,
without a word, he just turned around and started walking towards
the kitchen.

I didn't linger long, turning back to Ikovos.
With more nonchalance than I’d expected he walked past me, tapping
me on the shoulder. “We'll be back soon.”

I don't know if he looked at me as he said
it. I didn't have time to check, just like Jaden he was gone before
I could say a thing.

This time my eyes did linger as Ikovos walked
over to the other boy. They talked for a moment. I couldn't tell if
anyone was upset, but their faces were serious. Eventually they
both started walking again.

I was still staring a while after they had
disappeared through the doorway. Two tugging hands finally brought
me out of my stupor. It was Nathan, I think, though the strength he
used to pull me back into my seat seemed too great for someone that
young.

“Whoa,” I mumbled, falling. Before I could
ask what was up Trevor leaned across the table wide-eyed.

“How did you get a seat with
them
?” he
asked, stressing the last word.

I fumbled. “Ah . . . I don't know. The same
way you did I suppose.”

He shook his head. “No way. Jaden normally
kicks us out if we try to sit there.”

I laughed instantly at the sudden
crystal-clear image of him doing just that . . . it wasn't at all
hard to imagine, but, concerned for the boys' feelings, I reigned
in, worry replacing. “You guys live together. Aren't you around
them all the time?”

“Yes,” admitted Trevor. “I guess that's
true.”

“Especially Ikovos,” added Nathan, “he's
always showing us cool tricks.”

I smiled, grateful that
I
was no
longer the topic, and subsequently intrigued by the new one.

“Like what?” I asked, leaning forward to rest
my chin on my hands.

“Well, sometimes he lets us see magic,”
started Trevor. Nathan's head bobbed vehemently. It was still going
as Trevor continued. “But the best is when he shoots his bow.”

“Is he good?” I questioned.

Trevor shook his head exaggeratedly. “You
have
no
idea.”

After that the boys launched into various
stories of Ikovos’s many abilities. I listened intently to all of
it until they all declared they had to go train. Nathan begged me
repeatedly to come spar with him, but I told him I wasn't feeling
well enough. Still, after they had left, I realized I didn't have
much else to do.

Back home after spending hours like this with
people I would be dying for some alone time to myself. But I didn't
want to do that at all. I wanted to go outside, despite the sun,
and watch Nathan spar . . . which is exactly what I did. And,
though he was a little disappointed that I refused to duel, Nathan
seemed exceedingly happy to have me cheering him on.

After quite a while my eyes began to wander
to the grounds around me. The training area was very busy at this
time, between lunch and dinner I guess. Mayhem in a way, but a calm
mayhem. Though I did notice that the archery area was empty.

I glanced back to Nathan. He was waiting in
turn, talking to a red-haired boy. Everyone else seemed fairly
engrossed in their training as well. I decided to go check out the
archery area. All the talk about Ikovos being the best had me
acutely interested in the sport.

Once I was over the ledge that hid the
shooting range, I let out a breath. Maybe the people thing was
starting to wear on me after all. I pushed the thought and looked
around. There was a small fence in front of me that I assumed
marked the spot to shoot from. Leaning here and there against it
were dozens of bows, and arrows also littered the ground.

I scoffed amusedly. Sometimes with the
cleanliness of the lodge it was hard to believe that only boys
lived here . . . then there were times like this when it was oh-so
evident. No doubt due to the fact that Sophie probably didn't get
out here much.

I sighed again and leaned against the fence,
looking out at the ridiculously far targets. Most were barely
visible through the trees. I couldn't describe then, or believe
myself, how calm I felt. How happy. . . . So happy that even the
sun seemed fitting. I was finally starting to feel some stability
to this becoming my new home.

Home.

The word, and the way I used it, surprised
me. It shouldn't have, that
is
what I begged for, what I
wanted . . . I guess I just never thought about the permanence of
it.

An uncontainable smile crossed my face. I was
very glad then, that the place was empty, but I could still here a
barrage of voices behind me so I tried to distract myself from the
stupid grin.

There was a bow resting on the fence beside
me. I picked it up surprised immediately by its size, it was easily
over half my height. In Tiver archery was more a less a rumor from
the other towns. Besides the odd traveling merchant, I'd rarely
seen a bow at all, so I didn't really have any conception of its
proper length.

I tugged cluelessly at the string.
This
seems as fine a size as any . . . though I can't picture myself
shooting it.
This got a laugh out of me, but after a careful
glance around I decided to go for it, flipping the bow upright in
my hands. I gave it a couple mock tugs then glanced around for an
arrow, picked one up, and held it against the string.

Biting my lower lip in determined
preparation, I aimed for one of the targets and pulled back. . .
.

The effort was pitiful. The arrow went
maybe
ten feet. I narrowed my eyes, unsatisfied, and picked
up another to try again. I was pulling back when I heard a
voice.

“You're not gonna get it to go very far like
that.” It was Ikovos’s voice, and despite my embarrassment I
couldn't help but smile.