Post by Lady Hammer on Sept 21, 2007 12:32:21 GMT -5
4: The Fiddler Swan
I finally came into town. Suradia was completely empty this time of morning, not that it would get much more populated later. The town square was barren, no footsteps in the damp dirt. I kept to myself, not like I had a choice, and stood in the center.
The Suradian Town Square was usually the liveliest part of the place, carts, carriages, and horses moving up and down the streets, townspeople commuting up and down the walkways. Almost every building was brick, and they lined the street sides, showing off the craftsmanship that had the whole town in its hold. Houses were on the ends of streets, and were small and wooden, but those weren’t very numerous. It was the cottages that people lived for, especially the rich people, most of which were in Allanis’s High Society Group. Brick manors were in the outskirts, as well as a few shabby constructs that no one really knew anything about. But, in the center of the town square was a large fountain, littered with copper coins that over time had gotten stuck in the cracks at the bottom. If wishes were only worth copper…
Standing there next to the fountain, the statue of some female gesturing to me with an outstretched hand, I scanned around for my brother. He had better have kept his word, or I would be very, very pissed. I couldn’t believe I was even trusting his word in the first place. What, was I crazy? Maybe I was just an idiot.
That’s right. A stupid idiot. I was gullible. Just as gullible as Allanis. And now what was I supposed to do? Leave my dignity at the door while I marched back into the Hallenar House, acting like nothing happened? I couldn’t do that. But, I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to go look somewhere else. I had nowhere to go this early in the morning, anyway.
I sighed deeply, and then a chill rode up my spine. What the hell was that? I turned around and looked into the fountain figure. It was a roughly sculpted woman with little to no detail, as if it had all been worn away by the weather. Then, I looked down into the fountain’s stream, dark and still. My reflection barely showed, but upon looking into the water, my dreams came flying back into my mind. No! To hell with them!
In the midst of me yelling at myself, I started wandering around to a secluded area of town that I hadn’t been to. I didn’t really go into town much though, so for all I knew, it could be very popular. Still, the area looked like it was always deserted. I approached an old building with shut windows, and a sign with a lantern above the door that read “Swan Fiddler”. Probably an inn. Slowly, I turned the doorknob and went inside.
There was a fire lit, flickering across from the lobby counter, with a raggedy couch set around it, and I at once felt comforted. Despite the fire and the orange glow from a few lanterns, the room wasn’t very well lit. It was serene, yes, but I would have appreciated something brighter. I grabbed the strap of my bag for security, and approached the lobby counter, rehearsing a few things over in my mind. The girl I was to speak to had dark circles under her eyes, and dark, mussed hair that she was trying to run her fingers through, catching on tangles. She sniffled a bit and tried to rub the sleep from her bloodshot eyes.
“Good morning,” she yawned. “Can I help you? It’s three gold coins for a night.” I bit my lip, trying to decide on an approach.
“Actually,” I said, “I was wondering if ‘Aleth Beau’ checked in here last night.” Sluggishly, the lobby girl pulled a book from under the counter.
“Last night… September… 29th?” I nodded. “Aleth Beau, September 29th.” Her fingers ran down the pages. “Yeah, he got a room here last night,” she replied. My heart skipped.
“Is he still here?” The girl nodded.
“Room 12.” I thanked her and then ran off down the halls and up the stairs in search.
Why the hell wasn’t Aleth out there in the town square like he said he’d be? Was he trying to ditch me? I was going to let him know that you keep your word with Tizena Hallenar, or else. Him being my brother, I expected him to know such things, but then again… how long had it been?
The 2nd floor was nothing special. A few rooms, but no number 12. I spotted another staircase to the 3rd floor and proceeded, beginning to grow depressed, as this place was getting rather difficult to find. But, it soon faded. Aleth’s room was in plain sight, and I ran up to knock right away. I was going to give that bastard a piece of my mind.
It was a few minutes before the door opened. Aleth appeared before me, sleepy-eyed and bed-headed. His black shirt was poorly buttoned, a few of the buttons a hole off, and his trousers were sagging due to the absence of a belt. I was disappointed with the picture.
“What are you doing here?” he asked gruffly. My hands went straight to my hips.
“You said you would be in the town square!” I gave him my usual dry glare. “You said I could find you there before the sun rises!” His glare, unlike mine, was completely dull.
“Tizzy, the sun doesn’t rise for another four hours. If I had known you were going to get all nocturnal on me, I wouldn’t have bothered with trying to sleep.” He looked at me like I was batshit crazy or something. I pursed my lips and turned my head away.
“Still… you said!” He rolled his eyes. “And rebutton your shirt! It looks bad.”
Aleth sighed and stepped aside for me, inviting me into the room that was even more pathetic looking than mine. I was in disbelief, looking at the bed that looked as if it came straight out of the dump, complete with dirty, worn blankets and holey sheets. I was surprised the bed even had sheets.
“This place sucks,” I said. My brother said nothing, focused only on rebuttoning his shirt. His body was pale, even in comparison to my own, and there was a large scar across his chest, bringing a little bit of guilt to me. If our siblings hadn’t have treated him the way they did… everything would be different. He wouldn’t have thick scar tissue reaching down his torso. He saw me staring at him, and a little bit of red came to his cheeks, his eyes trying to avoid mine from that point. So, I turned away and sat on his bed, deciding to give him what little privacy I could, and damn… I would’ve preferred to be hanging in Allanis’s closet with all of her revolting clothes.
“Did you actually sleep on this?” I asked.
“It wasn’t that bad.” He was now trying to fix up his hair a little bit, running his hands through it and staring at his reflection in the chunk of mirror that was left on the vanity.
“Just sitting here, it feels like my back is splitting open!”
“Okay, so while I listen to you insult where I’m sleeping, I’m going to ask you what made you decide to come here.”
“I… I,uh…”
“And don’t give me this ‘I miss you’ crap,” Aleth said.
“I was curious,” I finally rused. He turned around and looked at me, incredulity spread across his features.
“Curious?” he asked. “That’s what you came up with?”
“You said we were ‘very alike’. I want to know. And I want to know more about this Sandroya business, and why the hell they’re only after me!” Aleth smirked.
“Why are we so alike…?” he started slowly, beginning to laugh.
“Don’t screw around with me, Aleth! At least I came down here!” He turned his back on me and shook his head, still chuckling. That bastard.
“Yeah,” he said, “Yeah, you did. You can’t stay here in Suradia for very long, though, without losing it. Even if Sandroya didn’t attack.”
My first dream came back to me.
“Why would I lose it?” I asked, folding my arms.
“I lost it the first time I tried to ignore what I was. You will, too. I guarantee it. There are few who are strong enough,” he explained. “And Sandroya will run in every slayer that it takes to get rid of you.”
“Why?” He gave me a funny stare.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
“If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times, no matter who I’ve said it to, apparently,” I said, sighing.
“Okay, okay. No need to get like that. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if you’re capable of resisting the first urge, then.” The what? What the hell was he talking about?
“What am I? What are we?”
“It won’t do any good to tell you right now,” Aleth answered. “If you’ve been just fine this far along the way, I don’t want to stir up anything that could ruin that.”
“What? No! You’ve got to tell me! I didn’t blow up and disconnect myself from the family, pack my stuff, and declare my leave to find out you aren’t going to tell me what I’ve been dying to know!”
“I really don’t want to tell you, because it won’t be good for you to know. I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, calmly.
“Bullshit! Since when did you care whether I was hurt or not?” Shit, was I saying this out loud? “Since when were you thinking about how and if your actions might hurt us? Might hurt me?”
Aleth didn’t say a word. He lowered his head in what could have been equally shame or anger. I noticed he was breathing deeper and deeper, and my fists wouldn’t stop shaking.
“I’m sorry.”
“No!” Why was I doing this? “No, I don’t want to hear you ever tell me you’re sorry! The whole night I was thinking and fighting with myself, trying to decide whether or not I should believe a goddamn thing you say! After six years, I didn’t know what the hell you had become! But I finally decided to believe you and go to you, because goddammit, you’re my brother! And I figured you wouldn’t pull some stupid shit like this!”
I honestly think that maybe, just maybe, I overdid it. I hadn’t meant to go off and yell at him like that, but it was true. That was how I felt, but I guess I shouldn’t have let him know in such a high octave. At least I was in control of the situation, I thought. Aleth had his back turned to me, and he leaned on the table with a heavy sigh.
“Fine,” he said. “Fine, you want to know what you are?”
“No, actually. I think I’m quite capable of discovering it on my own.” With that, I jumped off the bed and started for the door.
“Tizzy, wait!”
Aleth grabbed my hand, and I turned around and gave him a deadly stare.
“You’d better take your hand off of me,” I said darkly, “If you still want it.” That got him to let go, but he stared me back in the eyes.
“Fine. But you can’t go. I’m trying to save you, Tizzy!”
“Pray tell, why would you be trying to save me?” I yelled, folding my arms. I’d sure like to hear this one.
“Because. You’re my sister. Just because I ran out doesn’t mean I’m heartless. I came and warned Allanis, didn’t I?” That was true. He did come to the Hallenar House to warn her. And he was trying to save my ass.
“Alright. I’ll take your word.” It felt wrong to relent, but I had a feeling it was for the better. Aleth grinned. “So what do we do about all of this?” I sat back down on the bed, crossing my legs and keeping my arms tightly folded. I would relent, but I wouldn’t do it without looking pissed. Then, his eyes went to the sword around my waist. I looked up at him.
“What?”
“What are you doing with a sword?” he asked me.
“What are you doing without a sword?” Smirking again, he fished into his jacket pocket and tossed me an oddly constructed weapon of black steel.
“We use guns now,” he said, donning the jacket.
“Guns?” I began to panic, sweat forming at my temples, and immediately held it as far away from me as I could. “Aren’t those dangerous?”
“You take a risk using a gun, just like you take a risk using a sword.”
For at least half an hour, he showed me how the gun worked, but it was beyond my comprehension. I would just have to wait and see what happened when I actually had to use one of the atrocious things. I was paranoid that my arm was going to blow off.
“I’m thinking that we just go to Sandroya and see who we have to talk to in order to stop this whole thing, and shoot them dead,” Aleth said. I rolled my eyes.
“Why don’t we just see about some kind of negotiation or something?” I suggested. He gave me an odd, surprised look.
“Since when do you want to negotiate?” he asked. Since when did I want to negotiate? That was a damn good question.
“You’re right. Let’s go blow their heads off.”
You’re targeted…
“Wait!” I snapped. “What do you mean, ‘let’s just go to Sandroya’? What is up with you? Are you sure you’re not working for them?” It was a strange time for Mariette’s words to come up, but I was glad they did.
“You don’t trust me now?” Aleth asked, growing disappointed.
“Not with a dumbass plan like that! These people will be storming into our baby sister’s home, looking for me!” He jammed his hands in his pockets and sighed, and the silence was still for a few moments. “Sorry for being difficult, but that’s a suicide plan. I don’t really favor dying young, you know.”
Aleth’s eyes scoured the map he had laid on his nightstand, scratching his bare chin. His hands went to a pocket on the inside of his jacket, and I heard the clinking of coins.
“Fine. I’ve got a better plan, then. Sandroya has a ‘Wanted Dead’ list, the one that you’re on, and most of the people on it gathered not too long ago to make a clan that’s not too far away. We can ferry across the Sheerspine River, and stay at either the White Dolphin Inn, or the Moonspine for the night.”
“For what?” I could tell that my constant questioning was starting to annoy him.
“At this point, we need allies, and they’re in Davrkton. Tizzy, Sandroya wants to kill you. I’m on the list too, but I’m way near the bottom. The slayers of that town are ruthless. The least we can do is find the others who need to survive, and I’m certain that someone in the clan has more information on the Dark Sweep, so we’ll get the information we need. About Sandroya. About the Act. About us,” he explained. I raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been to the clan before. It’s not as questionable as it sounds, and there are a lot of good people in it.”
“Okay. Then what?” His frustration showed in a grumble.
“If we can get across the river for only two gold coins a piece…” he started, scanning the map.
“… Then for three more, we can ferry down to Massingberd Forest, go down the Ardok Pass, and we’ll be in Davrkton!” I finished, rather impressed with myself. Aleth did too, because he stood back and gave me a sly smile.
“Sounds like a plan.”
I still wasn’t too pleased about this clan being in Davrkton, however. The town was noted for having connections to everything. Everything. Years ago, when Rori was seventeen, I used to have to take her down to Davrkton, because she was dating one of the town’s jousters. I hadn’t had to go down Ardok Pass, though. It didn’t sound very happy, especially since an Ardok was a being created when someone, filled with madness and anger, either killed themselves or died suddenly. That being’s sole purpose was to haunt and kill those who had driven it insane when it was alive. I wasn’t up to going down that pass. Anyway, Rori’s old ex-boyfriend in Davrkton was murdered because he knew more than what he should have about some other murder. The whole town was idiotic, or so I saw it.
“This is going to be dangerous. Are you ready to trust me?” he asked, a smile forming. I laughed at him, putting my hands on my knees.
“Dangerous? You’re the one using guns! And let’s not forget, you’re the one who suggested going into Sandroya, too!” He shrugged.
“You’ll learn how effective they are. You will.”
“If you say so. But we need a backup plan in case we run out of money along the way to this… clan,” I said. I would hate to run out of money. Especially if I were robbed. I’d start killing. But, if I was going to travel with Aleth, I’d better get some damn good security. Someone who is six foot, seven inches, carrying a gun, leaves me with no excuse to get robbed.
“Don’t worry about money, Tizzy. I’ll take care of it if it happens.” Something about the look on his face told me that he wasn’t planning to abide by the law if that happened, and something about that look was telling me that I should know what he was planning. “I guess I should check out now, though. There’s no point in trying to go back to sleep.” I watched him pack his things and followed him out of Room 12, few things on my mind.
It was almost four o’clock when we left the inn. In an hour and a half, Athen would’ve stumbled past my bedroom and into the aviary, and at least once a week, today maybe being the day, there was a case of him getting attacked by some of the mail birds, and I’d have to stomp out of my room in a sleepy stupor and rescue him. I couldn’t believe it, but I was starting to get homesick already.
Aleth and I left the Swan Fiddler and ambled down the street, silent. Why couldn’t he just stay at the house with us and help fight against Sandroya? Why was I on that stupid list, anyway? If he stayed, we could all be a family, again…
“Aleth…” I looked down at my boots, seeing a fog accumulating along the ground.
“Yes?”
“Why couldn’t you… stay with us at the house? And help fight off Sandroya?” I asked, my voice meek. I must’ve sounded so immature. So naïve. He paused, sighing, like he had been hoping I wouldn’t ask.
“First,” he said, “Sandroya is ruthless. You don’t understand. They would come here and burn everyone in their way if we stayed. As long as Allanis doesn’t have what they want, they’ll leave her alone. Second… it… it wouldn’t matter how close and how related we were. Once the rest of the family became aware of what I was, I’d have to leave all over again. You, too.”
“What are we? I still don’t know what would be so horrible that we would have to leave,” I replied, sighing. My breath cut through the air in a white puff.
“Hopefully you never will.”
I wish I understood this, because I didn’t know what to hope for anymore, and when things were bleak, at least hoping could keep my chin up. At one point, I had it all figured out, and I hoped that Aleth wouldn’t lie to me. Now that we were past that, though, things were getting more complex.
We had walked to the edge of town before the air really started to bite. We’d soon have to walk through the snow that had fallen not too long ago up north – you could see it on the mountains. The edge of Suradia was mostly plains, and now very muddy plains. So much for a skirt that would spare me the agitation. I saw Corin’s manor on the edge of town, surrounded by a large iron gate, as well as some other manors, and then… Gallgarin Pass. That’s where we would leave Suradian territory.
A light drizzle started to fall down the path we took. It was a path specially blazed through redwoods and evergreens, leading straight to the river a few miles ahead. I felt myself becoming overwhelmed, and unusually broken inside. Then, it happened. My sight blurred. My heart quickened, and I feared for what my dreams had said.
“… Aleth,” I whimpered, fingers tingling, brushing against his back. He spun around in shock. God… what was wrong with me?
“Tizzy?” I saw the telltale crease in his brow – he was worried. He knew what was happening. Then, I shook my head and placed a finger on my temple, taking deep breaths.
“I… I… nothing. It’s nothing, I… nothing.” He looked at me as though he weren’t quite sure if he should buy into my words, and grabbed onto my hand.
“You’d better be okay,” he said, squeezing my palm. “Okay?”
“I’m fine,” I replied, snatching my hand from his grip. Aleth gave a tense sigh, and looked back at me one last time before moving on.
My dreams were not going to come true. No, no, no. I wasn’t going to break down like I had. No. It wasn’t going to happen.
“Tizzy.” He had called me again, and turned around.
“What?”
“Just making sure you’re okay. You’re acting weird,” he told me. He would know. He had done nothing but act weird since the second we laid eyes on each other, but I sighed and continued. But, he didn’t walk on. He stopped, standing there, still as a statue. I wasn’t the one acting strange.
“There is something wrong,” he said. “You didn’t snap at me with that dry wit of yours.” Damn, did that dry wit of mine really make me that readable? I guess I should be sort of proud.
“Nothing is wrong,” I insisted. “Now walk!” Aleth shrugged and finally continued on, so I followed behind him. This wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t.
You can fight this, you can!
The hell with all of this, I thought. I would do whatever I wanted. Quit begging me to fight!
No! No I can’t!
And the hell with myself.
We soon were trudging through the snow that had fallen deeper in Gallgarin Pass, and it would have been decently light outside, had the clouds not decided to roll on in. My stomach was growling, but I ignored it, not letting it burden me. That was pointless, though. All I could think about this whole time was avoiding myself and what I had seen in my dreams, and I was starting to give Aleth suspicions, because he wouldn’t stop looking back at me. No, no, no. Nothing was going to happen.
We walked for hours. It was a little past noon, and Aleth had suggested a stop. I strongly opposed to this, but I was forced to rest my legs, and part of me didn’t complain at this. We sat atop a rock that was at least a foot and a half above the snow, blanketing the ground. He then offered me some bread, but I refused.
“Why are you being so difficult?” he asked.
“I’m not trying to be. I don’t want to eat, and I don’t want to rest,” I answered curtly. Aleth sat back on the rock and did that damn smirking thing again.
“You going to be okay later on?”
“I’m going to be just fine,” I answered. He nodded.
“If you need anything, let me know. I think you’re starting to get a bit pudgy, though…” My head snapped in his direction, agape and gawking at his totally irrelevant remark. Then, seeing his opportunity, he shoved a chunk of bread in my mouth. “If you ate more, that is.” I wanted to swing my arm and sock him in the face, but I didn’t have the strength. I didn’t even know if I had it in me to chew, much less to chew the rubber that was in my mouth, much, much less to continue walking down Gallgarin Pass. But, I sighed and strained my jaw to do what it could with the bread.
I knew Aleth didn’t buy the whole “I’m fine” bit. I thought I did, but I knew better, now. I knew I wasn’t okay. I wanted to rest there on that rock for the rest of the day, right there on that rock, but the cold had really started to get to me. It was biting and nipping at my bare calves, and the snow was almost high enough to seep into my boots. Then I’d be done for.
“You tired?”
“No,” I lied.
“You sure? You look a little out of it, and you did wake up at around three, this morning,” he told me. Like I needed to be reminded.
“I know that. I’m not tired, I’m not hungry, and I don’t need to rest!” He scratched his head and shrugged.
“Alright. Let’s go, then.”
Darkness had soon started to fall, and we were still walking down the damn path. It probably wouldn’t have seemed nearly as long if we were on horseback, and why Aleth hadn’t thought of that was way beyond me.
My legs were so tired and cold, they stopped hurting altogether, but he was still in front of me, going steadily along like nothing in the world could stop him, like he was just fine. He probably was just fine, and so used to walking long distances in shitty weather that it didn’t phase him one bit. I, however, did not favor walking through a foot and a half of snow in a skirt.
“Aleth,” I started, realizing one of my important questions was still in the air, “why exactly is Sandroya after just me?”
He didn’t answer me at first, and I had started to wonder if he even heard me. If he didn’t hear me, I guess that was too bad, because I wasn’t going to repeat myself.
“I don’t know,” he said at last. That didn’t sound right. How could he not know?
“So, is that something we’re going to find out in Davrkton?” He clicked his tongue and nodded, and for a second, I could swear he was the same brother I had all those years ago. He loved clicking his tongue and making weird noises like that.
“Hope so. There has to be a logical reason for them to target you.” I sighed, something inside of me believing that he knew the reason, and he just wasn’t going to tell me. I pulled up my hood and rubbed my hands together. It seemed as though Aleth had finally given up and decided that I was, in fact, fine. In truth, I was a little pissed that my jacket was dragging along in the snow.
I finally came into town. Suradia was completely empty this time of morning, not that it would get much more populated later. The town square was barren, no footsteps in the damp dirt. I kept to myself, not like I had a choice, and stood in the center.
The Suradian Town Square was usually the liveliest part of the place, carts, carriages, and horses moving up and down the streets, townspeople commuting up and down the walkways. Almost every building was brick, and they lined the street sides, showing off the craftsmanship that had the whole town in its hold. Houses were on the ends of streets, and were small and wooden, but those weren’t very numerous. It was the cottages that people lived for, especially the rich people, most of which were in Allanis’s High Society Group. Brick manors were in the outskirts, as well as a few shabby constructs that no one really knew anything about. But, in the center of the town square was a large fountain, littered with copper coins that over time had gotten stuck in the cracks at the bottom. If wishes were only worth copper…
Standing there next to the fountain, the statue of some female gesturing to me with an outstretched hand, I scanned around for my brother. He had better have kept his word, or I would be very, very pissed. I couldn’t believe I was even trusting his word in the first place. What, was I crazy? Maybe I was just an idiot.
That’s right. A stupid idiot. I was gullible. Just as gullible as Allanis. And now what was I supposed to do? Leave my dignity at the door while I marched back into the Hallenar House, acting like nothing happened? I couldn’t do that. But, I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to go look somewhere else. I had nowhere to go this early in the morning, anyway.
I sighed deeply, and then a chill rode up my spine. What the hell was that? I turned around and looked into the fountain figure. It was a roughly sculpted woman with little to no detail, as if it had all been worn away by the weather. Then, I looked down into the fountain’s stream, dark and still. My reflection barely showed, but upon looking into the water, my dreams came flying back into my mind. No! To hell with them!
In the midst of me yelling at myself, I started wandering around to a secluded area of town that I hadn’t been to. I didn’t really go into town much though, so for all I knew, it could be very popular. Still, the area looked like it was always deserted. I approached an old building with shut windows, and a sign with a lantern above the door that read “Swan Fiddler”. Probably an inn. Slowly, I turned the doorknob and went inside.
There was a fire lit, flickering across from the lobby counter, with a raggedy couch set around it, and I at once felt comforted. Despite the fire and the orange glow from a few lanterns, the room wasn’t very well lit. It was serene, yes, but I would have appreciated something brighter. I grabbed the strap of my bag for security, and approached the lobby counter, rehearsing a few things over in my mind. The girl I was to speak to had dark circles under her eyes, and dark, mussed hair that she was trying to run her fingers through, catching on tangles. She sniffled a bit and tried to rub the sleep from her bloodshot eyes.
“Good morning,” she yawned. “Can I help you? It’s three gold coins for a night.” I bit my lip, trying to decide on an approach.
“Actually,” I said, “I was wondering if ‘Aleth Beau’ checked in here last night.” Sluggishly, the lobby girl pulled a book from under the counter.
“Last night… September… 29th?” I nodded. “Aleth Beau, September 29th.” Her fingers ran down the pages. “Yeah, he got a room here last night,” she replied. My heart skipped.
“Is he still here?” The girl nodded.
“Room 12.” I thanked her and then ran off down the halls and up the stairs in search.
Why the hell wasn’t Aleth out there in the town square like he said he’d be? Was he trying to ditch me? I was going to let him know that you keep your word with Tizena Hallenar, or else. Him being my brother, I expected him to know such things, but then again… how long had it been?
The 2nd floor was nothing special. A few rooms, but no number 12. I spotted another staircase to the 3rd floor and proceeded, beginning to grow depressed, as this place was getting rather difficult to find. But, it soon faded. Aleth’s room was in plain sight, and I ran up to knock right away. I was going to give that bastard a piece of my mind.
It was a few minutes before the door opened. Aleth appeared before me, sleepy-eyed and bed-headed. His black shirt was poorly buttoned, a few of the buttons a hole off, and his trousers were sagging due to the absence of a belt. I was disappointed with the picture.
“What are you doing here?” he asked gruffly. My hands went straight to my hips.
“You said you would be in the town square!” I gave him my usual dry glare. “You said I could find you there before the sun rises!” His glare, unlike mine, was completely dull.
“Tizzy, the sun doesn’t rise for another four hours. If I had known you were going to get all nocturnal on me, I wouldn’t have bothered with trying to sleep.” He looked at me like I was batshit crazy or something. I pursed my lips and turned my head away.
“Still… you said!” He rolled his eyes. “And rebutton your shirt! It looks bad.”
Aleth sighed and stepped aside for me, inviting me into the room that was even more pathetic looking than mine. I was in disbelief, looking at the bed that looked as if it came straight out of the dump, complete with dirty, worn blankets and holey sheets. I was surprised the bed even had sheets.
“This place sucks,” I said. My brother said nothing, focused only on rebuttoning his shirt. His body was pale, even in comparison to my own, and there was a large scar across his chest, bringing a little bit of guilt to me. If our siblings hadn’t have treated him the way they did… everything would be different. He wouldn’t have thick scar tissue reaching down his torso. He saw me staring at him, and a little bit of red came to his cheeks, his eyes trying to avoid mine from that point. So, I turned away and sat on his bed, deciding to give him what little privacy I could, and damn… I would’ve preferred to be hanging in Allanis’s closet with all of her revolting clothes.
“Did you actually sleep on this?” I asked.
“It wasn’t that bad.” He was now trying to fix up his hair a little bit, running his hands through it and staring at his reflection in the chunk of mirror that was left on the vanity.
“Just sitting here, it feels like my back is splitting open!”
“Okay, so while I listen to you insult where I’m sleeping, I’m going to ask you what made you decide to come here.”
“I… I,uh…”
“And don’t give me this ‘I miss you’ crap,” Aleth said.
“I was curious,” I finally rused. He turned around and looked at me, incredulity spread across his features.
“Curious?” he asked. “That’s what you came up with?”
“You said we were ‘very alike’. I want to know. And I want to know more about this Sandroya business, and why the hell they’re only after me!” Aleth smirked.
“Why are we so alike…?” he started slowly, beginning to laugh.
“Don’t screw around with me, Aleth! At least I came down here!” He turned his back on me and shook his head, still chuckling. That bastard.
“Yeah,” he said, “Yeah, you did. You can’t stay here in Suradia for very long, though, without losing it. Even if Sandroya didn’t attack.”
My first dream came back to me.
“Why would I lose it?” I asked, folding my arms.
“I lost it the first time I tried to ignore what I was. You will, too. I guarantee it. There are few who are strong enough,” he explained. “And Sandroya will run in every slayer that it takes to get rid of you.”
“Why?” He gave me a funny stare.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
“If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times, no matter who I’ve said it to, apparently,” I said, sighing.
“Okay, okay. No need to get like that. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if you’re capable of resisting the first urge, then.” The what? What the hell was he talking about?
“What am I? What are we?”
“It won’t do any good to tell you right now,” Aleth answered. “If you’ve been just fine this far along the way, I don’t want to stir up anything that could ruin that.”
“What? No! You’ve got to tell me! I didn’t blow up and disconnect myself from the family, pack my stuff, and declare my leave to find out you aren’t going to tell me what I’ve been dying to know!”
“I really don’t want to tell you, because it won’t be good for you to know. I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, calmly.
“Bullshit! Since when did you care whether I was hurt or not?” Shit, was I saying this out loud? “Since when were you thinking about how and if your actions might hurt us? Might hurt me?”
Aleth didn’t say a word. He lowered his head in what could have been equally shame or anger. I noticed he was breathing deeper and deeper, and my fists wouldn’t stop shaking.
“I’m sorry.”
“No!” Why was I doing this? “No, I don’t want to hear you ever tell me you’re sorry! The whole night I was thinking and fighting with myself, trying to decide whether or not I should believe a goddamn thing you say! After six years, I didn’t know what the hell you had become! But I finally decided to believe you and go to you, because goddammit, you’re my brother! And I figured you wouldn’t pull some stupid shit like this!”
I honestly think that maybe, just maybe, I overdid it. I hadn’t meant to go off and yell at him like that, but it was true. That was how I felt, but I guess I shouldn’t have let him know in such a high octave. At least I was in control of the situation, I thought. Aleth had his back turned to me, and he leaned on the table with a heavy sigh.
“Fine,” he said. “Fine, you want to know what you are?”
“No, actually. I think I’m quite capable of discovering it on my own.” With that, I jumped off the bed and started for the door.
“Tizzy, wait!”
Aleth grabbed my hand, and I turned around and gave him a deadly stare.
“You’d better take your hand off of me,” I said darkly, “If you still want it.” That got him to let go, but he stared me back in the eyes.
“Fine. But you can’t go. I’m trying to save you, Tizzy!”
“Pray tell, why would you be trying to save me?” I yelled, folding my arms. I’d sure like to hear this one.
“Because. You’re my sister. Just because I ran out doesn’t mean I’m heartless. I came and warned Allanis, didn’t I?” That was true. He did come to the Hallenar House to warn her. And he was trying to save my ass.
“Alright. I’ll take your word.” It felt wrong to relent, but I had a feeling it was for the better. Aleth grinned. “So what do we do about all of this?” I sat back down on the bed, crossing my legs and keeping my arms tightly folded. I would relent, but I wouldn’t do it without looking pissed. Then, his eyes went to the sword around my waist. I looked up at him.
“What?”
“What are you doing with a sword?” he asked me.
“What are you doing without a sword?” Smirking again, he fished into his jacket pocket and tossed me an oddly constructed weapon of black steel.
“We use guns now,” he said, donning the jacket.
“Guns?” I began to panic, sweat forming at my temples, and immediately held it as far away from me as I could. “Aren’t those dangerous?”
“You take a risk using a gun, just like you take a risk using a sword.”
For at least half an hour, he showed me how the gun worked, but it was beyond my comprehension. I would just have to wait and see what happened when I actually had to use one of the atrocious things. I was paranoid that my arm was going to blow off.
“I’m thinking that we just go to Sandroya and see who we have to talk to in order to stop this whole thing, and shoot them dead,” Aleth said. I rolled my eyes.
“Why don’t we just see about some kind of negotiation or something?” I suggested. He gave me an odd, surprised look.
“Since when do you want to negotiate?” he asked. Since when did I want to negotiate? That was a damn good question.
“You’re right. Let’s go blow their heads off.”
You’re targeted…
“Wait!” I snapped. “What do you mean, ‘let’s just go to Sandroya’? What is up with you? Are you sure you’re not working for them?” It was a strange time for Mariette’s words to come up, but I was glad they did.
“You don’t trust me now?” Aleth asked, growing disappointed.
“Not with a dumbass plan like that! These people will be storming into our baby sister’s home, looking for me!” He jammed his hands in his pockets and sighed, and the silence was still for a few moments. “Sorry for being difficult, but that’s a suicide plan. I don’t really favor dying young, you know.”
Aleth’s eyes scoured the map he had laid on his nightstand, scratching his bare chin. His hands went to a pocket on the inside of his jacket, and I heard the clinking of coins.
“Fine. I’ve got a better plan, then. Sandroya has a ‘Wanted Dead’ list, the one that you’re on, and most of the people on it gathered not too long ago to make a clan that’s not too far away. We can ferry across the Sheerspine River, and stay at either the White Dolphin Inn, or the Moonspine for the night.”
“For what?” I could tell that my constant questioning was starting to annoy him.
“At this point, we need allies, and they’re in Davrkton. Tizzy, Sandroya wants to kill you. I’m on the list too, but I’m way near the bottom. The slayers of that town are ruthless. The least we can do is find the others who need to survive, and I’m certain that someone in the clan has more information on the Dark Sweep, so we’ll get the information we need. About Sandroya. About the Act. About us,” he explained. I raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been to the clan before. It’s not as questionable as it sounds, and there are a lot of good people in it.”
“Okay. Then what?” His frustration showed in a grumble.
“If we can get across the river for only two gold coins a piece…” he started, scanning the map.
“… Then for three more, we can ferry down to Massingberd Forest, go down the Ardok Pass, and we’ll be in Davrkton!” I finished, rather impressed with myself. Aleth did too, because he stood back and gave me a sly smile.
“Sounds like a plan.”
I still wasn’t too pleased about this clan being in Davrkton, however. The town was noted for having connections to everything. Everything. Years ago, when Rori was seventeen, I used to have to take her down to Davrkton, because she was dating one of the town’s jousters. I hadn’t had to go down Ardok Pass, though. It didn’t sound very happy, especially since an Ardok was a being created when someone, filled with madness and anger, either killed themselves or died suddenly. That being’s sole purpose was to haunt and kill those who had driven it insane when it was alive. I wasn’t up to going down that pass. Anyway, Rori’s old ex-boyfriend in Davrkton was murdered because he knew more than what he should have about some other murder. The whole town was idiotic, or so I saw it.
“This is going to be dangerous. Are you ready to trust me?” he asked, a smile forming. I laughed at him, putting my hands on my knees.
“Dangerous? You’re the one using guns! And let’s not forget, you’re the one who suggested going into Sandroya, too!” He shrugged.
“You’ll learn how effective they are. You will.”
“If you say so. But we need a backup plan in case we run out of money along the way to this… clan,” I said. I would hate to run out of money. Especially if I were robbed. I’d start killing. But, if I was going to travel with Aleth, I’d better get some damn good security. Someone who is six foot, seven inches, carrying a gun, leaves me with no excuse to get robbed.
“Don’t worry about money, Tizzy. I’ll take care of it if it happens.” Something about the look on his face told me that he wasn’t planning to abide by the law if that happened, and something about that look was telling me that I should know what he was planning. “I guess I should check out now, though. There’s no point in trying to go back to sleep.” I watched him pack his things and followed him out of Room 12, few things on my mind.
It was almost four o’clock when we left the inn. In an hour and a half, Athen would’ve stumbled past my bedroom and into the aviary, and at least once a week, today maybe being the day, there was a case of him getting attacked by some of the mail birds, and I’d have to stomp out of my room in a sleepy stupor and rescue him. I couldn’t believe it, but I was starting to get homesick already.
Aleth and I left the Swan Fiddler and ambled down the street, silent. Why couldn’t he just stay at the house with us and help fight against Sandroya? Why was I on that stupid list, anyway? If he stayed, we could all be a family, again…
“Aleth…” I looked down at my boots, seeing a fog accumulating along the ground.
“Yes?”
“Why couldn’t you… stay with us at the house? And help fight off Sandroya?” I asked, my voice meek. I must’ve sounded so immature. So naïve. He paused, sighing, like he had been hoping I wouldn’t ask.
“First,” he said, “Sandroya is ruthless. You don’t understand. They would come here and burn everyone in their way if we stayed. As long as Allanis doesn’t have what they want, they’ll leave her alone. Second… it… it wouldn’t matter how close and how related we were. Once the rest of the family became aware of what I was, I’d have to leave all over again. You, too.”
“What are we? I still don’t know what would be so horrible that we would have to leave,” I replied, sighing. My breath cut through the air in a white puff.
“Hopefully you never will.”
I wish I understood this, because I didn’t know what to hope for anymore, and when things were bleak, at least hoping could keep my chin up. At one point, I had it all figured out, and I hoped that Aleth wouldn’t lie to me. Now that we were past that, though, things were getting more complex.
We had walked to the edge of town before the air really started to bite. We’d soon have to walk through the snow that had fallen not too long ago up north – you could see it on the mountains. The edge of Suradia was mostly plains, and now very muddy plains. So much for a skirt that would spare me the agitation. I saw Corin’s manor on the edge of town, surrounded by a large iron gate, as well as some other manors, and then… Gallgarin Pass. That’s where we would leave Suradian territory.
A light drizzle started to fall down the path we took. It was a path specially blazed through redwoods and evergreens, leading straight to the river a few miles ahead. I felt myself becoming overwhelmed, and unusually broken inside. Then, it happened. My sight blurred. My heart quickened, and I feared for what my dreams had said.
“… Aleth,” I whimpered, fingers tingling, brushing against his back. He spun around in shock. God… what was wrong with me?
“Tizzy?” I saw the telltale crease in his brow – he was worried. He knew what was happening. Then, I shook my head and placed a finger on my temple, taking deep breaths.
“I… I… nothing. It’s nothing, I… nothing.” He looked at me as though he weren’t quite sure if he should buy into my words, and grabbed onto my hand.
“You’d better be okay,” he said, squeezing my palm. “Okay?”
“I’m fine,” I replied, snatching my hand from his grip. Aleth gave a tense sigh, and looked back at me one last time before moving on.
My dreams were not going to come true. No, no, no. I wasn’t going to break down like I had. No. It wasn’t going to happen.
“Tizzy.” He had called me again, and turned around.
“What?”
“Just making sure you’re okay. You’re acting weird,” he told me. He would know. He had done nothing but act weird since the second we laid eyes on each other, but I sighed and continued. But, he didn’t walk on. He stopped, standing there, still as a statue. I wasn’t the one acting strange.
“There is something wrong,” he said. “You didn’t snap at me with that dry wit of yours.” Damn, did that dry wit of mine really make me that readable? I guess I should be sort of proud.
“Nothing is wrong,” I insisted. “Now walk!” Aleth shrugged and finally continued on, so I followed behind him. This wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t.
You can fight this, you can!
The hell with all of this, I thought. I would do whatever I wanted. Quit begging me to fight!
No! No I can’t!
And the hell with myself.
We soon were trudging through the snow that had fallen deeper in Gallgarin Pass, and it would have been decently light outside, had the clouds not decided to roll on in. My stomach was growling, but I ignored it, not letting it burden me. That was pointless, though. All I could think about this whole time was avoiding myself and what I had seen in my dreams, and I was starting to give Aleth suspicions, because he wouldn’t stop looking back at me. No, no, no. Nothing was going to happen.
We walked for hours. It was a little past noon, and Aleth had suggested a stop. I strongly opposed to this, but I was forced to rest my legs, and part of me didn’t complain at this. We sat atop a rock that was at least a foot and a half above the snow, blanketing the ground. He then offered me some bread, but I refused.
“Why are you being so difficult?” he asked.
“I’m not trying to be. I don’t want to eat, and I don’t want to rest,” I answered curtly. Aleth sat back on the rock and did that damn smirking thing again.
“You going to be okay later on?”
“I’m going to be just fine,” I answered. He nodded.
“If you need anything, let me know. I think you’re starting to get a bit pudgy, though…” My head snapped in his direction, agape and gawking at his totally irrelevant remark. Then, seeing his opportunity, he shoved a chunk of bread in my mouth. “If you ate more, that is.” I wanted to swing my arm and sock him in the face, but I didn’t have the strength. I didn’t even know if I had it in me to chew, much less to chew the rubber that was in my mouth, much, much less to continue walking down Gallgarin Pass. But, I sighed and strained my jaw to do what it could with the bread.
I knew Aleth didn’t buy the whole “I’m fine” bit. I thought I did, but I knew better, now. I knew I wasn’t okay. I wanted to rest there on that rock for the rest of the day, right there on that rock, but the cold had really started to get to me. It was biting and nipping at my bare calves, and the snow was almost high enough to seep into my boots. Then I’d be done for.
“You tired?”
“No,” I lied.
“You sure? You look a little out of it, and you did wake up at around three, this morning,” he told me. Like I needed to be reminded.
“I know that. I’m not tired, I’m not hungry, and I don’t need to rest!” He scratched his head and shrugged.
“Alright. Let’s go, then.”
Darkness had soon started to fall, and we were still walking down the damn path. It probably wouldn’t have seemed nearly as long if we were on horseback, and why Aleth hadn’t thought of that was way beyond me.
My legs were so tired and cold, they stopped hurting altogether, but he was still in front of me, going steadily along like nothing in the world could stop him, like he was just fine. He probably was just fine, and so used to walking long distances in shitty weather that it didn’t phase him one bit. I, however, did not favor walking through a foot and a half of snow in a skirt.
“Aleth,” I started, realizing one of my important questions was still in the air, “why exactly is Sandroya after just me?”
He didn’t answer me at first, and I had started to wonder if he even heard me. If he didn’t hear me, I guess that was too bad, because I wasn’t going to repeat myself.
“I don’t know,” he said at last. That didn’t sound right. How could he not know?
“So, is that something we’re going to find out in Davrkton?” He clicked his tongue and nodded, and for a second, I could swear he was the same brother I had all those years ago. He loved clicking his tongue and making weird noises like that.
“Hope so. There has to be a logical reason for them to target you.” I sighed, something inside of me believing that he knew the reason, and he just wasn’t going to tell me. I pulled up my hood and rubbed my hands together. It seemed as though Aleth had finally given up and decided that I was, in fact, fine. In truth, I was a little pissed that my jacket was dragging along in the snow.
; xD Anyway thanks for reading this far.