I needed a bath too, and wished I had thought of it. Would there be time for me to bathe before we left? I hopped out of bed and pulled on my clothes, grabbing my boots to put on downstairs, but as I passed Dardanos, I stopped, stunned by the hundreds of tiny scars all over his body. I couldn’t help but reach out and prod an especially large one on his left shoulder. It stretched from his collarbone to somewhere beneath the water, white and shiny.
Dardanos slapped my hand away.
“Wow,” I whispered. “Does that hurt?”
“No.”
“Dude, where’d you get it?”
“From battle, of course. How else?” He answered, irritated, and then sank lower into the steaming water.
“Touchy, touchy. How’s the wound on your back?”
“Healing.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Yes.”
“Can I see it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Zach!” Dardanos bellowed. “Leave me be! Please! Go do something else.”
“Fine!” I left and locked the door behind me, heading to Lauren’s room. I found her still in bed, propped up against a fluffy pillow reading. That was a shock. Lauren never sat in bed reading that I’d ever noticed. I was beginning to like this new Lauren, and hoped she’d stay after we went home… if we ever did.
Kalika sat curled in a nearby chair looking out the window. They weren’t saying much to each other. Language barrier and all.
“Hey, Kalika,” I said, waving.
She nodded, but remained quiet. What was she thinking about? Home? Her family? A boyfriend?
“How ya feeling?” I asked Lauren.
“Fine.”
“Where’s Dardanos?”
“He’s taking a bath.”
“A bath?”
“Yeah. He needed a bath.”
“So do I.” She closed her eyes and turned her head away, sighing. “I don’t feel very good. I thought I’d stay in bed a while. Maybe I’ll have more energy if I do.”
“Yeah,” I answered, sitting down on the edge of her bed. “You probably will.” I gazed at her pale, tired face. What we’d went through… the wounded… the dead. It was enough to make anyone sick. A break would be good for her, but it seemed more than that.
“Lauren, is there something else wrong? You seem… sad.” I know it sounded like a stupid question after all we’d been through, but I knew my sister. I knew her expressions, her moods, and I knew there was something more bothering her. In the past, she would have bitten my head off for such a question, but now? Now she was nicer, easier to be around.
“I am sad… a little.” She glanced over at Kalika as though she didn’t want to speak in front of her, and then looked back at me. “To be honest, when we first got here, I hated it. You know that.”
I did know. I remembered well. It wasn’t that long ago.
“And you remember when we first met Dardanos? He was so freakin’ scary.”
“I remember. But he didn’t scare me.”
“Whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes and turning away for a moment. “Ever since I’ve gotten to know him though, well, I like him… a lot. I don’t know why I’m telling you this. It’s not like you care.”
“I do too care,” I said. “I’ve always cared.”
“I know.” She laughed and shook her head. “But I mean in a nice way.”
I chuckled and stood to look out the window, glancing at Kalika. I smiled, resting my arms on the windowsill. The truth was that I wasn’t quite as bent about Lauren and Dan’s blossoming relationship as I used to be. There were times when it still bothered me, when I was jealous of the time they spent together, but overall, it was okay. Lauren and I were leaving anyway, so what did it matter?
“So, I was just thinking that this place wasn’t so bad after all.” She smiled with an uncertain grin.
“Are you serious?” I swirled around to stare at her. “You actually like it now?”
Before she could answer, a knock sounded on the door, and Kalika got up to open it. Dardanos stood in the doorway, wearing tan pants and a white, billowy shirt that opened at the neck. The contrast of the filmy material against his golden-bronze skin made everyone stop and stare. Dardanos’s wet hair hung to his shoulders in silky tendrils, and he’d shaved.
A soft “oh,” escaped Lauren, and I watched her eyes grow wide and her hands grip the sheets. Dardanos stepped in and sat down in the other chair, shy, like a teenager on his first date. Lauren sat straighter in bed, her face framed by a frilly, white nightgown with a wide collar. It looked like a pioneer dress to me.
“You look… wow,” she said in wonder.
He smiled, embarrassed. “You look wow, too. As usual.”
Lauren glanced at me. I knew she was about to order me out, so I quickly sat down at Dardanos’s knee. “So, how did you decide to become a warrior, Dardanos? Have you ever been scared during a battle? Have you ever died in the battlegrounds?”
Dardanos pulled his gaze from Lauren and smiled at me patiently. “Well, yeah, I’ve been scared, but not for myself. For the men around me, for the people I defended. I joined the army young. You see, the battles called to me, and I—”
“Zach.” Lauren interrupted, trying to sound pleasant. “Aren’t you supposed to take Kalika to breakfast and shopping for new armor?”
I never looked away from Dardanos who was actually paying attention to me for once. This was fantastic, and I didn’t want it to end. I’d always wanted to talk armor, battles, and technique with my hero. Now seemed to be my chance. “Nope. Kirth is.” I gazed at Dardanos with adoration. “Was it hard to kill the first time?”
Dardanos chuckled and nodded his head. “Yes, actually.”
Lauren glared at me with daggers in her eyes, which I happily ignored. “Zach, I’m hungry. Would you mind going and getting me something to eat? I’m sick, you know.”
I looked away from Dardanos, almost growling. “We’re talking here.” She wasn’t really sick, just drained and tired, and trying to get rid of me. It had become a contest of wills, and I didn’t want to lose, even though I knew I would in the end.
“It’s all right, Zach.” Dardanos said. “I’ll tell you all about it later. Go ahead and get Lauren some food.”
I stood reluctantly, not wanting to leave them alone, truth be told. What would our parents say? It was highly inappropriate. I got up anyway, the peer pressure getting to me. At the door, I stopped, but Lauren raised her hand. “Zach, please.”
“Fine. But I’m coming right back.”
Later in the evening, I sat outside the inn on a brick wall, watching people pass. Kalika stood at my side. I couldn’t believe I was here, in my game, questing alongside my characters. The sun warmed my head, and I felt happier than I had in a long time.
Kalika leaned against the wall, her arms resting on top. She turned to me, her gaze serious. “Zach, I go.”
My eyebrows raised in surprise. Surely, she didn’t mean what I thought. “Go? Where?”
“I go to Warlord.” She motioned with her fingers like they were walking away.
“The Warlord? Are you crazy?” I said in a panic. “No way! Why would you want to?”
She shook her head. After glancing at the sky and taking a long breath, she said, “Kirth.”
I hopped off the wall. I’d take her to Kirth if she wanted a translator, but I was not about to agree to her plan. We entered the Barter House and found Kirth buckling on a new set of armor. The odor of newly oiled leather soothed my senses, and I immediately felt relaxed and at home.
We walked back to the inn and leaned against the rock wall where this conversation had started.
“You wanted to talk to me?” Kirth asked Kalika.
I stood to the side, watching, my frustration mounting since I couldn’t understand them. I glanced at my feet, frowning. Kirth gave me the short version without all the juicy details.
“She says the Warlord is alway
s looking for new serving girls. She wants to become one. If she can get close enough, she can find out his secrets. Once she has the information we need, she’ll escape. I told her it sounded risky and dangerous, that the Warlord has mind readers. But she would rather die trying than sit here doing nothing. She’s right, though. If we don’t stop him, he’ll move forward until every man, woman, and child of the Guild is dead. Plus, he has the Eye of Tanúb, which you need.”
I pondered Kirth’s words, rubbing my chin. “It could work.”
Kalika smiled, seeming to understand.
“I think we should send a message to the magistrar in Tardania first,” Kirth added. “I think she should be aware of what’s going on.”
“Will you tell the magistrar here in Stonehammer too?” I asked, my face lined with worry, and wondering if Kirth felt the same way about the shifty-eyed leader as I did.
Kirth hesitated, indecision in his eyes. Then he shook his head. “I don’t think so. The fewer people who know, the better.”
My relief was audible, and I released a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. Kalika and Kirth split up, leaving me to decide whom I wanted to follow. Hmm. What a tough decision. I chose Kalika. We ran up to Lauren’s room where we found Lauren and Dardanos snuggled together in the big chair.
I stopped, surprised, my lips automatically curling in disgust. I couldn’t even imagine wanting to kiss Lauren on the cheek, let alone on the lips. I knew she hadn’t brushed her teeth since we’d been here, and that’s just… gross! On the other hand, if I had the chance to make out with some beautiful… drow, for instance, I might take advantage of that. But Lauren was smooching my toon!
Dardanos and Lauren looked up, blushing and embarrassed to be caught.
My eyes narrowed before I spoke, and I bit back what I really wanted to say. “Kalika and Kirth have hatched a plan, and we need to get going.”
“Oh. Okay.” Lauren seemed disappointed.
Good.
“So, how’re you feeling?” I asked Dardanos, as he sat down in the big chair to my right. I had never seen him so handsome, so… dreamy. In his armor, he looked powerful, fierce and beautiful, but like this, he was just plain gorgeous.
“I should be asking you that question.” He pulled the chair close, and took my hands, holding them both. “Lauren, I know it sounds stupid, but… I…” He shook his head, unable to find whatever words he wanted to say. It was all right. I was sure we were feeling the same thing.
I leaned back against the pillow and waited, my heart filled just by looking at him. “Just say what’s in your heart.”
Smiling, he pulled me closer, but I was about to fall out of the bed, so I threw the blankets back and climbed into the chair with him. It was plenty big for the both of us, and this nightgown was as long and billowing as a nun’s habit.
“That’s just it, Lauren. I don’t know how to say what’s in my heart. I’ve never felt it before. I don’t know what it’s called.” He smiled shyly, and I melted right then and there.
“First thing,” I said, hesitating. “How old are you, Dan? I think it’s a detail I need to know before our relationship… goes any further.” It was a super-hard thing to say, because I wanted him for my boyfriend more than anything, but dating a way older guy just seemed creepy. And my parents would freak.
He smiled and sighed. “I’m nineteen.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Is that too young for you?” He looked genuinely frightened.
A smile spread slowly across my face, and I placed my hand on his cheek, wishing I dared to kiss him. “What a relief. And no. You’re not too old.” If he was older than twenty, I’d told myself I couldn’t have him. He had no idea how glad I was. A three-year difference wasn’t that bad at all.
“Good.”
And then he let go of my hands and brought his up to cup my face, drawing me close, until our lips were only a breath apart. I could feel the heat of his body through my long—and might I add, very thick—nightgown, and smell the clean, soapy scent of his skin.
And then the spaced closed.
His lips were warm against mine, tender. In no way demanding or hurried. I threaded my fingers through his damp, wavy hair, holding his face to mine, never wanting to let go, never having felt like this before, and sure to never feel this way again. He was my warrior, and this feeling was better than any movie or storybook had ever described it. No romance novel could hold a candle to what I was experiencing at that moment.
And then it was ruined.
By Zach.
It didn’t take long for everyone to pack their supplies, and Kirth had finagled mounts for us to ride. I didn’t know how he’d done it, because toons—as Zach liked to call them—had to earn the right to ride a mount by doing advanced quests and battles, but I was grateful. Mounts would save us a huge chunk of time. And energy.
Zach was given a fierce-looking Niberean tiger to ride. Its sleek fur glowed in the sunlight like a mirage. Dardanos’s tiger was jet black and much bigger. I sat behind him, my arms around his waist, which basically meant I was in heaven. We’d become inseparable, and I couldn’t even tell you how beautiful he was to me now.
That moment when he’d walked into my room, right after his bath…
Zach said nothing, even though I knew he wanted Dardanos to spend more time with him talking about quests, battle technique, and armor. I tried to be patient, but he was being a little punk.
Flitwicket sat astride a silver-gray stallion, its glorious tail brushing the ground. Its sparkling hooves glistened and reflected on the windows of the inn, and its thick mane fluttered in the soft breeze. Kirth’s mount had eight black, hairy legs, a bloated round body, and long yellow fangs that dripped with something that smelled like rotten eggs. I couldn’t understand his fascination with spiders. No one wanted to ride next to him.
“Where did you get that awful thing?” I asked, covering my nose.
“You like him? I could get you one if you want.” He patted the beast’s shiny black head.
“No thanks,” I buried my head in Dardanos’s back, where the foul odor couldn’t penetrate.
Kalika rode a timber wolf whose long, coarse hair was covered by a small leather saddle. Brilliant, white canines showed through the bridle, but it was the small, deadly eyes that concerned me. It was by far the most fierce and dangerous-looking mount.
We left the city of Stonehammer through the front gates, the scent of flowers following in our wake. We galloped toward the southern mountains, hoping to make it to Glistendale by nightfall. How wonderful to not be jogging.
Zach told me he’d seen the city many times as he played the game, and was eager to be there for real, as it was rumored to glow in the noonday sun with the same brilliance as it did on silvery moonlit nights.
We rode in silence and without rest all day, Dardanos and I whispering continuously back and forth about our plans for the future, things that couldn’t possibly happen, but I refused to think about that. I was going to let myself dream… just a little while longer.
Zach rode up beside us a short while later. “Dardanos?”
Dardanos glanced at him, then went right back to talking with me. We’d been discussing our favorite kinds of music. In that area, we had nothing in common. He’d never even heard of Katy Perry. I could tell Zach was unhappy to be ignored, and I felt bad, but not bad enough to do anything about it.
“Uh, you do know that as soon as we get the Eye of Tanúb we have to go home. We can’t stay here,” he said.
Dardanos turned in his saddle and stared at Zach, his eyes unusually penetrating. “And you’re telling me this because… ?”
Yikes! That had to hurt. Dardanos knew Zach and I weren’t from around here, but I don’t think he realized how far we’d come, and that when we left… I’d planned on confiding the details, but hadn’t yet.
Zach shrugged, acting indifferent. “No reason. Just thought you should know.”
“Thank
s, Zach.” I said, glaring, daring him to ruin things for me. “Thank you so very much.” I knew we couldn’t make any real plans to stay, that our parents were probably home, sick with worry. And then there were our friends, and school…
At dusk, we rode over a hill and stopped, staring down into a lush, green valley with Glistendale nestled at the center. The golden, setting sun cast a yellow-orange radiance, like lemon quartz, that reflected right through the transparent city walls and onto the water. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. The two rivers wound around Glistendale like flaxen corn silk, wrapping the city in a satin ribbon.
“Wow,” I breathed, stunned at the city’s beauty. “I want to live here.”
“We can live wherever you like,” Dardanos whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.
Zach turned in his saddle and glared. “We aren’t staying.”
I stuck my tongue out at him. “It isn’t your choice to make.”
Zach was outnumbered, and no one else said a thing. Flitwicket and Kirth seemed to think Dardanos and I made a cute couple, and even encouraged us when no one was looking. Flitwicket had informed me that most girls here were often married by age fourteen or fifteen. The men seemed to wait until their late twenties or early thirties, which explained why Dardanos worried about being too young for me. Silly guy.
I turned my attention to the city before me, and all thoughts of Zach and leaving disappeared. There was something magical about Glistendale. Something that made my heart pound with happiness.
We raced down the dirt path until we came to the cobblestone entrance. A glowing golden path led the way in and paved the whole town. We slowed to a trot, as something here invited reverence as we entered the city single file. Zach led the way to the Glistendale Inn and stables.
Upon entering the inn, the smell of roasted lamb and potatoes was so enticing that I tripped over my feet in my hurry to buy some. I couldn’t wait to pile my plate high, gorging my empty stomach. All thoughts of staying skinny or becoming a model disappeared. I was starving and it seemed like forever since I’d enjoyed a home-cooked meal.
Kirth walked up to the proprietor at the counter. “We’d like two rooms, please.”
Flitwicket sat down next to me at the dining room table as I waited for my food. I had no idea where Lauren and Dardanos were, and I didn’t care. I was alone, just like always lately. Flitwicket folded her hands and smiled sadly at me. “Matters of the heart are complicated.”