COP S2.1 He Said Please
Why would they care if I descended into madness from lack of sleep or the nightmares that came when I did?
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Previously on…
The healer and Tass’ uncle try to convince Lyn she needs to help fight the Demeid, that she has some role to play. She refuses to accept that and leaves Steffan with them and heads back to Yiat through an unexpected portal. When she gets to her house, she finds the two fryn have traveled with her.
Two fryn faded into existence. I mean into visible existence. They’d likely been there the whole time I was sketching. The fact that they disappear was somewhat widely known. That disappearing didn’t mean they were gone, wasn’t. That was one secret about them I’d learned long ago, then forgotten until then when I tried to remember my childhood encounter.
The flash was their defense mechanism from being spotted by the likes of me. They didn’t like to be read after all. It left me with a sense of something personal, though, as if they just weren’t ready to share with me. At least, I had the impression of “Not yet” in the flash. Still, the pattern I’d glimpsed was strikingly beautiful.
And least I knew why the Demeid was still distant. Their presence pushed it back. I was grateful for that, but I didn’t know why they would stay with me. Wasn’t I doing just fine before? I had to admit there was an argument that I wasn’t. Horrible, soul-ripping nightmares and verging on the edge of paranoia wasn’t my usual state. That still didn’t answer why they came with me, or rather why they would care if I descended into madness from lack of sleep or the nightmares that came when I did. The King knows there were plenty of mad people about and I doubted they each had a fryn attached to their shoulder. Let alone two of them.
The fire Nia had started while I ate heated the room a little too well. I cracked the window open but was still too hot. My walk back to Yiat had been unusually warm for the season, so I didn’t want to put the fire out knowing the chill would return in the evening. I finished the sketch of the cave as quickly as I could, then checked my coin purse. It was light, but not as much as I thought. Especially considering Tass had stolen it. Accounting for all the coin I’d given out over the last few days, it appeared he had only taken the one silver he’d asked for, and two more gulls the guard must have helped himself to.
I didn’t mind paying for passage. I did mind having that payment taken from me by force. Tass wasn’t a thief, just an obnoxious…I didn’t know what.
The fryn buzzed and wiggled.
I thought about Tass again.
They did it again.
I leaned back in the chair and sighed. I had hoped not to see him again. At least not until I figured out how he knocked me out with just a touch. But I needed to know why the fryn were with me. And they seemed quite excited when I thought about him.
A gust of icy wind blew through the open window. Night was falling. I pushed the window shut. The heat of the fire flared even as the wind rattled the glass. I had an odd feeling, caught between the two extremes in a kind of protective bubble with the fryn. Something I didn’t understand was happening. My companions weren’t yet ready to explain it to me, so that meant I had to find Tass. And make him tell me what was really going on, even if it was some story about ancient magic.
My body didn’t want to move, though. I was healed, rested, and should have been feeling very much like myself. But I was frozen in place. And the more I thought about what I’d seen in the last two days, the two elusive creatures that clung to me, and the hint about what was inside me…I knew I would never be my old self again. Something else was controlling my life, whether an ancient evil inside me or an old story that said I was supposed to fight it.
If I had any hope of getting back to the life I wanted, I needed to fight it. And I couldn’t do that alone.
Whatever force had been holding me in place—the fryn or my own reluctance—released me. I stood up, ready to start my new quest.
Brots Healing House had a line out the door. Well, the side door of worn wood and two broken steps did. A mother and child huddled on an improvised bench while others stood, coughing or holding bloodied bandages over wounds. People who went to the front door were ushered in quickly, most of them leaving again not long after, with little bags, slings, or clean bandages.
I watched the parade through both doors from an alley across the street. Jor told me Tass would be by Brots early in the evening, so I arrived before sunset. I pulled my jacket close around my neck since the chill had grown unseasonably cold. The breeze earlier had only been a hint of what the night would bring. The sky threatened snow, though that was unheard of at this time of year. My heart went out to the people waiting at the side door. Most of them had only light tunics and skimpy footwear, if any.
I was lucky I’d found my benefactor, or they’d found me. Though my skills meant I’d never be without some income, my benefactor offered more than just coin. Most casteni ended up like those at the side door. Or dead. I was certainly one of the lucky ones.
At least I was until I took a job searching for the chamber of power. I didn’t regret it. Not exactly. It was just the unknowns made me nervous. I usually had the upper hand. I set things up ensuring I had the upper hand. Always.
This time, though, the one with the upper hand was pushing a cart filled with shit towards Brots. He turned down the street towards the side door and stopped the cart on the opposite side. Several of the people waiting flocked to him, all talking fast and at once. They calmed down when he gestured with his hands for them to be quiet, then he placed his hand on each in turn. The mother had lifted her child and now leaned toward Tass who towered over her. He rubbed the young girl’s head and handed the mother something from his pocket. Most of the line disappeared by the time he was done.
He’d said he wasn’t a healer.
When entered Brots through that side door, I crossed the street. The wagon smelled as bad as I remembered, but it was only slightly worse than whatever wafted in the air from Brots. Still, I stood apart from it while I waited for him to come out. How would he react to seeing me? Would there be a continuation of our sparring, or would he be more like the kind soul who guided me through the waterfall? Or, would whatever darkness behind his eyes find its way out? That moment when we’d met had been fleeting, but in the context of everything else I’d seen since, I suspected he’d been touched too. By some not-so-good magic, probably not the chamber.
Two of the remaining people were called inside, and Tass had yet to come out.
The Lighter came by and activated the kyboillo along the street, pushing back the growing dark. I’d just decided to go inside and look for Tass instead of freezing when he sauntered out the door.
He stopped on the bottom step, and I swear he grinned before returning to his indifferent stare.
“I wondered if you might show up,” he said.
“I’d bet you knew I would. Eventually.”
He shrugged his shoulders and crossed over to me. “It was only a matter of how long it would take you to figure out how bad your curse is.”
“I was wondering if yours was better or worse than mine.” I crossed my arms and leaned against the building behind me. So far, the encounter was entirely different from before. The banter almost felt natural. Then I remembered he could disable me. I stood up straight and took a few steps away. He seemed to sense the shift.
“Well, I had two friends to keep me company when it first happened. Now five travel with me. And I worry that isn’t enough.”
He didn’t need to tell me his friends were fryn. I knew without reading him they were there. It was like now that I had my own pair, they let me have just a glimpse so I’d understand. His disabling touch wasn’t the only thing I needed to fear from him. Whatever was inside him might actually be far worse than what lingered in me.
A gust of wind tore down the alleyway, swirling around us before dying out. The chill settled in my bones.
“We shouldn’t talk here. Not even in allusions,” he said, buttoning his coat.
Though I agreed, I couldn’t make it that easy. “Before we go anywhere, tell me how you did it. When you put me in the cart and stole a silver.”
“I didn’t steal it. I told you we needed it and you assumed the worst.”
I had. I really had. Other than knocking me out, he’d done nothing but help. I had to wonder if he wasn’t working as a healer inside Brots as well as what he did outside. His intentions seemed honorable, but I couldn’t get past what he did. “You haven’t answered how you knocked me out.”
He turned his head to the side, as if staring at the knots on the wood wall would help him think. When he looked at me again, his green eyes were softer, but nervous. “Not here. Meet me at the corner of Long Street and Birn in the southeast quarter. There’s a statue, a historic marker. Get there when the castle bell strikes nine. If I’m not there, keep walking and come around again. Don’t linger.”
“That’s up against the wall, isn’t it? Long street is the outer most road.”
“Yes. That’s it.”
The idea of walking under the houses hanging from the wall didn’t settle well with me. “Why there?”
“Do you ever stop talking? So many questions, but none of them important.”
I scoffed at him. “They’re important to me.”
“That’s not what I meant. Please, I promise I’ll answer all your questions. The ones I can, if you just meet me there.”
Maybe it was because he said please, or the look in his eyes, or the cold, but I agreed. When I got back to the house, I checked in on Spiri, who expressed her happiness with Jor’s attention. Nia had another meal ready for me and the heat from the fire took the chill off. I didn’t relish going out again that night, but I put on some extra layers and filled my pack with essentials in case I ended up stuck hours outside of Yiat again. I had a feeling our meeting place wouldn’t be our final destination.
Next episode on Saturday January 11, 2024.
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