Heir Clan

I don't even have a working title for this yet, but I wanted to start getting this up here before I started getting messages from people asking when it was going to come out.

So... this is the sequel to "The Bearer" which can be found here: The Bearer

For right now, this is pretty boring (and, I hate to admit it, pretty cliche), it's just the prologue, but I'll have the first chapter up within the first week or so, but from there, I don't know how quickly I'll be updating. My first priority right now is editing The Bearer and it is what I will be spending most of my time on. However, I will try to keep this up as much as possible.

So... without further ado... my first installment of... I don't even have a working title yet!!! also known as I wish I had a title for this!!

EDIT: reflecting the new title of the thread, the story has a title now too: "Hier Clan".





Prologue

The man ran along the darkened passage, the sound of his boots hitting the stone floor echoing around him. The torch in his hand flickered in the cool breeze that spread through the caves. Behind him he could hear the creature’s heavy foot falls and he smiled grimly. With the creature on his side, he could not fail.

Suddenly the man stopped, flattening himself against the wall. The screeching of the enemy sounded ahead in one of the caverns branching off the man passage.

“I hear them too,” the creature said, its voice resonating against the rocky walls. It was almost as if it had read the man’s thoughts.

The man froze. Maybe the creature had. No one knew the full extent of the creature’s capabilities. No one was old enough to remember the limits that had been set for the great beast at its birth.

“Braven?” the creature called through the darkness.

The man whirled around, turning to face its voice. Straining to see the creature in the dim firelight, he caught a glimpse of black scales as it receded into the shadows.

A jarring far-off scream filled the passage. “They’re not far ahead,” the man said nervously. “We should—“

“Go back, Braven,” the creature told him, its voice lowered to a gentle rumble.

“What?” Braven asked, taken aback.

“Go back,” the creature repeated. “This is no mortal enemy that lies ahead.” Its claws clicked against the floor of the cave as it moved to look down the passage toward the distant screeching, still safely hidden in the darkness. “One man would be of little use. Go to your ship and leave. I will take care of this on my own.”

Braven turned his head back and forth, searching the cave for the creature. “I cannot leave you to face this alone!” Braven said, more confidently than he felt.

“And what would you do instead?” the creature roared. Braven stumbled back at the sheer resounding power in that voice.

“Stay?” the creature went on, almost laughing. “To do what?” it demanded. “Die at my side, another martyr for the cause of your people?” Its scales rasped, sliding over one another as it shook its massive head. “No, Braven. I’ve watched too many of my companions fall in this battle! I am the guardian! You go. I will finish this myself!”

The creature roared, it’s cry resonating through the cave, shaking the very stone. Flames suddenly burst forth to fill the passage.

Braven ducked inside an outcropping in the rock to avoid the searing heat. The brilliant light blinded him for a moment and he looked up again, just in time to see the creature’s great barbed tail disappear into the shadows ahead.

“Will I see you again?” Braven asked urgently, stumbling a few steps forward in an attempt to catch sight of the creature one last time. There was no answer, just the cries of the enemy and the scrape of scales against the rough stone floor.

This is a request about The Bearer. Could you post the story as one piece? One that isnt interrupted by comments and what not. I'd really appreciate that, but if you cant be bothered doing it, can I? It really irritates me when get interrupted reading something i enjoy.

You are honestly amazing Dusky, I can't wait to read more. Good luck editing the Bearer and Im still in line for a copy

I am really bad at staying on top of updating here... sorry, guys...

Jigsaw - I'll try and post up a copy of The Bearer in one post. I'll PM you when/if I do get that up.

Shadowdancer - Thanks. Editing actually going pretty well. It's alot more fun than I thought it would be.

But anyways... here's the first chapter of the sequel...




Chapter 1

L’ira stepped out of the palace quickly, glancing overhead at the darkening sky. It wouldn’t be long before night fell, just long enough for her to get where she was going. She smiled a little to herself as she shut the door tightly behind her and slipped her cloak over her shoulders. It had been far too long since she’d gone out like this.

Pulling her long dark hair back and drawing her hood over her head, she tucked her hands into the folds of her cloak to ward against the chill evening air. She started off across the palace grounds silently, hurrying to disappear under the cover of the trees, taking a deep breath as she entered the comforting air of the forest.

It was strange. She had always called the sea her home. She was a member of the Sea Clans, a people that spent their entire lives on the water so it was hardly a surprise. Yet, as much as she loved the smell of the sea and the feel of the water, there was something about the trees and the soft ground beneath her feet that made this place seem more soothing than the sea ever could be.

No, that wasn’t true. L’ira’s smile widened. This place had never rocked her to sleep as the water had and until it did, the oceans would always be her home.

L’ira stepped over a fallen tree-trunk, gathering her skirts in her hands to keep them from snagging on the branches. Turning slowly, she glanced up at the hole in the canopy of branches that the tree had filled. Streaks of red and orange were just visible in the sky, smeared across the western edge as the faded into a soft gray blue as it met with the treetops. The other trees on either side were just beginning to spread out to cover the opening, their branches snaking toward each other.

L’ira tapped the fallen trunk with her boot, testing to see whether it had started to rot yet. The toe of her boot thunked firmly against the bark. The tree must have fallen in one of the more recent storms that had hit the island, here at Crinton.

She bit her lip, half-wishing she had been there to see it. While the trees couldn’t rock you to sleep, they created almost as impressive a storm scene as the waves did. The leaves and branches would shake violently. The trunks would creak. The rain would pound down through the canopy, driving into the ground. The wind would howl as it whipped through the trees and everything in the forest would suddenly become a frenzy of motion. Nothing else on land could compare to these island storms.

L’ira turned and hurried on, knowing that no storm was likely to drop on her now, no matter how much she wished that it would. There hadn’t been a cloud in the sky for days, and the only mage on the island that was crazy enough to call up a freak storm was Glaeseerin Demeryan. Glaeseerin was too busy at the moment, however, consumed by the task of sewing more magical pockets into her mage’s coat.

L’ira couldn’t help but laugh as she remember walking in on Glaeseerin earlier that day when she’d just been getting ready to begin sewing. Glaeseerin had been bent over the table in one of the palace libraries, emptying the many pockets already in her coat and throwing their contents over her shoulder onto a growing pile of fairly ridiculous things.

There were coins from every conceivable Sea Clan, most of which were over fifteen years old and had become outdated, along with the various currencies of the land-dwellers that were next to useless among the clans. There were mice scurrying around the pile and squeaking as new things were thrown towards them. Tiny, brightly colored birds flew this way and that but refused to leave the room. Snake skins and colorful stones were mixed in helter-skelter with papers, small toys, crystals, bird seed and several different anti-wrinkle creams that Glaeseerin no longer needed after she gave herself a magical face lift which caused her to look about twenty-five for the next eighty or so years. There were tiny dolls and stuffed animals, flutes and violins that you could shrink to any size, books, folded up documents, pots, pans, an umbrella or two, a rain coat, a pair of large boots filled some sort of colored cotton-like substance. Feathers spilled out around a brilliant red (and out of style) ball gown, along with all sorts of other things that eccentric mages like Glaeseerin found absolutely necessary.

And scattered through the entire mess were dozens of lead pencils. Apparently Glaeseerin had just a little bit of trouble remembering where she put her pencils and therefore continued to buy more and more until she had one or two in almost every pocket.

Bloody Bonny Black, Glaeseerin’s pink and blue pet rabbit had been seated on the opposite end of the table, watching the growing pile comically. After a moment or two, he’d wiggled his nose slightly, turning to stare at Glaeseerin as if to say, “I’m glad you don’t keep me in there.”

L’ira had interrupted Glaeseerin then, discussing the most recent business of the possible mage’s school that the two of them had been considering for several weeks. It had taken then several hours to realize that it couldn’t be decided by just the two of them as they’d hoped and ended up scheduling a meeting for the following Tuesday.
Glaeseerin had then stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what she had been doing before L’ira had come in. After a moment she shrugged and decided that it couldn’t have been that important if she couldn’t remember and promptly tripped over the pile of things from her mage’s coat. That served as a fairly effective hint and she quickly returned to emptying the remainder of the pockets.

L’ira would have liked to have stayed and seen what else Gale would have pulled out. She could just see Glaeseerin pulling an elephant of some other large land-dweller creature out of her pockets, laughing and saying, “oh, yeah! I forgot I had that in there!”

Torwen, L’ira’s cousin had come in at the moment, however and called her away to the regular business of the day. The hours had passed slowly after that, filled with one meeting after another until dinner when she had finally been released to her own devices.

L’ira had eaten her meal with her aunt and cousins and then disappeared to her room, waiting until dusk before stealing away into the woods.

L’ira stepped carefully around the trees, making her way along a winding path that slowly began to widen and become clearer as she went on. She’d been this way many times, mostly with Aeroan, though they never seemed to take the same course twice to get to the path. They’d always enjoyed getting lost in this forest for a little while, just to get away from the life of meetings and official dinners that always seemed to wait for them as the Lord of the Visaden and the Lady of the Cyrok.

From there the path continued on and then widened into a small clearing. There was a large boulder on one side and a small pool on the other and overhead there was a clear view of the stars. Aeroan and L’ira had spent countless hours there, safely away from everyone else, simply taking the time to enjoy each other’s company. As far as they knew, they were the only two that knew of the place and they were more than happy to keep it that way.

Entering the clearing, L’ira smiled. It really had been too long since she’d been here. She paused, trying to remember the exact number of days it had been and then gave up, looking around at the flowers and ivy that had grown up while she was gone. There were soft blue and white flowers lining the far edge of the pool and floating in the middle of it. They looked like some large, exotic form of daffodil, their blossoms stacked one on top of another along the stalk.

A delicate ivy and grown around the bottom of the boulder, twisting its way through the moss and then fading away as it neared the top. The rest of the rock was bare, gently reflecting the moon’s glow.

L’ira stepped across the clearing to take her seat atop the stone. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she drew her cloak tighter about herself and settled back to wait.

The moments passed slowly as the breeze played along the surface of the pool and tugged at the loose tendrils of hair around L’ira’s face. The wind whispered gently through the trees, sending the leaves above into a tamed frenzy of motion and sound as they answered its call. Somewhere in the trees the night birds were waking and singing to one another in soft, sweet lullabies. L’ira simply sat there, soaking it all in, breathing in the deep, comforting smell of the forest and listening to the evening melodies around her.

Someone stepped in behind her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. “My lady?” he called softly.

L’ira turned her head slowly to face him, her smiled fading. “Leref?” she asked, recognizing her advisor. “What are you doing here?”

Leref took his hand off her shoulder, running it over his thick brown hair before gathering it back inside his jacket pocket for warmth. “I thought you’d be here,” he said softly, echoing the peaceful undertones of the forest. “Lord Aeroan sent me with a message.”

“Why didn’t he come himself?” L’ira questioned, sliding off the stone to face Leref.

“He hasn’t come into port yet, my Lady,” he answered slowly.

L’ira looked down, closing her eyes in disappointment. “And I suppose that was the message he sent?”

Leref nodded slowly. “I’m afraid so. He said he’d be here first thing in the morning. Something apparently came up. He said he would explain it all to you as soon as she saw you and also promised, beyond any shadow of a doubt that he’d be here tomorrow night to help you though the court dinner.”

L’ira sank back onto the boulder, only half smiling. “Thank you, Leref,” she whispered, trying her best to keep her unhappiness from showing in her voice.

She has also been promised that Aeroan would dock in port tonight and come straight here to see her, but as usual, circumstances hadn’t allowed that.

She and Aeroan had grown up on the same ship and had gotten used to seeing each other every day. That was before L’ira knew she was Cyrok and before L’ira had been kidnapped. Aeroan had spent a year searching for her and finally found her only to lose her for a few months again as she left to fight for her rightful place at the head of the Cyrok clan.

After that they had spent nearly a month together at Varei, the Visaden home island as they worked on a treaty between their two clans. It took far longer than they’d expected for the two clans to come to an agreement, but they didn’t mind very much because they continued to have time to be near one another.

When negotiations were over, L’ira left for Crinton under the agreement that they would make sure that they saw each other at least once every two weeks. At first they held to that rule faithfully, barely letting ten days pass before one of them came to see the other. The two of them were married a few months later and continued to hold to their promise, but as time went on, things got busier rather than slowing down and soon they were struggling to see each other even once a month. Garret, one of L’ira’s mages and closet friends gave them each a working version of his device, Leo for their wedding, which allowed them to speak to each other whenever they had a spare moment. Leo helped, but they missed being in the same room together.

It had been almost two months now since L’ira had seen Aeroan. That was far too long.

Leref settled onto the boulder beside her. “My lady?” he asked quietly, not wanting to interrupt her thoughts. “Are you alright?”

“I will be,” she said, slowing turning to face him. “Tomorrow morning. When I see the Resurrected Bearer coming into port and when I see that he’s onboard.”

Leref nodded, fighting back his laughter. “Fair enough. I suppose that’s all I can ask for.” L’ira smiled as well, turning back to gaze at the surface of the pool, watching at the breeze brushed ripples across the water.

Suddenly she looked back at Leref, startled. “How did you find me?” she demanded.

Leref froze and then burst out laughing at her mystified expression. “L’ira,” he said, still chuckling. “I’m your advisor and beyond that, I’m your guardian! Did you really think that I would let you run off as much as you do without knowing exactly where you were?”

She leaned back, staring at him critically. “Aeroan told you?”

“No,” Leref said, his eyes still laughing.

“Then… How did you…” L’ira looked even more confused as she tried to figure out the answer to her own question.

“I followed you,” Leref told her. “Don’t tell me you think you’re so good at sneaking off that you can’t be followed.”

L’ira relaxed only slightly. “Does anyone else know?”

“Of course not,” Leref said, shaking his head. “Every Royal deserves their own little hide-away. But they do know that I know.”

“Does Aeroan?” L’ira questioned, looking at him out of the corner of her eye as she straightened up again.

“Yes,” Leref said slowly. “He found me that first day that I followed you. That boy is more protective of you than I am.” There was a moment is silence as L’ira simply looked at him where the only sound that could be heard was the night birds somewhere at the edge of the forest.

Leref blinked and then began explaining. “You’d fallen asleep. Right there.” He pointed to a patch of grass beside the pool. “Aeroan was sitting next to you and I was waiting over there,” he gestured behind them toward a small gathering of trees and brush. “I was looking for a time when I could get away without either of you hearing me. Some sort of animal came running through and I thought that it would cover me with all the racket it was making, so I slipped away. But Aeroan caught sight of me and came around through the bushes to cut me off. It was actually almost adorable. He had his sword drawn and everything. Apparently he thought I was some sort of assassin.”

L’ira bit her lip to keep from laughing, burying her face in her hand. “Oh,” she said shortly.

“Yeah,” Leref said, smiling. “That was during his conspiracy theory stage. After someone told him the full story of everything Fier went through to get the clan from your parents he decided that the Cyrok were just a little too power hungry. He barely let you out of his sight during that visit. Not that you noticed…”

L’ira hit him lightly on the shoulder. “Hey!”

Leref merely continued to smile, looking down at the pool. “I swear, there were times when he envied me my job as your protector.”

“And the rest of the time he trusted you as completely as I do,” L’ira assured him.

Leref turned to examine her face. “Speaking of that… Do you trust me completely?” he asked, his tone barely betraying the fact that it was joke.

“Of course!” L’ira replied, laughing.

“Enough to abide by my decisions?” He tilted his head back to look at her.

“Yes…” L’ira told him, beginning to wonder what this was about.

“Well, then my Lady,” Leref said, standing up and extending his arm to her. “As your guardian, I’m telling you that it is far too late for you to be out in the woods by yourself and requesting that you allow me to escort you back inside.”

L’ira rolled her eyes, but slipped her hand over his arm nevertheless and allowed him to begin leading her back toward the palace.

No one has replied to this? How can that be?

I love it. I'm sad we missed their wedding though... any chance of a flashback?

Possibly... I'm planning on writing the wedding just for my own enjoyment (character exploration exercises) and it may end up in the story if I can find a proper place for it.

But I've got more than a couple little scenes floating around that never made it into the The Bearer/Latent Heritage (like this really fun little scene where Aeroan's father introduces Aeroan and his two brothers to L'ira for the first time... Gosh, I wanted to stick that one in somewhere!), so I really can't promise you anything.

Chapter 2 will be coming soon.

I...This is the best thing i've ever read. How the hell dyou do this, your like the new Tolkien, and im not just saying that...really. My writing compared to this is a bloody turd. This was deep, meaning that it had meaning, They were real even though one of the charecters was a dinosaur who breaths fire. I ve tried to find somthing wrong with this but i couldent , its like youve had it checked by eighty two super computers . I...I envy you

p.s. You need to start refering to "The Bearer" as "Latent Heritage"... you need to get it out of that rut into another one so that it will become it's identity... lol... that sounded kinda creepy... but just like No Name the horse... you know? gotta get into the swing of the new name.

Well... I'm working on getting into the swing of this story. You all should be happy to know that it now has a title (check out the title of the thread! lol) and I have a fairly complete outline as to where this story is going.

However, before I go on, I need to inform you (the readers) of a few changes that I made to the THE BEARER, henceforth to be known as LATENT HERITAGE during the editing process.

Change #1: Garret's name has been changed to "Garred". I know it's not that big a change, but I didn't want anyone to be sitting there confused over whether it really was the same person.

Change #2: Glaeseerin Demeryn leaves with Bloody Bess and Black Jenny aboard the Red Water at the end of the second battle, going off on strange adventures rather than going back to Crinton with L'ira and the other Cyrok.

Now... because of Change #2, this section, appearing in Chapter 1 of the sequel:

Hier Clan wrote:L’ira turned and hurried on, knowing that no storm was likely to drop on her now, no matter how much she wished that it would. There hadn’t been a cloud in the sky for days, and the only mage on the island that was crazy enough to call up a freak storm was Glaeseerin Demeryan. Glaeseerin was too busy at the moment, however, consumed by the task of sewing more magical pockets into her mage’s coat.

L’ira couldn’t help but laugh as she remember walking in on Glaeseerin earlier that day when she’d just been getting ready to begin sewing. Glaeseerin had been bent over the table in one of the palace libraries, emptying the many pockets already in her coat and throwing their contents over her shoulder onto a growing pile of fairly ridiculous things.

There were coins from every conceivable Sea Clan, most of which were over fifteen years old and had become outdated, along with the various currencies of the land-dwellers that were next to useless among the clans. There were mice scurrying around the pile and squeaking as new things were thrown towards them. Tiny, brightly colored birds flew this way and that but refused to leave the room. Snake skins and colorful stones were mixed in helter-skelter with papers, small toys, crystals, bird seed and several different anti-wrinkle creams that Glaeseerin no longer needed after she gave herself a magical face lift which caused her to look about twenty-five for the next eighty or so years. There were tiny dolls and stuffed animals, flutes and violins that you could shrink to any size, books, folded up documents, pots, pans, an umbrella or two, a rain coat, a pair of large boots filled some sort of colored cotton-like substance. Feathers spilled out around a brilliant red (and out of style) ball gown, along with all sorts of other things that eccentric mages like Glaeseerin found absolutely necessary.

And scattered through the entire mess were dozens of lead pencils. Apparently Glaeseerin had just a little bit of trouble remembering where she put her pencils and therefore continued to buy more and more until she had one or two in almost every pocket.

Bloody Bonny Black, Glaeseerin’s pink and blue pet rabbit had been seated on the opposite end of the table, watching the growing pile comically. After a moment or two, he’d wiggled his nose slightly, turning to stare at Glaeseerin as if to say, “I’m glad you don’t keep me in there.”

L’ira had interrupted Glaeseerin then, discussing the most recent business of the possible mage’s school that the two of them had been considering for several weeks. It had taken then several hours to realize that it couldn’t be decided by just the two of them as they’d hoped and ended up scheduling a meeting for the following Tuesday.
Glaeseerin had then stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what she had been doing before L’ira had come in. After a moment she shrugged and decided that it couldn’t have been that important if she couldn’t remember and promptly tripped over the pile of things from her mage’s coat. That served as a fairly effective hint and she quickly returned to emptying the remainder of the pockets.

L’ira would have liked to have stayed and seen what else Gale would have pulled out. She could just see Glaeseerin pulling an elephant of some other large land-dweller creature out of her pockets, laughing and saying, “oh, yeah! I forgot I had that in there!”

Torwen, L’ira’s cousin had come in at the moment, however and called her away to the regular business of the day. The hours had passed slowly after that, filled with one meeting after another until dinner when she had finally been released to her own devices.

has been changed to:

Hier Clan wrote:L’ira turned and hurried on, knowing that no storm was likely to drop on her now, no matter how much she wished that it would. There hadn’t been a cloud in the sky for days, and the only mage she knew of that was crazy enough to call up a freak storm was Glaeseerin Demeryan. Glaeseerin hadn't been on the island in months however, journeying aboard the Red Water. They had recieved a letter from her just that morning, but that was the closest she had been to seeing Glae since they parted ways after over-throwing Fier a year ago.

L’ira couldn’t help but laugh as she remembered the way Torwen, her cousin had read the letter aloud, acting out the words with extremely Glae-like motions and attitudes. It had almost been like the mage had been in the room and had had L'ira laughing uncontrollably.

The letter had been all about Glae's latest venture of trying to sew a dozen more tiny pockets into her mages coat, none too subtley leaving out the adventures that she had been on and sworn into secrecy over by her fellow crewmembers, Black Jenny and Bloody Bess. However, to make up for that shocking lack of detail, she sent along a full inventory of all the things that had filled the pockets sewn into her coat on previous occasions.

The list included coins from every conceivable Sea Clan, most of them over fifteen years old and long outdated, along with the various currencies of the land-dwellers that were next to useless among the clans. There were four mice and twleve tiny, blue and orange birds. She had several different kinds of snake skins that she couldn't remember where or when she had picked up and colorful stones, official papers, small toys, crystals, and bird seed. Several different anti-wrinkle creams were mentioned, though Glae was quick to tell them that she still didn't require them since she looked like a twenty-five-year old and would for the next eighty years. After that had been two small dolls and a stuffed teddy bear, three flutes and a violin that you could shrink to any size, books, obsolete documents, eight pots, thirteen pans, an umbrella or two, a rain coat, a pair of large boots filled some sort of colored cotton-like substance, feathers and many other things that ecentric mages like Glaeseerin apparently found necessary.

The list had gotten just as much laughter, if not more than the letter.

Torwen and L’ira had been interrupted then, though L’ira would have liked to have stayed just to read the letter all over again.

Kadelyn, L’ira’s other cousin had come in at the moment, however and called her away to the regular business of the day. The hours had passed slowly after that, filled with one meeting after another until dinner when she had finally been released to her own devices.

And even though I know I've said it before and it proved entirely untrue, I'm going to say it again... Chapter 2 will be coming soon.

I think I should actually read LATENT HERITAGE. There is somewhat of a hype about it and I've seen for myself that your an excellent writer...so it should be worth the time. Luckly I have a 2 week break coming up otherwise I wouldnt have the time, so warning now: If you want me to look at anything then tell me now! Otherwise its unlikely to happen.

Be my guest. The link is above.

And now... Without further ado... *takes deep breath* Chapter two!



Chapter 2

Leref guided her way back inside the palace, shutting the door again after they had entered. L’ira glanced down toward the far end of the passage where a set of large double doors led into the entrance hall, slipping her cloak from her shoulders and folding it over her arm. The air was warm and still within the stone walls, a stark contrast from the chill breeze that had drifted over them outside.

Sighing, L’ira looked down at her feet. She had expected – hoped – to spend most of the evening outside. Her disrupted plans made these walls seem even more restrictive now than they had when she’d left them a few hours before. The idea of dashing back outside for a few more hours of freedom became suddenly appealing.

“M’lady?” Leref asked, noting her expression.

L’ira shook the thoughts away. She was just tired. Things would seem better again once she had gotten some sleep. She started down the hall, Leref matching her stride.

“Did anyone else notice that I was gone?” she questioned, her tone low as it echoed through the empty walls. The last thing she wanted was to have to listen to someone lecturing her about disappearing.

“I believe Lady Torwen was looking for you when I left,” he told her.

“Oh…” L’ira said. Perhaps she could convince her that she’d just gone invisible for a few minutes. Not likely. Tori knew her better than that.

“She’s around her somewhere, I’m sure,” Leref went on. “Unless she decided that you’ve been abducted and gave up looking for you.”

“Never,” Tori said, coming out from one of the side passages to meet them. She broke into a grin, crossing her arms over her chest. “If L’ira was ever abducted you know we’d both being putting together the biggest rescue party that the Cyrok have ever seen.”

Leref looked down, holding back a smile. “That would seem the proper course.”

Tori nodded. She turned suddenly, hitting L’ira on the shoulder. “Now, where have you been?” she demanded.

“Sorry,” L’ira murmured, wincing.

Tori plowed on, clearly joking. “You worried me half to death, young lady! Mother only sent me to find you an hour ago. Don’t tell me that you forgot about the meeting tonight.”

L’ira froze, remembering the appointment that she and her aunt, Estal had made earlier that morning.

Tori peered at her closely. “You did forget.”

“I’m sorry,” L’ira began, spreading her hands helplessly. “Things have been so crazy and—“

“Not a problem.” Tori cut her off. She grabbed L’ira’s hand, dragging her back down the side passage. “We’re going now.” Tori glanced back at Leref, releasing L’ira momentarily. “Sorry to steal her like this.”

Leref laughed and shook his head, waving them off.

Without another moment’s delay, Tori turned, pushing L’ira forward.

“I can’t believe you forgot,” Tori said, stepping up beside L’ira once she was satisfied that she was moving fast enough. “We’ve had meetings for tomorrow’s dinner almost every night!”

“I know,” L’ira told her. “I guess my mind was just elsewhere.”

“I wish other people’s minds were elsewhere.” Tori shook her head. “It’s all Mother and Kadie are talking about these days. Of course, it helps that they’re hoping it will bring out a suitor for Kadie.” She glanced at L’ira. “You are so lucky that you found your true love without having to deal with all the politics of it.”

L’ira laughed. “Right.”

“Well, you are,” Tori insisted, turning to the right and drawing L’ira with her. “It’s driving Kadie crazy and I don’t even want to think about what’s going to happen when I have to deal with it.”

“You’ve got a little while before you have to worry about that,” L’ira pointed out.

Tori glanced at her. “I’m eighteen. I’ve got until Mother manages to marry Kadie off.”

L’ira bit her lip.

“Go ahead,” Tori said, seeing the spark that had appeared in her friend’s eye. “Whatever it is, say it.”

“I was just going to repeat what I said before,” L’ira told her. “You’ve got a little while.”

Tori rolled her eyes, though L’ira could tell that she was trying not to laugh. “I can’t believe you two. Can’t you find anything to like about her? I mean, she is my sister.”

“Hey,” L’ira said. “We haven’t gotten into a fight in… “ She tried to remember. “A long time.”

“Yeah,” Tori agreed. “But only because you avoid her like she’s contagious.”

L’ira looked at her out of the corner of her eye. “Is it that obvious?”

“No,” Tori said lightly. “Only to me, Mother, Leref and Kadie.” She smiled at L’ira.

The passage widened around them, ending in a pair of ornate double doors. They slipped inside and froze at the sudden bustle that greeted them.

The whole hall was filled with the constant hum of conversation as servants rushed here and there across the great hall, setting up tables and hanging decorations around the walls in a mad rush to prepare for the following evening. Across the way, Estal walked back and forth among them, passing out directions liberally and rearranging things until they met her expectations. Kadelyn followed behind her mother, glancing at the servants in discomfort as she tried to stay out of their way.

L’ira and Tori glanced at each other before making their way across the room to Estal, ducking under a folded tapestry carried between two servants as it was moved from one wall to another.

“My lady,” Estal greeted L’ira, stopping her work. She glanced at the cloak that hung over L’ira’s arm. “Did I interrupt something?”

L’ira smiled sadly. “No. Unfortunately, not.”

Estal met her gaze for just a moment, sympathy clear in her eyes. Quickly, she turned back toward the tables where she had various papers laid out.

“I still need you to approve the final seating chart,” she told L’ira, pulling the large sheet of paper out from under the others and settling it on top. Her eyes combed the enormous chart. “We never discussed where to seat Mr. Danic and Mr. Alrein, so just I put them between Mr. Cahr and Mr. Rayban.”

L’ira rested her hands against the edge of the table, focusing on the paper as well. “I don’t see any problem with that.”

“Good,” Estal said. She turned and checked the seating chart off a to-do list on her left. “Then, we just need to go over the decorations.” She glanced up at the servants quickly, ducking her head back down to the list. “Which appear to be almost finished.”

L’ira looked around. Things had considerably slowed and the servants were beginning to leave, the hall quieting as they did. Soon, there were only a few people left as they worked at hanging the final tapestry, a large one, depicting the Cyrok’s three headed snake in gold and onyx thread.

L’ira turned slightly, her eyes running over all the draperies that had been hung. She’d been here earlier that day when every wall had been bare. Things seemed so much warmer now, so much more friendly. Yet, the stone was still visible in places between the tapestries and the windows and she wished that it were the heavy wooden planking of a ship’s hull…

“L’ira?” Tori asked.

L’ira looked at her. “I’m sorry. What?”

Kadelyn rolled her eyes and L'ira blushed.

“It’s all right,” Estal said. “I was just making sure that you remembered that we were going across the island to Clinion in the morning.”

“We have to approve the flower arrangements before they arrive at the palace in the afternoon,” Tori prompted, seeing the confused look on L’ira’s face.

“Right,” L’ira agreed, remembering. “Nine o’clock?”

Estal nodded. “Yes.”

“I’ll be there,” L’ira promised. She glanced at Tori who was looking at her doubtfully. “I won’t forget.”

“You better not,” Tori told her. “Cause if you do I’m gonna have to hire some silly courtier who has nothing better to do and tell him follow you at all times and remind you where you’re supposed to be.”

L’ira laughed. “No… “

“Yes,” Tori said, grinning. “So, don’t forget.” She started back toward the door. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“See you,” L’ira called back, watching as she left with Kadelyn following shortly after her.

Estal turned to L’ira. “Would you like to look everything over now, or tomorrow after the flowers are brought in?” she asked.

L’ira took a deep breath, glancing around her. “You’re make me do both, aren’t you?” she said, still focused on the walls around her.

Estal smiled. “I would advise it.”

“All right,” L’ira agreed. The two of them set off, walking slowly around the hall and looking every piece of furniture and decoration over carefully before they moved on.

“Your seat will be just here,” Estal said, marking out the place on the floor at the head of the tables. “I thought that it would be best to have the Cyrok crest behind you.” She gestured toward the gold and onyx snake on the wall. “We can move it if you like though.”

“No,” L’ira told her. “It’s fine where it where it is.”

They went a little further, toward a large panel that showed a fleet of ships stitched into a blue background. Estal glanced at it. “And this?”

“Is there some significance in where these are hung?” L’ira questioned.

Estal shrugged. “Not really.”

“Then do we really need to go through them one by one?” L’ira asked, turning away to look down the length of the hall. “It all looks fine, Estal. Can we just leave it at that?”

Estal bit her lip, glancing down. “He was supposed to come in tonight, wasn’t he?” she asked, her voice low.

L’ira closed her eyes. “Yes. He was.”

“And he didn’t,” Estal said.

L’ira shook her head. “No. He most certainly didn’t.” She leaned back against one of the tables, sitting on the edge.

Estal hesitated, taking a step toward her. “I know…” she began. She stopped, rethinking what she was going to say. “I know that it’s not my place to give you advice. You’ve been very gracious to me in allowing me as much freedom as you have and it’s not my place to try and tell you what to do.” She paused again. “But I have been the wife of Sea Clan Lord and I know what it’s like to have to wait for him to come home.”

“And what do you suggest that I do, Estal?” L’ira asked, her focus elsewhere.

“I’ve always found that keeping busy helps a great deal,” Estal said.

L’ira laughed uneasily. “Keep busy? If I try to be any busier I’ll go mad. You’ve already got me running from meeting to meeting every moment possible. The only hours you all seem to leave me alone are when I’m asleep! I think I’m busy enough.”

Estal shook her head. “But you’ve yet to find something you actually enjoy here at Crinton.”

“Like what?” L’ira asked. “I hardly even know what there is to do on this island and I’ve lived here for a year.”

Estal stopped, listening to what she had said. “Perhaps I was mistaken. I don’t think your problem is finding things to do while you wait.”

“No, really?” L’ira asked dryly.

Estal smiled. “No. I think your problem is finding the heart to wait. You haven’t thought of this palace as home yet, have you?”

L’ira thought back to just a few minutes earlier when she had been wishing to replace these uncaring stone walls with the wooden hull of a ship. “No,” she said.

“That’s the real problem,” Estal murmured. “You have nothing to love here.” She straightened up. “And that’s it. I'll have a new appointment added to your schedule and it will take place every day.”

L’ira sighed. “What now, Estal? Joyriding through the countryside on some valiant steed? Playing chess to try to relax?”

“Only if that’s what you want it to be,” Estal told her.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Estal said, moving around to the other side of the table to gather her papers. “You’ll have an hour and a half every day from here on out to do whatever you please. There will be no meetings, no appointments, no nothing, unless you want it.” She held the bundle of documents to her chest. “I think it will do you good.”

L’ira looked down, the beginnings of a smile playing across her lips. “Thank you,” she murmured.

Estal nodded, eyes bright. “You're welcome.” Estal strode out, leaving L’ira alone.

L’ira turned her gaze toward the window. For a moment she thought about going to bed, but she hardly wanted to move, though she was too tired to even think very clearly. She sat there for a long time, her mind wandering between Crinton and there Visaden ship that she knew was somewhere on its way toward her. The morning couldn’t come quickly enough.

Suddenly, something caught her eye through the window. There it was again, a dark, winged thing that passed just outside.

L’ira stood, eyes wide as she watched for it, but it didn’t come again. Trying to reconstruct the image in her head, she failed. She hadn’t seen it clearly enough and all she could remember was that jagged edge of a wing, stretched out in flight and the unnatural silence that had accompanied it.

Chapter 3

Leref strode down the hall toward the main staircase, looking down over the rail to the floor of the entrance hall below him. He shrugged into his jacket as he glanced out the window at the bright morning sunshine. A cool breeze wafted through, gently drawing the ends of the curtains into the hall with it.

Excellent sailing weather, he thought to himself. If Aeroan and the rest of the Resurrected Bearer didn’t make it into port today they would have no excuse and Leref would have no choice but to hunt them down and drag them in himself.

He chuckled, imagining the shocked expressions of Danic and Alrein were he ever to do such a thing. It was almost enough to make him want to take a ship out whether they seemed to be running late or not.

L’ira suddenly dashed out of her room at the other end of the hall. Her cloak was flung over her shoulder, her hair pulled back roughly. She closed the door behind her, turning to run toward the stairs.

“Good morning,” he greeted her as she shot past.

She barely even had time to glance at him. “Morning,” she called back, already halfway down the stairs.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, watching her dart across the floor at the bottom.

L’ira jerked to a stop at the grand double doors, turning back to face him. “I’m late!” Then she was gone.

Leref shook his head. That girl could lose track of time faster than a madman could lose his marbles.

Outside, Estal stood beside the waiting carriage; Tori and Kadelyn already seated inside.

“There you are,” she said as L’ira rushed out the front door toward them. L’ira’s skirts swirled about her as she raced down the steps and into the carriage, sinking into the seat beside Tori. Her aunt signaled the driver to begin just before climbing in herself.

The carriage jerked into motion and they started away, passing through the heavy iron gates into the city streets.

“You’re late,” Kadelyn stated, fixing L’ira with a cold stare.

L’ira blinked. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that delaying the trip for five minutes was a crime.”

“Maybe it isn’t, but it isn’t a crime to be on time every once in a while, either,” Kadelyn pointed out. “Perhaps we’d have better luck if we told you to meet us an hour earlier than we intended.”

Tori glanced between the two of them uneasily, exchanging a look with her mother.

“Perhaps you would,” L’ira replied, her voice taking on some of Kadelyn’s cutting tone. “Then again, you just might teach me that it’s permissible to be an hour late.”

“You seem to already think that,” Kadelyn returned.

L’ira forced herself to keep her tone level. “I’m sorry to offend.”

“There’s no harm done,” Estal cut in before her daughter could say anything more. “We’ll only be a few minutes late to our appointment with the florist.” She watched out her window as they passed into more open country. “And the roads should be dry. We haven’t had any rain in days.”

Kadelyn turned toward her window as well, taking any excuse not to have to face the others. L’ira watched her, taking a deep breath. Someday they would have to stop doing this.

“So,” Tori began. She turned to L’ira. “Have we ever brought you out this way before?”

L’ira’s eyes flicked over the rolling hills that passed outside and shook her head. “You may have, but I don’t remember.”

“That’s really sad,” Tori said, smiling. “It’s a really pretty road. We used to come down it all the time when I was little. I remember we always used to have a contest to see who could spot the first badger.” She glanced at her sister. “Remember, Kadie?”

Kadelyn turned after away, absorbing herself in the landscape.

Tori didn’t seem to be bothered by it as she faced L’ira again, grinning at the memories. “I loved watching for them. I don’t really know why. I guess it was just better than being bored into insanity.”

“I was surprised that you girls didn’t get bored with looking,” Estal said, smiling. “You hardly ever saw one.”

“I was going to say,” L’ira said, glancing between the two of them. “I haven’t ever seen one around here. I didn’t think any lived on the island.”

“There aren’t many,” Tori replied. “But that was what made it so great when you found one. And besides, the only other option was to start counting deer.” Tori rolled her eyes. “That got boring really fast. Especially when you’re five and can’t remember what comes after ninety-nine.”

L’ira and Estal laughed.

Tori bit her lip to keep from laughing as well. “There just isn’t that much variety in the animals around here.” She thought for a moment. “Maybe we could import something. Like a… oh, what’s that called? The tall ones with the long necks that you find in the land-dweller adventure books. Girra?”

“Giraffe,” Kadelyn corrected without looking at them.

“Right!” Tori agreed. Her eyes lit up. “Can we bring in a couple of those?”

L’ira shrugged. “Just as long as that doesn’t require me to sit through some meeting over it.”

“Aww…” Tori pouted. “You wouldn’t sit through a meeting to get me a giraffe or two?”

L’ira blinked. “No,” she said flatly. The two of them burst out laughing and fell into happy silence.

L’ira turned toward her window, catching sight of one of the numerous deer that Tori had been talking about. It would be nice to have a wider array of creatures. The only things she’d seen around Crinton were deer, snakes and—

She paused, remembering the night before.

“Do we have any bats on the island?” she asked abruptly, turning back to Tori.

Tori looked puzzled. “Bats?” She thought about it, biting her lip. “Probably. I think I’ve seen them a couple of times.”

“How big do they get?” L’ira questioned.

“Um…” Tori looked even more confused. “I don’t know. I guess I haven’t really measured one lately. Why?”

“Do you think it could get the size of a…” L’ira tried to remember how big the thing had been, but it had been dark and she’d never gotten a clear view. “A big dog, maybe?”

Tori laughed, nodding knowingly. “Yeah, L’ira. We have giant bats roaming the island all the time. I mean, I see them just about every night.”

L’ira turned away, realizing just how stupid that had sounded and trying to laughing it off. “Right. Silly question.”

“Just a bit,” Tori agreed. “But it would interesting if we had huge bats wandering around. Maybe…” she said, becoming more excited as she went. “If they were really that big, they would eat more. Then we could have a bug free island!”

L’ira blinked, unsure whether to laugh or not. “Tori…”

“No, I’m serious!” her friend insisted. “Think about it. Wouldn’t it be great?”

“Well, yes,” L’ira began. “But—“

“Okay,” Tori said, straightening up in her seat quickly to face L’ira fully. “So I’m dropping my order for giraffes and asking for huge bats instead.”

L’ira shook her head, her cousin’s enthusiasm proving contagious. “Tori!” she laughed. “They don’t even exist!”

“Oh, seas.” Tori sank back in her seat, thinking. It seemed that her plans weren’t as perfect as she thought. “You’re right. We can’t import them. We’ll just have to grow them.”

“Grow them?” L’ira demanded.

“Yeah.” The spark returned to Tori’s eyes. “I’m thinking that mages could do it. Do you think Garred would help us?”

L’ira shook her head, unable to find anything else to say.

“Come on,” Tori urged. “Join my vision here. Huge bats. Bug-free island.”

The two of them collapsed into laughter, L’ira just trying to breathe as Tori went on about her fantastic “vision”. Estal couldn’t help but smile as well, more amused at the image that the two of them cut than anything else.

“Do you two have to be so despicably happy?” Kadelyn said suddenly, turning toward them.

Tori and L’ira fell silent, staring at her in shock.

“Honestly,” Kadelyn went on. “Can’t you ever find anything serious to talk about?”

“Kadie, dear,” Estal said calmly. “They’re just joking.”

“And they always are!” Kadelyn snapped.

“Kadie,” Estal tried again. “I know you’re stressed about things right now, but—“

“Stressed?” Kadelyn interrupted. She eyed her mother contemptuously. “Now why in the world would I be stressed?”

“I know things are uncomfortable at best for you right now, but things will be better after tonight, I promise,” Estal told her.

Kadelyn turned away, swallowing, her face suddenly cold and hard.

“You’ll meet Mr. Detaan and his son, Madaer and you’ll find that it’s not as bad as you think,” Estal went on.

Kadelyn’s fist clenched in her lap. “I want nothing to do with either of them, Mother. Detaan is a greedy pig and Madaer is little better.”

“You’ve never even met them!” Estal objected.

“And I feel no need to,” Kadelyn returned. “If you think that I’m going to even consider marrying that idiot, Madaer, then—“

“Kadelyn,” Estal stopped her. “That’s enough.”

Kadelyn took a deep breath, sinking back into silence with one last quiet remark, “I couldn’t agree more.”

L’ira looked at Tori uncomfortably. “How long is this trip again?” she asked.

Tori eyed her mother worriedly. “Don’t ask.”

Chapter 4

It was another hour before they reached Clinion. They spent another hour and a half with the florist and then headed for home again.

L’ira sighed, wondering what had been planned for the rest of her day. In the rush to meet with the others, she hadn’t had a chance to check her schedule. All she could do now was pray that her day wasn’t packed with meetings, as it had been the rest of this week. It wasn’t a pleasant state of mind.

The carriage entered the busy streets of Crinton and L’ira caught sight of the shipyards as they crossed a side street. It was gone again as they entered a section of street lined with large merchant buildings that towered over them. Quickly, she calculated the hours that had passed on their trip to try to find what time it was.
It had to be almost noon, which meant that any ship projected to dock that morning would already be in port. L’ira smiled as the thoughts raced through her head.

“Stop the carriage,” L’ira said.

Estal looked at her curiously. “What?”

“Stop the carriage,” L’ira said again, leaning toward the window to make sure that the driver could hear her. They came to a half and she hurried to push open the door, gathering her shirts to leave.

“Where are you going?” Estal demanded.

L’ira turned back, her eyes sparkling. “Just down to the docks.”

Tori rolled her eyes as L’ira stepped to the street below. “You just can’t wait, can you?”

“Not one second longer than I have to,” L’ira confirmed. “Don’t worry, I’ll meet you at the palace soon.”

“L’ira, get back inside,” Estal ordered. “You can’t go running off on your own.”

L’ira smiled. “I’ll be careful.” She burst into a run, dashing through the streets toward the docks and leaving the carriage far behind her.

“L’ira!” Estal shouted, coming halfway out of the carriage herself. “Come back!”

Tori shook her head. “You’re not going to get her back here, Mother.”

Estal closed the door, slumping back in her seat. “And I though that Lee’in was difficult,” she murmured.

L’ira dashed along the streets. The people around her stopped to watch, recognizing their Lady. A few of them laughed at the picture of a Cyrok Lady hurtling joyfully though the city, cloak flying out behind her. As soon this was reported back to Estal, L’ira knew she would receive a firm scolding in the form of an extensive lesson on proper conduct, but she didn’t care. It felt too good to be out like this.

The docks came into the clear view after a few minutes and sure enough, the Resurrected Bearer was moored just a little way down, already unloading its cargo.

“Danic!” L’ira called, seeing the lieutenant that stood at the bottom of the loading ramp.

The man turned at the sound of her voice, just in time to catch her as she tackled him in a hug.

“L’ira,” he laughed, setting her back down. “I don’t think you’ve done that since you were about six.”

“And you’ve missed it, haven’t you?” she joked.

“He sure has,” Alrein agreed, coming down the ramp behind Danic. “Every blinkin’ day.” He handed the crate he was carrying to one of the other men coming off the Resurrected and turned to face her. “Now, where’s my hug?”

L’ira smiled, immediately giving him one.

“How was the trip?” she asked, drawing back again.

“Long,” Alrein answered.

“Tedious,” Danic added.

“Completely lacking in teenage female mages,” Alrein finished.

L’ira laughed, looking down for a moment. “I’ve missed you too.” She caught sight of Leref at the top of the ramp and waved to him before turning back to Danic and Alrein.

“So we went up t’ the place t’ see you when we got here,” Alrein said. “And you weren’t even there. What’s that, huh, girl? Don’t you welcome your friends anymore?”

L’ira shook her head contentedly. “I’m sorry. They dragged me away on business.”

“Excuses,” Alrein muttered under his breath.

L’ira’s smile widened. “How long has Leref been here?”

“Not too long,” Danic told her. “He came down about half an hour ago looking for you. Said he figured that you’d find your way down here and that someone was waiting to meet with you up at the palace.”

“Figures,” L’ira murmured. “Where’s Aeroan?”

Danic looked at Alrein, both of them suddenly silent.

“Well?” L’ira prodded, looking for the joke that they were preparing. “Where is he?”

“One of us has to tell her,” Alrein told Danic. L’ira froze at his serious tone. There was no joke involved here.

“Are you going to tell her?” Danic asked.

“Me?” Alrein stepped back. “You’ve known her longer.”

“Oh, ten minutes longer!” Danic returned. “Just the time it took for me to pull her out of the water and hand her up to you.”

L’ira eyed the two of them warily. “Where is he?” she repeated, her smile gone.

Alrein winced at her tone. “He’s not… here,” he said, the words coming with difficulty.

“What are you talking about?” L’ira pressed.

“He’s on the Breath Taker,” Danic explained. L’ira lowered her face into her hand as he went on, “Something came up that he couldn’t get out of.”

“Where is the Breath Taker?” L’ira asked.

“It should be on its way here,” Danic answered. Alrein nodded behind him. “It’s about five hours away. Maybe six. Aeroan said to tell you that he’d be here in time for dinner, but probably not much earlier.”

L’ira straightened up, taking a deep breath. “Great,” she murmured.

Leref came down the ramp to stand beside her, glancing at the grim expressions the three wore. “I take it you just told her?” he asked Danic, receiving a nod in return. He looked at L’ira. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” she told him. “I’m just going to have to murder him is all.”

Alrein snorted. “Well, that’ll be a nice welcome,” he said. “And here I thought that our reception was bad.”

“Yeah,” Danic agreed. He looked up, thinking. “And I can just see his last words carved on the gravestone: ‘Honey, I’m home!’”

The four of them laughed, L’ira trying to shake off her disappointment.

“Hey, Danic! Alrein!” someone called from the deck of the Resurrected.

“By Jove, I think it’s Jave,” Alrein said lightly, turning to Danic.

“By Jove, I think you’re right,” Danic returned. He looked over his shoulder at the boat. “Hey, boy! What do you need?”

“Where’d you put that—“ The voice stopped abruptly. “Never mind!”

Alrein rolled his eyes. “Ay, Jave! Get yerself down here! There’s someone you’ll be wantin’ t’ meet!”

“Hang on!”

“We actually should be going,” Leref told L’ira. “Mr. Detaan is waiting and you know how much he hates to wait.”

L’ira looked at him sharply. “Detaan? What does he want?”

“He wouldn’t tell me,” Leref said. “Apparently, it’s for your ears only.”

L’ira laughed quietly. “Oh, of course.”

“Jave!” Alrein called again, realizing that L’ira wouldn’t be there much longer. “You better get yerself down here, boy!”

A young man suddenly appeared at the top of the ramp, walking down at an easy pace. He looked about twenty with a deep tan and curling brown hair. The sleeves of his shirt had been rolled back, revealing well-muscled forearms and a distinct lack of wristband.

“Geez, Alrein,” he said, stopping beside them. “What’s the hurry? You just hear that the sky was going to fall in on you or something?”

Alrein shook his head and gestured toward L’ira. “This is L’ira, Lady of the Cyrok. L’ira, this knucklehead’s Jave Marrow.”

Jave broke into a smile, offering her his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Make this short,” Leref whispered.

L’ira met his eyes just long enough to let him know she’d heard him before shaking Jave’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well.”

Alrein growled slightly as he heard someone calling them on deck. “They just can’t get along without us, can they?” he asked Danic. Still muttering to himself, he and Danic boarded the Resurrected.

L’ira laughed at Alrein’s grumbling as they passed, quickly returned to Jave. Her eyes flickered down to his wrist. “I’m assuming you’re not Sea Clan.”

Jave nodded. “I’m from Salrin. Just catching a ride with these guys.”

“Where are you headed?” she questioned.

“Here, actually,” he said, turning to glance around the docks.

She cocked her head to look at him. “Really?”

“I actually came to see you,” he went on. He shifted back on his heels. “I was told that you could help me.”

L’ira blinked. Help him?

Leref leaned toward her, whispering in her ear, “We need to go.”

She nodded quickly.

“I was hoping I could speak with you,” Jave said, catching her eye again.

“This isn’t really a good time,” L’ira said. She bit her lip. “I need to be heading back.”

“Now,” Leref added, more for her benefit than for Jave’s. He started to move off, hoping L’ira would follow.

She took a step after him, still focused on Jave. “Can you come by in…” She looked to Leref for confirmation. “An hour?”

“Two,” Leref corrected.

L’ira sighed, turning back to Jave. “Can you come by in two hours?”

Jave nodded. “I’ll be there.”

“I’ll be expecting you,” L’ira told him. Sighing, she hurried to catch up with Leref, the two of them fading into the city streets.

*is very excited to see another chapter up* !!!!

4 comments:

1. LOVE IT! (hehe)

2. Watch those typos dear... *shakes finger at Dusky*

3. You refer to Clinion and then to Crinton. Is this a typo or two different cities? If they are different please clarify that L'ira is passing through one to get to the other or some such.

4. When L'ira is greeting Danic and Alrein, Alrein uses the word "blinkin'". I don't recall him ever "swearing" thus before.

In answer to #1: *grins* thank ye, thank ye.

In answer to #2: *growls* There are still some in there? I thought I'd gotten them all. *mutters something and goes to pick through the chapter*

In answer to #3: They are two different cities. I'm thinking the biggest problem is just that I made them sound too much alike. I'm gonna go back and change "Clinion" to something else just as soon as I can come up with a different name.

In answer to #4: I'm not sure if he ever has on paper before. He does it in my head though. Did it seem extremely out of character?