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Hexachord- section 2 (numbering excludes the prologue)
When she returned from her ride unscathed, she felt a twinge of annoyance. So much for him being untrustworthy, she thought. If he wanted to hurt me, he would’ve tried while we were alone and away from any help!
Now all she had to do was convince Michael of that fact…
Feeling much better, she grinned back at Cloasia. “Thanks for coming with, Cloasia,” she said. “It was fun.”
To her satisfaction and surprise, he gave her a sort of half-smile back. “Not as bad as I thought it- would…” He trailed off, staring past her.
Katie turned around and saw they were close to the training grounds. Not too far away, she spotted Jon flopped like a rag doll in the grass against a fence post, breathing heavily but laughing. His sword lay on the grass beside him, held weakly in one hand.
Michael was leaning over him, grinning and handing him a dipper of water from a nearby spring. Her knee-length brown hair was falling down her back in a braid, light wisps of loose hair framing her face; her bare shoulders glistened lightly with sweat, though her chest rose and fell with far more ease than her princely friend.
Katie looked at Cloasia. He was scowling at Jon with a deepening rage, hands clenched tight around his reins, tighter and tighter until his knuckles turned white.
“…Cloasia?” Katie asked tentatively.
“What?” he growled, never taking his eyes off the scene before him.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
“But-”
“Go away!” he snapped.
Taken aback, she stared at him until he met her gaze furiously- and suddenly sagged.
“I hate him,” he muttered, and wheeled his horse about to take off into the woods again.
Katie sat there, crestfallen. They’d gotten so far, too, but there, he was back to enmities again. Glumly, she dismounted and led Flyer into the stables. He even smiled, she recalled, then she grimaced. Sort of smiled, she amended to herself.
Robin had returned while they were gone, for Katie could hear her a couple stalls over, grooming Silver absently. As Katie drew near, she suddenly heard her talking, sounding frustrated.
“I just don’t get it, Silver,” she said, pulling at a knot in her mare’s tail. “Fire, earth, and water are all here, but wind…. I know it’s close, I just can’t get a proper lock on it. What am I missing, girl?” she asked, looking around at Silver’s face. Her horse gave her a taunting sort of whicker, a wicked gleam in her horse eyes which almost clearly said, “I know something you don’t know.”
Robin glared at her. “Don’t give me that, missie. If you have something useful you should ‘fess up. Otherwise, don’t make fun of me!”
Silver looked unrepentant and gave a horsy snicker in reply.
Robin slapped her haunch. “Lift your hoof, miss priss.”
Katie came around the corner just then, as Robin was checking Silver’s hooves.
“Oh hi, Katie,” Robin greeted her. “How’d your ride go? Is Michael going to kill Cloasia for anything?”
Katie made a face. “No, she has no reason to. I know he’s not as bad as she thinks, Robin, but… hey, how did you know he went with me?”
Robin winced apologetically. “Caught. I’m sorry, Katie, but I always keep an eye on you, at least. This can be a pretty dangerous place.”
“I had both Flyer and Cloasia and Cloasia’s horse all there, Robin, I wasn’t exactly unprotected,” Katie said, a little put out.
Robin paused and looked up at her. “I know. But I don’t know Cloasia. And none of us are sure if he’s-”
“Trustworthy?” Katie interrupted bitterly.
“Yes, Katie,” she answered somberly. “I know you want to give him a chance. Maybe you’re right. That’s why I didn’t stop you.” She shrugged. “But still, I always watch over you, just in case you need protection.”
“You don’t do that to Michael,” Katie stated, annoyed.
Robin laughed, moving to the next hoof. “Michael can protect herself against a herd of raging dragons.”
“So you think I can’t protect myself?”
“Katie, look… I know you aren’t stupid, and I know you know some level of self-defense. But you learned that on the other side of the Wall. That won’t work against a bandit wielding a blade, or someone with magic bent on killing you.”
“And a sword can stop that magic?” Katie asked peevishly.
Robin avoided her gaze. “In Michael’s hands, yes. But listen… this side of the Wall is more dangerous than the other. Daily life here makes gang fights in the streets of L.A. look like a pair of toddlers fighting over a rattle. And we grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska. Far away from even that.”
Katie planted her hands on her hips. “You still shouldn’t have done that.”
Robin stopped what she was doing and met Katie’s gaze. “You’re right, Katie. I should’ve told you. But I promise you, I never eavesdrop, and I don’t even directly watch. I just have a little part of my mind tuned on you, so I will know if you’re in danger. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. You’re right, it was rude of me.”
Katie relented, smiling. “It’s ok, Robin. I forgive you. As long as you aren’t really spying on me.”
“I’m not, I promise. But you know…” She grinned up at her friend. “Even if I don’t, Michael’s gonna protect you whether you like it or not.”
Katie groaned, simply because it was all too true. Her warrior friend was very emphatic on that point. But Katie put up with it good-naturedly, knowing that at least she could count on her friends to be there if she needed them.
A thought randomly struck her. “Hey Robin, how long have we been here?”
Robin considered. “About a month, I’d say. I’ve portalled you back four times for church, I think, so yeah, about a month.”
“Oh.” Katie frowned. “It seems longer. I mean, we treat Jon like an old friend, but we’ve known him for as long as we’ve known Cloasia, and we all trust him- Michael trusts him enough to train him better in the sword, which she rarely does to anyone…”
Robin smiled. “Our Prince Jonaleon is very different from his half-brother. He’s easier to know, like, and trust. Rock-steady, rooted firmly in the earth. You always know where he stands. Plus he’s a sweetheart, and that helps a lot,” she added, chuckling.
Katie smiled. That was true enough.
“But Cloasia…” Robin’s eyes took on a faraway look. “He’s all fire and rage, flaring up and dying down at random. He hurts people. He hurts Jon. You just never know what you’re going to get when he comes around.”
Katie bit her lip, remembering what Cloasia had said. He hates Jon. He did hurt Jon, every chance he got.
She turned to go and made a face. Well, she would get to the bottom of this. And even if she didn’t, she’d still make sure there was peace between the brothers.
That was doable, and she felt it had to be done.
That determined, she waved goodbye to Robin and went up to her allotted room in the castle.
Robin watched her friend leave and bit her lip, unconsciously imitating her. Katie was always like water, bubbling happily along like a stream, or calm and placid like a lake- or sometimes dead set on one course, like a river. Well, as water, maybe she could douse Cloasia’s flame long enough to steady him for what was to come.
And if she couldn’t… Robin shuddered and sent up a prayer to anyone who might be listening, that the Balancer would be there to right it.
Remembering who the Balancer was, she made a mental note to tell her that ‘righting it’ could not involve killing Cloasia… unless all else failed, of course. And besides, if he kept acting the way he’d been acting, Robin was liable to throttle him herself.
) and that earth, water, fire, wind stuff.
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