She hadn’t really meant to sneak away from her mother’s side that night, but the call in her heart had been too strong to allow her to sleep and she’d weaved her way among the huddled bodies of the fire-ones, avoiding tails and wings until she climbed out of the floor of the cavern and up on to one of the ledges that led to the outside world. After looking back at her pack once more, she moved forward into the darkness ahead. Her eyes were more than accustomed to the shadows of the caves and she made her way without getting lost to where she knew the strangers would be camped out. She’d visited them once before, when the gray-eyed one had been sleeping, but had left quickly after.
Now she was planning on staying a little longer, on observing how they interacted and how she might communicate with them. It was a good plan, she knew, but as she crept forward, she realized there was a flaw in the idea she had in her mind already.
All the strangers were asleep!
Well, no, not all of them. The one with red hair similar to her own was awake, but when he saw her, he made no sounds and didn’t move, merely watching as she cautiously crept forward on her hands and feet. Her ambers eyes left him long enough to search out the bodies wrapped in furs, but she didn’t see the one she was looking for and frowned, confused.
Movement from the red-haired stranger had her jumping back, teeth bared warningly, but he had just raised his hand slightly and was pointing toward the opening to the cave. She stared at him for a moment, not understanding, but he just looked at her and then toward the opening and thrust his finger a little bit more until she looked the way he pointed.
She saw then the shadow of a figure outside the cave and understanding came swiftly. She looked back at the red-haired stranger and edged around him carefully until she was at a safe enough distance to turn around without the risk of attack. She did so then and headed toward the entrance of the cavern, all the while storing away the memory of the pointing gesture for future reference. Clearly it was a way to show someone something and she might need that.
Though, how the red-haired stranger had known what she wanted was a mystery.
The thought was a puzzling one in her mind as she came out into the open, all hesitation in her body gone as she recognized the figure of the gray-eyed stranger sitting near the edge of the mountain drop. It was dark and the wind bit into her skin and sliced through her clothes, but she didn’t mind all that much as she moved toward the male, tilting her head as she circled to the side of his body, a safe distance away as she crouched, waiting.
He knew she was here. She could sense that in the way his head had tilted just slightly in her direction and in the way his muscles coiled briefly before relaxing again and she didn’t expect any surprise in his eyes when he looked at her.
There was none when their gazes met, but she could feel the spirit in her instantly rising to meet his, hovering just out of reach. Hers watched his, knowing it could do so now that there were no distractions present, no danger to be watching for. It could focus its attention on what it wanted to and it did.
The gray-eyed stranger’s spirit was powerful, masculine and clearly a predator. It was volatile and she could feel great hostility from it, a desire to protect and hunt and kill that didn’t frighten her in the least. She was used to such things, especially from males. They were good things. What she was not used to was the subtle warmth, a calm that lay beneath the storm of strength.
Beneath the violence and instinct was a gentleness and curiosity and loving nature that she found herself drawn to just as much as she was drawn to the opposite aspects.
She knew his spirit was drawn to her own, too. She could not see why, but it was, reaching for hers, but like herself, hesitating…and then it backed away entirely, retreating into the body and mind it dwelled in. She watched as the stranger’s gray eyes went dimmer, veiled again and she tilted her head in confusion, but drew in her own spirit, too, taking her cue from him.
He was the alpha, after all. If she was going to become part of his pack then she’d have to show she could obey and learn. If she was going to be his mate, she’d have to learn how to run the pack as well. So she would yield to him, but no one else.
With that settled in her mind, she felt much better and merely waited for the stranger’s next move, feeling no nervousness or fear. His spirit was drawn to her own. He would not hurt her. It would be against his instincts.
She watched as he moved, turning toward her and she took a few steps forward before stopping again, just out of touching distance. Her hair whipped around her face and she watched him through it, saw him give an amused expression. His mouth made noises then that she didn’t understand, but they were soft and seemed friendly.
She found herself truly wishing she knew what he was speaking. She felt it might be something she would have liked to hear.
--------------------------
He’d come out here for the stars. No, they were not always visible, but he’d never been able to sleep for long periods of time without the sky being visible and never in caves where it felt like the rocks were going to crush him under their weight.
He’d come out here expecting to be alone but for the chilling wind. Never had he thought that the wild girl would find him in this place, much less that she’d join him or that Danil would have let her past him. But then again, maybe the redhead knew something of what Caln felt, understood it somehow.
Danil’s power was with acid, but he showed an aptitude for understanding people and their emotions that made some wonder whether he didn’t have some type of minor empathy gift as well. Whatever the reason, intuition or power, the redhead had let the wild young woman join him and Caln knew he’d thank the man later for that.
He’d hoped for something like this. It was different, being able to observe the girl without his tribe members near. The Enasien trusted each other and everyone understood one another to some degree, but they were a protective lot. Caln knew they wouldn’t be helpful with this part of his life right now, especially not when the amber-eyed girl only seemed to want to interact with him.
And it seemed, in a way, that was what they were doing now. He’d felt something powerful from her only moments before as they stared at each other, but not understanding what it was, he’d reigned his own power back as it rose to meet hers. She’d seemed confused, by the action, but then accepting and now she’d moved just a little closer, looking at him through her tangled red-brown hair.
It struck Caln as amusing and he spoke quietly. “All right, little hawk, how do I talk to you, hmm?”
The War-Leader watched the girl tilt her head as if to catch his words better and he smiled a little. She truly did look like a bird, perched at a safe distance from him, her amber eyes piercing and her head tilted. Her red-brown hair reminded him of a red-tailed hawk, a fierce predator, but small. A curious bird, too, just like this wildling.
Caln watched her for long moment before deciding to just try something simple. It couldn’t hurt, right?
He placed his hand on his chest and spoke as clearly and slowly as he thought necessary. “Caln.” The girl frowned, her eyes narrowing and he did it again, thumping his chest slightly. “Caln.”
He watched her amber eyes, the struggle for understanding there and suddenly it seemed to come as their shade brightened and she raised her brows, looking at him with speculation. She opened her mouth slowly and surprised Caln but pointing at him in a hesitant way.
“Cah..Cah…een…”
The dark blond grinned and shook his head, speaking clearly again. “CaaaLn.”
“Cah..ee..” The wild girl growled in an obviously frustrated way and then huffed out, blowing her hair up - though, it was a futile action as the wind blew it right back where it had been - before she took a deep breath and started to try again, looking into his eyes this time, like that might help.
“Cah..rn. Cahrn.”
Caln watched her shoulders slump. It was clear that she knew she’d gotten it wrong and the dark blond smiled and only tilted his head, catching her eyes again as she’d proceeded to glare at the stone. “I supposed “l’s” are not in your vocabulary, are they?”
He didn’t expect an answer, but his voice did make her look up again and he tapped his chest with his finger. “Caln.” At her glare he smiled again and spoke quietly, his dark blond hair brushing his eyes as the wind changed direction. “Cahrn.”
The girl pulled her head back in a surprised way, but it also seemed she understood what he was saying and Caln saw her amber eyes lighten again in a pleased way. The look instantly turned into warning, though, when he reached out slowly and pointed at her. Caln did nothing more than that, knowing a true threat when he saw it. She was not just flaring her wings like a helpless bird would to look bigger and scarier. No, she meant her threat and could back it up and Caln had no desire to aggravate her like that.
She stared at his finger for a long moment, unsure and he brought his hand back to his chest. “Cahrn.” He pointed at her again, raising a brow and once more understanding seemed to light up in her eyes and then what seemed like judgment as she looked him over.
The War-Leader suddenly felt like he was a young teenager in Evaluation all over again and the thought made him smile a little. The wild girl tilted her head at him then, seemingly confused with the expressions of smiles, but it also seemed to make her relax a little as she might have sensed they were friendly looks.
She raised her hand slowly and then set it on her chest before making a series of sounds that had Caln blinking, trying to absorb them properly.
“Mrrahrrraehkeeray.”
It was a string of chirps and warbles with a hint of a growl thrown in and Caln knew it was his turn to be frustrated and make a bit of a fool out of himself trying to pronounce what had to be her name, her ‘call’. He took a breath and jumped in, never one to hesitate.
“Mrahraykee?”
A warble answered his effort and Caln knew he was being laughed at. He gave the girl an affronted look, but she didn’t back down in the least, watching him with a patient, waiting expression and yet amusement as well. She clearly wanted him to try again and Caln found he wanted to if it meant she might laugh once more in her strange way.
“Mrahrakee?”
The girl shook her head and Caln realized instantly that she’d picked up on a human-like cue for ‘negative, no’ by just watching him do the same thing minutes before. It was an encouraging sign and it just made him more determined to get her name right, to show that he could learn from her as well. And what Caln put his mind to, he accomplished.
It helped that the wild girl was pointing to her chest again. “Mrrahrrraehkeeeay.”
“Mrahrakay.”
Amber eyes were laughing at him once more, but an idea was forming in Caln’s mind and he spoke again, more confidently. “Mrahrakay. Mrara’kay.”
He had captured her attention now and Caln looked at the girl with a purposeful expression, pointing at himself. “Cahrn.” He then pointed at her. “Mrara’kay.”
The wild girl watched him for a long moment before she touched her chest in a slightly questioning way. “Mrara’kay.” She looked at him, waiting for a response and Caln nodded, assuring her she’d gotten it right. The girl nodded back slowly, accepting.
Mrara’kay. That would be her name, a dragon name taken and tweaked into a humanized one. And it looked like he’d acquired a new name as well, a dragonized one. Cahrn.
All in all, Caln thought it tremendous progress between them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Anrar’s knees hit the stone with a harsh impact that he knew would bruise his skin and would leave him sore for days. It didn’t really matter all that much to him right now, though, as his hands hit the ground too and he started to cough blood. His throat was raw, torn and blood pored from his nose even as it came from his mouth, a scarlet torrent that he couldn’t give much concerned attention to as the pain in his head threatened to make him pass out.
He managed to stop coughing, every motion making the ‘knife’ stab through his temples all the sharper, and rolled to his side. He held his head and screamed as another wave of agony swept through is mind, crying as it passed and his skull was left to throb with a lesser, but no less unbearable pain.
He groaned, curling in on himself because there was no one to see him, no one to judge….no one to care. He was alone but for the demon voices that shrieked in his head, the voices that wouldn’t leave him alone. He’d held them back for years, months, days, without a great deal of accidents where they got loose, but it felt like every day this month they’d gotten stronger and his shields against them became more and more useless.
Today they’d descended on him with a vengeance and the youth had been near-helpless to stop them. His struggles to contain the words and images he didn’t want to hear had only resulted in a splitting pain that rippled through his skull and down his spine with every voice that now even whispered through his mind. The agony it caused put migraines to shame.
His throat was torn from screaming for nearly three hours on and off, and Anrar coughed again, his latest cry producing more blood for him to spit out. The blood from his nose had started to slow down, though, and he risked wiping at it slowly with the back of his hand. Even that motion sent fire shooting down his back, though, and he stilled again, focusing on breathing past the pain.
It would pass. It always passed. It would pass. It always passed. It was like a chant in his head for the next hour as he lay curled on the stone of the cave floor, having nowhere to be and no one to count on. He’d stopped fighting his gift now that it had started to slow and give up and the pain ebbed away even more slowly, much too slowly for his tastes, until it was nothing more than a really bad headache. That kind of pain was something that would have had most people wanting a dark room, quiet and maybe even a healer for some herbs, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. His threshold for pain was MUCH different than most peoples’.
Anrar rolled up from the floor slowly, finally feeling the ache in his knees as he worked himself up to his feet. He swayed as he tried to rise fully and fell to one knee again, cursing at the pain it caused in both his leg and the back of his head as the jolt reverberated up his spine.
The youth took in a shuddering breath before he forced himself up again and this time when the world swayed, he stayed up until it had stopped and he could move forward.
Most people might have gone to their bed or to the nearest source of water to clean up, but not Anrar. He headed to the entrance of his cave and out into the wind, letting it whip his black - and now sticky with blood - hair around, letting it dry the tears on his cheeks and letting it drive the away the voices in his head for just a few precious minutes. He listened to it with his eyes closed, hearing the gales howl over the yellow rocks of the Nayhota Mountains around him and over the red-brown plain of Iius like a pack of ravenous wolves.
He opened his white eyes after a time and looked out on the land. Every time he did this, he knew something new about it, about the people living in it whether that information had come to him willingly or not. And now, like times before, he studied every direction, sorting the information he’d been recently given - just a small fraction of what was available to him - into their proper categories so he could find them more easily later.
Anrar waited until the information had settled before he turned around and slowly walked back into the cave. He skipped the wash he knew he needed and instead collapsed into his bed, feeling the exhaustion come to claim him like a welcomed friend.
His world went dark.
------------------------
The youth woke a few hours later to the feeling of something nudging his side and he frowned in his drowsy state, blinking fully awake and turning over to look up at the face that was above his own. Anrar didn’t even feel a tinge of surprise as he groaned and pushed the light tan tiger-striped dragon’s head away from him, undaunted by the sudden appearance of the creature. She’d probably sensed the screams he‘d voiced earlier, no matter how far away she was while hunting. The dragon had a knack for knowing when he was in trouble despite any logical way for her to know such things.
“G’way, Jasa.” he mumbled, rolling over once more and burying his head back in his arms. Wow, speaking hurt his throat…
The dragon growled at him then, pulling on his clothes until Anrar heard a rip and his head shot up. “Hey!” Yep, there went the throbbing fire in his neck again. Ugh.
Jasa growled back at him again, her wings flaring away from her body slightly, a piece of his Tanisk-skin clothing in her teeth and Anrar glared back into the creature’s blue eyes, making himself speak in a hoarse way despite the feeling of his throat shredding with every word. “No. I’m not playing chase.”
The dragon whined then and the youth sighed, putting his head back on his arm, looking at the creature with a tired expression. “No.” There was a difference in his voice now, a worn-out and raspy quality from speaking even this much that the dragon caught on to immediately and she came back with her head slightly down, giving him back the article of clothing in a way that could only be seen as apologetic. The youth took it from her with patience that would have surprised anyone watching and pet her nose as his body told him that it hated him.
That was fine. He hated it just as much.
Jasa whined again, her nose moving close to him as she smelled the blood that covered his face, hair and the front of his shirt. Anrar sighed as she warbled in a way he knew indicated concern and he sat up, pushing his body to do as he wanted despite its protests. “It’s all right. I’ll wash.”
He scratched the tiger-striped scales of the dragon’s head again before getting out of the bed and he felt Jasa’s eyes follow him as he went to a nook in the wall and took out a water skin. He used some of the precious water he had to wet the piece clothing the dragon had ripped and used it to sponge the blood off his face, neck and hands. He couldn’t do much with his long black hair and so he just ran a toothed comb through it to get as much of the dried blood out as he could and tied it back with a rawhide string.
Anrar changed his clothes last, uncaring that the dragon still watched him. He knew she was intelligent, but she was still just an animal and wouldn’t understand what she was seeing anyway. He glanced with little concern at the bruises on his legs as he pulled his pants up. Yep, that would hurt even more later. Oh well.
The youth silently declared that he was done after he’d buckled his belt by spreading his arms a bit in a gesture that was familiar to both he and the dragon. Jasa chirped happily at that point, springing toward him and Anrar didn’t move as she stopped just short of hitting his body, her wings flaring as she halted. Jasa’s long neck wrapped around his waist then so that her large body was at his left side, but her face was near his stomach on his right side, her neck creating a back-brace of sorts and Anrar finally let a smile curl his lips as he scratched her head.
“Yeah, I’m all right. Just another attack. Wasn’t as bad as the one three months ago, so don’t worry about it.”
He spoke to the creature like she could understand every word he said, but Anrar was not foolish enough to believe that she really could. The dragon warbled up at him in a comforting way, sensing his sadness, but she could not have known WHY he was disheartened.
Still, animal or not, she was another living, breathing being and much as Anrar might curse at her or throw things when she seemed determined to get her way and annoy him, he was glad for her presence. It had kept him sane.
Well, saner than he could have been.
Okay, fine, he was completely crazy and happened to have a dragon that would listen to his ramblings.
Whatever.
The youth growled at the thought, regretting it a moment later as his throat protested and he shook his head before he started toward the cave opening again. Jasa followed faithfully, much bigger than he was, but completely loyal to the human who’d raised her. They stepped out into the wind again and this time Anrar looked immediately south. That’s where the dreams were coming from. The domed-City, Ruuk, to be specific.
“We’ll be going on a journey soon, Jasa.”
His hand was on her side now and he could feel each inhale and exhale from the dragon under the rough, warm hide of her tan tiger-striped scales. It was a comforting rhythm and the beat of her large heart was a soothing thing for his mind to focus on. Much more-so than his own turbulent thoughts.
“We need to go to Ruuk. There’s a girl there.” White eyes glanced into blue ones - gold eyes that held no expression but curiosity for his voice alone, something Anrar chose to ignore, seeing what he wanted to just because he could and no one would argue with him. “Don’t get any ideas. It’s not like that. Remember the Seven I told you about? She’s one of them, just like me. The others are already meeting up, but I have to get her out of the City first. It‘s necessary.”
Anrar rubbed his hand over his face, tired beyond belief but knowing it didn‘t matter. It never mattered what he felt or wanted. What mattered was what he could do. That‘s the way it had always been and he was used to it even as he was incredibly bitter about it. “Personally, I think it’s a huge pain in the arse and I bet you anything SHE’S a big pain in the arse, too, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
Jasa chirped at him, sensing his agitation and the dragon bumped her head against his side, hitting a bruised rib and making the youth hiss, but he looked down at her head with a wry smile. “Think it’ll be worth it, dealing with all of them?”
Blue eyes looked steadily back at him and Anrar snorted, looking away. “I think it’s going to be hell. We’ve got a Prince who’s never been away from home and a City-dweller who’s never had any freedom and has no clue what’s out here. Then there’s a wild girl who doesn’t speak and doesn’t have a clue about the human world. The only reason she is interested in her dreams of me is because she can see YOU with me.”
The youth had started counting on his fingers by this point, his voice gaining more and more sarcasm in it. “Let’s see, we also have a boy who’s never stood up to anyone in his life, never even touched a blade and is scared of his own shadow. Joining him is the Zealot who’d rather play a prank than take anything seriously and who has a problem following directions. Opposite and yet mirroring her is a man who takes everything too seriously and doesn’t like authority, either, especially when there is something to fight.”
The youth sighed, looking out to the plains again. His voice had grown quiet, bitter. “And then there’s the man who sees all this and does nothing because he’s scared of rejection, scared of his own power.” Anrar hung his head, knowing it was the last bit that bothered him so much.
He knew it was time for him to leave this cave, to enter the world again, for ill or good. He was just…scared to. His gift wasn’t going to give him much of a choice anymore, though. He knew that with certainty, especially after today. It didn’t care how he felt about this. It didn’t care that he was viewed with displeasure by even those who were supposed to be his ‘own kind’. His power didn’t care in the least. All it cared about was making him, its unwilling vessel, see - and therefore do - what was needed, what was demanded, Anrar’s feelings be damned.
Anrar sighed again at the unpleasant thought and leaned against Jasa’s side, never taking his white eyes off the south now. He didn‘t know if he could, not with how strongly he was being drawn there. Out there, a girl needed rescuing. She just didn’t realize it yet…and unfortunately, he had to do it.
The youth grumbled under his breath as he turned away from the land and started back into his cave, limping the whole way with Jasa following behind with a happy chirp, oblivious to Anrar’s inner conflict.
They’d leave soon.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“I simply do not understand why you feel you must leave now.”
Nissi told himself shouting at his father wouldn’t help anything, but oh, how he wanted to! He didn’t feel like the older man was LISTENING to him and they’d been going at this conversation for a good half hour now! It seemed like there was no progress being made between them, though.
The Prince closed his eyes and took a deep breath, glad his back was to his father. They were in the King’s study, a room built back into the mountain like the fortress itself was. The walls were stone and there were no windows. The colored fur-skins of red and brown were meant to warm the place, make the room seem less harsh, but nothing could distract Nissi from the fact that he was underground. It took nearly every ounce of will he had - well, any will not used on his father anyway - to keep himself from fleeing the room. He felt like he was slowly suffocating down here under the weight of the stone around him, with no access to the sky or the elements.
“Son, you are needed here.”
Nissi could hear that his father had drawn closer to him and the Prince turned toward the older man, shaking his head in instant denial that brought a deep frown to the King’s face. “No. I’m not needed here. There is nothing I can do here anymore. I can’t bring our people water anymore and I can’t figure out what is going on in Jagason if I stay here. I can’t LEARN anything more than I already have if I stay here. I can’t learn how to be a leader here.”
Tilno’san‘s eyes were hard, unyielding, but inside he was only very confused and just a little irritated at his offspring. He didn‘t understand what his son was saying or why he was saying it. This conversation had come out of nowhere for him. “You are a Prince, Nissi. You are already a leader.”
“But I don’t feel like one. I feel like a child placed in a man’s game. I don’t know what I am doing! I don’t know how to help anymore. I need to learn more than this kingdom can teach me, father!”
Why couldn’t the man SEE that? Nissi functioned, he did what was expected of him, he followed the rules and he knew what his people needed, but he didn’t feel like he could lead them. He didn’t feel like he knew enough to keep them alive as the world changed around them. He needed to know what was happening and how to help his people adapt to it, but he couldn’t do that here. And selfishly, part of him wanted to simply LIVE a little before he was tied down, permanently, in one place for the rest of his life.
Pale green eyes met green ones steadily. Nissi knew his father didn’t understand this. He knew the older man didn’t approve, but for the first time in his life, the Prince was resolved to do something that he thought was right regardless of what the King thought about it. He was determined to leave because he knew it was what he needed to do.
“Father, I don’t ask you to understand. I only ask that you trust me. I WILL come back and hopefully, I will come back wiser and ready to fulfill the position you will be giving me. I just don’t feel ready or worthy of it yet.”
Tilno’san regarded his son for a few long, uncomfortable minutes of silence. It was a father’s gaze that took in the younger man’s determined, pale green eyes and the stubborn set of his chin. It was a father’s eyes that saw the young boy the Prince used to be and how his face was much more like his mother’s than Tilno’san’s own. It was the eyes of a father that saw his son and mourned the loss he knew was coming.
It was a King, however, who spoke to Nissi with calm indifference. “You do not have my blessing in this, son.”
Nissi barely refrained from flinching like he’d been struck. He’d suspected this was coming, but there had been some small part of him that had hoped his father might understand, might treat him like a son instead of a prince, might…well, it really didn’t matter now.
The Prince hid the hurt expertly and gave a curt nod. “I did not expect it. All I ask is that you respect my decision and not hinder me.” Nissi spoke from an aching heart and Tilno’san heard the words with a mourning one. Neither male was ready to admit such a thing, though.
The King dipped his head and Nissi knew there was nothing more to say between them. Nothing that could change either of their minds and nothing that could erase what they’d said, well-intentioned or not. The Prince bowed before turning to leave. He got to the door, stride purposeful, back straight and proud before he heard his father’s voice, quieter than he could remember it being in a long time.
“Stay safe, Nissi.”
Nissi’s posture could not help but relax just a little at hearing his True Name fall from his fathers lips - something that man rarely called him. His shoulders lost most of their tension and his muscles uncoiled as he looked over his shoulder and through some of his black hair at his father. He gave the man a slight half-smile like he used to do when he was younger.
“I will, father.”
--------------------------------------------
Tenulo was the first twin he saw as he came into the stables and Nissi sighed to himself even as he gave the sixteen year old a ‘look’. He’d come here to ready his horse, but had hoped to just unwind a little before he actually left. The smells of the stable, of leather and precious hay-grass, cleaning oil, horses, and even manure were comforting ones. He’d often hidden in the stables from tormentors when he was younger and it had been his favorite place to visit with his mother before she died.
Most of the place was built from baked clay and stone, but it was warm and welcoming in a way that the fortress never had been to Nissi. Perhaps it was the horses, so welcoming themselves or maybe it was the fact that the stable had two openings on either end, always open in the summer and easy to exit in the winter. Maybe it was the constant breeze that came through the place that helped him relax despite the amount of stone.
Whatever the reason it was lost now with the appearance of Tenulo - Risten couldn’t be far behind - and Nissi knew it.
“No.”
Nissi said it as firmly as he could with just a hint of bite in the simple word as he walked forward, but it didn’t faze the brown-haired male in the least as he grinned. “No, what? I havin’t even asked yet!” The teen’s voice was indignant, but the Prince only shoved Tenulo’s shoulder as he passed him, unimpressed.
“Yes, and it’s going to STAY that way. You’re not coming!”
“Och, of course we be comin’, Princeling!” Risten announced as she seemed to magically appear right on cue. Her red hair was awry with bits of hay-grass stuck in it. She’d obviously come from one of the stalls, hopping over the wall to join her twin. She now stood by her brother, leaning back against the half-wall she’d just jumped as she crossed her arms, looking every bit as stubborn as Nissi could remember her being as a child.
Well, the twin never really had lost that ‘child’ quality anyway…
“No, you are not.”
The Prince spoke sternly to the two, but his attention was on the horse bumping its head against his chest. Pale green eyes looked into liquid brown ones and Nissi smiled, speaking softly to the appaloosa mare in a crooning way as he checked her legs and hooves, and then her mouth, back, neck and chest. Satisfied that she’d been well-taken care of and was as hale as the last time he’d ridden her, the Prince set about getting her tack.
From the corner of his eye he saw the twins doing the same thing to their own mounts and couldn’t help the smile that twitched at his lips. “You don’t even know where I am going.”
“Does it be matterin’?”
Tenulo looked up from examining, Yinov’s - his buckskin stallion - back hoof, his red hair dripping over his gray eyes as his gaze met his Prince’s. “We be stickin’ with ya when yeh be a scrawneh Princeling runnin’ from bullehs and we’ll be stickin’ with ya now that yeh be a grown Princeling runnin’ TO the bullehs.”
“I am NOT running to bullies!” Nissi’s voice was high enough and sharp enough that it caused his mare to roll her eyes at him a little and side-step away from her master, not at all sure she liked his tone. The Prince scowled at the twins’ snickers as he worked on placating the equine.
“Then what ARE yeh doin’?”
The question came from Risten and Nissi heard the sincerity and worry in the question and when he looked back over at his two closest friends they were standing by their respective horses, looking at him with questioning eyes, looking their age for once.
Nissi sighed as he turned back to the saddle strap he‘d been tightening.. Damn. He had planned to just leave. Perhaps it was the cowardly way to do things, but he hadn’t cared. He‘d written each twin a note to be delivered to them in two days, enough time for him to get away, but he should have known they‘d be too smart for that. They truly were like wolves with their uncanny ability to know where he was at all times. He might as well explain to them what was going on…and hope he could convince them to stay.
Yeah, he really didn‘t have that much hope for THAT particular idea, but hey, he could try.
“The War-Leader of the Enasi Tribe invited me to join them.”
Nissi didn’t think he’d ever seen the twins’ jaws drop quite like that before and the silence after his statement was rather amusing as he watched them try to gather their wits.
“Wh…WHAT?! Why-?….are yeh goin’ tah-?” Risten spluttered her words first, her gray eyes wide and Tenulo picked up where his sister had left off, his own eyes just as wide and then narrowing just as quickly.
“Are yeh goin’ tah join them? Is that why ya be leavin’?”
Nissi took a deep breath and now finished with his horse, faced his friends fully. “Yes, I am leaving to join them, but that’s not the ONLY reason I am leaving and I am not leaving forever. I promised my father I would come back and I WANT to, but…I need to find out what is going on first.”
Tenulo and Risten’s brows went up to their hairline and both their faces expressed identical puzzlement that would have been comical had their gray eyes not been so serious. “Goin’ on?”
Nissi wasn’t even sure which twin spoke, but it didn’t really matter. They almost seemed like one person when they did things like that and because of their telepathy between each other, Nissi was sure they shared many of the same thoughts anyway. What one twin asked, the other would most-likely be thinking as well.
The Prince pushed his shaggy black hair back, breathing out slowly. Should he tell them? Tell them everything? Pale green eyes looked back up into gray ones and Nissi found himself wanting to tell them. Tenulo and Risten had always been his confidantes. It didn’t matter that they seemed like playful children most of the time. They knew how to keep secrets and they knew what loyalty was.
Yes, he could tell them…but not yet.
“Come on.”
Nissi turned back to his mare and swung up onto her back in one fluid move. His vision swam slightly before steadying again and the Prince was grateful that the nausea didn’t come with the dizziness this time.
“We be comin’ with yeh?”
The twins’ were already mounting their horses, but the question came from Tenulo anyway, surprised. Nissi only nodded, though, checking his pack once more to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. His search prompted the twins to do the same thing and the Prince nearly smiled at the fact that they’d packed already, fully prepared to out-stubborn him and follow along.
He loved them for it.
“Yeah, you’re coming and I will tell you why I am leaving as soon as we get far enough away from this place and you can’t go running back because you think I am insane.”
“Ah, this is gonna be good!” Risten teased, glancing at her brother with a wink and Nissi did smile then as he urged his horse out of the stables and the twins followed. The three of them set their horses into a gallop as they left the city, the guards opening the gate with a respect Nissi could feel even as he passed them.
He sighed as his mare, Stasa, started to climb the mountain path away from the kingdom before he breathed in deeply of the wind that whipped his black hair back and ripped at his clothing. He was leaving. For the first time in his life, he was leaving this valley.
Suddenly the Prince was extremely glad for the two friends at his back and he felt a little more confident of his decision. They believed in him enough to follow him without even knowing where he was headed or what his plan was. That had to count for something, right, that he could inspire that kind of loyalty?
Nissi liked to think it meant something and he wanted to believe that the War-Leader had truly meant his offer. Nissi would meet the Enasien at the Seli Pass. They would have to take it to leave the Haaprin Mountains and he could only pray that Caln would actually let him join their tribe and that perhaps Tenulo and Risten would be offered a place as well. The Prince didn’t think the twins would leave even if they WEREN’T invited. They’d simply follow him anyway.
It was a comforting thought to know he wouldn’t be alone either way.
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