I See Faeries

~chapter nineteen~

Sea in the Trees

~

"How much farther, do you think?" I asked Roman for the third time.

"We'll be there by nightfall," was his constant curt response.

We'd left the market in Ferndell quickly, lingering only long enough to sell our horses and purchase fresh ones, some provisions, and a new tunic for me. Torrin had thrown a wrench in our 'farmer and wife traveling with farm hand to purchase horses at the capital' disguise, with his dark skin and obviously human features. He stood out like a sore thumb in Elodin, with tall blonde, blue-eyed faeries everywhere, so we'd given up on the disguises. I was just happy I didn't have to wear another peasant dress. And to make things even better, I'd managed to find someone to repair my knife while Roman bartered with the horse-seller.

"Rare blade," the smithy had said, holding it up to the sunlight. I'd felt a thrill as I remembered how it had appeared in the lake on the other side of the portal. 'It was nowhere near where we crossed,' had been Roman's words. It shouldn't have come with, but somehow it did. Is there more to this knife than meets the eye?

"Do you know anything about it?" I'd asked him.

He'd shot me a sideways look. "This 'un? It's draconian steel, m' girl."

My heart had skipped a beat. What? Draconian steel was an extremely rare and sought-after metal, used to make the finest of blades and weapons. It never dulled, and swords crafted from it were rumored to be able to cut wool with a single slash. "You're certain?" I'd asked incredulously. What was Lilia doing with a knife made of this stuff?

His thick, shaggy eyebrows pushed together as he'd frowned, and the corner of his mouth twisted downward in a grimace. "Y' think I don' know draconian steel when I see it?" He'd abruptly set down the blade and gripped my shoulder with one of his large hands, pulling me toward him. In such close proximity, I'd suddenly become very aware of the size of the man, and of the bulging muscles in his arms and bare chest. Yikes. Maybe I should've waited for Roman to come with me.

"This blade 's dang'rous, girl," the smithy had growled in a low, ominous voice. "Treat 'er well, and she'll take care 'a yous. Don't, an' . . . you'll r'gret it." He'd released me, then, and returned to his work.

Shaken, I'd kept my mouth shut after that. I paid him quickly when he was done, and rejoined the group. We'd left shortly after, and no one even asked where I'd gone.

What could he have meant? I wondered, staring absently at the back of Roman's head as my horse followed him down the path. How will a knife take care of me? What will happen if I don't take care of it? I pulled the blade from its new sheath and turned it over in my hands, studying the handsome wooden hilt the smithy had created for it. It looked as good as new. Did I not take care of it because I let it break? What if it breaks again?

"Everything alright?" Lukas's voice interrupted my thoughts. I quickly slid my knife back into its sheath, and looked over at him. His dark eyes were earnest as he waited for a response.

"I think so," I said.

There was no doubt he could hear the uncertainty in my voice and words, but he didn't comment on it. "Glad to hear it," was all he said. We rode side by side in silence for a time, before I finally spoke. 

"Do you miss Hannroc?" I asked him. I surprised myself with the question, then realized that I was genuinely curious. I knew so little about the vampire. I didn't even know why he was here, or why he'd chosen to save mine and Dean's lives. It seemed unlikely now that his motives for helping us were purely to 'keep the humans for himself,' as he'd previously suggested. He was opposing his own kind and his own king, after all.