Ember (15 page)

Though I kept my eyes barreled into the fire,
I could just imagine the smirk he must have been giving me. I
wanted Ikovos to wake up very badly now, believing that somehow it
would make the situation less awkward.

Maybe Jaden was thinking along the same
lines, because out of the corner of my eye I saw him lean forward
and jostle Ikovos’s hair thoroughly.

“Time to get up sleepyhead.”

I thought of reminding him he had only woken
up a few minutes ago, but definitely,
definitely
wasn't
going to provoke him right now.

Ikovos moaned as he slapped Jaden's hand away
with his head still buried down.

I watched openly now as Jaden pulled the
pillow out from under Ikovos’s head. I felt a little sorry for him
when I heard the loud clunk of his face hitting the wood.

“Ouch,” he let out, before rubbing his
head.

“Get up, you idiot,” said Jaden. “You're
embarrassing yourself in front of our guest.” The words of the
sentence should have reflected care or concern, but with the way he
said, it came across the opposite.

Ikovos seemed to react to it though. He
immediately leaned up and looked over at me.

I waved as his face perplexed. “Why are you
all wet?”

I looked down at myself. “Oh.” I thought for
a moment. “I went for a walk and it started raining.”
Nothing
wrong with a little fib to keep me out of the weirdo
bracket.

He almost smiled before a yawn interrupted
him.
See? Normal morning behavior.
A pillow flew into his
face as Jaden hopped up off the floor. Despite my morning
embarrassment, the boy seemed quite jaunty.

“I'm guessing you want coffee?” It took me a
moment to realize he was talking to me.

“Oh . . . yes please,” came my all-too-lame
response.

I felt Ikovos tap me on the knee. He was a
little more awake now. “You should probably go change into some dry
clothes. You're gonna get sick in that.”

I was grateful for his concern and nodded
before turning around to grab my knapsack. Once I was up I headed
for the bathroom.

Jaden interrupted. “You do know that this
stuff stunts your growth, right?” He stopped what he was doing and
looked up at me.

“Yeah. I know,” I smiled, “I drink way too
much of it.”

A devilish smile crossed his face. “That's
what I meant.” He eyed my figure, but it still took me a moment to
realize what he was saying.

Once I did, I narrowed my eyes spitefully at
him, trying very hard to
not
allow myself to speak. But the
look he was giving me!
Ugh!
I resorted to biting my tongue.
Having a fight this early in the morning wouldn't bid well for the
rest of the day.

“Jaden, if your head wasn't so big you
wouldn't be much taller,” said Ikovos as he hopped onto his feet
and rubbed his hands near the fire.

I knew better than to laugh.

Jaden gave Ikovos a mocking smile, then went
back to making the coffee.

Feeling a little shorter, I snubbed my nose
at him, his back was turned at this point, and pattered off towards
the bathroom.

As I got out of my damp clothes I realized
how cold I was. I thought about taking a shower, but quickly
abandoned the thought. Once I was dressed I looked into the mirror
to put up my hair. I had chosen an outfit suitable for a wet, cold,
day, hoping that if I did the sun wouldn't dare come out.

With a final smile at my reflection to remind
myself how brave I was, it never really worked, I walked back onto
the main room.

Jaden was still working at the counter and
Ikovos was waiting for the bathroom. I moved out of the way without
a glance up as he shuffled past me.

Light was pouring through the window now. I
noticed it wasn't yellow which made my hopes for a sunless day
increase exponentially.

The cabin felt a lot different in the
daytime. warmer, though I guess that didn't make much sense. Maybe
it was simply because I knew it now.

A shiver rippled through my body and I moved
unconsciously to the fire. It was bright reddish-orange again, and
it was extravagantly filling almost the entire concrete space.

After a few seconds I noticed the bedding and
moved instantly to clear it up . . . I guess I still felt guilty
about the blanket situation.

Jaden didn't seem to notice me at all. As I
folded, I thought I saw him fiddling with a knife in his hands. But
I couldn't really tell, I was too afraid to look at him after
having been caught so many times.

When I had stacked the last blanket on the
pile I walked over to the window and examined the area. All I could
really see were trees and sloping dirt so I occupied myself with
watching a bird bath in a puddle the rain had left.

I turned around when I heard the door to the
bathroom open. Ikovos looked completely alert now. His blonde hair,
though rustled, was layered nicely, and his blue eyes were in full
color. I frowned when I saw that he had a sleeveless shirt on . . .
that was a sign of complete support for the sun and warm weather. I
was
a little surprised at how muscular his arms were,
though.

I don't know why,
I thought to myself,
that's bound to happen if you're fighting with swords all the
time.
My unintended ogling was interrupted when a cup of coffee
came into view.

“The cream's over there,” said Jaden. He
sounded a little annoyed.

It was probably just my imagination. I hadn't
talked to him, looked at him, or acknowledged him in any way since
entering the room, he couldn't have been angry with me.

“Thank you,” I said curtly, taking the
cup.

He walked towards the fire and faced it
broodingly as he drank his coffee. I'm sure he would have gotten
further away if he could have, but in a one-room building it was
sort of difficult, bordering on impossible.

With an inward wave of surrender, I walked
over to the island counter to fix my drink. Ikovos did the
same.

“So did you sleep well?” he asked, looking
down.

“Mm-hmm.” I answered plainly. Whenever I
wasn't around people for a while it was hard for me to pick up
where we'd left off. Aka, my shyness returned.

“That's good,” he said, passing me the cream.
“I guess Jaden was right about the rain after all, it looks like
it's dying down now, though.”

I frowned, “Yeah. . . .”

He laughed as he looked up to take a gulp of
his drink. “What, you like it?”

I shook my head quickly. “No . . . well,
maybe. Yes.” I sipped my coffee pensively.

He studied me, probably thinking about how
strange I was.

I tried to make a case. “Why should everyone
like the same weather anyways? I think there's probably a lot of
people that secretly hate the sun. I mean, it's hot for one. It’s
creates very harsh lighting, and umm . . .”

I stopped when I saw the face he was giving
me. “You hate the sun now, too?”

I winced sheepishly and he laughed again.

“I'm just giving you a hard time,” he said.
“I know a lot of people that like rain . . . I just can't think of
any right now. . . .” At least he was trying to act like I was
normal.

I smiled at him before Jaden's voice
interrupted us. “Ready to get out of here? We don't wanna get stuck
another night.”

Ikovos gestured to me.

I nodded immediately. “Yup. All ready.”

What I really wanted to do was finish my
coffee first, but somehow Jaden's suggestions always compelled me
to obey. . . . Well, almost always.

“Good.” he said. Then he snapped his fingers
and the fire instantly went out in a puff behind him.

“Since when do you have to snap?” asked
Ikovos. I kept my eyes down on my cup.

“I don't know,” responded Jaden. “I thought
it was worth a try.”

I glanced up at him as Ikovos turned around.
He appeared nonchalant at first, but then looked directly at me and
gave a slight wink.

I dropped my head immediately, going red for
the second time today. At the rate that, that was happening, people
were simply going to assume I had a pink face.

*

When we’d gotten outside I was more than a
little disappointed at the slit of sun showing through the clouds.
We started moving down the mountainous hill without talking much,
it seemed I had to concentrate a bit more on
not
falling
down the hill than they did. . . .

After about thirty minutes of staring
dutifully at my feet, I realized both boys had stopped, and looked
up.

We were at the base of the hill now. I knew
the area. I crossed it whenever I went to my rock by the lake.
Tiver itself wasn't more than a couple miles to the left, but the
lake was quite a bit farther to the right. All that was visible
right now though was a sprawling field of greenish-yellow,
reed-like, grass.

“Ikovos,” said Jaden. He was wearing his
heavy coat again. I was glad for the support of rain, or at least
cold. “I'm going my own way now . . . I've got something to do
before tonight.”

Ikovos looked calm at the claim. “Okay,” he
said. Then his eyes become perplexed. “Where are you going from
here, though?”

Jaden shrugged. “Back by the lake and . .
.”

Ikovos eyed him.

“. . . through the east portal,” he finished.
It was the first time I'd seen Jaden hesitant to say anything, or
even
reply
to a question he didn't seem to want to
answer.

“Jaden.” Ikovos’s tone was serious.

I started to feel anxious.

“You can't keep going through there alone.
You know Thoran and Cornelius said it was off limits now.”

Jaden's eyes veered to me. I wondered if he
was afraid I would tattle on him. He looked back.

“Why don't you just wait till we get Evelyn
back,” suggested Ikovos. “Then I can go with you.”

Jaden shook his head. “Now's the best time
for—” he stopped. Both of their faces were so severe.

A moment passed, then Ikovos lightened a bit.
“You better be back before dark.”

Jaden tightened his coat around him with a
smirk. “You guys should get going,” he said, nodding his head
towards the sky. “It looks like rain.”

My head went up instantly to see that the sun
had completely vanished. I thought I felt a drop of water hit my
face, and it should have made me overjoyed, but . . . it was
dwarfed by stronger feelings.

I looked back to see Jaden was a ways out
now.

All the sudden I had this pitted feeling in
my stomach. It was stupid and I don't know where it was coming
from. I definitely didn't care that he was leaving. In fact I was
glad I would have some time free of his teasing.

That's what made sense . . . but a voice
inside me argued.

Even if I don't like him, that doesn't
mean I want him dead. It's perfectly okay to be . . . concerned
about his safety.
I was just being a decent person.

He was barely visible now.

Why would Ikovos let him go if it wasn't
safe anyways? . . .
The thought trickled off.

When I finally looked to Ikovos, he was
gazing back at me with a wide grin.

“You're worried about him, aren't you?”

My features contorted. “No! I . . .” He
smiled wider. “
No!
” I repeated, tightening my coat.
“No.”

With a hard face, I stomped off past him into
the field.

After a moment he came up beside me, but I
kept my head straight, refusing to look at the grin I knew was
still covering his face.

*

“You're absolutely crazy, you know that
right?” yelled Ikovos beside me.

Within an hour of leaving the hill the rain
had started pouring down in sheets. Ikovos had started simply
complaining at first, but now that a strong wind had joined the
mix, I think he may have been getting truly annoyed with me.

“It's wonderful isn't it,” I said, spinning
around in the field.

“Aren't you cold?” he yelled, shivering. I
wanted to tell him he didn't need to speak so loud, but thought I
shouldn't upset him further.

“Yes,” I said happily, “ . . . cold and wet
and absolutely
wonderful.
” I stopped my spinning to smile at
him. The rain was falling between us.

His seemed to look more relaxed. “You know, “
his voice much softer now, “you’re not really like other
girls.”

My smile slowly melted. I had heard the words
before, but not in the way he’d just said them. After a moment of
staring I looked down with an uncomfortable gulp and started
walking again.

When he came up beside me, there was silence
for a few seconds. I broke it with a playful voice.

“You only say that because you don't know
that many.”

He chuckled. I was glad that the easy humor
was returning to our conversation.

“I'm not stuck in the lodge all the time,” he
said. “Me and Jaden go to towns on errands quite often. We get our
fair share of girl socializing there.”

I looked at my feet. “Oh.” I probably sounded
a little surprised. I didn't doubt it though, he was in Tiver for
five minutes and the two prettiest girls in town were drooling over
him.

He laughed again at my awkward tone. “Not
that kind of socializing.” I kept my head down. “I just mean I see
enough to know what most of them are like.”

It was hard to tell with the rain, but I'm
sure my face had gone red again.

After the subject changed we talked
uneventfully until reaching the forest. Under the canopy of
branches it was much easier to hear each other. The drops of water
just sort of slid down the vines or trickled off the leaves. I did
notice, though, that being wet felt much worse
out
of the
rain.

“Your turn,” I said.

We had started taking turns asking each other
questions a while ago. So far I knew that he was eighteen, he
absolutely abhorred vegetables, and his favorite hobby was matching
names with meanings.