What Matters Most (6 page)

"I'd be happier if they stayed a week," Ailynn said sharply, and Kyros almost agreed, but then realized that she was trying to trick him.

"You're only saying that because it will keep you here for the festival," Kyros said, rolling his eyes.

"Don't give me that look, young man," Ailynn scolded, drawing herself up and giving him a stern look. "I don't think it's too much to ask that I be able to stay in my home for one last celebration with the people I know and love, who I'll never see again."

Kyros hesitated, running his hand through his hair and trying to think. Waiting an extra week was dangerous, and there was no practical reason to agree … but Ailynn was stubborn, and he was asking a lot of her already. Even if they left immediately after Jallen and Ambry arrived, there was no guarantee that they would get away safely. An extra week wasn't going to necessarily trap them. No one knew where Kyros had gone, and no one knew Jallen and Ambry were involved, so they couldn't be followed.

"All right," Kyros said quietly. "But I want you packed and ready to go at a moment's notice, in case the council's men get here before then."

"Thank you, Kyr," Ailynn said, wringing the dishtowel before offering a small smile. "I'll get a bag packed this evening, after I finish washing the clothes."

Kyros nodded, hoping he wasn't making the wrong decision.

"Do you need me to do anything around the house?"

"No, no, Raslin has had it well in hand," Ailynn said, smiling fondly. "He's off helping collect firewood for the bonfire. They'll light it in four days."

"Maybe I'll go help," Kyros said, though he'd much prefer to hide from the rest of the village until it was time to leave. The fewer people who talked to him, the better. Somehow, Kyros didn't think it was going to be that easy to avoid all of the villagers, however, especially since he owed MacRaflin's wife a chat at some point.

"I believe they were heading out to the woods north of town. There were a few large trees downed in the storm a few months back that should be dried out enough by now to be used as firewood," Ailynn said, getting back to work in putting the kitchen back to rights. "Raslin said they'd be back for lunch, so if you wait you can go out with them after lunch."

"Good idea," Kyros said. He hesitated a moment, then headed for his jacket. "I'm going to get some fresh air."

"All right," Ailynn said, giving him a concerned look.

Kyros smiled in reassurance. He wasn't sure how successful he was, since Ailynn still looked worried. Pulling on his jacket, Kyros picked up his gloves and tugged those into place as well.

"Wait a moment," Ailynn said, bustling around the kitchen table over towards the screens that sheltered the bed downstairs from view. Ailynn disappeared behind them, reappearing a moment later with a long blue scarf in hand. It had been his father's, though it was much more faded than Kyros remembered. Ailynn wrapped it around his neck, tying it in place in the front and patting it gently. "There. Don't stay out too long, you'll catch cold."

"Yes, ma," Kyros said, cracking a smile at the old admonition. "I'll be back shortly."

"Enjoy your walk, dear," Ailynn said, heading back towards the kitchen.

Kyros left the house, stepping outside. He immediately frowned at the snow falling all around him. It was coming down lightly, and the ground was only covered with a bare coating of it, but the clouds were dark and heavy. Unless they blew over, Ourenville was due for a storm, which meant a lot of snow and, if he was unlucky, Jallen and Ambry being significantly delayed.

He couldn't worry about the weather now, though. He had too much else to worry about. He couldn't control the weather.

Jallen and Ambry should show up in five or six days, and Kyros could sort out then whether it was safe to stay the additional week. Hopefully, if it was safe enough—relatively, anyway—to stay, the weather would hold off for the extra week until the solstice festival.

Worst case, Kyros would give Raslin the puzzle box and give himself up to the council. Raslin would take care of Ailynn and himself, and the council would have no need to harm either of them if they had Kyros.

*~*~*

Kyros stepped into the house, pausing a moment to brush as much snow as he could from his jacket before shutting the door behind him. Raslin raised a hand in greeting, settled at the kitchen table with a plate of food. Kyros shucked his jacket, hanging it by the door before crossing the house to join him.

"Ailynn's off at Theri's with the wash," Raslin said before Kyros could ask. "She mentioned you wanted to help with gathering firewood?"

Kyros nodded, sitting down heavily in the chair next to Raslin. "Might as well work while I'm here."

"All right," Raslin said. "Do you mind if we use your horse?

MacRaflin's old mare died last spring, so we've been stuck using just the one cart."

"Sure. I think she's done cart-work before," Kyros said, shrugging. One day of work wouldn't tire her out if he and Ailynn needed to make a swift departure.

"Great," Raslin said, flashing a smile. "That will make dragging everything back to the village much simpler. Did you talk to Ailynn about when you're leaving?"

"Yes," Kyros said, surprised Ailynn hadn't told Raslin that, since they'd obviously spoken while Kyros was out for his walk.

He still wasn't completely sure about waiting until after the solstice festival to leave, but at least he had a few contingency plans in mind if the council's men showed up before Jallen and Ambry. "She wants to stay for the solstice festival."

"And you're all right with that?" Raslin asked, his eyes widening in surprise. "I thought it was imperative you leave in a week."

"I'd prefer that," Kyros said, shrugging tiredly. "But she's adamant about staying for the festival. If it turns out it's not safe, we'll leave sooner."

"How will you know it's not safe?" Raslin asked, ignoring his food to completely focus on Kyros. "Do you want me to talk to her?"

"No, it's fine," Kyros said, shaking his head. Ailynn wouldn't take well to that. She was set on attending the festival, and nothing he or Raslin said would make her any less stubborn.

"Jallen and Ambry will be here by the week's end; they'll be able to tell me whether it's safe enough to stay for the extra week."

Raslin nodded, not looking particularly convinced, but he went back to clearing his plate. Kyros watched him for a moment before tilting back in his chair and turning his attention to the stove. The wine was still warming by the fire, but the soup Ailynn had put together wasn't warm enough to boil yet.

The house smelled of a mix of cinnamon and the more savory scents of the soup, and Kyros wished that he could ignore the problems in Alesdor and just stay home forever.

"You should get a bite to eat before we go," Raslin said, standing up to put his dishes in the washbasin. "We're getting the heavier parts of the trees this afternoon."

"I ate before I went out," Kyros said, sitting up with a thud as the front legs of the chair hit the ground heavily. "I'll be fine."

"You good to go, then?" Raslin asked, not waiting for an answer as he headed for the door. Kyros stood and followed him, pulling on his jacket again.

They stopped by the stable first, where Kyros was re-introduced to MacRaflin, who, unlike his wife, didn't seem to care in the least that Kyros was freshly returned from the capital. She hovered in the doorway as Kyros, Raslin, and her husband hitched Kyros' horse to the cart. Kyros gave her a wave, wondering if he could get out of the chat she obviously still wanted to have.

Probably not, since his horse was housed in her husband's stable.

With Kyros and his horse, the group gathering firewood had two carts at their disposal. They split into two groups; Kyros, Raslin, and MacRaflin in one, and the other three men in the wood-gathering party made up the other. MacRaflin kept up his silent, gruff demeanor, which Kyros vaguely remembered was normal for him.

The forest was cold and quiet, almost eerie as snow continued to fall quietly down on them through the trees and the dark gray clouds blocked out any hint of the sun. The tree they were hauling back to the village was monstrous; it was thick enough that Kyros wouldn't have been able to wrap his arms around it were it still standing. It had to have been dead before it fell, since Kyros didn't think a tree that size would have fallen otherwise.

"You haul, we'll chop," Raslin directed, shucking his jacket and draping it over the side of the cart. Kyros almost protested, but then decided against it. He could always swap places with Raslin or MacRaflin later.

Raslin and MacRaflin set to chopping with a vengeance, and Kyros was kept busy hauling chunks of wood to the cart. It was difficult work, especially given that Raslin and MacRaflin were chopping pieces of wood in unreasonably large sizes. The forest floor didn't help; it was coated in dead leaves and snow, a mess that rapidly became slush and slippery wet leaves as he trekked back and forth between the tree and the cart.

Kyros' arms and back were aching by the time the cart was full, and they weren't through even a quarter of the tree yet. His coat had joined Raslin's, draped over the side of the cart, and they were both pinned in place by the stacks of wood Kyros had added to the cart.

"You two take it in and unload," MacRaflin said, wiping sweat from his brow. He hadn't bothered to wear a jacket in the first place, but he was about the size of Raslin and Kyros put together; with that bulk, Kyros doubted he'd felt the cold, even before they'd begun working. "I'll keep chopping while you're gone."

Raslin nodded his agreement, waving for Kyros to take the driver's seat on the cart. Kyros climbed up, grateful for the brief respite. Raslin settled beside him, stretching his arms and shoulders out as Kyros guided the horse into motion.

"MacRaflin and I can finish it, if you want to visit with your mother," Raslin said a few moments later, sprawled haphazardly across the bench. His knee brushed against the side of Kyros' leg with every bump in the forest path, and Kyros was trying his best to ignore the accidental touch.

"I'm not going to give up one load in," Kyros said, snorting because Raslin was utterly transparent.

"I didn't say you were giving up," Raslin said, grinning cheerfully. "Just that you're a city boy now; you might not be able to handle all that carrying."

Kyros scoffed, shoving Raslin, who squawked and barely caught himself before he tumbled out of the cart. "What are you, an egg-laying chicken?"

Raslin laughed and shoved him back. The horse didn't falter, even at the tomfoolery behind her.

"An egg-laying chicken? That's the best you could come up with?" Raslin asked, settling back into his seat. He gave Kyros a side-eyed look.

"You certainly sounded like you were laying an egg," Kyros said nonchalantly, but his grin gave him away. He hadn't joked with someone like this in years, and even with five years apart, being around Raslin was easy.

"I sounded like I was falling off a cart," Raslin said, kicking Kyros' boot, "because someone was trying to get rid of me.

Actually, wait, push me off the cart. Then I don't have to unload any of this."

"You're not getting out of it that easily," Kyros said, making a face. "I loaded this by myself; you get to help unload it."

"I chopped it."

"You chopped half of it, if that. I think MacRaflin's better with an axe than you are."

"Well, he has handled one for much longer," Raslin conceded, leaning back and kicking his feet up on the baseboard in front of them, a somewhat precarious perch given the thinness of the wood.

"So you admit you slacked," Kyros said, nodding sagely.

"You should unload the entire cart, then, to make up for it."

"Hah," Raslin said, yawning. "I'll unload it on your head."

"That was witty," Kyros said dryly, squinting up at the sky again. It was hard to tell through the trees how much snow had fallen so far, but it was enough that he was getting worried about the weather again. "How long do you think it will snow?"

"A few days, probably," Raslin said, shrugging. He mirrored Kyros' movement, looking up at the sky curiously. "The clouds don't seem to be moving very quickly, and they're dark enough to dump a lot of snow. Do you think that will interfere with your … compatriots?"

"Probably," Kyros said, frowning. "Nothing to do for it, though."

"Mmm." Raslin sat up, setting his feet down on the cart floor. "If you know what direction they're coming from, we could send someone out to meet them."

"Not worth it, especially in this snow. I assume they're coming the same way I did, but there's no telling for sure, especially if they run into any of the council's men and have to adjust their path because of it," Kyros said. "They'll get here when they get here, and nothing is going to speed that up."

Raslin nodded, settling back in his seat. They lapsed into silence, and Kyros regretted bringing up the weather at all.

Raslin didn't seem upset or pensive, though, and Kyros decided that the silence wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

They broke free of the trees a few moments later, and Kyros was dismayed to see how much snow had accumulated. It would reach to his ankle were he on the ground, and it was still falling steadily. He had no doubt it would delay Jallen and Ambry, but it would also make moving the chopped wood an exercise in danger.

"Where are we headed with this?" Kyros asked, breaking the silence. The snow made everything in the village seem quieter as well, Kyros thought.

"Center of town. The square," Raslin directed. Kyros really should have sorted that out himself; the solstice festival was always held in the center of town—where else would they keep the wood for the bonfire? "I think Ailynn wanted to help put up decorations tomorrow, though that might be delayed a few days because of the snow."

"Probably for the best," Kyros said, glancing up at the sky again. "I can't imagine putting up decorations in this mess, especially since the snow will accumulate overnight and make it that much worse."

"You could probably take some time to see a few people around the village," Raslin suggested as they finally reached the houses on the outskirts of the village. "A bunch of people asked after you."