Delver Magic: Book 06 - Pure Choice (13 page)

"Just because they drink
doesn't make them drunks. You and I know most of the people that come here, a
lot of them are our friends. They're not drunks."

"Some of them are, or are you
going to tell me there's not a single drunk that comes in here?"

"I'm not going to tell you
that."

"Well then, how am I supposed
to know who's saying what?"

The argument was ludicrous and
Ryson knew it. Before he left the inn, he saw that people were taking the
warning seriously. People came off the streets immediately. Inside the inn,
guards were set at the windows and doors. No one would have allowed a drunk to
simply shout out absurdities.

Realizing that the discussion had
taken a bizarre turn, Ryson decided to move on. Instead of pondering the
deficiencies of Linda's argument, he tried to determine exactly what was
bothering her.

"So you're upset because you
thought something happened to me?"

"I'm not upset. I'm simply stating
what you did tonight. You up and left. That's a simple fact."

"I didn't just up and leave.
I was called out to help. Klusac came for me. Sy requested that I scout the
town. You knew that."

"And you left me alone."

Alone.

She said it again, but it didn't
make sense. He didn't leave her alone, and he was growing tired of the
accusation.

"There were a lot of people
here tonight," the delver noted. "I know that. I was here before I
had to leave, remember?"

"I remember you leaving,
that's what you do."

"You didn't seem to have a
problem when I left."

"I was busy, too busy to tell
you about my problems, and too busy to read a bunch of tower signals."

"Linda, what are you talking
about?"

"If you can't figure it out,
I'm not going to explain it to you."

"You're going to have to,
because you're not making any sense."

"Oh, so now I'm the one not
making sense? You go out running around in the rain after a bunch of fish
monsters and then goblins... and I'm the one that doesn't make sense. That's
almost funny."

"It's not funny at all,"
Ryson exclaimed. "You're starting to worry me."

"Well, then now you know what
it feels like."

"Look, I do my best to let
you know what's going on. We've had this discussion before. I don't want you
worrying about me all the time, but you made it clear you want to know where
I'm going. I do that when I can. I did that tonight, but we both know there's
no way I can keep you updated of every single movement I make. It's just not
possible. If anything, tonight you knew more than usual. If something happened
to me here, in town, you would have heard about it immediately. You know
that."
Linda did not respond. She picked up the glass in front of her, turned it over
as if expecting something to flow out, but since it was empty, nothing happened.
She just held the glass over the tabletop and stared at the open end with an
expression of sadness.

Ryson waited, but he began to
sense that Linda was not going to reply. He paused, uncertain of whether or not
to continue, but he decided to do so in order to illustrate his position.

"I don't try to hide things
from you. I tell you where and when I'm going, and the truth is, I have to
leave again."

At this, Linda did not hesitate in
responding.

"Why am I not
surprised?"

She banged the glass down on the table,
the first time she made any true display of frustration.

"Why are you so angry?"
Ryson asked.

"This is not angry. You have
no idea what angry is. This is reality, and the reality is that you left me
here, and now you're going to leave again."

"Don't you want to know
why?"

"Will it matter?"

"It might. You'll understand
why I have to leave."

"If you think it will make
you feel better, then by all means explain it to me."

She listened quietly as Ryson told
her everything that had happened that evening. He told her of the rogues, the
goblin raid, their large leader, and the argument he had with Sy. He had hoped
she might be more understanding once he revealed he had already been through
one dispute and a quarrel with her was not something he wanted to continue. If
anything, he hoped for a bit of sympathy.

"So something must have
happened to the elves," Ryson concluded. "That's why I'm going out
tomorrow."

He did not get sympathy, not at
all.

"Tomorrow? Not tonight?"
she asked, but with little apparent emotion.

"I thought I would stay with
you until morning."

"And that's supposed to make
it easier?"

"I thought it might."

She looked down at her empty glass
and then revealed her own thoughts. Once again, her words surprised the delver,
but at least they revealed she had listened to everything he had said.

"If Sy isn't going to rely on
you anymore, why do you even have to go? Why can't you just let him handle
it?"

"I know those elves,"
Ryson revealed somewhat flustered. "Lief was from that camp. I can't just
ignore what happened to them."

"Lief is dead."

The statement dropped from her
mouth as a simple matter of fact, and the lack of tact brought out the delver's
ire. It was clear in his tone as his patience began to thin and his emotions
turned from confusion to irritation.

"I'm well aware of
that."

Linda did not seem to notice the
coldness of Ryson's reply.

"Then why do you need to
go?"

"That was the first elf camp
I ever had contact with. It wasn't just Lief. It was Holli, too. And
Mappel."

"Mappel is dead, just like
Lief. And Holli was banished from the camp."

Once more, Linda's indifference
angered the delver. All of those elves meant a great deal to Ryson, and Linda
knew it.

"You're being rather cold
about this."

"I like to think of it as
realistic."

"I think it's unrealistic to
talk about Lief, Holli and Mappel as if they meant nothing to me."

"Does that really bother
you?"

"Yes, it does."

"Well, then I'm sorry."

Despite the continued tone of
indifference and the apparent lack of sincerity in the apology, Ryson decided
to accept it. He realized something was bothering his wife. He already had one
unproductive argument with Sy. Another one would not help his cause.

Linda, however, seemed uncaring as
to whether Ryson accepted her apology or not. Instead, she turned back to the
issue of Ryson's impending departure.

"Instead of worrying about
what certain elves meant to you, let's talk about how it stands now. You may
think you have some attachment to this elf camp, but I just don't see it. You
think they worry about you? Do you think they'd come looking for you if you
went missing?"

"I don't know, maybe. I know
Holli would."

"Like I said before, Holli
was banished. She's not even part of the camp anymore."

"She's still connected to
them. Sy is going to ask for Holli's help."

"That just makes my question
that much more relevant. Why can't you just leave it to Sy?"

"Because I can't"

"That's no answer."

First Sy and then Linda, both
dismissing Ryson's feelings on what he believed were issues of great
importance. Sy wanted Ryson to simply disregard his beliefs and Linda wanted
him to forsake his loyalties.

"Yes, it is an answer. I just
can't ignore what happened to the elves. I have..."

"But you can ignore me,"
Linda cut him off.

"Is that what this is all
about?" Ryson asked with total honesty. "Do you really think I'm
ignoring you?"

Linda bit down slightly on her
bottom lip as she looked once more at the empty glass that was upside down on
the table. When she spoke, she did not turn her head or her eyes to the delver.

"You know that we can never
have children, right?"

"What?"

"Children. We can never have
children. It's impossible. I just figured that out."

The delver sat completely stunned.
His mind turned to a jumbled mess.

"It's really quite
simple," Linda continued. "I'm surprised it took me so long to figure
it out. You have magic within you and I'm immune to magic. How can I ever have
a delver child? I can't."

"I don't understand,"
was all that Ryson managed to blurt out.

"Magic. I'm immune... totally
immune. We both know that. You're a delver. Magic is a part of you. Any child
of yours would have that same magic, but not in me. It can't happen."

It was Ryson's turn to stare at
the empty glass. He didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure he could argue with
his wife. She seemed so absolutely certain. It might have explained her
reaction to everything that happened that night. The revelation definitely
disrupted his own thinking. He sat in complete shock.

"Look," Linda finally
said to end the growing silence. "I don't want to talk about it anymore...
not tonight anyway. You said you have to go look for the elves. I think you
should start now."

"Now?"

Linda nodded.

"Yes, now... tonight."

"I don't want to leave you
now. I don't think I should."

"You think you should stay
for me?"

"Of course."

"I appreciate that, but if
you really want to do something for me, and not you, then you should go
tonight. I don't want you to walk me home and stay with me knowing that you'll
be leaving the moment the sun rises."

"Maybe I shouldn't go at all.
Maybe you were right."

"I don't think so, not any
more. You'd only be staying with me because you're worried about me, or maybe
you feel sorry for me. I don't need that. I don't
want
it."

"It's not about feeling sorry
for you," the delver countered. "It's about doing what's right. I
didn't know this was what was bothering you. I never would have even left you
tonight if I knew about this."

"I didn't realize it until
after you left." Linda then looked toward the door. "I'm not even
sure why it even came up. It just hit me, washed right through me and I
knew."

"But then why do you want me
to go?"

"Because we both need some
time."

"Time?"

"Yes. I don't know if this
changes anything... for me or you, but we have to accept it."

"Shouldn't we try to accept
it together?" Ryson asked.

"With you wondering about
what happened to the elves... always looking out a window toward the forest.
You can't stop being a delver. That's what this is all about, isn't it?"

"In all honesty, I really
don't have any idea anymore."

"I do. It's about what we
want, and right now, I want you to go find the elves. It may not make sense to
you, but it does to me."

"But you seemed upset about
me leaving you alone. Now that's what you're telling me to do... to leave you
alone."

"It's something I have to get
used to, isn't it? It's either that or admit I made a mistake marrying a
delver. That's not something I want to do. Is that what you want?"

"No!" Ryson responded
emphatically.

"Then, like I said, do this
for me and go find the elves."

"You got here faster than I
expected," Sy revealed, but was equally grateful Holli Brances reached
Burbon so quickly.

He had not slept since the battle
with Okyiq and his minions. Sy had immediately sent out a messenger to Connel.
While waiting, he had questioned several goblin prisoners and each one
substantiated the claim that the elves had disappeared. The mystery was growing,
and it annoyed him that Ryson had left during the night to find answers Sy
would not be able to obtain on his own. It would be too dangerous to send out
his soldiers to search for the elf camp. He would have to wait for his
messenger to reach Connel and then for Holli to travel back to Burbon. To his
delight, she was at his office door in half the time he anticipated.

"We teleported directly to
the border of your town. We thought it important enough not to delay. The
messenger who brought your news to us, however, decided to return on
horseback." Holli motioned to the individual standing next to her. "This
is Jure. He wished to accompany me."

After, Sy and Jure exchanged
greetings, the captain revealed all of the details of the raid. He concluded
with the information obtained from the goblin leader.

"The word of a goblin is
always suspect," Holli offered after hearing Okyiq's declaration that the
elves were gone. "Unless held to a strict bargain they deem beneficial to
their own standing, they will lie in an instant to save their own skins. Even
if the goblin was not stretching the truth, their ability to comprehend complex
situations is always quite lacking. That is why they are easily duped into
being pawns."

"Normally, I would agree with
you," Sy replied, "but there was something different about this one.
He wasn't just bigger than the rest. He led them, displayed a level of—how did
you put it?—complex comprehension that surprised me. Not much mind you, but I
can't deny he utilized a greater level of tactics than I ever would have
expected. He had a number of goblins with him, but he didn't just storm us. It
wasn't like he unleashed a horde, even a small one, and he didn't conduct a
simple grab and run raid, either. He was able to get inside the gate. I admit
my soldiers made some mistakes, but I don't think a regular goblin raiding
party would have made it through. I'm not saying he was the quickest wit I've
ever come across—nothing like a serp—but he was able to negotiate and think on
his feet. I saw it... I dealt with it."

Holli found the report intriguing.
She had great respect for Sy Fenden, appreciated his skills as a leader and a
soldier. She did not doubt his account, not for an instant, but the details of
Okyiq's abilities contradicted her perception of goblin limitations.