Eleanor (34 page)

“I needed to be in the real world for a while, needed to have some fun,” Amelia countered, glaring from Will to Conlan and back again. “Eleanor gave me that fun, and now this stupidity has totally ruined my good mood. I don’t suppose it has done much for Eleanor either.”

“Are we prisoners?” Eleanor asked softly. Conlan shook his head, taking a step away from her. Eleanor glared at him as she continued in the same soft voice. “Then we can come and go as we please. We told Freddie where we were going, if we had not come back in a reasonable length of time, I would expect you to come and find us. Otherwise, I would hope you would trust your training enough to know we can handle most things.” There was a long silence. Conlan turned and walked off into the right-hand side bedroom. Once he had left the room the mood seemed to lift. Eleanor stared at the floor, feeling uncomfortable, angry and humiliated.

“So, did you have a good time?” Freddie asked, coming to sit on one of the comfy chairs. Amelia nodded.
 

“We had fun; Eleanor bought you a present.”
 

Eleanor raised her head in time to see Freddie’s eyes light up. She stared at the doors Conlan had just walked through. Seeing her dazed, hurt look, Amelia took the sword out of her numb fingers and gently eased the bag off her shoulder before sitting with Freddie and Will, giving Eleanor some time to process her thoughts.
 

Her head hurt, but her heart hurt more.
Why is he so quick to strike at me?
Moving over to Amelia’s chair, not taking her eyes off the bedroom door, Eleanor held out her hand, an unspoken request. She felt the book she had bought Conlan placed in it, and not looking at the others, she walked into the bedroom. Conlan sat against the wall. His face held its normal emotionless expression as he stared at nothing. He looked up at her as she walked towards him and held the neatly wrapped book out to him.

“I bought you a present, and to answer your question, Remic gave me the money.”

“You want to give me a gift?” He sounded confused.

Eleanor glared. “You’re an arse with temper issues, and I’d appreciate it if you kept your hands off me in future.” Her gaze softened. “However, I did disappear for several hours with Amelia and then didn’t take your concern very seriously. I know I push you too far on occasion.”

“I regret my actions,” he said in Dwarfish, a soft apologetic snarl rumbling through him, his eyes not leaving the floor.

“Do you really regret your actions?” Eleanor asked in Dwarfish, layering supreme irritation through the question. “Because I had to come and find you for an apology. If you are sorry then fine, I forgive you, so stop sulking, get up and join us.”
 

“Eleanor, I promise I will never lash out at you again.”
 

“Do
not
make promises to me you cannot keep.”
 

Pained green eyes stared at her. “You assume that I am going to hurt you in the future?”
 

Eleanor shrugged. “Based on past experience, what conclusion would you reach?”
 

His eyes burned with shame. “I promise, Eleanor, never again.”

Eleanor stared at him in silence.
This is a promise he won’t be able to keep. I wonder if it’s going to hurt him or me more when he breaks it?
He gazed back, waiting anxiously for her reply.
 

“I suppose never doing it again is the best apology.”
 

She held the book towards him again; he reached for it and noticed her bruised, scraped knuckles as he did.

“You have been fighting.”
 

It was a statement, his voice calm; Eleanor wondered how much effort it had taken to keep it calm.

“Yes, I have. I am not going to talk about it,” she said in flat monotone, looking into his eyes and daring him to object. “I am fine, just a bruised hand...”
to match my bruised head.

“Then we do not need to talk about it any further,” he agreed. She could see him forcing down his curiosity and irritation.
He’s trying.
Eleanor found herself smiling at him. He stood up and followed her back into the living room. Freddie was moving backwards and forwards swinging his new sword, his face full of childlike glee. There was a knock on the door, and Will went to answer it. Two women entered, struggling under the weight of the trays full of food they were carrying. They lay the food out on the long, low table in the centre of the living room. Eleanor heard her stomach rumble. Conlan heard it too.
 

“I ordered bread and cheese for you.”
 

He can be thoughtful
–
when he wants to be.
 

“I love cheese,” she said softly. He smiled at her and she felt all her remaining resentment draining away. They sat and ate, Amelia full of bubbly excitement about what they had seen. Eleanor ate far too much cheese, and it was beginning to make her feel uncomfortably full before she finally forced herself to stop.
 

After dinner, Amelia took Eleanor to the inn’s bathrooms, where tubs of steaming water stood waiting. Eleanor enjoyed washing the travelling off her body, allowing the hot water to relax her. She dressed in a clean short-sleeved top and strapped on her new leather cuff; it covered her wrist and went halfway up her forearm. She inspected it carefully, satisfied that it covered her brand totally. Conlan had noticed the cuff on their return to the room. It was hard to miss, but he said nothing.
 

At Freddie’s request Conlan showed them how to play cards with Will’s new deck; the game he taught them was a little like whist. After Freddie won six games in a row, Eleanor and Amelia started cheating, sniggering at Freddie’s distress when he lost, doing their best to look innocent as he had accused them of underhand dealing. Several games later Will called a halt by sweeping Amelia up into his arms and, without a word, carrying her into a bedroom, closing the doors firmly behind him as Amelia giggled. Eleanor caught Freddie’s look – he gave her a mischievous smirk and she rolled her eyes. Conlan offered Eleanor the other double bed, but she refused to take it, pointing out that she was small enough to sleep comfortably on one of the sofas and his six-foot-odd frame needed more space. Freddie agreed. As Conlan disappeared into the other bedroom, Freddie dropped a few cushions and a blanket onto the floor, next to the sofa where Eleanor was stretched out on, and lay down. She leaned over the sofa’s edge.

“Night, Freddie,” she whispered.

“Thank you for the sword, Eleanor.”

She smiled. “You should thank Remic, he paid for it.”

“Yes, but you bought it and you didn’t have to. I love it.”

“Good, may you win all your battles with it,” she intoned solemnly.
 

Freddie nodded. “I hope so.”
 

Eleanor smiled and lay back, sinking into the plush, comfortable cushions and thinking about the Elves, she dropped into sleep.

Eleanor’s dreams were filled with blood, death and mayhem. She woke in the early hours, unable to go back to sleep. She lay still, concentrating on calming her mind and steeling herself to face another day of pretending she was happy and excited about going after the next Talisman. Will had moved silently past her several hours later, unaware that she was awake, and was now having a whispered conversation with Conlan.
 

“Maybe I should stay here… I think Trey would react rather badly to meeting me again,” Will said quietly.

“No, I need you there. Besides, it was a long time ago Will, I am sure he will have forgotten you by now,” Conlan said with a reassuring growl.

“I very much doubt it,” Will murmured.

“Even if he does remember you, it is not as if you were not justified in giving him a beating. He attacked us,” Conlan said, moving to pack up his things and clearly considering the conversation over and done with.

Eleanor sat up and Will quickly hid the guilt and concern on his face. He smiled at her, before moving back towards his bedroom to wake Amelia. Eleanor shuddered as Will’s memories of Trey broke free of the place she had shoved them and tore through her mind. It took a supreme effort to force them back.
Will’s right, there is no way Trey has forgotten him!
Should she try to help Will, or would that just make him uncomfortable when he realised just how much of him was held in her head? Conlan had been dismissive of Will’s concern, but he clearly did not know the full story; it would be hard to change his mind and she doubted Trey would try anything with them all there. Deciding to let the matter drop, as Will seemed to have done, she leant over the sofa she was laying on and gently shook Freddie awake.
 

They packed little, as Will had arranged for the inn to store the rest of their luggage until they came back. Eleanor took only her satchel, the ‘Book of the Five’, her sword and her blanket. She tried to leave the blanket, but Conlan insisted she needed it. Too tired to argue, Eleanor nodded, slipping the blanket roll over her shoulder. Conlan seemed surprised it had been that easy.
 

They headed towards the main gate, and despite the early hour, Eleanor could feel the heat in the sun’s first rays; she was not looking forward to the desert. The streets were quiet – a few early traders were setting up stalls, but there was nowhere near the throng it had been the day before. Will walked up to Conlan’s side and Amelia put a hand out on Freddie and Eleanor’s arms to hold them back a little. Eleanor looked at her in confusion, the expression duplicated on Freddie’s face.

“Will wants to talk to Conlan,” she said, as if this was explanation enough.
 

“About what?” Freddie asked, watching the two men walking together further down the street.

“Eleanor,” Amelia said, her gaze following Freddie’s.

Eleanor stared at Amelia in horror; Will knew too much – what was he saying? Amelia patted her arm gently, her grey eyes giving her a soft sympathetic look.

“Will wants him to stop attacking you; he’s warning Conlan that he’ll intervene if he tries to hurt you again,” Amelia said by way of explanation. Eleanor felt buried under the emotions that dropped on her suddenly: gratitude, affection, anger, frustration and pity. Amelia watched all this in Eleanor’s face in confusion
. I really must make more of an effort to stop everything I think and feel showing on my face!

“It’s sweet of Will to try to defend me, but I don’t need it, I can fight my own battles where Conlan is concerned. He’s already promised not to hurt me again; Will threatening him on my behalf is just going to upset him,” she said.

“Eleanor, have you heard yourself? He slammed your head into a door and you’re worried about Will upsetting him?” Freddie said incredulously.

Eleanor glared at him. “He apologised, I forgave him, matter closed.”

“He apologised?” Amelia asked, giving Eleanor a hard look
. She doesn’t believe me.

“He apologised,” she snapped, getting angrier by the second. She pulled away from them and marched down the road toward where Will and Conlan stood. They had noticed her approach before she realised that she had no idea what she was going to say.
 

“Did you want something, Eleanor?” Will asked.

“What did you say?” she demanded bluntly.

“This is a private conversation between Conlan and I,” he replied, glancing down the street to where Amelia and Freddie stood.

Eleanor snorted. “According to Amelia I’m the topic of this conversation.”

“Amelia should have kept that information to herself.”

“Will, much as I appreciate the gesture, I really don’t need protecting. Conlan promised not to hurt me again, end of story.” She tried to keep her voice as calm as his, but it was a struggle. Will gave her a long, appraising look.
 

“Do you trust him to keep that promise?” he asked evenly. Eleanor stared at him in horrified silence. He knew her too well.
I can’t lie to him…
 

“No,” she whispered honestly, giving Conlan an apologetic glance; he looked crushed.
 

“No, neither do I,” Will agreed. “Hence the need for the conversation we just had.”
 

Conlan turned and walked away, his long legs carrying him further down the street, and then he was running, disappearing out of sight down an alleyway that led to the gate.

“That was cruel, Will. I don’t want to lie to you, but you’re making it very difficult for me!” Eleanor said quietly, turning back to the cold blue eyes that regarded her.
 

Will sighed. “He needs to learn a little impulse control where you’re concerned, and you need to understand that just because you love the man doesn’t mean you have to put up with his temper tantrums and frustrations. I know how emotionally messed up he is, but this has got to stop before he takes it too far and accidentally causes you real damage.”
 

Eleanor felt her anger turn to a frigid ball of fury. “Will, mind your own business. I’m not your child. If I want to let Conlan beat me black and blue, that’s my right. I know you meant well, but you’re making it worse. I want him to open up to me, and this is just going to make him retreat,” she said, her voice flat and hard. The depth of the hurt in Will’s eyes took her by surprise; she looked at him, bemused by his reaction.
 

“What did I say?” she asked, slowly running through her words, looking for the problem.
 

He smiled slightly. “Nothing.”

“Oh no, if I can’t lie to you, you don’t get to lie to me,” she said, glaring at him.

He dropped his head. “You just made me realise how much I do think of you as my child. I’m sorry, Eleanor, I just wanted to help.”

“Oh... ”
Guess it’s not just Amelia who wanted children.
“I know you wanted to help, and I’m grateful, truly, but I would appreciate it if, in future, you ran this sort of help by me first to see if I want or need it,” she said as gently as she could. Will nodded again and tried to smile at her.
 

“I take it that didn’t go so well?” Amelia asked as she and Freddie came to join them.