The Elf King (35 page)

Prevost kept his gaze fixed
on the mountains. “Well, what are you going to do about
it?”

Qenn looked back down to
Kandish’s face. “I don’t think she’s ready to let someone in yet.
Not me, anyhow.”

Prevost moved in close to
Qenn. “Would you rather live all your life not knowing what could
have been?” They were quiet for a moment, then Prevost added, “Tell
her. It might change your whole life.”

“
Have you ever been in
love, Prevost?” Qenn saw Prevost’s face shift then, the look in his
eyes made Qenn wish he could take back his question. He scrambled
then, thinking of something else to say, but Prevost began
talking.

“
When I was young. There
was a girl in a village. I was too unsure of myself back then, so I
said nothing to her.” Prevost paused, lost in a distant memory. He
turned suddenly and stared hard at Qenn. “You tell her how you feel
while there is time, Qenn.”

Qenn looked down to the
water. He did not wish to intrigue further. But the feeling was new
to him, and he was worried. “What if she shuts me out even
more?”

“
What if you’re the one
she’s been waiting for all this time?” Prevost patted him lightly
on his shoulder and gave him an encouraging nod. “Take a chance, my
friend.”

Kamen barked for everyone
to be alert then, as they passed through a pocket of thick fog.
Prevost joined Kamen at the helm, watching for rocks, until they
were through. Qenn didn’t move, other than to hold Kandish
protectively. The fog disappeared, and Prevost returned by his
side. He patted Qenn on the shoulder for support, and they were
about to continue their conversation.

Then Kandish
spoke.

“
Where are we?” her voice
cut the silence like clouds through the Shard Peaks.

Qenn turned to her
immediately, and found she was already looking at him. Her eyes
held his and the corners of her lips bent upwards. But in a blink
of an eye, that was gone and she turned quickly away from Qenn,
walking away to stand in the rain.

“
Kandish?”

As Qenn rose to follow,
Prevost reached out and held him in check. “Let her be. She needs
time.”

Qenn had a hard time with
that, but he did as directed. He simply stared at the back of her,
waiting for her to turn and rejoin them. Qenn sighed. He was
worried this would happen. “I’m not so sure I can tell her,
Prevost.”

Before anything further
could be discussed, Kamen Ode directed the boat to the eastern
shore where the bank was low and sandy and the forest was thinned
out enough for them to come ashore. By the time they had the boat
landed, the rain began to diminish, though the sky around them
remained ash-grey. Kamen and his rugged men pulled the boat ashore,
pulling it far enough out of the water that the current would not
pull it back. Qenn noticed that Kandish didn’t look at anyone. She
kept to herself. Even more-so than Kamen.

Once ashore, the group
split up and foraged for food. Kamen Ode brought his mother’s body
into the woods and began to dig a grave for her. The others tried
to help, but he quickly dismissed them. None of them pressed the
issue. They simply went off in pairs, fishing or foraging, leaving
the big man to his sorrow. An hour passed and the groups returned
with fruit and fish. With the area as clear as it was they decided
they would permit a small fire for cooking. If someone were to come
up on them, they would be seen in time for the group to prepare, or
even to launch back into the cold Spira. But the meal went
uneventful, and when finished, the group was in no hurry to leave
the warmth of the fire.

Until Kandish and Qenn made
eye contact.

“
How are you feeling?” Qenn
asked her. Qenn sat next to Prevost, across from Kamen and Kandish,
with the other three filling in the gaps on both sides.

“
Fine. I don’t need you
looking after me.” Kandish shifted around uncomfortably.

“
I didn’t think—” Qenn
mumbled, feeling small, before he was interrupted.

Kandish rose to her feet
suddenly. “Just leave me alone. Everyone.”

There was a fire in her
eyes that matched the one burning between them as she stared at
Qenn until he looked away. Angry with herself, she turned and
walked back to the boat. No one said a word until she was out of
earshot.

“
Give her time,” Prevost
said softly to Qenn. The others didn’t seem to care enough about it
to give them any sort of attention. They had other concerns that
seemed more important than a red haired girl who didn’t
speak.

“
I don’t think time will
help anything.” Qenn looked back to the boat, but could only barely
make out her form as she sat wrapped by her arms. He
sighed.

“
She’s scared,” Kamen Ode
grunted. He picked at the fire aimlessly with a stick. His face was
a mesh of anger and bitterness.

“
What would she have to be
scared about?” Qenn defended.

“
She’s scared, Qenn,
because she has a power. I don’t think she knows how to handle it.
She could kill us all.”

Qenn was on his feet
instantly. “If she wanted you dead, you would be.” He kept his
voice hushed, but his tone was not overlooked. Without really
thinking about what he wanted to say, he added, “She’s probably the
only one out of us all that is not scared. She knows what has to be
done, and she’s still here. She’s not talking about leaving because
it would be too dangerous.”

He regretted what he
implied the moment his mouth shut. Now all of Kamen’s men turned
towards him. They all looked offended. Prevost was the only one who
merely shrugged it off and went back to staring at the red and
yellow flames. Qenn knew he over stepped his ground and would have
apologized but Kamen began his retort right away.

“
I know what is going to
happen, too. I was shown before we left Skadar Port.” He moved
close to Qenn now, within arm’s length. “And even before that. When
I was a kid, I was shown an image. One that promised of my mother’s
death. I did everything I could to change that. To fight it. To
make her see that those dreams and visions did not always come
true. But I was wrong. They do. They always do! We’re cursed, all
of us!”

Kamen kicked out the fire
with a few sweeps of his legs then stormed back to the boat. His
men followed. Prevost rose and stood next to Qenn for a moment,
watching the others scramble to put the boat into the
water.

“
I didn’t mean what I—”
Qenn tried, but Prevost cut him short.

“
He’s not mad at you, elf.
His inner demons are tormenting him. He has already lost his
battle. It’ll take some time for him to settle, if he ever
could.”

“
What are you talking
about?” Qenn whispered.

“
His mother, of
course.”

Prevost moved in closer to
Qenn and they slowly walked for the boat. “He knew since he was a
kid that she was going to die. For some odd reason, she had shown
him what was to happen. It scared him that he could not save her.
He blamed himself right away. He fled Skadar Port, thinking that if
he wasn’t around, then her vision would not come true. Then this
business with the
Takers
started and all the Seers began dying, and he
knew he had to return to find her, to save her.”

Prevost paused, looking to
Qenn as they stood at the water’s edge. “I would not think that he
is scared of anything now. Not with nothing to live
for.”

Qenn watched Prevost turn
and get on the boat. He followed a step behind, aware of the others
watching him. He said nothing to anyone. He simply looked at the
planked deck and walked over to sit beneath the tarp once again,
feeling the boat shift away from shore and back into the rough
current. He tucked his legs under his arms and pressed them close
to his body, resting his chin on his forearms. Everyone was upset
with him. He might think twice about speaking to any of them again,
he thought.

A hand patted his shoulder.
He heard Prevost whisper. “It’ll clear. No worries.”

The remainder of the day
went without incident. The weather was warmer going into evening,
with no sign of rain going into the night. As the group took turns
at watch, the others found places to rest through the night. The
sky was open overhead, stars shining luminously within the light of
the moon, which was somewhere beyond the tree-line out of sight.
The Spira bent and twisted around towering jagged rocks that looked
like teeth in the darkness. All aboard the flatbed boat were
asleep, save for Kamen Ode, standing at the bow, staring forward
into the night.

It was sometime a few hours
before sunrise when Qenn awoke. He could see Kamen on watch, but it
took him a few minutes to realize that the other was staring back
at him. From what he could see in the mask of shadows, Kamen was
looking right at him. Qenn thought about closing his eyes, but
decided to sit upright. Within a few moments, he found the courage
to stand. Nothing stopped him then from walking over to the big
man.

“
I’ll take watch, if you
want to sleep.” Qenn offered, but saw right away the other’s
refusal. “I can’t sleep anyhow.”

He stood next to a silent
Kamen Ode for a few moments, listening to the water splash against
the boat, staring off into the distance. Qenn felt uncomfortable,
and wanted to make things right with Kamen.

“
Sorry about what I said
earlier. I think I was just scared that you would leave.” He sighed
audibly. “I don’t think we can get there without your help. I don’t
know where to go. Kandish spent more time with the Seer than I did.
Maybe she knows. But she’s not talking.”

Kamen Ode kept staring
straight ahead. “We are about half way up the Spira. We’ll have to
shore the boat at Tannindell.”

He grunted to himself,
turning towards Qenn. “We’ll travel west then, through the Pikes
and into Creatia. Very dangerous, all the way.” Kamen laughed.
“Tannindell makes Skadar Port look like a sanctuary!”

Qenn had no response. He
waited for the big man to finish, knowing that he had a history in
the prison at Tannindell. Qenn said nothing about it though. If
Kamen wanted to share, he would do so on his own choosing. Qenn did
however spit out one question.

“
Will you help us
then?”

Kamen stared at him for a
moment before answering. “I will take you as far as I
can.”

Qenn heard his words, but
saw something else in the big man’s eyes. He wasn’t sure what Kamen
Ode was keeping secret, but knew whatever it was, he didn’t like
it. “Well, thank you. I mean, for changing your mind.”

The anger returned to
Kamen’s voice. “It was never my decision.”

“
Sure it is. You could
leave now. That would be your decision.”

Kamen’s head arched back as
he stared skyward. “Goodnight, Qenn.”

Qenn remained where he was
for a moment longer, hoping Kamen would change his mind and
continue their conversation. But as his lingering became awkward,
he said his goodnight and returned back to sitting under the tarp.
He stayed awake for a while, just watching Kamen, thinking about
what he had said, and wondering what he purposely left
out.

He looked to his left, his
head barely turning, to where Kandish slept. She was curled into a
ball, her long coat covering her, her right arm was her pillow. Red
hair moved slightly in the breeze, covering the soft features of
her face. He turned his thoughts over to her, as if he had a
choice. It took him a long time to fall asleep again, but when he
did finally drift away, there was a smile on his face.

Kandish stared at Qenn
through the breaks in her hair, her eyes open to barely a crack.
She had been watching him since before he had sat up and went to
speak with Kamen. She had been thinking of him since long before
even that. He was in her mind at the time her magic released, there
even when she was unconscious from its usage. When she had come to,
and saw him looking over her, her worries were washed away
momentarily and the only thing she wanted to do was to stay next to
him, close to him and let everything else fade away.

Chapter 20