1.5 True of Blood: Kallen's Tale (9 page)

Chapter 9

I beg
i
n the journey dressed
lightly,
knowing my fast metabolism and the exercise will keep me warm for a while.  As the day wears on, the cold forces me to add layers of clothing. 
Such a shame, because I have felt Xandra’s eyes on my body for
much of
the past couple of hours.
  The only time she looks away is when I ‘accidently’ let a branch slip out of my fingers
, allowing it to impede
her
way.  Mean?  Yes.  Satisfying? 
Absolutely.
 

Her breathing is becoming more and more labored.  I am sure she is going to ask to rest soon, and I am going to wait until she does. 
I am not going to offer. 
Personally, I could walk another ten miles and feel fine.  It pays to keep in shape.

Finally, she speaks. 
“Shouldn’t we be going around the mountain instead of up it?  We’ll be like sitting ducks up at the top.” 

That was not what I expected her to say.  It is much more annoying than her asking to rest. 
“We are throwing the runners off our trail.  By going up first, we confuse their
sense of smell
,
as the thinner ai
r carries less of our scent.”  Obviously, she is not a hunter. 
Or a tracker.
 
Or intelligent enough to figure this out on her own.

Under her breath, she mutters, “
I knew he was lying about being able to shield us from the other Fairies.
”  I stop abruptly, almost causing her to run into me.  She catches herself right before it happens.  Disappointment seeps into my brain, but I squelch that as quickly as possible.  I am not going to let my physical attraction to her cloud my mind.
 
I cannot say that to myself enough times. 
That is probably why my voice is sharp
,
as I say,
“One of the first lessons that you should learn
,
is that you cannot rely completely on magic.  Learning to protect yourself using your wits is just as important. 
Assuming that you have been blessed with any.”

Letting the backpack drop from her shoulders and into the snow, she approaches me with her index finger pointed at my chest.  I will send her flying if she touches me with that damn
amulet
around her neck
again
.  I take an unconscious step backwards, immediately regretting the show of concern for my safety.

“I am so sick and tired of you saying mean things about me!  You haven’t even given yourself a chance to get to know me.  You just assume that because I haven’t been taught any of this crap
,
that I’m stupid.  You need to back off
,
or the only thing you’ll be able to teach me is how to get mad enough to shove this amulet down your throat!”

I open my mouth, but words refuse to come out.  I try again. 
Nothing.
  Of course
,
she is right.  I have not been fair to her, for no other reason than I am angry to be here.  I have completely forgotten the fact that she did not ask me to come, and that she just learned about her new life of doom yesterday
, the same time I learned about my fate
.  But, am I
willing to be forthcoming about that
realization
?  Not completely. 
“I may have been a bit harsh in my judgment
,
based on your ignorance.”

“May have been harsh?  You’ve been a giant ass is what you’ve been.” 

She is absolutely stunning, standing there with her red coat that enhances the flush to her face caused by her anger.  I
would love to kiss those full, red
lips of hers. 
Shaking myself to get that dangerous thought out of my head, I say,
“What is it that you wish me to say?”

“I want you to say that you’re sorry
,
and that you’ll stop being such a jerk
,
since we’re apparently going to be spending a lot of time together.”

A lot of time alone together.
 
In the cold, where she may need my body heat to help keep her warm.
  I am in so much trouble here. 
“I apologize.” 

She does not look like she believes my apology to be sincere.  She continues to scowl as she tries to lift the heavy backpack from the ground and put it back on her shoulders.  There is no way she is going to be able to do that on her own.  After watching her struggle for a moment, I take the backpack from her. 
“Allow me
.
”
Anything to be able to stop looking at the fall of her black hair, her piercing eyes, and that body that is going to keep me up at night thinking about
it
.

We walk on in silence. 
A
s we ascend th
e
mountain
, I wonder
how
am I
going to keep my hands off from her
.
 
I have never had such thoughts before, about anyone.  Yes, s
he is beautiful, at times witty,
but there is something else and I do not know what
. 
B
eautiful Fairies back home have tried to catch my eye, but not one has had this effect.  I feel as
if I am in over my head with
Xandra
, and I
cannot fathom
why.
  Whatever it is, I need to figure out how to stop it.

We walk quite a ways without a peep from her about the trek.  I wonder how much longer she will hold
out?
  I am getting rather hungry.

As if on cue, she calls my name. 
“I need to take a break.  I’m tired and I’m hungry.”

I consider insisting that we walk farther, but my own hunger wins out.  I had noticed a place just up ahead that will be a go
o
d place to stop.  When I tell her that, she smiles at me. 
A real smile.
  One that makes my heart
skip
a beat or two.
  I turn away from her quickly, before my face shows how rattled I am.
             

When I reach the small
overhang
I had seen, I drop both backpacks and stoop to take out the two small chair things that were packed.  The only purpose being to keep our butts from getting wet in the snow.  Xandra sits on one and begins to take food out a pack.  I try to sit on the
other
chair, and it is awkward, to say the least.  They were definitely not made to fit someone of my
six and a half foot
stature.

When I am finally situated, she tosses me a small pouch.  Am I truly to eat this?  T
abitha was
right,
t
here is nothing appealing about it, whatsoever.

Obviously, my confusion shows on my face, because she says,
“I take it that you don’t have wrappers in your realm?”

I do believe she is laughing at me. 
“No, our food is prepared more naturally than yours.”

Showing me how to open it, she takes a bite of the small bar of what looks like granola
,
stuck together by some sort of press.  There are little bits of nuts and blueberries
amongst the granola bits.  It is so
hard,
I fear I may break my teeth on it.  I wait for Xandra to take a bite of hers before trying
mine,
just to be sure it is actually edible.  When I finally do try it, I find it to be
inoffensive
.  Certainly not for those with discerning tastes, but it will do
for sustenance
.

After another few minutes of silence, Xandra looks up at me. 
“Can I ask you something?”

I am tempted to say no.  Things are so peaceful at the
moment;
I do not want her to ruin it.  But, I do not. 
“Yes.”

“What did
Maurelle
mean when she said that you were the Fairy King’s favorite
nia
and that you had turned
Brathadooer
.
”

There it is, the moment of peace ruined. 
“The term is
Brathadóir
, which means traitor.  I am the king’s nephew and have often been accused of being his favorite regardless of our differing philosophies.”

She looks horrified for a moment. 
“Does that mean we’re cousins if he’s my father?”
 

Does the idea of me being related to her seem so
unpleasant
, or is she disappointed at the thought
we may be related
?  I know I would be disappointed.  Though, when I was in this realm in the past, people did seem to marry their cousins a lot. 
“Not by blood, simply by hand-fasting.
”  Another antiquated term, apparently, from the look on her face.  “Th
at is equivalent to what you call marriage.  My mother’s sister is the king’s queen.  We do not share the same ancestry.”

Is that a tiny bit of relief I see in her eyes? 
“If you’ve been branded a traitor, what will happen when you go home?”

If only she knew how much that
question
pain
s
me.  I will not show her. 
“That is of no concern.”

“How can that be of no concern?  Surely the king’s going to be really pissed at you.”

She will not let anything go. 
“Perhaps you should eat more.  I would like to travel for several more hours this evening.” 

“So, you’re not going to answer my question?”

“No.”

“How come you get to know everything about me
,
but I don’t get to know anything about you?”

I half chuckle without any real
feeling
in it. 
“Because I am not the one that needs to learn to use my magic
,
”
I tease.

“Are you really three hundred and sixty-seven years old?”

I s
till have not figured the correct number of years yet
, so I say,
“Yes.”

“Are you hand-fasted or
whatever
you said?” 
My favorite shade of red yet flows into her face. 

Maybe I am not the only one feeling the pull of attraction.
Barely keeping a smile off my face, I say,
“No, I am not.”

“How come?
 
After so many years
,
it seems like you’d find someone you like.”
Her embarrassment has reached new levels, I believe, if the color of her face is any indication.

I s
hrug.  “I am still considered quite young.  It is not unusual for someone my age to not have done so.  You must also remember that there are fewer and fewer full blooded Fae
,
so it can be difficult to find one who shares the same status as me.”
  I want to make sure she understands where I stand on this issue.  I will not ever be with anyone with Cowan blood.  I believe that would dishonor my memory of my parents.
 
The thought that Xandra does not carry any Cowan blood jumps into my head, but I ignore it.

“So, you’ll only marry someone who’s a full Fairy?” 
Persistence is not something I will have to teach her, I see.

“Yes.”

“Sounds like you’re going to be pretty lonely when you go back.” 
That brings me back to reality.  I will never be hand-fasted to anyone, as I will not be returning to my realm.  Suddenly uncomfortable with this conversation, I stand up and walk to the cliff edge.  For miles, all I see is snow and trees.  Perhaps I will live out my life in these mountains, as far from Cowan civilization as possible.  Whatever I decide, Xandra is right.  I will have much loneliness in my future.
  Behind me, I hear her open another granola bar.  I have lost my appetite.

Chapter
10

My mood is decidedly darker as we trudge west now, as traveling farther up the mountain would not be wise without the proper gear.  I would like to walk all night, if only to avoid conversation with Xandra.  She has left me alone as we’ve walked these last few hours, but I know that she is tiring
and will want to rest soon
.  I can hear it in her breathing.  We are going to have to stop for the night
, and I am sure she will want to engage me in more conversation
. 

I can barely make out the opening of a small cave
a ways up from
where we are walking.  It appears to be deep enough to protect us from the elements, yet shallow enough not to be inhabited by wild animals.  It is not ideal, but I did promise
myself
to give
her a difficult jou
rney.  This should help with that goal
. 

When we reach it,
Xandra steps in nervously and looks around. 
“What if some animal is hibernating in there?”

The look on her face lightens my mood considerably. 
“Then we will be very quiet,”
I say, as I hold back a chuckle.  This cave is far too shallow to serve as a proper hibernation spot.

“You’re enjoying this awful little adventure, aren’t you?”

There is her cute little pout again. 
“I will admit that I do enjoy the outdoors, yes.”

“Where do you live when you’re in your world?”
 

Again with the questions about my past life.
  I do not want to keep returning to this subject, for each time we discuss it, the pain in my heart grows. 
“Remember, this is my world.  I am simply from another realm.”

“I’m not sure I understand how that works.”
  If her age matched her ignorance level, she
w
ould be a small child. 
Or an infant.
 
But
,
that is not her fault, I remind myself again. 
“And if we successfully keep you from entering my realm
,
you will never have to understand.”

Getting off that topic, w
e talk for several more minutes.  Long enough
for me
to figure out that her mother had been teaching her the basic tenets of Witchcraft, but
masquerading
them as
bedtime stories and adages.  Perhaps I will not have to start from the very beginning with her. 

Surprisingly, o
ur discussion is not laden with angst or insults.  It is actually quite pleasant as I explain the deeper meaning behind the expressions and songs her mother taught her.  After a few minutes, and wit
h a pretty little smile on her face,
Xandra
says quietly,
“Thank you
.
”

I know I must look dumbfounded.  Perhaps, I was paying too much attention to the effect her smile is having on my hormones, and I missed something.  “
For what are you thanking me?”

“For not treating my ignorance as stupidity.”

I sigh and pull my eyes downward until I am looking at my hands.  I
know I
have been a bear to be around, and because of my own bitterness, I have treated her abysmally.  She deserves better than that. 
“Again, I apologize for my earlier behavior.  I am afraid you are not the only one coming to terms with the situation we find ourselves in.”

Xandra does not say anything in response.  When I finally have the fire going, she takes off
her gloves and holds them to the small fire.  Her hands are delicate
,
with nails that are short but not stubby. 

What the hell
?
I have never noticed another Fairy’s fingernails before.
  Disgusted with myself, I break the silence. 
“We should rest for the night.  We will begin again at sunrise.” 
I take her sleeping bag and begin to lay it out for her before I make one for myself.

“Um, where are you going to sleep?”
she asks, and I cannot miss the panic in her voice.  I have never had a
female
Fairy panicked at the thought of sharing any space with me, let alone a sleeping space.  In fact, quite the opposite has been my experience.  Apparently,
I was wrong earlier.  A
ny attraction felt between us is on my part only. 

Th
ere
is an edge to my voice as I say,
“You need not worry; it is not my practice to take the innocence of half-breeds.”

“I wasn’t implying that you were.”

I snort
in disbelief. 
Right.
  That was exactly what she was implying. 
“I will sleep in my raven form.  That will make better use of the space we have.”
  I finish laying out the bag
and stand up, careful not to hit my head on the top of the cave. 
Another night sleeping as a bird, great.
 
“You will want to avert your eyes.  I know it offends your sensibilities when I am sky
clad.”

“Whatever,”
she says, but she turns her back to me.  I shift into my raven form and fly out of the cave.