After the Fire (After the Fire: Book the First) (12 page)

“I
always hunt at night,” said Eleni. “And don't follow me
with that noisy crow. It frightens the animals away.”

“Mati
is elsewhere this night,” said Magda. “Please be
careful.”

Eleni
didn't answer, just raised her hand in a wave as she turned, the wolf
at her side.

Chapter
Ten

Fin crouched down, his hands on the earth. He felt the power slide
from deep in his chest, through his arms and through the palms of his
hands. He loved the feel of the ground bursting with life beneath
him, that, were it not for him, would have taken years to reach
maturity. He watched the sapling sprout up between his hands. It rose
into the air, gaining girth as it went, branches fanning out above
him like a shelter. Fin sat back and admired his handiwork.

The
truth was that this forest didn't need him. It had fared far better
after the fire than anywhere else he had been, except for the North.
It seemed relatively untouched here. Oddly, it made Fin long to be
somewhere else, anywhere that needed him to fix things. He felt
useless here, where all he did was sit with unnaturals and pretend
that their families weren't starving. Although, he had to admit, it
had been extremely satisfying to watch Eleni frighten them into
submission.

Now
there was a reason to stay: Eleni. Not because of her beauty, but
because he was simply curious about her capabilities, about how she
would use the power she held. While they were traveling, he had
sensed a thrum of energy from her that nearly overwhelmed him. But
then they had approached the camp, and he felt it subside. He
suspected it had something to do with the necklace that the young
Reiver
had stolen. Though he had only seen it only for a moment, he knew
magic when he felt it, and it felt dangerous and powerful. He had
felt a different power after she dropped that necklace over her head,
a strange and slightly dark power. But even stranger was the
sensation that the necklace had been put in its proper place, a
feeling he knew well. That necklace had been meant for her. He knew
it as surely as he knew that it also meant trouble.

Fin
looked toward the canopy. It had grown dark while he had sat
ruminating. He stood up and brushed himself off. He heard a rustle
and looked around. He squinted in the darkness. It had been foolish
of him to stay away so long, but he had been loathe to return to the
Reiver
camp. He respected Magda enough to stay, enough to trust in her
instincts, but he didn't have to like it.

Fin
heard a soft swish and felt someone walk behind him. He turned
slowly, quietly, and saw the back of a colorful skirt, clashing
horribly in the forest, standing out almost as much as the shock of
red hair. Fin was surprised she could ever creep up on anything. The
wolf was at her side, turning her dark head to look at him. The
golden eyes seemed to surmise him, to contemplate him almost. Then
the animal looked away. Fin turned his attention to Eleni. Her every
motion precise and smooth, she was more graceful than the wolf. Her
movements were liquid, like a wild cat Fin had seen once in the
mountains. The cat had been dark and sleek, and its movements so slow
and deliberate it had almost been art.

Eleni
stopped and sniffed the air and he was sure she would turn to look at
him. But she turned to the right instead. Fin could see her in
profile. She looked beautiful in the brightly-colored dress. Fin
didn't usually care for the Reiver
women, so sharp and angular and stern. But Eleni was wildness itself,
healthy and pink and full of life. She had combed out her mess of
hair and someone had plaited it for her. It hung in a rope as thick
as his forearm down her back. Fin realized he was holding his breath
and exhaled noisily. Eleni's face rounded on him, narrowing her eyes.
Fin smiled and stood.

“Magda
let you out of her sight,” he said.

Eleni
moved toward him, her face impassive as usual. He could never read
her. He wished he could figure out what she was thinking when he
talked to her. He always felt mildly like an idiot. She fixed him
with her clear, pale eyes.

“Why
should I be any different from you?” she said.

“No
reason,” he said. “She just gets protective of new gods
is all. Like a mother badger.” Eleni's mouth twitched and he
thought she almost smiled.

“Is
that what I am?” she said. “A new god?”

“So
you admit what you are, then,” said Fin.

“No,”
said Eleni. “But I accept that it remains a possibility.”

“That's
reasonable. May I walk with you for a bit?”

Eleni
looked at the wolf, but the beast had lost interest in the two of
them and was investigating a mossy log illuminated by the scant
moonlight.

“Why?”
she said.

Fin
smiled. “I like your company.”

Eleni
looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “Yes,” she said.
She began walking south, further away from the camp. She looked at
Fin when he caught up. “I don't know how to be around others,”
she said, looking pained.

“You
don't have to be anything around others,” said Fin. “You
seem to have done just fine on your own.”

Eleni
clenched her jaw. “Magda does not approve of the way I do
things.”

“Magda
doesn't like to make waves,” said Fin, “unless she has
to. All she cares about is finding her sisters. And if that means
mingling with beasts that don't mind watching their wives and
children starve, so be it. But you did right, Eleni. Don't doubt for
a moment that you did right. Those kids will eat because of you.”

“I
know I did right,” said Eleni. “I just do not understand
Magda. Even the Reivers
know.”

“What
do you mean?” said Fin.

Eleni
shrugged her small shoulders. “Elek kneeled to me tonight.
Magda said he would die for me now. I don't know why he thinks I
would want that, but it seemed to make Magda happy. I think.”

“Did
he now?” said Fin. “Well, that is interesting.”

Eleni
stopped and looked up at Fin. “I do not understand anything,”
she said. “I don't know why Magda lives with thieves and
murderers if she is so powerful. I don't know why people can't see
sense. I don't know how to look at people or talk to people.”

“You're
talking to me,” said Fin. “And you're looking right at
me.”

“You
are the only one that does not look away,” she said.

“Magda
is one of the Three,” he said, trying to think of a way to
explain it. “The Sudice, your people called them.”

“The
Fates,” said Eleni. “You told me.”

“They
control the fabric of the world. At least they did. Your mother,
Anja, was one of the Three as well, though that hasn't always been
her name. The other is called
Danai.
Before you were born, the sisters were separated somehow. Magda won't
speak of it, so I don't know how it happened. Without her sisters,
Magda is weak. She has very little power without the other two. But
when they come together, they control the threads that weave the
world together.”

“Threads?”
said Eleni. “The world is not made of threads.”

“Just
a figure of speech,” said Fin. “Not everything means what
it sounds like.”

“I've
noticed that,” said Eleni. “Magda has lost her power?”

“She
can do very little,” said Fin. “Her place in the Fates
was the present. The Now. She sees things as they are.”

“Doesn't
everyone?”

“Not
like Magda,” said Fin. “Your mother saw the paths of the
future. And Danai, the past.”

“My
mother saw the future?” said Eleni. “So she always knew
she would leave me?”

“Perhaps
not,” said Fin. “Maybe she saw what was coming, and the
only way to save you was to leave. There is no way of knowing. Unless
we find Danai. She could tell us where your mother went.”

“And
where is Danai?” said Eleni. “Lost, too?”

Fin
nodded. “Yes. Do you feel less confused? Now that you know?”

“No,”
said Eleni. Her face had become impassive again. Fin wondered if it
was a mask she put on. “Every answer leads to another
question.”

Fin
smiled. “Welcome to the world.” He caught a movement out
of the corner of his eye and saw the wolf slinking under some low
lying branches. She was stalking something. A moment later he heard a
snap and the wet sound of something being pulled apart by the wolf's
strong jaws. Fin swallowed, and saw that Eleni was watching him. “Are
you hungry?” he said.

“No,”
said Eleni, sounding slightly surprised. “Perhaps I am ill.”

“It's
the Reivers,”
said Fin.

“Reivers?”
said Eleni. “I don't understand.”

Fin
shrugged. “You have worshipers now. It's better than food for
our kind.”

“I'd
rather have food,” said Eleni.

“You'll
find you're slightly more powerful as well. It drives most gods. The
reason for the lightning in the mountains.” Fin looked skyward
just as a great blue bolt lit up the sky. “Maybe the reason
your mother is gone. This thirst for power fills us all, whether we
like it or not. Gods seek it out no matter the risk.”

“Do
you seek it?” said Eleni, stepping over a fallen log. Fin saw
she pulled her new dress up so it wouldn't become soiled. He wondered
if she had ever owned anything beautiful before. He guessed not. She
deserved more than a Reiver
camp.

“The
power? No, I don't seek it,” said Fin. “Though sometimes
it finds me anyway.”

“You
are different,” said Eleni. “Aren't you? Different than
the other gods.”

“I
suppose I am,” he said.

“You
don't seem like a god to me,” said Eleni.

“Do
I not?” he said, pushing a veil of hanging moss out of the way.
“What do I seem like then?”

“A
man,” said Eleni. She was looking straight ahead, avoiding his
eye. “Not a man like the ones from my village. But a man like I
always thought there might be in the world.”

“Does
that mean you trust me?” said Fin.

Eleni
furrowed her brow. “I do not trust easily.” She glanced
at him. “But of all those I have met of late, I trust you
the most.”

“That
seems quite sensible,” said Fin.

“If
you ever lie to me,” said Eleni. “I will kill you.”

“I
don't doubt that for a second,” said Fin. “I'll tell you
anything you want. Always.”

“See
that you do,” said Eleni. But Fin was sure he saw her mouth
twitch into a small smile for the second time that night.

The
wolf rejoined them, licking her muzzle. Eleni rested a hand on the
beast's head. The wolf's back came up past her hip. “How did
you find her?” said Fin. “The wolf.”

“I
didn't,” said Eleni. “She found me. When I was a child
she would bring me meat. When they started letting me out at night, I
was very afraid.” Eleni's voice changed. Fin could almost see
her as a mostly-ordinary child afraid of the dark. “There were
dark creatures everywhere then. I didn't want to go, but Cosmin
locked up the box so I couldn't go back in until dawn.”

Fin
swallowed the bile that rose whenever he thought of mortals treating
a goddess this way. He was glad they were dead. If they were not, he
would gladly kill them himself. “They had no right to treat you
that way.”

“They
had reasons to hate me,” said Eleni, her voice quiet. She shook
her head. “But the wolf protected me at first. Until I was
brave enough to kill on my own. She has always been here.”

“You
seem to hold your own now,” said Fin.

“Hold
my own?” said Eleni.

“You're
a good hunter,” said Fin.

“Yes,”
said Eleni. “I am.”

Fin
heard a gurgling nearby and realized they were approaching the
stream. He had lost his bearings in the dark and not realized where
they were heading. All his concentration had been focused on talking
to Eleni and at the same time avoiding tripping on the enormous tree
roots that snaked the ground all through the forest. It seemed to be
Eleni's destination, because she kept walking steadily toward the
sound.

As
they approached, the forest became denser, the air more moist. Still
cold, but as though the air around the creek had absorbed all the
liquid it could from the rushing water. The creek itself, Fin saw as
they arrived on the shore, was gentler than usual, but with cruel,
jagged shards of ice clinging to the banks. He shivered just looking
at them. The wolf walked out to the middle and lapped at the water
that splashed around the base of her neck.

“Will
you hold my dress?” said Eleni. Fin looked and felt his eyes
widen. Eleni had taken off her garment and carefully folded it. She
held it out to him like it was something precious. He imagined it
probably was. Her skin glowed even in the darkness. He tore his eyes
away from her and focused on her face. She was still holding the
dress out to him with a look of irritation on her face.

He
took the garment. “Eleni, you shouldn't take your clothes off
in front of strange men,” he said. He inwardly cursed the
tightness of the trousers Magda had insisted he wear while staying
with the Reivers.
He missed his kilt.

“You're
not that strange,” said Eleni. She turned and stepped into the
water. Steam rose from her skin where it met the icy water. She
didn't seem to notice and moved to stand next to the wolf. “Besides,
you've seen me without clothes before.”

“You
were covered in mud and pig blood,” said Fin.

“Well,
I am covered in grime,” said Eleni. “I didn't want to get
it on my dress.”

Fin
looked up, trying to focus his eyes on the canopy. Black against
black. Without looking at her he said, “You know, you will have
even finer clothes than these when you leave here. These are naught
but scraps sewn together.”

“What
is the point of thinking of such things?” said Eleni. Fin could
hear her splashing. He wanted to look at her, but he was afraid to.
Things were becoming increasingly uncomfortable as it was. “
The
future holds no promises,
”
she said. “
When you hold beauty in your hands, why
tarnish it with what beauty another path might hold?
”