Ember (47 page)

I sucked in a breath and looked around the
room to distract. Ikovos was at the bar talking to an older woman,
before long he came back with two keys.

“Alright. We're on the third floor, room
three-twelve and three-thirteen.” He passed me one of them.

Jaden perked immediately. “What? Why
two?”

“Ah, because Evelyn's here.” He reached for a
bag.

“She's staying alone?”

Ikovos nodded. “Where else?”

“
With us
.” said Jaden, face
incredulous.

Ikovos raised an eyebrow. “I don't think the
Master's would go for that . . . plus Evelyn might not be
comfortable.”

Jaden scoffed. “Do you really think it's safe
for her to be staying in a room by herself?”

“In this place? . . .” Ikovos looked around
flatly “. . .
Yeah.
Sophie stays here all the time
alone.”

Jaden's eyes grazed me. I looked away,
fidgeting with the key.

“This is totally different.”

Ikovos laughed shortly at him. “I'm not even
going to ask how that makes any sense. Now, I'm wet, I’m cold, and
I’m not in the mood to argue about this right now. She's in the
room right across from us. It’s completely safe. She'll be fine.”
He started up the steps with two bags. “If you're so worried about
it, just check it first.” He continued up the stairs as Jaden's
face narrowed.

“
Fine.
” He grabbed the key out of my
hand and picked up the other three bags before heading up.

I widened my eyes once, then followed after
him.

We ran into a few people on our way up, but
by the time we reached the third level things were pretty
abandoned. Our rooms were straight down the hall to the left and
right. Everything was lavishly decorated, yet somehow still
welcoming.

Jaden slid the key into what I guess was my
room, on the right, then walked in. Ikovos, who had dropped his
bags by the other door, followed him.

After a moment, I entered too.

The room was beautiful, very similar to the
main floor below. One excessively pillowed bed in the middle, a
couple sofas, heavily draped windows. The single room off to the
side must have been a bathroom.

“I still think this is a bad idea,” said
Jaden, walking past almost as soon as I'd entered and dropping the
keys into my hand. Ikovos eyed him, then smirked back at me.

“He's a little overprotective.”

I smiled, blushing slightly. “It seems like a
pretty safe place . . . Do you guys always come here?”

“Pretty much—” he nodded “—whenever we're in
Rizenn. We don't visit the towns a lot, so when we do come Thoran
likes us to stay in the nicer places.” He lifted his shoulders. “I
mean, it's not the ritz or anything, but . . .”

We both looked around.

“I like it.”

He smiled. “I'm glad.” Then he looked down at
the watch on his wrist. “Well, I'd better leave so you can get
settled in and stuff.”

I nodded and he walked out. Once he’d clicked
the door softly bind him, I took a breath and wandered about the
room. I'd really never stayed in a place like this, especially not
by myself. It was very exciting! I sort of wanted to test out the
bounciness of the bed . . . but I was still all wet so I dug into
my pack for a change of clothes instead. When I did I accidentally
woke Tanis up. He'd been so quiet all day that I'd almost forgotten
he was in there.

I really was the worst pet owner ever.

He twirled around a couple times on the pack
then lay back down happily.

Hmm . . . must still be too early for him.
He’s gonna need food though, when he wakes up.

I picked up my clothes and, forgoing a
shower, quickly got changed, hanging my wet items up on the towel
rack to dry. Then I walked out into the hall, gently closing the
door shut behind me.

Man, it's so quiet.

I'd decided I would go grab Tanis something
to eat . . . plus I kind of wanted to check out the music.

I made it two feet before looking back at the
boy's door. With how Jaden had been, if I just disappeared without
telling them . . .
I'd better let them know I'm going
down.

I walked back over and tapped on the door
boldly.

Jaden opened it up to my surprise. It looked
like he'd already changed, though I doubted he'd had time to
shower.

“Yeah?” he questioned. He had a towel in his
hand, drying the back of his hair casually.

Ah, I was just gonna let you guys know . . .”
I pointed down. “Tanis needs some food and I wanted to go see the
music, so I'm going to run downstairs for a sec.”

His dark eyes narrowed. Then he moved back
into the room, head turning towards the bathroom. “Vos, Eve wants
to go see the band. Hurry so you can take her.” He walked further,
out of sight.

My face flattened. I guess I
couldn't
go by myself.

This is what I get for asking.

After a second without a response, Jaden came
back into view over towards the bed. “Vos!” he repeated, then bent
over to pick up a shirt.

Ikovos’s voice came from the other room.

“Considering that I still haven't gotten my
shower, why don't you go. You're much more of a music buff
anyways.”

Music buff? Really? . . .
I looked
down at Jaden.

He was still bent over. His eyes flicked up
to me at Ikovos’s instructions, something odd about it . . . but I
just waited.

Then, suddenly, out of absolutely nowhere, he
gulped
.
He
did. Jaden. Not me,
him
. I didn’t
know what to do with myself. A hot flush ran through my head. I had
a sudden desire to run for dear life down the hall, or maybe just
stay still and faint, all indecision either way, how I always
imagined it would feel if I was two-feet from a coiled snake.

He straightened up fully. “Alright. . .
.”

I gulped.
Alright? You’re not supposed to
say alright! I’m a nuisance, why aren’t you telling Ikovos no? Say
no, say no . . .

He moved out of view as my internal rambling
continued, back a second later without the towel.

“You really don't have to come, Jaden . . .
I'm okay by myself.” I moved back substantially to give him
space.

He clicked the door shut, then eyed me
intensely. I tried to hold an affirming face so that he’d be sure I
could handle it. He just started walking.

“Okay. We're going to go through all of the
places that
aren't
safe for you to go alone to.”

I caught up quickly as he began.

“Wondering around an inn for one. Not
safe.”

I kept quiet and un-reactionary as we hit the
stairs.

“Walking down streets alone. Walking to any
of the shops alone.
Anywhere
that you know there'll be a lot
of people.
No
.” His intensity increased. “And don’t just go
roaming around at night, the woods, the city, doesn't matter, don't
do it. . . . Pretty much anything involving either a city or the
dark is a no.”

My eyes narrowed as we reached the bottom
floor.

Then he stopped, looking hard on me and
pointing back up, his head shaking openly. “No staircases.” He
pointed behind me. “No bars.”

My turned to examine it. There were like two
ridiculously harmless-looking, old, men sitting on the stools, and
one bored server behind the counter.

“Where is it that I
can
go alone?” I
asked, looking back at him dubiously.

His eyes narrowed on me . . . then he put his
hands in his pockets, head nodding up. “All over that room
upstairs,
apparently.
”

For a moment I thought I’d scoff at his
absurdity. But instead . . . with his indignant face, and his hands
in his pockets, the wet messy hair. His whole demeanor like an
incredibly adorable, protective, young boy.

I bit my lip, melting just slightly.

His eyes narrowed further— “I'm serious.”
—then he dropped into the main room and started walking.

“Okay,” I agreed, following submissively, all
too happy now to do whatever he asked of me.

He turned his head to eye me once more as we
hit the entrance of the sectioned-off room.

The scene we entered was magnificent. Well,
at least to me. A large space, lavishly decorated, filled with
round tables and oversized couches. People sat dispersed throughout
the room, some talking or eating, others just listening to the
band, which played in the corner to the right. In the far wall
opposite
them
was a large fireplace, at least my height in
size, lighting the whole area brilliantly.

I might have just stood there were I on my
own, but Jaden continued forward towards the band so I followed him
closer.

The tune was bright and lively, the group
itself only made up of a handful of instruments. No lyrics. In
Tiver, we rarely got to hear music, barring traveling performers
playing in one of the cafes or the Fallstone Inn.

Still, I had loved it ever since I could
remember.

We stopped a couple feet back and in the
center . . . It
would
be like Jaden to just march right up
to the front.

The members smiled at us in turn. I listened
to the spirited rhythm happily, body warming with excitement. The
boy beside me seemed quite contented too, if not still a little
sulky about my self-safety ignorance.

Looking at him I suddenly remembered what I'd
almost said in the smith shop. My face flushed heavily. It took me
a moment to get it together.

“So you like music then?” I questioned.

He looked over steadily, but then his eyes
shifted only seconds after hitting mine.

Weird.

“Yeah,” he answered. I watched as he studied
the picks of the guitarist.

“Do you play anything?”

His head shook. “Neh.”

Someone cheered at a table behind us, rather
off beat from the song. I kept my eyes on Jaden, studying him for a
moment before looking back ahead.
He'd answered my question so
casually, but . . .

“Ever wanted to?” I asked, turning to him
bravely. His face appeared solemn for a moment, but then he looked
over smirking.

“I don't think I'd have the time.” He turned
back.

“But if you did?”

His loose, relaxed, posture seemed to tense
up at the question.

I bit my lip.

“Not really.”

My eyes perplexed.
I was sure . . .
I
turned to him to pursue further, but he spoke first.

“If you're going to get food for your . . .
rat thing, we should probably sit down and order. The place seems
pretty busy.”

I looked around the room. There were a lot of
filled tables and only a couple servers in sight. I nodded.
“Okay.”

Then he led us to a medium-sized table near
the fire. A lot of people were finished eating already as we walked
over, hence it was rather noisy. I guess everyone was coming in to
escape the rain.

Once we sat down a server came by to get our
drinks and orders. Jaden got enough for three. When the waiter
left, taking our menus and nodding, I leaned forward a bit. “Is
Ikovos coming down?”

Jaden nodded. “He thought you'd want to
‘debrief’
on the day.” Then he popped a date out of the bowl
on the table into his mouth.

“That was considerate of him . . . ,” I noted
softly with a smile.

Jaden skewered his eyes at me once, then
turned his attention back to perusing the room.

It really was a lovely inn. I tried to
examine the whole scene casually like Jaden was, but I pretty much
just kept getting stuck at the fire. I closed my hand into a ball.
It was weird not having used magic for a whole day. I think I
missed it.

“Hey, Jaden?” I asked. Watching the twisting
flames dance about the fireplace had given me a thought.

His eyes turned to me immediately.

“You know how you can control the fire that
you conjure, like, make it get bigger or smaller, do things you
want?”

He seemed to relax a bit at the subject.
Either he had been nervous of what I might bring up, or talking
about magic just made him comfortable . . . maybe both.

“Yes.”

I nodded once, trying not to get too
flustered by the fact that his attention had remained on me for
over a full ten seconds now.

“So . . .” I considered how to ask this in a
way that made sense “. . . Can you do that with any fire? Or just
your own?”

The corners of his mouth lifted. “You mean
could I make the fireplace behind me go poof?”

I tilted my head, lifting one shoulder in
confirmation.

He slid the candle on the table to the space
between us and. With a glance it went out. “It's harder, but
possible, yeah.”

“What about other artisan's?” I tested,
shifting slightly.

“Not that we've heard of.” He took another
date and I leaned forward.

“But we—” His eyes flicked to me. When we'd
been in the woods and he'd touched my hand . . . the flame had
changed. Same with the fire in the stove this morning.

I knew he knew what I was talking about.

The waiter returned before I could finish.
Why did it feel like our conversations kept getting interrupted at
the worst points? He set the three drinks, a plate of fruit and
bread, then a small box of assorted bits, specially ordered for
Tanis.

As soon as he left, my eyes turned directly
back on Jaden. He attempted to ignore me for a good while before
meeting my gaze with a sigh.

“Has anyone ever told you that you ask too
many questions?”

I narrowed. “Questions are good. They teach
you things.”

“Not if you already know everything.” He
shrugged.

My face flattened. “Well, I'm sorry that I
don't know everything like
you
.”

Giving up on getting an answer, I leaned
forward to take a drink from my straw. As I did I felt the breath
of his smile hit me. Then he gestured his hand.