Forged in Fire (The Forged Chronicles Book 3) (7 page)

He laughed. “No. It is something I enjoy.”

“I can’t claim the same.”

“No?”

“I’m more of the salad or sandwich variety.”

“Maybe I can teach you if we meet again under different circumstances.”

“Won’t you be back in your home and married by then? By the way, you never told me where that home is.”

“It won’t be for many more years, and I can’t tell you. It isn’t that easy.”

“Let me guess, you go through a gate?”

He shook his head. “No gate.”

“Oh… not a hole, right?”

“A hole?”

“I got here the last time through a hole in the ground.”

“And how did you end up in that hole?”

“Corpses pulled me down.”

He leaned forward on his elbows. “You were not kidding about the major trouble.”

“No. I wasn’t.”

“Does this have to do with the new gate?”

“New gate?”

“Yes. The one being built… I have heard whispers of it.”

“Where does this new gate lead?”

“To the lost world.” He took a drink from his cup.

“Then yes. Maybe I do know something about it.”

“
I
can sleep on a chair
, or even the floor.” I eyed Elron’s bed warily.

“Nonsense. You are my guest. I will sleep in the other room. I only need a few hours of rest.”

“But you can have that rest in your bed.”

“I could never rest knowing my guest was less comfortable.”

I considered arguing further, but I was exhausted. Plus, the sooner he slept, the sooner he’d be ready to take me to Belgard.

“Fine, if you insist.”

“I do insist.” He nodded toward me. “Sleep well and please let me know if you need anything.”

I waited until he left the room to try out the bed. It was plush and far more comfortable than I expected.I fought off sleep for as long as I could. I thought about anything and everything that would keep me awake, but even my worries weren’t enough to stop me from slipping into a fitful sleep.

“Trust him.”
The voice was back.

Trust who?
I didn’t bother speaking out loud. I knew this was all in my head. That knowledge was at once reassuring and frightening.

The Elf. He means well.

I assumed that much. At least I hoped so.

Trust him. Trust him with everything.

What everything?

Everything.

Could you be more vague?

The voice laughed
. “Just like your mother.”

“Uh?”

“You have not figured out who I am yet?”

“Should I have?”
I was growing tired of people assuming I knew things I didn’t.

“Maybe not. You will soon.”

“Soon as in today?”

I got no response. I sighed. Of course not. No one ever wanted to answer my questions. I wasn’t sure why I bothered asking them at all.

I opened my eyes and stared into the darkness. I missed James. I missed his touch, and I missed our connection. I missed how safe he always made me feel no matter where we were. But then the image of him strangling Gregor flashed through my mind. That wasn’t my James. That was Blake. There had to be a way to separate the two, and I was relying on Charlotte to help me. Of course Charlotte might refuse to help. According to James she’d refused him, but maybe there was a way to convince her.

I cleared my head of thoughts about James and Charlotte, and instead I thought of the voice. He knew my mother, and he was implying something I wasn’t sure I could handle.

Why would I have been hearing my father’s voice in my head? The possibility that he was from Energo was becoming more and more likely, but I didn’t want to accept it. It was easier to handle being in a different world when I was only a stranger there. It was so much harder knowing I was somehow part of it. But then again I was part of this mess no matter what. James was talking about hurting my world. Because even if my father was of Energo, I was from the lost world, and I would have to protect it.

I dragged myself out of bed. I changed back into my dirty clothes. I had only accepted borrowed ones from Elron to be polite since I was sleeping in his bed, but I felt far more comfortable in my own. Although those were borrowed from Samantha. Everything about my current situation felt off.

I got dressed and headed outside to use the bathroom. Once again I missed modern plumbing.

I’d just finished up when I heard Elron calling me. “Ainsley?”

“I’m out here.” I headed through the darkness back toward the house.

“What are you doing outside alone?”

“Using the bathroom.” I went with blunt.

“You should have woken me.”

“I figured that wasn’t something you needed to be part of.”

“It is unsafe for you alone out here.”

“I needed to go pretty bad.”

“Next time wake me.” His long hair was wild, and I could tell he’d just awoken from sleep.

“Hopefully there won’t be a next time. Hopefully I will be in Belgard by tonight.”

“Did you sleep?” He blinked a few times.

“A little. You?”

“Enough.” He shrugged.

“I had a vision,” I blurted out.

“Me too.” He gestured for me to come back inside.

I followed. “What was yours of?”

“A man I never met.”

“Same here. Although mine was just a voice. I don’t get the pictures. Just the voices.”

“I wonder if it was the same man.” Elron appeared pensive.

“This voice told me to trust you.”

“Voices that come to you are usually worth listening to.”

“Not always.” I thought of Gregor and the vision I had of him.

“What do you mean?”

“I had a vision of someone who tried to kill me. Trusting him wasn’t a good thing.” Although trusting was a weighted word. In the end it hadn’t been my choice to return to Energo. Blake had taken it into his own hands.

“Did you really trust him and follow him?” Elron seemed to read my thoughts.

“Not exactly. I went from that hole toward him.” I tied my hair up using the hair tie I thankfully had around my wrist.

“The hole with the corpses?”

“Yes. I know how crazy that all sounds.” It still sounded crazy to me, and I lived it.

“Not the craziest thing I have ever heard.”

“But what was your vision?”

“A man reaching out from the realm of the dead urging me to protect you.”

“From the realm of the dead?” I let the words sink in.

“Yes. The realm beyond our living world.”

“Uh, never heard of that one.”

“There is a lot for you to learn.”

“I suppose I am the girl he wanted you to protect?”

“It would seem that way. Unless I am about to meet another girl in need of rescuing.”

“Let’s hope you don’t. I’m enough to worry about.” I hated being a burden on anyone, but it wasn’t by choice. Eventually I’d get out of this mess, and maybe I’d be able to return the favor to others.

“Not a worry.” His expression softened. “I hope I am not making you feel like a burden.”

“You were worried. You didn’t want me outside alone to use the bathroom.”

“I do not mind worrying. I mind what you are running from.” He looked through the window into the darkness.

“Like I said. A mess.”

“You are important.” He watched me with such intensity I felt uncomfortable.

I looked away. “Uh, not really.”

“You are. Far more important than you even know.”

“Glad you think so.”

“It is more than my thinking so. It is the truth.”

“Does that mean you are more inclined to take me to Belgard?” I got right to the point. Whatever Elron thought of me didn’t matter beyond that.

“I was already going to… but back to your vision. The voice was different? Not the one who tried to kill you?”

“No. This one was…” I hesitated, debating whether to say out loud what I could barely admit to myself.

Elron waited patiently. Far more patiently than I would have been.

I opened my mouth to speak and then closed it.

Elron gestured for me to speak.

I nodded. “I think it’s my dad.”

“The one you never met?”

“Yes. He made it sound that way.” What else could he have meant about me figuring it out? In another context I would have thought the idea was crazy, but I was far past that point now.

“And do you trust him?” There was nothing leading about Elron’s question.

“He was right about the haze.”

“The haze?” Elron raised an eyebrow.

“Oh right. I haven’t told you that part yet.”

“It seems you have a lot to tell me.”

“You did say it was a long ride, didn’t you?”

He smiled. “Yes, I did.”

“Then I can tell you everything on the way.” Anything to keep us moving. We’d wasted enough time already.

“What if what you have to tell me changes whether I should take you there?”

I shrugged. “Then I probably shouldn’t tell you.”

He shook his head. “You should.”

“Funny how you have that opinion.”

“I like to help.”

“Why?”

“Because it gives me a purpose.” He twisted a silver ring around on his finger.

“I thought you had a job? You are a watcher or something like that.”

“I am.” He let go of the ring and dropped his hands to the side.

“Then why do you need another purpose?”

“A job is different than a purpose.”

“Not always.”

“Always.” He walked out of the room.

“Where are you going?” I still didn’t know why I trusted this guy.

“To get ready.”

“What do you need to get ready?” I squinted to see into the dark room he disappeared into.

“You ask a lot of questions.”

“I like to be prepared.”

“Is that why you were out in the woods after dark with no provisions?” He returned with a satchel over his shoulder.

“Ok. You have a point. But that was out of my control.”

“Which brings us back to the story you are supposed to be telling me.”

“Why do you care so much?” I followed him into the small kitchen where we’d eaten. “It’s not your problem.”

“Along that reasoning I shouldn’t be helping you at all.” He opened a cabinet and pulled out some more bread. “But I am.”

“Which begs the question of why.”

He put the bread and some other cloth wrapped item in the satchel. “Because I like to help those in need.”

“Really?” I narrowed my eyes.

“What other reason would I have?”

“I don’t know.” But I did know people always had ulterior motives.

“I realize you are an attractive enough young woman, but that is not why I am helping.”

“Attractive enough?” I raised an eyebrow. That had not been my line of thinking.

“Attractive. But that is not the point.”

“Are you hoping for a reward?” I was being unnecessarily nosy, but before I got on a horse with this guy again, I wanted to understand his reasoning to help me.

“The only reward I am hoping for is answers.”

“Answers to what?” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“To what you were doing in the woods. I know that story is important. I only have visions of important things.”

He was right. It was important. I wasn’t narcissistic enough to think that saving me was, but if saving me meant stopping whatever Blake had planned, then yes. Finding me was very important.

He pulled out a few other canisters.

I pointed to the containers in his hands. “Do you think you’ll be gone that long?” I hoped not. I wasn’t sure how long I could be away from James—or how long we had until he did something that could never be turned back.

“It pays to be prepared. I thought you agreed.”

“I do…” I tried to quell my impatience.

“Then help me.”

“I have no clue where anything is in your kitchen.”

“I am sure you can figure it out.” He turned his back to me.

There is something strange about rifling through someone else’s cabinets for supplies. It feels almost as if you are looting even when the aforementioned person is the one egging you on.

I found a couple of empty canteens. I figured those might be helpful. Elron accepted them with a smile. “I think that should be sufficient. If we need to we can to find more sustenance along the way.”

“Great.”

“But I do need to ask you something first.” His face became serious.

“Ok.” I braced myself for what kind of question would be coming.

“Are you eating for two?” His face reddened.

It took a moment for his words to sink in. “Uh. No. Not that I’m aware of.” Considering what was going on with James, that wouldn’t be a good thing. Elron had really been stepping out on a limb with that one.

“So the other vision I had of a baby was separate from you?”

“Uh, yeah.” I assumed any vision he saw had to do with Charlotte. Or I guess there had to be countless other women who were pregnant in Energo.

“Ok. I thought it was, but I wanted to make sure.”

“What would that have changed?”

“It would have meant we needed to be even more careful, and that I should not offer you spirits.”

“Were you planning to offer me spirits?” Not that I wanted to drink anything. Adding anything else into the haze in my brain would have been a bad idea.

“I packed some.” He tapped the satchel over his shoulders. “Shall we go?”

“Yes.” We had no time to waste.

We walked back outside and over to where his horse waited in the stable. He brought the horse out and helped me on. For someone who had been uncomfortable around horses a week before, I was getting used to them now.

He got on. “I hope you will be warm enough.”

“I will be fine.” I wasn’t nearly as cold as I should have been. Maybe there was some truth to what Gregor and James were talking about. My time in the frozen lake had done something to me, I just didn’t know what exactly. The lack of knowledge scared me.

Without another word exchanged, we rode off into the darkness. I assumed the sun would be up soon, but I didn’t even know what time it was. I was so thrown off it wasn’t funny, but at least the haze was nearly gone. But the ache was back. I wanted James, and I knew the feeling would only get worse.

“You can start in anytime.” Elron broke the silence.

“Start in on what?”

He sped the horse up. “The story.”

“Oh, yeah, that.”

Elron laughed. “Come on now, it cannot be that difficult of a story to tell.”

“I’m not even sure where to start.”

“Start at the beginning.”

“The beginning?” I thought about his words. Technically the beginning was finding James in my bed. Or maybe it started earlier than that. Maybe it started with the call from professor Morgan to housesit for his friend. When I’d accepted that offer I’d unwittingly changed my life completely and irrevocably.