Secrets of Arkana Fortress (40 page)

              Carlo released his tight grip and spat into the dust. ‘Who? Who’s who?’

              ‘Him… there; over there.’ She had suddenly lost the power of coherent speech. ‘Back in Donnol – those two rescued me from the prison.’

              ‘You mean the mercenaries?’ asked Carlo, following her fixated stares.

              ‘Yeah… them two. What’re they doing here?’

              ‘I don’t bloody know, do I?’

              Evie gave Carlo a frown. ‘It was a rhetorical question.’ She looked back at them. They were making their way toward the dock. ‘Let’s go after them,’ she remarked enthusiastically, a flicker of some lost hope in her young voice.

              Carlo grabbed her arm and held her back. ‘You can’t just go bounding up to them shouting, ‘
Hi, remember me? The one you saved back in Donnol from the bad guys?
’

              Evie grunted and flicked her arm free. ‘They might know something about my uncle.’

              Before he had a chance to intervene Evie was already halfway down the street, kicking up dust behind her urgent feet.

              ‘Oh for fu…’ He charged out after her.

***

              She had made the gap between herself and the mercenaries a lot smaller with her speedy pace. She skidded around a corner and saw them not far in front. She decided against shouting after them and continued to sprint onwards.

              She was just a few seconds behind them before she suddenly went flying through the air. Out of a small side alley a hand cart had emerged too quickly for her to avoid; she went barrelling into and over it, landing hard on her back as boxes fell around her. A short woman with slender eyes and blonde hair was cursing in some foreign tongue. She caught one word she recognised, and it wasn’t one she had wanted to hear being flung at her.

              She closed her eyes, rubbing her head before rolling onto one side and back again. The impact of the floor had severely winded her, and she could have sworn there was a cracked rib somewhere. Her eyes eased themselves open and she saw the blurred outline of a feline standing over her.

              ‘It’s the girl that was arguing with the seller a moment ago,’ he said with a bass purr.

              A larger image shadowed over her, the feeling of hot, heavy breath blasting against her pale skin. ‘She’s a clumsy one indeed,’ a low, gruff female voice said.

              ‘Are you OK?’ asked the feline, holding out a paw.

              Evie batted it away and groaned. ‘My back hurts.’

              ‘No surprise.’

              Through the blur she saw the red hair again. She tried to sit up, but felt her head go woozy. What did not help was the little woman who was still raging as she collected her stuff up from the floor.

              ‘I’ll calm her down,’ the giant Bullwark said before stomping over.

              ‘Shit a brick. Dad, do you recognise her?’ the red-headed girl asked in a heavy breath.

              Kelken walked over and swore. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ His voice was anything but soothing; it was scornfully annoyed.

              Evie rubbed her eyes gently and managed to sit up, leaning against the cart. ‘I could ask you the same question.’

              ‘None of your business,’ Kelken replied bluntly.

              ‘Then why should I tell you why I’m here then?’

              He sighed and held out his hand for her to grab. ‘To be honest I couldn’t give a rat’s ass what you’re doing here. Just get up and be on your way.’

              He pulled her up to her feet.

              The cart had been loaded up once again and the little woman continued on her way up the street. The Bullwark stepped back over to them and grunted. ‘Rare to see a Yokiton outside of Yokitos.’

              ‘Evie! What the fuck, girl?’ shouted Carlo as he skidded up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. ‘You OK? I saw the tumble you took from all the way up the road.’

              ‘I’m fine, thanks,’ she said, still rubbing her head.

              Kelken patted Breena on her slender shoulder and nodded at Franlet. ‘Right, let’s go.’

              As they restarted their journey to the dock Evie darted forward, her head still throbbing, and clung onto Kelken’s cloak. He tugged at it, turning as he did so, but found that she was as determined as a clingy child.

              ‘Will you let go of me, girl?’ he snapped before succeeding in the tug of war.

              ‘Where’re you going?’ she urged in a high voice.

              ‘None o’ your business, now get lost… we don’t need extra baggage.’

              She shrivelled up her nose and grumbled. ‘Extra baggage? Who the hell you calling extra baggage?’

              Kelken huffed and dismissed her with a swing of his hand. ‘I’m not gonna fucking argue with you, Miss Ranliss.’

              ‘Oh, so you remember my name… that’s nice of you,’ she remarked sarcastically, her hands landing on her hips in a frump. ‘One thing you should know about me is that I don’t give up so easily when I have my mind set on something.’

              ‘I think you should know one thing about me too.’ Kelken leaned in towards her face, his ale breath blanketing her nose. ‘I don’t take kindly to haughty little trouble makers like you acting like they’re bigger than they actually are.’

              She tried not to inhale the mixture of freshly drunken ale and hostility, instead looking into his eyes and seeing nothing but a flickering sincerity. Her mind turned into something more serene and thoughtful as she continued the staring contest. ‘Even back in Donnol I could tell you weren’t a nasty man.’ She averted her gaze to Breena who was restringing one end of her bow. ‘You care about her. Who is she? Your lover?’

              Breena lifted her head with a nauseated expression, followed quickly by an entire shudder of her body. ‘Oh bloody hell, no. Heavens forbid. He’s my dad.’

              Evie blushed a bit. ‘Well, whatever.’ She looked from side to side. ‘Erm… look – I need to get back to Donnol and find out about my uncle. I haven’t heard from him since he sent me here the other week. He would’ve contacted us by now unless something had gone very wrong.’

              ‘What makes you think we’re heading that way?’ Kelken asked, a little deflated.

              ‘Nothing but a gut feeling.’ Evie shifted her weight to her other leg. ‘You’re heading north aren’t you?’

              ‘To Cryldis.’

              ‘Then to Donnol?’ Evie asked hopefully, a small smile creeping across her face.

              Kelken looked at Breena. ‘We’re going to be avoiding that place as much as possible.’

              ‘So you
are
going up there.’

              There was a silence in the group, only the sounds of the surrounding traders shouting about their wares, dock workers grunting and moaning about the heavy labour, whores chatting to the passers-by asking if they wanted a good time – it was all so stereotypically seedy for this port town.

              ‘Fine, you and your friend can come with us; just don’t get out of line otherwise you’re both going overboard.’ Kelken signalled to the rest of them to carry on.

              Half way down the street Breena tugged at her father’s sleeve and leaned over to his ear. ‘You’re a big softie really aren’t you?’ She smiled.

              Kelken grumbled. ‘Any more talk like that and you’re going in the water as well.’

Chapter 28

The boat creaked as it turned through the still ocean water, parting it like a prophet. The boat was only a small skipper vessel, but was nonetheless sturdier than many other models. For an experienced craft that had seen a lot of service on the waters it was in excellent condition both inside and out.

              Evie prowled the lower deck, taking in the newly replaced wooden wall panels and shag carpeted flooring. She guessed that the ship had been renovated and used as a private transport craft – it was certainly much more posh than she had expected. There were about half a dozen guest quarters that were done up with soft bed sheets, small bathrooms, viewing windows, and random paintings from all different cultures that were obviously mass produced copies.

              She ran her long fingers along the smooth walls, feeling the vibrations as the ship moved along. She was relieved that she and Carlo had been allowed to tag along with Kelken and the others; she could finally feel as if she was going somewhere instead of sitting around doing nothing but arguing with market traders over the price of coconuts – that still irked her when she thought about it.

              She popped her head into an open doorway, expecting an empty room, but instead found Breena perched on the end of her bed unwinding her bow string from around her outstretched hand, the body of the bow resting over her knees. Evie stood, leaning on the doorframe, watching the intense concentration on Breena’s face. Her eyes could not help but wander to the reptilian scales that ran from the side of her neck and downwards.

              ‘You know you’re not very subtle, Evie,’ Breena commented without looking up.

              Evie was startled, but stood upright in the middle of the doorway. ‘I didn’t know you could hear me.’

              Breena chuckled softly. ‘I couldn’t hear you, I’ll give you that much.’ She looked up. ‘I could taste you.’

              ‘Y’what?’

              ‘I have this tongue for a reason, Evie,’ Breena said before sticking it out for Evie to see in all its glory.

              The slight fork at the end was peculiar, but being a half-breed meant anything physically different could be considered freaky. ‘I’m sorry,’ Evie apologised.

              ‘What for?’

              ‘I’ve interrupted what you’re doing with your bow.’

              Breena shook her head and laughed. ‘If you want to stay then be my guest. We women can do two things at once don’t forget.’

              Evie smiled and took a few small steps into the room.

              ‘Chair over there.’ Breena pointed to a small stool over by the window.

              ‘Something wrong with your bow?’ she asked as she pulled the seat over to the bedside.

              ‘I have to re-string it every so often,’ Breena explained, flexing the string out. ‘The string becomes loose after so much use so I have to re-do it every six months or so, dependent on how much I’ve used it.’

              ‘I bet you use it a lot, huh? In your line of work?’

              Breena nodded.

              ‘It’s a pretty bow. Where’d you get it?’ Evie leaned on her knees and gazed at the ornate limbs of the bow, admiring the winged ends.

              ‘It was given to me by my archery instructor – something he was given as payment for a job he once did, I think.’

              ‘Where were you trained? Are you any good?’

              There was a slightly risen eyebrow on Breena’s face, which was followed by a creased smile. ‘I’m good enough to survive, as well as protect my father. We were both trained in Traseken; dad was in the military.’

              ‘What about your mother? What does she do?’

              There was a pause in Breena’s body and she fell momentarily distant. Evie backed her head away and felt the air change suddenly. ‘I’m sorry.’

              ‘No, it’s OK. My mother went… missing when I was a little girl.’ She resumed her work on the bowstring.

              ‘Never found her?’

              Breena shook her head. ‘My dad went to search for her, but nothing, no.’

              ‘Oh.’ Evie had no clue what to say. She had never known her own parents, only her uncle; he was her father in her mind. ‘Do you… have a good relationship with your dad?’

              With a small sigh Breena stopped what she was doing again. ‘Here ‘n’ there, I suppose.’

              ‘I always assumed a fairly good one… seeing as you two work together. You have… oh what’s the word?’ Ah… fluidity.’ She clicked her fingers in triumph.

              Breena stared at her and laughed. ‘I think that’s mainly because of all the years we’ve spent roaming around Salarias. Ever since I was a teenager it’s been like that though.’ She lowered her head and looked back to her bow. ‘Is that a life for a child who lost her mother?’

              Evie mentally gaped, seemingly lost for words. Here she was sat next to a woman she barely knew, listening to her reveal some of her deepest annoyances and feelings about her father to someone she barely knew herself. She knew she was not the most warm-hearted of people, especially to the men, and she didn’t have many female friends back in Donnol either. She had had no other female acquaintance to confide in. Orlanna had tried to build a bridge of trust with her throughout the years, but there had always been something Evie had despised about the woman; something she could never put her finger on.