The Steele Wolf (The Iron Butterfly) (16 page)

 
Joss cleared his throat. “Um, it’s that way.” He pointed left across the road in the other direction than. Kael froze midstep and waited ten whole seconds before turning his horse around and charging in the other direction, showing the bushes and twigs no mercy as he stomped them to pieces.

 
Hemi, the ever-quiet one, just gave me a look, shrugged his large shoulders and followed after Kael into the woods. Joss walked up to me, irritated. “What’s his problem? He’s been acting weird since we left the Ioden Valley.”

 
I hadn’t told Joss about Kael’s unfortunate bond, and how much Kael resented being tied to me. But they were both irritating me this trip. They’d been snapping and challenging each other’s authority. I was so glad that my father sent my clansmen Hemi with us. His solid, quiet presence was a relief and I would oftentimes sit with him and let the peacefulness that surrounded him calm my nerves.

 
“What’s your problem, Joss? You keep goading him on! He is the one that’s risking his neck to help find your sister. I thought you would be pleased to have a SwordBrother on our side.” I needed to remind Joss how important Kael was to our quest. Having Kael was like having an extra ten fighting men.

“I am pleased to have a SwordBrother helping me locate my sister.” He said loudly, before dropping his voice to vent under his breath. “I just wish it were a different SwordBrother.”

 
“And what is the likelihood of that ever happening? How many SwordBrothers do you know?” I challenged Joss playfully as I dismounted Faraway in preparing to lead him down the same path Kael went.

 
“Well, let’s see.” Joss pondered moment. “Excluding Kael, that would be… none.” He smiled at me and reached for my hand and placed a kiss upon it, rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb where he had just kissed it. My heart soared at the gesture and beat even louder when Joss leaned in to follow his peck on my hand with a full kiss. I wanted to prolong the kiss but a crack of thunder made us jump and grab our horses and start to head towards camp. I went to move away but Joss held firmly onto my hand and that’s how we approached the shelter.

 
Kael was unsaddling the horses and moving them into the stable that was built into the side of the small but cozy shelter. It looked like an old way station that hadn’t been used in a while. Kael covered his horse with a blanket and stepped out of the stable and froze as he stared at our hands clasped together. He paused for three heartbeats, glancing between Joss and me before continuing on into the shelter, the door slamming loudly behind him.

My cheeks burned in embarrassment even though I knew that Kael knew that Joss and I had feelings for each other. It was obvious that Kael disapproved of Joss and I being together. And so did my father, because he was a Denai. Maybe it was because I felt like Kael was the eyes and ears of my father now. The two had become fast friends, whereas I had thought that my father would be angry towards Kael for entering the Kragh Aru tournament and happy that Joss had saved me from going over the waterfall. But it was the opposite. My father liked and even respected Kael and had an intense and ingrained dislike of Joss. So maybe I was feeling guilty that I was letting myself start to have feelings for a Denai against my father’s wishes.

Sighing, I dropped Joss’ hand and followed him into the stable to get Faraway settled against the storm.

Are you going to be okay with the storm coming?
I mentally asked my horse.

Of course. I’m well sheltered and have fine company,
he snickered good-naturedly.

My horse happened to be very vain and found himself in the company of two mares on this trip. So he would pride himself on being the strong, courageous stallion if they were frightened.

Why did I even bother asking?
I thought at him sarcastically as I ran my fingers through his mane pressing my forehead against his.

Because you care for me and worry about me. It’s all right, I worry about you too.

I know.
Turning away from Faraway, I saw Joss watching me quietly. I had told him that my horse and I could speak to each other and it never fazed him; he was very observant and never interrupted when he saw me withdraw and become still, a sign, he said of when I was speaking to Faraway.

“You ready to go in?” he asked politely.

“No.” I walked over to Joss and wrapped my arms around him and leaned my head into his chest. He smelled wonderful, of earth, spice and faint horse. “Joss, I’m scared. I want to help find your sister but I’m terrified.”

“Thalia, you’re only human. I expect you to be scared. I would be worried about you if you weren’t. After all, you have a reason to be scared.” He hugged me tighter and kissed the top of my head. Another crack of thunder hit and we both jumped as a torrential downpour started. Even though the stable was next to the way station shelter, we still had to run outside to get to the front door. It didn’t matter, a few seconds in the rain and our clothes were soaked clean through.

Entering the one-room way station, I realized what my delay in coming inside cost me. There was no place to change. Joss and I took off our soaking boots and placed them by the fire. He stripped off his wet shirt and hung it to dry. My eyes drew to his abs and I felt myself blush and look away, only to find Kael’s stormy blue eyes and my blush deepened. Refusing to take off any clothes, I just scooted closer to the fire and did my best to wring them out, pulling the wet material away from my body.

Hemi handed me a plate of food and I did my best to eat it. But every mouthful felt like it was about to make a hasty exodus. It had been this way our whole journey. Every time I ate, I felt sick and I wasn’t sleeping. I could feel the concerned looks from Hemi as he watched me eat. I tried, but I couldn’t keep it down. Sighing, I pushed my plate dejectedly away and stared at the fire until my eyes drew heavy. Moments later I felt myself being lifted off the ground by strong arms and laid gently on the one of the two bunks in the room. My eyes fluttered open briefly to make out the red hair and trimmed beard of Hemi. Covering me with a blanket, he turned. I could hear a heated whispered debate going on between him and Kael.

“This is not protecting her!” he argued. “You must be blind if you haven’t noticed. She is not eating, not sleeping and is losing weight. She weighs nothing more than a small child now. She’s having nightmares.
 
She is obviously terrified.”

“I’m not blind. I’ve seen it before. In even the bravest of warriors.
 
It is to be expected. She knows what we are going up against.”

 
“She’s just a child. I should turn around and take her back to our valley, back to her father, since you seem to be lax in your duty that you were charged with. It would be the right thing to do.”

I couldn’t hear Kael’s quiet answer even though I strained to hear it against the rumble of thunder. When the thunder faded, they had obviously quit talking and had gone to make up their beds. The storm sounded like it was about to get worse.

***

A crack of thunder made me jump and I felt a pulse of lighting soar painfully through my body. It was the iron butterfly, and I was once again trapped within the machine. The iron bands wrapped around me and pierced the different pressure points along my arms and body. The Raven peered at me closely through the silver mask, his eyes black and sinister. He raised his hands and called down another bolt of lightning and sent its currents through the bands and I jerked upright as the spasm wracked painfully through my body. Tears of pain poured uncontrollably down my face and I started to sob.

But my sobs were muffled as I awoke to strong arms holding me and my face buried into a masculine chest. The thunder from the storm made me sob and shiver uncontrollably in terror. Strong hands held me and comforted me as I tried to get a hold of my fear. The fire had gone out and darkness enclosed the shelter.

A low voice whispered comfort to me “Shhh, Thalia. You’re okay; it’s just a dream. It can’t hurt you anymore.” Another crack of thunder and my body jerked in memory of the pain; the sound of thunder would forevermore be linked to torture. The whispered voice continued to hold me throughout the storm, never letting up, never releasing me. I was safe; the voice kept the terror away as I snuggled into the deep chest and fell asleep, barely realizing that the scent was not the familiar scent of earth and spice
 
but of leather and musk. It was the first time in weeks I was able to sleep through the night without fear of being plagued by my real life nightmares.

***

The next morning I awoke alone, cold and a little disoriented. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that I was the only one left in the way station. Sounds from outside attested to the whereabouts of Hemi, Joss and Kael. I was glad for the moment’s reprieve as I had the privacy to get dressed and ponder over last night. I was originally under the assumption that it was Joss comforting me during the storm, but now that I’m awake I’m not so sure.

Rushing to change into fresh clothes, I packed up and ran outside to find Joss who was clearing the path to the way station of broken tree limbs. It was an unmentioned code to users to leave the station as you found it. Clearing the path of debris and restocking the wood was expected.

I snuck up behind Joss and sat on a stump and waited until he saw me before speaking. “That was quite a storm last night, wasn’t it?” I quipped more cheerfully than I actually felt.

 
Joss turned and grinned at me. “I love thunderstorms! It always reminds me of home. You will see why shortly.”

I pasted a fake smile on my face as I asked him as carelessly as I could, “So how did you sleep?”

 
“Like a baby; nothing could wake me during a thunderstorm. How about you? Did you sleep okay?” He asked, handing me a long branch to haul to the side of the path without sparing me a second glance.

 
My smile wilted in confirmation that Joss was definitely not the one who chased away the terror last night. Otherwise he wouldn’t be acting so carefree this morning. “Um, fine,” was all I was able to spit out, as my stomach churned with unanswered questions. I flung the branch to the side of the road and went to find Faraway so we could get on the road and leave this way station as far behind as possible.

I had no sooner stepped into the stable when I felt Kael’s presence behind me. Turning to him, I looked at him hard with question in my eyes. His blues eyes were calm this morning, with no hint of hardness; the dark shadow that I could sometimes see following him when he was angry was gone. I couldn’t figure him out. It was as if he was hiding behind a mask. One moment he was hard, uncaring and acted like he hated me, while the next, he would be polite, soft-spoken and nice. He confused my senses.
 
I was about to open my mouth and ask him about last night but I saw in his eyes a slight fear as if he knew what I was going to say. He spoke first.

“I’ve brought you breakfast. We are eating a cold meal today so that we can be on the road.” Kael handed me biscuits and a slice of jerky.

My stomach quelled at the thought of food and I took it without words and put it in Faraway’s saddlebag.

“No, Thalia. You will eat it now.” He ordered firmly. I whirled on him, my mouth open wide in shock.

“I’ll eat it later, when I’m hungry.” I stated, refusing to back down. Too late, I could see the darkness start to form around him. He was getting angry.

“No, I’m going to watch you eat every bite, or I’m turning you around and marching you straight back to your father.” Gone was the kindness I saw earlier and back was the stubborn hardheaded SwordBrother I was used to. Kael was the only other person I knew that could be as stubborn as my father. “Hemi was right to take me to task. I promised your father I would look after you and I’m doing a poor job. You are wasting away. I will not have you die on the road because you can’t take care of yourself and eat properly.”

“I’m taking care of myself—“ I shot out but Kael interrupted me again.

“No, you’re not; I’ve noticed it and let it go on long enough. I should have said something sooner. Remember, it’s my life on the line if I don’t bring you back safe. I will not be lax in my duty again! So you will eat now or I’m taking you home!” He roared at me and I felt chastised.

Gone were any lingering feelings of gratitude I may have held toward Kael as they were replaced by anger and resentment. He was only being nice to me out of duty, out of preservation of his own life; how typical, how selfish, how just like Kael. Flipping open Faraway’s pouch, I grabbed the jerky and bit a hunk off of it. I chewed furiously on the meat, but the sweet and salty juices hit my empty stomach and I paled and headed for the nearest unoccupied stall and spit it up. I had been stupid. I should have started with the biscuit, something gentler on my queasy stomach.

“Here, chew on of this first.” Kael gently touched my elbow and handed me a small green leaf. “It will calm your nerves and stomach. I think that’s what making it hard for you to eat; your nerves.”

I took the leaf and chewed on it and felt a moment of refreshment as a mellow mint flavor enveloped my mouth. I sucked on the leaf as long as I could and then spit it out. I took another bite of the jerky and sure enough it stayed down. Kael watched me like a hawk, as he made sure I ate every bite, before handing me a cup of water. When he was finally satisfied he turned and left.