Chapter 16
Leo didn't have many excuses to go in and out of the castle. Usually he was out in the forge except during meals and after dinner, and then he was expected to stay in the kitchen and the dormitories. Which made it hard to try and find a time to talk with Hazel if she was trying to avoid him, which he seemed to be. Which sucked since his mind was a buzz with questions, that obviously only she could answer.
For a few days she had seemed to be avoiding the kitchen all together, at least during any times that he would be there. Finally, four days after the incident with the bracelet, he saw her slip into the room, though she deliberately sat as far away from him and Frank as possible. During the meal, Leo's eyes kept flicking between her and Frank. As far as he could tell the other boy was unaware of her presence.
As soon as Hazel pushed herself up, Leo did the same. She was closer to the door than him, so she reached the hallway before he was even halfway through the kitchen. Ignoring the looks that he was being given from the other people at the table, Leo simply slipped out into the hall after her.
In front of him he could see Hazel quickly making her way down the hall and away from him. Without even thinking about it Leo hurried after her, not speaking till he was close enough to do it without yelling "Hazel- wait-"
The girl jumped, turning to face him and causing Leo to stumble a bit in order to stop before he ran into her. Once she saw him though, Hazel just shook her head and turned away again "You're not supposed to be here Leo."
"I know- so please talk to me before someone else finds me." Before he could really think about it Leo had reached to grab her wrist "Please wait- I just want to talk to you about the other day- what I saw-"
"You didn't see anything," Hazel snapped, and Leo was surprised by the annoyance in her voice. At least she had stopped to look at him again, and Leo let her wrist drop as she did so, a little surprised by the anger and intensity. "And there is nothing to discuss. I'm sorry for running off, but I forgot I had something to do. Which I also have now, so if you'll excuse me-"
"You ran because you were scared we'd notice the druid marking."
It came out before Leo could really think about it. Fear surged through him for a moment, instinctively he glanced around to make sure no one else was there who could have heard it.
For a moment Hazel was silent, her face unreadable. Then she just shook her head "I don't know what you're talking about, but-"
"Yes you do," Leo insisted, his hand moving towards the sleeve of his shirt "You don't need to worry, I'm not going to tell anyone."
"There is nothing-" She stopped short. Leo watched as her eyes fixed on his wrist, on the black tattoo of spiraling flame located there. The druid symbol for fire. At the time the symbol had been a reminder, and it still was, but given his current job it was even more fitting than before.
There was silence again as Hazel looked at his wrist and Leo looked at her, waiting for her to say or do something. Leo could see her mind spinning, but he didn't move, just stayed where he was, his hand holding up his sleeve to show the tattoo.
Then, without a word, Hazel stepped forward to take Leo's hand, forcing him to drop the sleeve, and pulled him across the hallway. She easily pushed open a door and motioned for Leo to enter, before doing so herself and closing the door behind her. Inside was a rather bare bedroom, a spare servant's room if Leo was correct, but before he could really look around Hazel was speaking "I don't know what you think, but I am not a druid. I'm not going to tell anyone, but you should be more careful before just showing off that tattoo to someone you barely know."
"You may not be a druid, but you have a druid marking," Leo insisted, shaking his head, not understanding why she was being so weird about this "So either you were, or your parents were, because no one just goes out and gets a druid tattoo for the fun of it, let alone a brand."
Different groups gave the markings differently. Given the dangers in recent years some had stopped doing it all together. The fact that the mark on her wrist had clearly been a scar from some kind of burn had just reassured him that it was a druid marking. A spiral tattoo could have just been that, unlikely, but it could have. A brand though? A lot less likely.
"Why do you have one than?" She snapped.
"Because I'm a druid," Leo replied simply, shrugging.
"A druid blacksmith?" Hazel said with slight disbelief, which really Leo couldn't blame her for. It wasn't exactly a common combination.
"My mother died when I was young- after that my story is a little complicated, but it ends with a group of druids taking me in," Leo replied honestly, shrugging, and hoping he might prompt her to be honest if he first filled her in on his life "But I always wanted to be a smith, so when I saw the opportunity I took it. Even if it was risky given everything. Luckily my gloves cover my wrists, and besides most the other smiths wouldn't know what it meant even if they did see it."
For a moment he didn't think she was going to return the favor. There was a long moment of silence, but then Hazel finally spoke "My mother was a druid. She was also insane, always muttering things- crazy things. All the others seemed to think she was some sort of prophet, that her ramblings meant something, but they were wrong. She was just crazy."
"So how did a druid girl become the princess's maid?" Leo asked in confusion, looking over to her curiously and hoping she wouldn't mind him pressing a bit.
"My mother was having a bad day. Raving and spitting out all kinds of crazy things. I couldn't be around her anymore, so I went for a walk. It wasn't an uncommon thing for me to do," Hazel shrugged a bit, not really looking at him as she continued "When I returned the king's men had found the camp- destroyed it. Anyone who wasn't dead was long gone. The king himself was there, a rare but not unheard of occurrence. I was only a kid, and the fighting was over, so he took pity on me. Brought me back with him to be raised by some of the castle staff. The rest just sort of happened."
"So they know?" Leo asked. He didn't press about her mother or what had happened. His curiosity was still piqued, about what her mother had said, but it was clear Hazel hadn't wanted to talk about it so he left it alone.
"Many of the people in the castle, but I still try to keep it to myself- especially now that we're here. The only one here who knows is the princess," Hazeld replied, shrugging a bit, before looking back at him curiously "You?"
"Jason- the prince's guard. He's a really good friend of mine. No one else," Leo replied honestly. It wasn't exactly something that you showed off, especially in a castle. There was no telling who it would get back to, and he wasn't about to risk losing his job, or worse. It had been a hard enough job for him to get.
"Obviously I won't tell anyone," Hazel assured, giving him a small smile.
"Thank you," Leo replied, nodding a bit, before looking at her curiously again "The one thing I don't understand, why didn't you just give me your other wrist?"
"The angle we were standing at- the hand you held out, it would have been really awkward, and would have immediately drawn attention to the fact that something was wrong," Hazel replied, shrugging a bit, before glancing towards the door "I should go."
"Me too," Leo admitted, glancing around before looking back at her and smiling slightly "I really shouldn't be in here at all. Generally speaking the castle is off limits, but I didn't know how else to speak with you. Let you know you don't have to be avoiding me."
"I appreciate that," Hazel smiled at him in return for a moment, before turning to head for the door. Before she could reach it however, Leo spoke again.
"And I don't think Frank saw it at all. And I don't know him all that well, but even if he did, I don't think he would care."
Why did he say that? It was true, but why would he say it? Especially about Frank. Especially to her.
"I- I appreciate that," Hazel said a little awkwardly, looking back to give him one last smile, before slipping out the door. Leaving Leo to wonder if the comment about Frank would prove to be a mistake.
