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Love is like having a fever. . . When a man is in love, he endures
more than at other times; he submits to everything.
~Friedrich Nietzche
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Managing to nearly fall into his clothes, Briar had little time to actually brush his hair and bathe (not that he really wanted to anyway.) Cursing as he pulled on his heavy, leather boots, he heard a heavy knock on his door.
"Oh, dammit. . . Who is it?" He managed to yell through clenched teeth, finding his leather boot being more stubborn than he wished it to be.
"Pahan, Briar, you're late."
It was Evvy.
Frowning, Briar shook his head before giving his boot a final defiant tug. It snapped onto his foot, finding to be very painful to the heel of his foot. He cursed loudly, before biting his knuckle to keep himself from cursing again. As much as he was sure that Evvy heard him curse all the time anyways, he didn't really want her having the mouth of a sailor. Usually didn't look to attractive on a girl.
Briar stood up, but not before nearly slipping on a slick part of the floor. He nearly cursed again, but he bit his tongue, and picked up his large pack and strapped it on his back. Practically running towards the door, Briar nearly collided into Evvy.
Evvy, shocked at her Pahan's sudden exit, opened her eyes somewhat wide, before she looked him up in the face. Blinking softly, she looked in the room behind him and then again glanced at Briar. "What exactly were you doing in there?" She asked, as a wipe of skepticism flashed across her face.
Wanting nothing more than to give a good retort, Briar managed to stutter, "What exactly are you doing, here?"
Evvy was obviously not hurt of offended. Instead, she looked at him blankly before stating, "Well, unlike some people, I woke up on time. Tris and Daja are already up and ready and waiting outside. They wanted me to see if you were up."
"I was 'up'," Briar said, rolling his eyes. He then managed to get past Evvy in the doorway and start heading out of the Snowy Tavern. But then, he stopped in his tracks. Furrowing his eyebrows together, he walked back a few paces and glanced at Sandry's door. It was half-way closed, and it looked like quite a bit of stuff was still lying around the room. Something was wrong, Briar could feel it.
And he was never wrong about these kinds of things.
Peeking his head into the room, he looked about. A suitcase lay on an already made bed, but several pieces of jewelry were lying on her bed stand. He stood like this for awhile, knowing full well that Evvy was looking at him strangely behind him. Briar ignored it.
"Sandry?" He asked quietly, but no one answered. Biting his lip, he slowly pushed the door open and walked inside. The room smelled pleasant, smelled like Sandry. . . Briar decided that he always liked the way Sandry smelled. It reminded him of a mix between the large roses and tulips that he grew in his garden. Briar didn't linger long on the smell, for, as he was looking around the room, the corner of his eye caught sight of dim, flickering light coming from the bathroom that was adjacent to Sandry's bed. Figuring it was the bathroom, Briar rolled his eyes and started to make his way out of the room.
Figures . . . girls can be in the bathroom for centuries upon centuries.
And that's when he heard it. The most gut wrenching sound he had ever heard. It sounded like someone had punched Sandry so hard in the stomach, that she had purged up every ounce of food that was present in her. It made Briar's blood freeze immediately in his veins, and he turned on his heels almost immediately. He stared in shock at the bathroom door, not knowing whether he should run into the bathroom or he should run outside Sandry's room altogether.
His heart was beating from utter shock, when the door opened and Sandry walked out. Her face was completely ashen, almost a sickly green, and her usually braided hair was down, with only a single braid that encompassed her entire head. Her clothes were neat, but somewhat wrinkled and her eyes had turned to a dull shade of light blue.
Sandry almost immediatly recognized that someone else was in the room. She looked up sharply, her eyes flashing in surprise. When she saw Briar, who was staring at her as if her head had grown three fingers, she blinked at him before smiling weakly.
"Hey," she greeted, her voice ragged and tired, and her eyes drooping. She looked at him for a few seconds before smiling some more. But, Briar noticed, the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. When they had stood in silence for a quite a few awkward moments, Sandry lifted her eyebrows and said, "Is there something wrong?"
Brought back to reality, Briar blinked before frowning. "I might be asking you the same thing, because it sure as hell doesn't sound like you feel very good." He walked closer to her and examined her. Although she looked pretty bad, it suddenly dawned on Briar how. . . different Sandry had become. He could remember when she once was the tiny, scawny, little girl that had too small a nose for her face. She had always been pretty, and it had been awkward for Briar to be around her when he was a mere fourteen years old. Everyone else had been painfully aware of how pretty she had was, especially all of his male acquaintances, who were constantly joking each other as to who would get to marry her. But now, she was much different. Much different. Much to Briar's surprise, she had surely grown up. In fact, she was down right lovely.
Briar caught himself in mid-thought, and shook his head. He knew he couldn't be feeling like that. . . he could never feel like that.
During the period, Sandry had slowly backed away and her eyes had grown slightly brighter. She blinked at Briar, before biting her lip. "So, you heard me, you heard me. . . "
Briar looked down at her, before saying, "Yeah, I heard you." Looking down into her eyes, Briar was surprised to see what he saw. A quick flash of fear rushed through Sandry's eyes, before it was quickly shielded with a look of tired reflection and a weary brow. She started to back away from him, but Briar grabbed her arm and looked harder at her, "Something's going on, Sandry. Something's wrong. You can tell me whatever it is." He held tight to her arm, and to Briar's surprise, Sandry didn't struggle. "Sandry, you can trust me."
For a few brief seconds, it looked to Briar that Sandry might finally cave. Tears swam in her large, blue eyes, and she opened her mouth to say something, but then shut it as quickly. She forced the tears away from her eyes and managed to smile at Briar. "It's okay, Briar. I'm okay. . . something just didn't settle in my stomach last night. I'll be alright." With that, she managed to slither away from Briar's grip and grab her suitcase off her bed. She smiled at Briar before saying, "You should get out there. You know how Tris gets when your late." Saying that, Sandry raised her eyebrows comically.
Briar just stared at her, before cracking a half-reluctant grin. "So, how do you think she'll feel about me calling her Coppercurls?"
Sandry laughed, and this time Briar could tell it was a real laugh,
and her smile almost reached her eyes. "I'd say," Sandry smirked,
"about as much as she used to."
They stared at each other for a few seconds, before each chuckled and
started to head out Sandry's door.
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When Sandry, Briar, and Evvy reached the outdoors, they were greeted immediatly by Tris and Daja, if not a bit grumpily. Also, were one other person, who was a young teenager, about a year older than Evvy. His wavy black hair fell in front of his eyes, and he looked antsy on top of his horse.
When Sandry saw him, she sighed but introduced him to both Briar and Evvy. "This," she started, with a bit of reluctance, "Is my student, Pasco. Pasco, this is Briar and Evvy."
The boy stared at Briar for a few seconds, his eyes slightly suspicious, before he said, "I've heard a lot about you." His voice was hinged with something that made Briar raise an appraising eyebrow. Was it. . . jealousy?
Briar half-smiled at Pasco before turning to Sandry. "So. . . I see what you mean." Sandry looked back at him, her hair blowing in the cool Madab wind. She rolled her eyes in an agreeing sort of way. They both seemed to think that Briar and Pasco get along about as much as Rosethorn and Crane did.
Evvy looked from her Pahan to Lady Sandry for a few seconds before swallowing suspiciously. She had never seen Briar look at any girl the way he looked at Sandry. It wasn't a romantic look-- at least Evvy didn't think so-- but it was more a complete, utter look of concern. She bit her lip before shrugging. Turning to Pasco, she nodded at him and said, "It's nice to meet you."
Pasco looked down surprisingly at Evvy before smiling pleasantly. "Nice to meet you, too. . . Evvy." Evvy smiled back at him, before looking back at her Pahan. He now had both Evvy and his horse by the reigns and was looking directly at her, his lips pursed together and his eyebrows raised slightly. Evvy confused, look at him questionably, before he simply shook his head and mounted his horse.
When Briar mounted his horse, it immediatly seemed to recognize it's rider and it bounced in indignation. Briar choose to ignore the thing. He couldn't, and would never, win the war against horses. When he was seated on his horse, he looked around the small group of mages and then finally recognized that someones else was among them.
It was a young woman, tall in her horses saddle. She looked at both Briar and Sandry, her dark gaze piercing into them silently. Unlike most Madabians, the young woman had long, extremely pale, snowy white hair that came down past the middle of her back. Her eyes, also, contrasted most Madabians, for they were round and black, and the only emotion Briar could find was a strongness. She blinked rarely, and her lips never made a twitch.
Everyone stared at her for a few seconds, even Tris and Daja, who had been out much earlier than Sandry and Briar. At the same time, they all exchanged surprised looks.
Finally, Tris spoke, "Uh. . . hello? Do we know you?"
The woman tore her gaze from both Sandry and Briar and glanced at Tris. Her stare rested for a few uncomfortable seconds before she said, unemotionally, "No."
Briar exchanged a glance with Tris, whose curly hair was braided prettily on top of her head, but some of it still fell in front of her confused eyes. Looking up at the young woman, he asked, "Well. . . should we know you?"
"Yes. You should."
This time, Evvy leaned over and was about to whisper something in Briar's ear, but the young woman interrupted them. "My name is Dasnie. Your names are Tris, Daja, Briar, Sandry, Pasco, and Evvy." Each time she said any of their names, she nodded at them. Everyone just stared at her in amazement before she said, with a strong and unemotional voice, "I am to take you to the Pingo of Nuuk. We must begin now or we will not arrive there until tomorrow."
Everyone was too surprised to respond, and when she turned and started to head down the pathway that lead down from the Snowy Tavern, all they could do was follow the mysterious pale woman.
As they passed the taverns on each side of the road, all the females of the group responded at the same time, "I've got a bad feeling about this." Neither of them seemed to notice the strange coincidence and Briar looked at everyone in surprise. Nobody stared back. Instead, they looked onward in concern, all of their eyebrows knitted in concern.
Briar rolled his eyes. Females.
After they had rode down Tavern Hill, all the time riding in strange silence, Briar managed to steal a look at Sandry. Her face was knitted in concern as all the rest, but there was something else there. Briar bit his lips and pondered the face. It was as if she was a little fairy, held captive in a stange and fearful wind and her face was ever looking into the wind. Her long ashy-blonde hair fell down to the middle of her back, but it was constantly blowing to the front of her face. She payed no heed to it however, and it seemed that, although Sandry's body was present in Madab, her mind was somewhere terribly elsewhere, and her eyes were showing that it wasn't a pleasant place at all.
Briar bit the inside of his cheek, before running his tongue over his teeth thoughtfully. Stealing another glance at Sandry, Briar frowned.
He suddenly had a bad feeling about this journey into Madab as well.
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They had been traveling for what seemed like miles upon miles, all the while, to Briar's utmost annoyance, Evvy and Pasco found it their responsibilities to talk the entire while. As much as he enjoyed talking to everybody else, there was a time for silence. Obviously, Evvy nor Pasco understood this concept.
He was about to tell them to be quiet for the eightieth time, but instead, Daja interjected. "Sandry," she started, caution obvious in her voice, "do you need to stop? You don't look so good."
Dasnie stopped her horse and turned to Sandry, her large black eyes piercing and unemotional, but nevertheless, interested. Finally, saying in her stiff manner, "If you need a rest, we can stop for awhile. We have gone faster than I had expected, Emp--"
"It's just Sandry, thank you," Sandry interjected, almost reading Danie's mind. Briar, confused, look at Sandry, but she didn't look back. Instead she sighed, before nodding. "Yes, I suppose I could use a rest."
Briar exchanged a look with Tris, but instantanously, Tris looked away. He was starting to get extremely frustrated with the obvious secret that Daja and Tris were keeping from him. Blinking, Briar turned to Sandry, and saw that she was making her way off the horse. Daja was helping her down, and was having to support her. Sandry nearly fainted into Daja's hold, but managed to regain her composure. Shaking her head, she blinked her eyes rapidly, and said, "I think I might take a quick nap."
Quickly unmounting his annoying horse, Briar came to Sandry's horse's side and started taking out her sleeping packs and blankets. Tris was quick by his side and was starting to set up the small pile of blankets and pillows that Sandry was about to call a bed.
Briar wanted to scream, "What the hell is going on here?! For Milla's sake, what is wrong with her?!" but he refrained. He was much too busy setting up the bed.
They finished in a matter of minutes, and Dasnie had already set up a small fire, even though it wasn't quite needed. The farther north they went, the warmer the weather got. Right now, with a coat on, Briar was quite comfortable.
But, then, Briar didn't have time to reflect on such things. Sandry had fallen asleep standing up and leaning against Daja. Seeing this, Briar almost chuckled, but kept himself from doing so, seeing that the situation was much to serious. Briar glanced at Daja, who's face was laced with perplexed concern. Their eyes locked for a brief second before Briar picked Sandry up from the legs and then wrapped his arms around her waist.
He was suddenly aware of how tiny Sandry was. Her legs dropped like a rag-doll over his arms and her tiny feet dangled hopelessly limp. Sandry's fragile arms rested on her stomach and her head twisted and turned against his chest.
Briar managed to get her situated into her bed, and Daja and Tris ran back to their horses to get other supplies and to tie Evvy and Pasco's horses up, for both of them were told to keep back and not get in the way. Briar could imagine Pasco's urgency to get to his teacher. He understood. Briar himself was frantic with worry.
Pulling the blankets up to her chin, Briar looked down on Sandry's face. Finally, her face looked at ease, and all traces of concern or sadness were erased. This, however, didn't make Briar feel any better.
He looked at the sleeping Sandry for a while, before he frowned. Biting a hesitant lip, Briar reached out and smoothed Sandry's hair away from her face, before bending over and whispering in her ear, "Sandry, what's going on? What is this all about?" Briar looked around before whispering, "I'm scared for you Sandry. Tell me what's going on. Please, please, please. . ." He mumbled this in her ear for a while before Sandry finally mummered.
"Briar. . . ?" Her voice was slurred and sleep-spoken, but nevertheless, it gave Briar a start. Sandry then fell back into a sleep, unaware of her surroundings.
Briar suddenly heard footsteps that came near him. He quickly arose and looked up. Daja was coming near him, a pile of firewood in her arms. When she saw him, she smiled in a melancholy sort of way.
"She sleeping?" She asked, her voice quiet.
Briar looked at Daja before cracking, "What do ya think?"
Daja chuckled at him before nodding, "Yeah, you're right. She was out before we could get her off the horse." She exchanged a look with Briar, before licking her lips.
They stood in awkward silence before Briar asked, "Where's Tris?"
"Arguing with Pasco and Evvy."
Rolling his eyes, Briar nodded his head, "Figures." Putting a hand in his pocket, he glanced down at the sleeping Sandry before looking at Daja, who was looking at Sandry also.
"Daja," Briar started, "what's going on? What's wrong with Sandry?"
Hearing his question, Daja looked quickly up at him in surprise. Nearly dropping the firewood in her arms, she raised a shocked eyebrow. "You. . . you mean you. . . you don't know?"
"No, I don't know," Briar responded in a point-blank way, his voice on the verge of cracking from frustration. Hadn't Tris and Daja realized? Typical females. . .
Daja stared at him, before biting her lip. She looked from Sandry to Briar, and then to Sandry again. Never taking her eyes off Sandry, she finally spoke, her voice barely a whisper, "You might want to sit down for this Briar."
Briar, indignant, responded, "I'll stand if I damn want to." Putting a hand on his hip, he glared at Daja, not really angry at her, but not happy with not knowing a secret that everyone else seemed to know.
She wasn't surprised about Briar's outburst, but simply sighed before looking at Briar. Daja bit her lip before saying, "Do what you want Briar, but I'm not going to say this isn't going to shock you. . ."
"Well, what is it already?!" Briar asked, his patience slowly decaying.
Daja looked deep into Briar's eyes before finally saying, "Briar. . . Sandry's pregnant."
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MWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Yes, I'm evil. But don't flame me for doing this. . . I just. . . I don't know. .. I thought it would be interesting. You'll see, it all turns out for the better. B/c I actually have an idea on how the plot going to turn out! Yeah, It all turns out happy. . . well maybe. It depends. I guess that leads me to my writer's question, in which, you, the reader, can have a signifigant impact.
QUESTION:
Do you want a dramatic, kinda melancholy ending that will end up in with a sequel? OR .. ..
Do you want a happy, YEAH! ending that probably won't have a sequel?
Vote in the review pwease, or you can e-mail me if you really want to.
Anyway, thanks to the many people who reviewed. Also, I'm sincerely
sorry for getting Daja's apprentice thing wrong. . . I haven't read "Cold
Fire" yet, and for some reason, I thought it was a boy. . . I'm just crazy
I guess. Anywho, the website is still in construction and should
be up soon. Hold on, and it will be up in a few weeks.