Thanks: Keita, Min, IHL, clarylissa, Dracos Myth, Xelena, Sai, shaina, FantasyWind,
Stacey, Lady Wild Rose
Hi! If you want to know when Free Falling is updated, email me (can_o_7up@hotmail.com)
and I'll add you to the mailing list thing (it's not really a mailing list, just a list of email
addresses that I have dubbed the Mailing List where I just email you a notice when I've
updated) or leave your email address in the review. I'll be sure to add you to the list.
Anyway, it took me a little while (stress the phrase "little while") to get this out. I'm
sorry but I've just had problem after problem after problem! First with my health and
then with my dad's and then with homework! But it's all good. Now the chapter's out.
And, thanks to Kate, I know what to write for Love Stinks chapter four, so that should
be out soon (I hope). Um yeah. Sorry for the wait. Would 190 reviews be too much to
ask for by the time chapter 21 is out?
**Chapter 20: Stranded**
---
Dearest Jeraldine,
Not a day goes by when I do not find you in my thoughts. I do wish I could see you in
person and hear your lovely voice, see your beautiful face, and hold your delicate form
in my arms. Longing fills my very being at the mere thought of you, and
---
"HEY!" Merric shouted as one of the pirates yanked his paper away from his grasp.
"Whacha writin', lover boy?" one of the pirates asked.
"What does it matter?" Merric demanded viciously.
Another one of the female pirates, named Nichole, peered over the first pirate's
shoulder and read with a stuttering tongue, "'Dearest Jer-Jeraldine, not a day goes by
when I do not find ye in me thoughts. I do wish I could see you in per-pers-person
and hear ye love-lovely voice, see yer betaful face, and hold yer del-deli-delicate
form in me arms. Lo-lo-lo-longin' fills me very bein' at the mere thought of you, and...'
What a sap!"
"I think it sounds beautiful," spoke Fane from behind them all. She had just a couple
of days after the trio's arrival on the ship begin to poke out in her stomach. Apparently
she was pregnant with, presumably, Mekhail's baby.
The crowd parted as Fane approached the letter-stealing pirate. "Can I see that?"
The pirate handed it over mutely.
"Here," Fane told Merric, giving him back the letter. He gave her a curt nod, folded the
letter, and dashed into the cabin. With an exasperated sigh, Fane turned back to the
pirates still gathered before her. "Shoo, you lot! Else I'll rat you out to the Captain."
They scattered and Fane groaned, shaking her head.
***
Kel lied in her quarters, on her back, bored. Almost painfully aware of Neal's prescence
in the room next to her, she tried to get her mind off of him. However, the more she
tried to get her mind off of him, the more she couldn't stop thinking about him. The
more she couldn't stop thinking about him, the lonelier she became, and the lonelier she
became, the more she missed him, until she felt like she would die.
*This is stupid,* she admonished herself. *Stop loving him so much!*
Instead, she sat up and stared at the wall separating Neal from her. It loomed ahead
of her, beckoning her to conquer it.
*Stop it,* she told herself sternly. *Stop it, stop it, stop it.*
Nonetheless, she rose and walked over to the wall, placing her hand gingerly on the
wood panels. "It's just a wall," she whispered. It felt like so much more; it felt like a
manifestation of the emotional walls she needed to build. It would be best if she could
just forget Neal! If she could forget Neal, she could find a way to get rid of the Master.
If she could find a way to get rid of the Master, she could be with Neal. "This hurts..."
she murmured, resting her forehead against the wall.
On the opposite side, Neal had done the same thing with his hand on the same spot as
hers, forehead only a little higher.
The wall represented something else entirely for Neal. He felt caged, barricaded from
the woman he loved with every last part of his being. It was something he could change
by force, but why would he do that? Forcing her to love him would be bad. But he knew
she still loved him, if only because of what she had admitted to him not too long ago
about the Master.
Or was he grasping at ribbons of nothing?
With a sigh, Neal flopped back on his bed. "This is dumb."
Kel mimicked the motion on her side. "This is stupid."
They let a half-hour while by until Neal finally sat up. "Gods, why am I doing this to
myself? The least I could do is go talk to her. It's better than sitting here and torturing
myself like this."
So he rolled off of the bed, smoothed out his tunic, and left his room. With a deep
breath, he raised his hand and knocked on the door to Kel's room.
"Yes?" she called.
His breath caught in his throat. "Uh...it's me."
There was silence on the other side.
Then, the door opened slowly.
He offered her a tiny smile.
She smiled back, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Want to come in?"
Nodding, he stepped in. She shut the door behind him, the soft click of the doorknob
securing itself in the frame echoing much louder than it should have.
"Um..." Neal trailed off.
"Um," she echoed.
"What's up?" they asked at the same time.
Kel blushed and looked down while Neal looked at a rather interesting spot on the
floor.
"Nothing," Neal muttered. "I was bored."
"Me too," Kel admitted.
There was That Damned Silence again.
They both just sat on her bed, Neal continuing to stare at that rather interesting spot
and Kel looking anywhere but him.
When they finally made eye contact, the silence became so oppressive that Kel rose
from her spot on the bed and wandered over to the standing closet. She felt nervous
with Neal, alone, in the room, especially after all of the things she had said to him
not too long ago when they parted ways. She missed her dog and her sparrows, who
had offered comfort in awkward situations like this.
Neal gulped. *You can't seriously be considering what I think you're considering,* his
brain said scathingly to his heart.
*I am. Watch me!* his heart retorted gleefully.
*Hey. Have you forgotten that I'M the one in charge up here?* his brain growled.
*We don't move unless I say we move.*
*Aw, c'mon. Have a heart!* his heart said jokingly.
*You ARE my heart, you fool. And I say we aren't moving,* his brain answered with
a tone of finality.
*I don't care! ONWARD!* his heart cried.
Neal's hand twitched on his knee. All he could do was sit back and listen to the
debate going on between his heart and his brain without adding his own opinion.
How could he, anyway?
While his brain wasn't look, his heart took over.
Neal rose from the bed and walked over to Kel, placing a hand on hers from behind,
and his other hand on her hip. It made her breath catch in her throat, the hair on the
back of her neck stand up straight, and muscle in her body go taut. "Neal..." she
breathed out heatedly.
"Shh," he advised her softly, sweeping her hair aside to bare her neck. "Your hair's
longer than it used to be...I just realized that."
"Neal..." she said louder.
He dropped a butterfly kiss on her neck.
She shivered.
He did it again and soon tugged her sleeve down from her shoulder, trailing kisses
from her neck to her shoulder and back.
"Neal..." she sounded strained. "We...we can't..."
"Do you love me?" he murmured against her neck, both hands resting lightly on her
hips now.
"What kind of question is that?" she asked, her voice barely audible.
"An honest one."
She wished he would quit moving his lips on her skin like that and letting his fingers
dance on her hips. "I..."
A knock at the door startled them apart.
"I have to answer the door."
Kel darted over to the door while Neal went over in his head what he had just done.
At her doorway stood Merric, fiddling with a sheet of parchment nervously and
looking down as he rocked on his heels. "Kel? Can I ask you a favor?"
"Of course," nodded Kel. "Come in." She held the door open as he entered and
shut the door behind her without the ominous noise it made earlier. "What can I
do for you, Merric?"
Hurriedly, Merric sat on the bed, catching a glimpse of Neal standing by the closet.
Well, he could use Neal's experience with the ladies and courting on this anyway,
so he might as well keep him around instead of asking him to leave. "Kel, can you
read this over and make sure it doesn't sound stupid?"
Kel read the first few lines and made a face. "This is to that flowery court lady,
Jeraldine, that I met when Neal first found me?"
"Flowery court ladies are my specialty," Neal piped up, walking over to the bed
and taking the letter from Kel. "...But *this* is a bit much, even for *me*."
Merric's face fell. He snatched the letter back from Neal and pouted at it. "What
should I say, then?"
"Well, you could start out the way you did, with 'Dearest Jeraldine.' The rest..."
Neal peered at the letter again and shuddered. "The rest will have to either be
modified or gotten rid of."
Kel nodded. "If it were me, I'd do away with the whole 'dearest' thing and just
start out with 'Jeraldine.'"
"That's because you don't have one romantic bone in your body, Keladry," Neal
teased her good naturedly.
She stuck her tongue out at him. "And you're a complete and utter fool when it
comes to love letters."
"Hey, I can write love letters with the best of them. You lot just got my first
attempts! The rough drafts," Neal explained with a cocky tone.
"Is that so?" Kel snickered.
"It is."
Kel sighed and rolled her eyes. "Right. I believe you."
"You never read the final drafts. The court ladies swooned! Except when they
were either engaged or married or otherwise courted."
"Yeah, right."
Neal stuck his tongue out at her.
"I'll cut it off," Kel threatened playfully, drawing her dagger. *What am I doing?*
she wondered suddenly. *...It's like...it's like we never said any of that horrible
stuff to each other.*
Uncomfortably, Merric stared at his letter and listened to his friends' banter. "I
think I'll just go ask Fane," he muttered, rising and heading for the door.
"Merric?" Kel asked.
"I'm going to go find Fane and since she was raised as a 'flowery court lady,' I'll
ask her opinion," he explained. "Make sense? You certainly aren't a flowery
court lady, Kel, and as much as Neal acts like one, he isn't a flowery court lady
either."
"Hey..." Neal protested.
Merric flashed his friend a grin. "See you later."
They watched as he left the room. Kel sniggered quietly and walked over to the
door. "I'm tired of staying below deck. Want to come above deck with me?"
*What are you doing?!* her brain yelled. *Stop! Stop! Mayday!*
"For a little while," Neal agreed.
***
As Merric searched for Fane, he neglected to call out her name. It was good thing he
kept quiet, he found out as he almost turned around a corner. Two of the pirates stood
leaning against the side of the boat, chatting and shirking their duties. One held a
mop in his hand while the other one held a bucket of sudsy water and a dirty rag.
"Feh, I say we jus' forget all this Master business," Mop said.
Bucket shrugged. "I don' give a shit, long as we get gods-damned paid for this."
"Here here," Mop agreed. "Didja hear the latest news got leaked? 'Bout all that
Aescili business?"
Eagerly, Bucket shook his head. "No, whadja hear?"
"Heard that Aescili ceremony thing's to be held at that Olau fief yond in To'tall," Mop
informed him. "Hear it's 'cuz of all the ancient magic lef' there or somethin'."
"'Zat so?" asked Bucket. "D'ye know when it'll get held?"
"Somethin' 'bout an equinox or somethin'," Mop shrugged. "Beats me, though. I
couldn't care less 'bout it."
"Ahoy! Why are you slacking, you empty-headed fools?" called out a clear voice from
across the deck. *Fane,* Merric recognized. "You numb-skulled lackeys, get back to
work!"
Fane lumbered across the deck, glaring at Bucket and Mop until they went back to
work. Intelligently, Merric choose that moment to round the corner, acting like he
was in search of Fane. "Fane!" he yelled.
"Ahoy, Merric!" she answered, meeting him halfway. "What troubles you?" Instead
of answering, Merric merely fiddled with his parchment. "Oh, you want me to help
you with the letter?"
"I-if you wouldn't mind," he stammered. "I would understand if you didn't want to--"
"I'd be pleased to help you," Fane told him in her most enunciated Common. "Let's
go to my cabin."
***
Udaan stepped through the stone archway marking the entrance to his destination.
Two armed guards dressed in ratty livery stepped in front of him, one sporting a
glaive while the other wielded a spear. "What do ye want?" Glaive grunted out in
thickly accented Common.
"I need to speak wit' he who's inside, tha's wha' I want," Udaan growled.
"Can't let you pass," Spear answered.
"Oh, shove it, Mitsuiji, Fraed," Udaan snapped. "Lemme through. I got impor'ant
business concernin' Kel."
Mitsuiji, the one holding the glaive, shot a look at Fraed with the spear. Slowly,
they both stood straight, holding their weapons at the ready position. Pretending
to scratch his armpit, Udaan made sure that the dagger hidden there was easily
accessible if he needed it. He carefully stepped through the stone archway and
began to breathe slightly easier. Fraed and Mitsuiji would be the least of his
problems.
As quietly as possible, Udaan continued through the hallways that made up the
catacombed fortress he had been granted access to. He approached another
set of guards, this time each armed with a sword and a dagger at their waist and
who knows what else elsewhere.
"Hello," he told them. They were two big, burly Scanran mountain men dressed
in better livery than the guards at the main entrance. Udaan seemed to remember
that these guards only spoke Scanran and switched over. "Let me through."
The guard on the left hand side allowed his eyes to flicker over at Udaan briefly.
Rather than grant Udaan the permission he sought, Left just stood straighter and
more intimidating.
*Why can't these folks jus' cooperate wit' me?* Udaan thought desperately.
"I need to speak with the big man," Udaan continued.
This time Right looked at him and rolled his eyes.
"Come on, you guys!" the Bazhir man yelled exasperatedly. He wished he had
both arms so he could wave them angrily at the two Scanran guards. One arm
didn't really intimidate anyone. "Does news not travel in this place? I have to
tell the man inside about Kel!"
Left and Right stood at attention and promptly moved aside, allowing Udaan to
pass through.
"Gods," he muttered, switching back to his native Common. Although he was
Bazhir by heritage, he was by no means raised as a desert man. He did,
however, harbor a penchant for the warmer temperatures and tended to
hybernate in the desert during the winter months in Tortall.
With a deep breath, Udaan trekked down to the last archway, this time blocked
by a cast-iron gate with intricate patterns, as well as a pair of well-dressed
Tortallan guards. They stood a little taller than Udaan, both male, and obviously
identical twins.
"Message about Kel for him," Udaan stated simply and tried to walk past the
guards.
The swords suddenly found a home hovering just above his neck.
Udaan froze, needless to say.
Left grunted something unintelligible and motioned with his dagger at something
over Udaan's shoulder. Nodding, Right jabbed his sword closer to Udaan and
rumbled, "Stay."
Right lumbered off, did something behind Udaan's back, and came back, towing
a brown-haired messenger boy. The gate swung open, admitting the boy to its
depths, then promptly shut behind him. Nervous but trying desperately not to
show it, Udaan fiddled with his belt purse.
The messenger showed up what seemed like an eternity later. "Okay. He says
to let 'im in."
Right and Left sheathed their swords and held open the gate for the messenger
and Udaan. Quickly, they passed each other, Udaan running into the largest
wing of the fortress.
The fortress itself perched on a hill with several walls preventing entry and a
shield using ancient magic to shield it from view, both from human and animal.
Its walls hindered most from ever entering if they got past the magic shield,
and if the walls didn't prevent them, the guards did. There were few cases like
Udaan, who got past the magic shield, the walls, and the guards into the inner
core and largest wing of the fortress. Once past the first set of guards, one
entered the core of the structure, a catacomb of dead-end hallways and stairs
that led nowhere. Once past those and the second set of guards, one approached
the inner core. It branched off into wings, one very large east wing, a smaller
north and south wing, and a smallest west wing.
Udaan's goal was the man inside the east wing.
***
"LAND HO!" called a pirate from the crow's nest.
Pirates began scrambling around the deck in preparation for docking. Fane had
explained to Kel, Neal, and Merric that when they anchored, it wouldn't be at a
port like Port Caynn. It would most likely be at a patch of beach near Emerald
Edge, rather than directly at the town. They were known at Emerald Edge, but
not not liked. Tolerated, but unliked. The knights were also advised to wear
something other than Tortallan livery--the Copper Isles and Tortall hadn't been
on speaking terms since the days of the Dominion Jewel, nearly twenty-five
years ago. Or something like that. The years didn't matter exactly, but the
knights wouldn't be accepted and that was the point.
"Let's go wait in my room," Merric suggested. "It seems we'll just hinder the
progress out here."
Neal and Kel nodded in agreement and rushed with Merric down to his rooms.
Once safely there, Merric took out his letter to Jeraldine, rereading it to make
sure it gave no hints of his whereabouts.
"Have you written to her often since you last saw her?" Kel wanted to know.
"I've tried, but Garvey wouldn't let me," sighed he. "That sounds incredibly
childish, but it's true. Every time I would write one and try to send it he would
find out and intercept it." Merric played with the gold bracelet on his wrist. "You
are *so* lucky that the Master didn't give you one of these."
"Do either of you know who the Master is?" Neal asked guardedly.
Sighing, Kel shook her head. "Not me. Udaan told me that nobody knows what
he looks like because he appears different to everyone."
*He appears different to everyone? Maybe he just decided to appear as Joren
to me...* Neal wondered. *No. That really WAS Joren. I know it was. There
was no way he could have been someone else.*
"Garvey told me to see the Master means death," Merric offered. "So perhaps
we're better off not knowing?"
All three of them considered this and finally decided that, indeed, they were
better off not knowing what the Master looked like.
*Does that mean Joren plans to kill me, then?* Neal thought, trying to listen to
the conversation his two friends carried out in front of him. The thought of
Joren trying to kill him sent a shiver down his spine. *And with that magic of
his...* he glanced down at the bracelet. *With that new magic of his, Joren can
do a lot of damage...*
They continued to talk about whatever came to their attention, all three trying to
ignore the underlying tension about the Master and why they had truly come to
Emerald Edge. Soon night fell, and they reached the beach Fane had told them
about.
Someone knocked furiously on Merric's door.
"Coming!" Merric called, rising from the bed where he sat with Neal and Kel
and opening the door. Mikhail grinned at them. "Hello, Mikhail."
"C'mon, ye lot," he said. "Le's getcha up to Emeral' Edge. Fane tol' me to tell
ye lot that we'll be waitin' here fer ye."
Merric nodded. "Thanks."
Neal and Kel rose behind him and followed Merric and Mikhail up to the deck.
They had set up a couple of wooden boards just wide enough for one person
at a time to walk across over to the beach.
"It's precaution," Fane explained. "We're going to move up the shore a little
bit, over to a cove we've claimed for ours."
"I understand," Neal told her. "Well, go on, Merric."
"Me?" the knight from Hollyrose yelped.
"Yes, you," the duke of Queenscove narrowed his eyes. "Go on."
"I'll--" Kel started to say.
Neal shook his head.
Sighing, Merric stepped onto the boards carefully, afraid they would break
under his weight. As soon as he stepped onto the sand on the other side, he
waved to Kel. She, even more carefully than Merric, crossed the boards and
dug her feet into the sand at the opposite side, not at all grateful for the
experience the pirates had provided her with the boards.
Neal gulped and inched across the boards.
As soon as he had his feet on solid ground, the pirates snatched up the boards
and moved up the coast.
"Well," Neal stated. They looked around them. It was a small beach, covered
with fine sand and a single rock jutting out from the center of it. Cliff walls
towered above them, covered in emerald green moss. "This would be why it's
called 'Emerald Edge,' I would suppose."
Merric looked around the base of the cliffs. "I think we have a slight problem
here, you two."
"What?" Kel asked.
"I think we've been screwed over," Merric informed them. "They took off with
our things and dropped us off at a beach with no visible way to get off except
by boat."
Simultaneously, Neal and Kel groaned. Then they began to search for a way
to get up to Emerald Edge.
When they decided they were stranded, Kel sighed and sat on the rock. "Well,
it was nice knowing you two."
"This was a waste of time," Merric muttered.
"...Well, if we start to starve, let's eat Merric," Neal suggested.
"What?!" Merric cried.
Kel hit Neal on the arm. "Don't be foolish."
Neal shrugged and rubbed his arm. "I was serious. I know which parts of the
human body are edible!"
Merric whacked him over the head. "Just stop talking. You're the one who got
us into this mess in the first place."
"Me?! How did *I* do this?" Neal demanded, rubbing his head. "And will you
two stop using me as your personal training dummy?"
Kel sighed. "Neal's right. We should stop using him as our personal training
dummy. Anyway, I don't think it matter who got us into this situation as much
as how we get out of it."
Merric and Neal both plopped down on the rock with Kel.
"I still say we should eat Merric."
"We've been here for fifteen minutes."
"I'm always hungry."
"Well you're not eating *me*."
"You're the fleshiest."
"What?!"
"You are!"
Kel smacked both of them. "Stop being little boys and think!"
"Yes, Mother Kel," they chorused, and obeyed.
Stacey, Lady Wild Rose
Hi! If you want to know when Free Falling is updated, email me (can_o_7up@hotmail.com)
and I'll add you to the mailing list thing (it's not really a mailing list, just a list of email
addresses that I have dubbed the Mailing List where I just email you a notice when I've
updated) or leave your email address in the review. I'll be sure to add you to the list.
Anyway, it took me a little while (stress the phrase "little while") to get this out. I'm
sorry but I've just had problem after problem after problem! First with my health and
then with my dad's and then with homework! But it's all good. Now the chapter's out.
And, thanks to Kate, I know what to write for Love Stinks chapter four, so that should
be out soon (I hope). Um yeah. Sorry for the wait. Would 190 reviews be too much to
ask for by the time chapter 21 is out?
**Chapter 20: Stranded**
---
Dearest Jeraldine,
Not a day goes by when I do not find you in my thoughts. I do wish I could see you in
person and hear your lovely voice, see your beautiful face, and hold your delicate form
in my arms. Longing fills my very being at the mere thought of you, and
---
"HEY!" Merric shouted as one of the pirates yanked his paper away from his grasp.
"Whacha writin', lover boy?" one of the pirates asked.
"What does it matter?" Merric demanded viciously.
Another one of the female pirates, named Nichole, peered over the first pirate's
shoulder and read with a stuttering tongue, "'Dearest Jer-Jeraldine, not a day goes by
when I do not find ye in me thoughts. I do wish I could see you in per-pers-person
and hear ye love-lovely voice, see yer betaful face, and hold yer del-deli-delicate
form in me arms. Lo-lo-lo-longin' fills me very bein' at the mere thought of you, and...'
What a sap!"
"I think it sounds beautiful," spoke Fane from behind them all. She had just a couple
of days after the trio's arrival on the ship begin to poke out in her stomach. Apparently
she was pregnant with, presumably, Mekhail's baby.
The crowd parted as Fane approached the letter-stealing pirate. "Can I see that?"
The pirate handed it over mutely.
"Here," Fane told Merric, giving him back the letter. He gave her a curt nod, folded the
letter, and dashed into the cabin. With an exasperated sigh, Fane turned back to the
pirates still gathered before her. "Shoo, you lot! Else I'll rat you out to the Captain."
They scattered and Fane groaned, shaking her head.
***
Kel lied in her quarters, on her back, bored. Almost painfully aware of Neal's prescence
in the room next to her, she tried to get her mind off of him. However, the more she
tried to get her mind off of him, the more she couldn't stop thinking about him. The
more she couldn't stop thinking about him, the lonelier she became, and the lonelier she
became, the more she missed him, until she felt like she would die.
*This is stupid,* she admonished herself. *Stop loving him so much!*
Instead, she sat up and stared at the wall separating Neal from her. It loomed ahead
of her, beckoning her to conquer it.
*Stop it,* she told herself sternly. *Stop it, stop it, stop it.*
Nonetheless, she rose and walked over to the wall, placing her hand gingerly on the
wood panels. "It's just a wall," she whispered. It felt like so much more; it felt like a
manifestation of the emotional walls she needed to build. It would be best if she could
just forget Neal! If she could forget Neal, she could find a way to get rid of the Master.
If she could find a way to get rid of the Master, she could be with Neal. "This hurts..."
she murmured, resting her forehead against the wall.
On the opposite side, Neal had done the same thing with his hand on the same spot as
hers, forehead only a little higher.
The wall represented something else entirely for Neal. He felt caged, barricaded from
the woman he loved with every last part of his being. It was something he could change
by force, but why would he do that? Forcing her to love him would be bad. But he knew
she still loved him, if only because of what she had admitted to him not too long ago
about the Master.
Or was he grasping at ribbons of nothing?
With a sigh, Neal flopped back on his bed. "This is dumb."
Kel mimicked the motion on her side. "This is stupid."
They let a half-hour while by until Neal finally sat up. "Gods, why am I doing this to
myself? The least I could do is go talk to her. It's better than sitting here and torturing
myself like this."
So he rolled off of the bed, smoothed out his tunic, and left his room. With a deep
breath, he raised his hand and knocked on the door to Kel's room.
"Yes?" she called.
His breath caught in his throat. "Uh...it's me."
There was silence on the other side.
Then, the door opened slowly.
He offered her a tiny smile.
She smiled back, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Want to come in?"
Nodding, he stepped in. She shut the door behind him, the soft click of the doorknob
securing itself in the frame echoing much louder than it should have.
"Um..." Neal trailed off.
"Um," she echoed.
"What's up?" they asked at the same time.
Kel blushed and looked down while Neal looked at a rather interesting spot on the
floor.
"Nothing," Neal muttered. "I was bored."
"Me too," Kel admitted.
There was That Damned Silence again.
They both just sat on her bed, Neal continuing to stare at that rather interesting spot
and Kel looking anywhere but him.
When they finally made eye contact, the silence became so oppressive that Kel rose
from her spot on the bed and wandered over to the standing closet. She felt nervous
with Neal, alone, in the room, especially after all of the things she had said to him
not too long ago when they parted ways. She missed her dog and her sparrows, who
had offered comfort in awkward situations like this.
Neal gulped. *You can't seriously be considering what I think you're considering,* his
brain said scathingly to his heart.
*I am. Watch me!* his heart retorted gleefully.
*Hey. Have you forgotten that I'M the one in charge up here?* his brain growled.
*We don't move unless I say we move.*
*Aw, c'mon. Have a heart!* his heart said jokingly.
*You ARE my heart, you fool. And I say we aren't moving,* his brain answered with
a tone of finality.
*I don't care! ONWARD!* his heart cried.
Neal's hand twitched on his knee. All he could do was sit back and listen to the
debate going on between his heart and his brain without adding his own opinion.
How could he, anyway?
While his brain wasn't look, his heart took over.
Neal rose from the bed and walked over to Kel, placing a hand on hers from behind,
and his other hand on her hip. It made her breath catch in her throat, the hair on the
back of her neck stand up straight, and muscle in her body go taut. "Neal..." she
breathed out heatedly.
"Shh," he advised her softly, sweeping her hair aside to bare her neck. "Your hair's
longer than it used to be...I just realized that."
"Neal..." she said louder.
He dropped a butterfly kiss on her neck.
She shivered.
He did it again and soon tugged her sleeve down from her shoulder, trailing kisses
from her neck to her shoulder and back.
"Neal..." she sounded strained. "We...we can't..."
"Do you love me?" he murmured against her neck, both hands resting lightly on her
hips now.
"What kind of question is that?" she asked, her voice barely audible.
"An honest one."
She wished he would quit moving his lips on her skin like that and letting his fingers
dance on her hips. "I..."
A knock at the door startled them apart.
"I have to answer the door."
Kel darted over to the door while Neal went over in his head what he had just done.
At her doorway stood Merric, fiddling with a sheet of parchment nervously and
looking down as he rocked on his heels. "Kel? Can I ask you a favor?"
"Of course," nodded Kel. "Come in." She held the door open as he entered and
shut the door behind her without the ominous noise it made earlier. "What can I
do for you, Merric?"
Hurriedly, Merric sat on the bed, catching a glimpse of Neal standing by the closet.
Well, he could use Neal's experience with the ladies and courting on this anyway,
so he might as well keep him around instead of asking him to leave. "Kel, can you
read this over and make sure it doesn't sound stupid?"
Kel read the first few lines and made a face. "This is to that flowery court lady,
Jeraldine, that I met when Neal first found me?"
"Flowery court ladies are my specialty," Neal piped up, walking over to the bed
and taking the letter from Kel. "...But *this* is a bit much, even for *me*."
Merric's face fell. He snatched the letter back from Neal and pouted at it. "What
should I say, then?"
"Well, you could start out the way you did, with 'Dearest Jeraldine.' The rest..."
Neal peered at the letter again and shuddered. "The rest will have to either be
modified or gotten rid of."
Kel nodded. "If it were me, I'd do away with the whole 'dearest' thing and just
start out with 'Jeraldine.'"
"That's because you don't have one romantic bone in your body, Keladry," Neal
teased her good naturedly.
She stuck her tongue out at him. "And you're a complete and utter fool when it
comes to love letters."
"Hey, I can write love letters with the best of them. You lot just got my first
attempts! The rough drafts," Neal explained with a cocky tone.
"Is that so?" Kel snickered.
"It is."
Kel sighed and rolled her eyes. "Right. I believe you."
"You never read the final drafts. The court ladies swooned! Except when they
were either engaged or married or otherwise courted."
"Yeah, right."
Neal stuck his tongue out at her.
"I'll cut it off," Kel threatened playfully, drawing her dagger. *What am I doing?*
she wondered suddenly. *...It's like...it's like we never said any of that horrible
stuff to each other.*
Uncomfortably, Merric stared at his letter and listened to his friends' banter. "I
think I'll just go ask Fane," he muttered, rising and heading for the door.
"Merric?" Kel asked.
"I'm going to go find Fane and since she was raised as a 'flowery court lady,' I'll
ask her opinion," he explained. "Make sense? You certainly aren't a flowery
court lady, Kel, and as much as Neal acts like one, he isn't a flowery court lady
either."
"Hey..." Neal protested.
Merric flashed his friend a grin. "See you later."
They watched as he left the room. Kel sniggered quietly and walked over to the
door. "I'm tired of staying below deck. Want to come above deck with me?"
*What are you doing?!* her brain yelled. *Stop! Stop! Mayday!*
"For a little while," Neal agreed.
***
As Merric searched for Fane, he neglected to call out her name. It was good thing he
kept quiet, he found out as he almost turned around a corner. Two of the pirates stood
leaning against the side of the boat, chatting and shirking their duties. One held a
mop in his hand while the other one held a bucket of sudsy water and a dirty rag.
"Feh, I say we jus' forget all this Master business," Mop said.
Bucket shrugged. "I don' give a shit, long as we get gods-damned paid for this."
"Here here," Mop agreed. "Didja hear the latest news got leaked? 'Bout all that
Aescili business?"
Eagerly, Bucket shook his head. "No, whadja hear?"
"Heard that Aescili ceremony thing's to be held at that Olau fief yond in To'tall," Mop
informed him. "Hear it's 'cuz of all the ancient magic lef' there or somethin'."
"'Zat so?" asked Bucket. "D'ye know when it'll get held?"
"Somethin' 'bout an equinox or somethin'," Mop shrugged. "Beats me, though. I
couldn't care less 'bout it."
"Ahoy! Why are you slacking, you empty-headed fools?" called out a clear voice from
across the deck. *Fane,* Merric recognized. "You numb-skulled lackeys, get back to
work!"
Fane lumbered across the deck, glaring at Bucket and Mop until they went back to
work. Intelligently, Merric choose that moment to round the corner, acting like he
was in search of Fane. "Fane!" he yelled.
"Ahoy, Merric!" she answered, meeting him halfway. "What troubles you?" Instead
of answering, Merric merely fiddled with his parchment. "Oh, you want me to help
you with the letter?"
"I-if you wouldn't mind," he stammered. "I would understand if you didn't want to--"
"I'd be pleased to help you," Fane told him in her most enunciated Common. "Let's
go to my cabin."
***
Udaan stepped through the stone archway marking the entrance to his destination.
Two armed guards dressed in ratty livery stepped in front of him, one sporting a
glaive while the other wielded a spear. "What do ye want?" Glaive grunted out in
thickly accented Common.
"I need to speak wit' he who's inside, tha's wha' I want," Udaan growled.
"Can't let you pass," Spear answered.
"Oh, shove it, Mitsuiji, Fraed," Udaan snapped. "Lemme through. I got impor'ant
business concernin' Kel."
Mitsuiji, the one holding the glaive, shot a look at Fraed with the spear. Slowly,
they both stood straight, holding their weapons at the ready position. Pretending
to scratch his armpit, Udaan made sure that the dagger hidden there was easily
accessible if he needed it. He carefully stepped through the stone archway and
began to breathe slightly easier. Fraed and Mitsuiji would be the least of his
problems.
As quietly as possible, Udaan continued through the hallways that made up the
catacombed fortress he had been granted access to. He approached another
set of guards, this time each armed with a sword and a dagger at their waist and
who knows what else elsewhere.
"Hello," he told them. They were two big, burly Scanran mountain men dressed
in better livery than the guards at the main entrance. Udaan seemed to remember
that these guards only spoke Scanran and switched over. "Let me through."
The guard on the left hand side allowed his eyes to flicker over at Udaan briefly.
Rather than grant Udaan the permission he sought, Left just stood straighter and
more intimidating.
*Why can't these folks jus' cooperate wit' me?* Udaan thought desperately.
"I need to speak with the big man," Udaan continued.
This time Right looked at him and rolled his eyes.
"Come on, you guys!" the Bazhir man yelled exasperatedly. He wished he had
both arms so he could wave them angrily at the two Scanran guards. One arm
didn't really intimidate anyone. "Does news not travel in this place? I have to
tell the man inside about Kel!"
Left and Right stood at attention and promptly moved aside, allowing Udaan to
pass through.
"Gods," he muttered, switching back to his native Common. Although he was
Bazhir by heritage, he was by no means raised as a desert man. He did,
however, harbor a penchant for the warmer temperatures and tended to
hybernate in the desert during the winter months in Tortall.
With a deep breath, Udaan trekked down to the last archway, this time blocked
by a cast-iron gate with intricate patterns, as well as a pair of well-dressed
Tortallan guards. They stood a little taller than Udaan, both male, and obviously
identical twins.
"Message about Kel for him," Udaan stated simply and tried to walk past the
guards.
The swords suddenly found a home hovering just above his neck.
Udaan froze, needless to say.
Left grunted something unintelligible and motioned with his dagger at something
over Udaan's shoulder. Nodding, Right jabbed his sword closer to Udaan and
rumbled, "Stay."
Right lumbered off, did something behind Udaan's back, and came back, towing
a brown-haired messenger boy. The gate swung open, admitting the boy to its
depths, then promptly shut behind him. Nervous but trying desperately not to
show it, Udaan fiddled with his belt purse.
The messenger showed up what seemed like an eternity later. "Okay. He says
to let 'im in."
Right and Left sheathed their swords and held open the gate for the messenger
and Udaan. Quickly, they passed each other, Udaan running into the largest
wing of the fortress.
The fortress itself perched on a hill with several walls preventing entry and a
shield using ancient magic to shield it from view, both from human and animal.
Its walls hindered most from ever entering if they got past the magic shield,
and if the walls didn't prevent them, the guards did. There were few cases like
Udaan, who got past the magic shield, the walls, and the guards into the inner
core and largest wing of the fortress. Once past the first set of guards, one
entered the core of the structure, a catacomb of dead-end hallways and stairs
that led nowhere. Once past those and the second set of guards, one approached
the inner core. It branched off into wings, one very large east wing, a smaller
north and south wing, and a smallest west wing.
Udaan's goal was the man inside the east wing.
***
"LAND HO!" called a pirate from the crow's nest.
Pirates began scrambling around the deck in preparation for docking. Fane had
explained to Kel, Neal, and Merric that when they anchored, it wouldn't be at a
port like Port Caynn. It would most likely be at a patch of beach near Emerald
Edge, rather than directly at the town. They were known at Emerald Edge, but
not not liked. Tolerated, but unliked. The knights were also advised to wear
something other than Tortallan livery--the Copper Isles and Tortall hadn't been
on speaking terms since the days of the Dominion Jewel, nearly twenty-five
years ago. Or something like that. The years didn't matter exactly, but the
knights wouldn't be accepted and that was the point.
"Let's go wait in my room," Merric suggested. "It seems we'll just hinder the
progress out here."
Neal and Kel nodded in agreement and rushed with Merric down to his rooms.
Once safely there, Merric took out his letter to Jeraldine, rereading it to make
sure it gave no hints of his whereabouts.
"Have you written to her often since you last saw her?" Kel wanted to know.
"I've tried, but Garvey wouldn't let me," sighed he. "That sounds incredibly
childish, but it's true. Every time I would write one and try to send it he would
find out and intercept it." Merric played with the gold bracelet on his wrist. "You
are *so* lucky that the Master didn't give you one of these."
"Do either of you know who the Master is?" Neal asked guardedly.
Sighing, Kel shook her head. "Not me. Udaan told me that nobody knows what
he looks like because he appears different to everyone."
*He appears different to everyone? Maybe he just decided to appear as Joren
to me...* Neal wondered. *No. That really WAS Joren. I know it was. There
was no way he could have been someone else.*
"Garvey told me to see the Master means death," Merric offered. "So perhaps
we're better off not knowing?"
All three of them considered this and finally decided that, indeed, they were
better off not knowing what the Master looked like.
*Does that mean Joren plans to kill me, then?* Neal thought, trying to listen to
the conversation his two friends carried out in front of him. The thought of
Joren trying to kill him sent a shiver down his spine. *And with that magic of
his...* he glanced down at the bracelet. *With that new magic of his, Joren can
do a lot of damage...*
They continued to talk about whatever came to their attention, all three trying to
ignore the underlying tension about the Master and why they had truly come to
Emerald Edge. Soon night fell, and they reached the beach Fane had told them
about.
Someone knocked furiously on Merric's door.
"Coming!" Merric called, rising from the bed where he sat with Neal and Kel
and opening the door. Mikhail grinned at them. "Hello, Mikhail."
"C'mon, ye lot," he said. "Le's getcha up to Emeral' Edge. Fane tol' me to tell
ye lot that we'll be waitin' here fer ye."
Merric nodded. "Thanks."
Neal and Kel rose behind him and followed Merric and Mikhail up to the deck.
They had set up a couple of wooden boards just wide enough for one person
at a time to walk across over to the beach.
"It's precaution," Fane explained. "We're going to move up the shore a little
bit, over to a cove we've claimed for ours."
"I understand," Neal told her. "Well, go on, Merric."
"Me?" the knight from Hollyrose yelped.
"Yes, you," the duke of Queenscove narrowed his eyes. "Go on."
"I'll--" Kel started to say.
Neal shook his head.
Sighing, Merric stepped onto the boards carefully, afraid they would break
under his weight. As soon as he stepped onto the sand on the other side, he
waved to Kel. She, even more carefully than Merric, crossed the boards and
dug her feet into the sand at the opposite side, not at all grateful for the
experience the pirates had provided her with the boards.
Neal gulped and inched across the boards.
As soon as he had his feet on solid ground, the pirates snatched up the boards
and moved up the coast.
"Well," Neal stated. They looked around them. It was a small beach, covered
with fine sand and a single rock jutting out from the center of it. Cliff walls
towered above them, covered in emerald green moss. "This would be why it's
called 'Emerald Edge,' I would suppose."
Merric looked around the base of the cliffs. "I think we have a slight problem
here, you two."
"What?" Kel asked.
"I think we've been screwed over," Merric informed them. "They took off with
our things and dropped us off at a beach with no visible way to get off except
by boat."
Simultaneously, Neal and Kel groaned. Then they began to search for a way
to get up to Emerald Edge.
When they decided they were stranded, Kel sighed and sat on the rock. "Well,
it was nice knowing you two."
"This was a waste of time," Merric muttered.
"...Well, if we start to starve, let's eat Merric," Neal suggested.
"What?!" Merric cried.
Kel hit Neal on the arm. "Don't be foolish."
Neal shrugged and rubbed his arm. "I was serious. I know which parts of the
human body are edible!"
Merric whacked him over the head. "Just stop talking. You're the one who got
us into this mess in the first place."
"Me?! How did *I* do this?" Neal demanded, rubbing his head. "And will you
two stop using me as your personal training dummy?"
Kel sighed. "Neal's right. We should stop using him as our personal training
dummy. Anyway, I don't think it matter who got us into this situation as much
as how we get out of it."
Merric and Neal both plopped down on the rock with Kel.
"I still say we should eat Merric."
"We've been here for fifteen minutes."
"I'm always hungry."
"Well you're not eating *me*."
"You're the fleshiest."
"What?!"
"You are!"
Kel smacked both of them. "Stop being little boys and think!"
"Yes, Mother Kel," they chorused, and obeyed.
