A/N: (walks out with head down and shields self with computer) Please don't kill me! I know it's been forever and a day since I updated, but I've been SO busy! I'm sorry!
Well, now that that's out of the way (ducks flying rock) here's the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tamora Pierce's work. However I do own a lovely kazoo which I purchased yesterday….MINE!
Bright sunlight filtered through the half shut windows. Blinking rapidly, Briar shifted his head out of a direct ray, his muscles feeling stiff and sore. His head thudded in a dull, aching pain; he felt magically drained. Somewhere below, a glass broke and the sound seared through Briar's mind.
Lifting his head, inch by slow, painful inch, Briar looked around. He was on a bed. Right. In a room. At the Tavern? Yes, he decided, the wood that called his name was the same as last night.
Last night… Strangely, his memory was sketchy at best. Straining, he remembered—the ale. Groaning, Briar cursed himself for even dreaming about thinking about letting a single drop of the cursed stuff down his sorry throat. But it seemed like such a good idea at the time. A way to forget. A way to forget… SANDRY!
Scrambling out of bed, Briar teetered for a moment as the room spun, then toppled over, every jarring sound and pain echoing in his mind.
Ouch.
Staying on the ground a second, Briar tried to cipher out what had happened the night before, all the while furiously trying to make the room stay in its original fixed position.
He remembered the fight before he drank. Briefly a cloud of despair came over Briar as he remembered the hurt and anger in her blazing eyes, then he shook it away. A desperate conversation with someone… Sandry, he realized, it was she who had dragged him up here.
Suddenly Briar's blood ran cold. His face blanched as the details flooded his mind. Her face swimming above his, his aching heart ricocheting inside of him and pouring out of his mouth in stupid gibberish words… All those years of hiding his feelings and now they're all out in a tangle. Briar gritted his teeth. It was too late to do anything now. He'd just have knuckle down and face it like a man.
Gulping and giving himself some time to gather his courage, Briar pushed himself off the floor and stumbled out the door. The stairs were a bit of a challenge, but he managed to get down them without injury—well, not much injury anyway.
The noise of the kitchen caused him to stop short. Was life normally this loud? A large man stood in front of the hearth, eying a stew and muttering to himself about needing more carrots. A dark girl Briar vaguely remembered as Ollie and another woman- middle age with masses of brown curls- stood at a tall wooden table, chopping greens. They were talking quietly. When Ollie looked up and caught sight of Briar, her brown eyes widened fearfully. Without a word she dropped the knife and scampered out the door.
Watching her retreat, the woman paused in her chopping. Turning to Briar, she took in his raised eyebrow and bewildered expression.
"Don't give me that look," she quipped, moving to remove the kettle from the hearth and grabbing a cup, "You caused quite a disturbance last night." Briar pulled a stool over and sat on it. "I'm Kellen, by the way. Owner of this place with my husband, Ben." As he shook her hand, Briar recalled the image of a tall, sandy haired man.
"Briar Moss. Is Sandry around?" Briar asked hesitantly. Kellen carefully spooned crushed tea leaves into the cup and stirred.
"She's outside and seems fair distressed to me," she said, handing Briar the tea, "so you might want some of this before you go rushing out to her." Sniffing suspiciously, Briar eyed the seemingly innocent cup. Briar shrugged at Kellen's questioning glance.
"Last drink someone here gave me provided me with a splitting head ache and glorious mess to wake up to." Kellen nodded her head in a 'point taken' sort of way. Convinced that the tea was safe, Briar downed it and immediately noticed his headache subside. Nodding in thanks to Kellen, he set the cup on the table and walked out of the kitchen.
Besides the immediate hush of chatter at his entry, Briar noticed an intriguing masterpiece planted in the center of the room. And when he said planted, he meant planted. Eight feet tall if it was an inch, the trunk of it split and the branches formed a round frame and an assortment of vines and flowers were woven in some kind of design. Briar gave a low whistle. Must of taken a lot of magic for this little beauty. Kind of reminded him of something Sandry would do… if she worked with plants, that is.
It was at this point Briar noticed the eyes trained on him. The room wasn't crowded, but every person had their gaze locked on him, viewing him with suspicion and fear.
One pair of gray eyes looked familiar. It was Ben standing behind the counter. Briar uneasily wondered how much the man knew of him. With a grimace Ben jerked his head to the back door, inviting him to go out to Sandry.
Briar hesitated…he certainly wasn't making any friends in here. Nodding, Briar strode in between tables, wincing at the visible drawback of those near him, and darted out the door.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the bright light. Slowly, his vision cleared and the stable yard focused. Unsure of Sandry's exact location, he ambled into the stable and looked around. Jack stood contentedly in his stall, munching a mouthful of hay. Walking to him, Briar ran a hand down the mule's long nose.
"Good ol' Jack," Briar murmured. After seeing to his traveling companion, Briar curiously peeked at the other boarder's animals. Most were horses, though one particularly fine camel spat in Briar's face when he poked his head in its stall.
The last stall he came to held a beauty of a mare. Her face dished and muzzle dainty, she lipped at his shirt, a musical nicker rumbling in her throat. Briar tilted his head to the side, thinking. The mare seemed so familiar, he knew he'd seen her somewhere before. Something about her dark chestnut coat, gilded in the sunlight that streamed through the rafters… Briar's face lit up.
"Janah?" The mare's ears flicked to attention at the sound of her name. Briar grinned. This was Sandry's horse. Of course it made sense that she'd be here. Janah had gone missing the night Sandry left and he assumed she had gone with her master. But Briar was sad to see the mare go. She was such a lady among the other horses, prancing and flashing her heels in spirit, but always so gentle with Sandry.
Giving Janah's neck one last rub, Briar emerged from the barn. Ahead of him was a stream, cool and clear and blue. The banks were grassy with a small borderline of river rocks. Briar was no artist, but the scene looked so…picturesque. Kneeling on the edge, Briar dipped his hands into the water and cupped some in them. Drinking, Briar sighed as the cool water slid down his throat, the last of his head ache vanishing. He dunked his head in, scrubbed his face and surfaced, dripping.
Briar shook his head, spraying water, and sat back on his heels. Something caught his eye and he turned to the right. Farther upstream the bank rose into a mound overlooking the rushing water with an old cherry tree at the top. The branches spread out and were covered in leaves and white blossoms, which also littered the ground beneath it. And sitting at the base of this tree was Sandry.
She was in a pale green dress, and her light brown hair hung loose on her shoulders. In her hands was a spool of thread and her fingers deftly were working with it, knotting and unknotting, coiling it, braiding it- it was habit Briar remembered well.
Her face was closed and thoughtful, staring into the streams depths as if they held the secrets of the world. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
Briar sighed, now was as good a time as any. Shaking his head violently to rid himself annoying droplets, he stood and started walking slowly to the tree.
A/N: I'm gonna try to get the next one out sooner (o jeez I hope so). Anyway, I thought it'd be cool if any of you devoted (and PATIENT) readers liked to draw, if you wanted to illustrate some scenes from this or something. I've been doing it, but I'm interested to find out what this all looks like in your heads. Let me know if you're interested!
