The next morning, tensions ran higher than ever before. Jyri had caught her sleeping with her knife, and made a snarky comment about it. ("I get mad one time, and suddenly I'm untrustworthy!") But it was all he said to her. Instead, he scribbled in his journal. Faye made a mental note to see exactly what, first chance she'd get. She wore her new corset, with a shirt over it, which only seemed to put him in a worse mood.
The two didn't speak until they left the city behind. Once they entered woods, Jyri mounted the estin. "I know you don't trust me anymore over something as trivial as a disagreement, but do you want on?" He barely glanced her way.
After all the walking she did the previous night, Faye's feet were filled with pins and needles. But she internally cringed at his harsh tone. "I'll walk."
"Of course you will," Jyri muttered, flicking the reigns. Instead of obeying, Holger growled. Jyri frowned down at him. "Come on."
Holger's ears twitched back, and he looked at Faye, then over his shoulder at Jyri. "What?"Jyri asked him. He flicked the reigns again. "Go."
Growling, Holger turned towards Faye, and pushed his snout into her. He turned his head towards Jyri, and gurgled.
Faye gaped. "I... I think he wants us to make up."
Jyri held his head high. "There's nothing to make up." He flicked the reigns, but Holger bucked, nearly throwing him off. "Alright!" Jyri shouted at him, then turned to Faye. "I'm sorry for taking my anger out on you. I was just... upset about the nymph. And this morning... It, hurts that you don't trust me." He looked down at Holger's saddle, thumbing the horn of it. "After all we've been through together... I thought I would've earned it."
Faye resisted the urge to bring up the astro berry lie. So she nodded and looked to Holger. "Can we go now?"
Holger gurgled and pressed his head into her.
"What?" Holger looked at her expectantly. Faye ran her hand over her head. "I'm sorry for trying to hide my identity, so I don't die."
Holger growled.
"Faye-"
She groaned. "Fine. I'm sorry for dismissing your feelings. And not trusting you." Even though you're a liar. She kept the last part in her head.
Jyri grunted, and looked down at Holger. "Can we go now?"
Holger made a guttural noise, but walked.
Faye trailed behind, her thoughts on the previous night. Perhaps she was being too hard on him, after his run-in with the nymph. She wondered exactly what happened, but figured it was better not to ask. The nymph probably... she shuddered, and shook her thoughts away from the incident. It was best to forget it altogether.
But it wasn't easy. Her mind jumped to the Rako, and she picked up her speed, so she was next to Jyri. "Do nymphs and Rako have the same magic?"
"Probably."
"It's funny how it doesn't work on us," Faye said.
"And it's a good thing it doesn't." Jyri's voice rose. "It's crude. One of the reasons King Lyon is against magic."
"Nymphs can't help it, can they?"
"They can control their actions," Jyri said through gritted teeth.
"Actions?"
"It's one thing for their magic to naturally attract others. It's another to use that attraction to their advantage."
"They do that?"
"Last night wasn't the first time."
A pang hit her throat, and she looked down at the dirt path. "I'm sorry."
Jyri didn't acknowledge her apology. Instead, he ranted on. "And of all creatures, they're the only one King Lyon can't get ahold of. Even he gets affected by their magic. And the soldiers who try snagging one. They get enchanted by them." His voice trembled. "And so those... monsters... are free to roam about, and do whatever they wish."
"Lyon's never tried sending women after them instead?"
"Do you honestly believe King Lyon would use women for anything other than his own pleasures?" Jyri shook his head. "I doubt the thought ever occurred to him, or else he'd have tried by now."
Faye furrowed her brow. "How do you know so much about Lyon's personal business?"
"That," Jyri said, "is my personal business."
"YOU!" a voice shouted. Faye turned around, and swallowed. Marka had returned. And from her expression and the way she stormed up to them, Faye had a feeling she found out about their trickery.
Marka pointed her finger at her. "You lied to us!"
Faye jerked her head back, and forced her eyebrows to scrunch upwards. "What do you mean?"
Marka scowled down at her with narrowed eyes. "I became curious, about hodags, so I had my advisor do some research." She raised an eyebrow. "What he found was interesting." Jyri and Faye shared a look. Marka continued. "He discovered that hodags are friendly creatures, who would make loving pets, if only they could fit inside houses."
Jyri rubbed his hand over his jawline. "Really?"
"Yes! We were never in harm. And so, we'll be needing our savior back." Marka reached out and grabbed Faye's arm. Holger growled, and lunged for Marka, but Jyri pulled back on the reigns, coaxing him.
Once certain Holger wasn't going to attack Marka, Jyri dismounted. He grabbed Faye's other arm, tugging her back. "She stays with me."
Faye struggled to break free from their grips, but Marka and Jyri only tightened their holds. Marka pulled at her end of Faye. "You may come with us. But regardless, she-"
Jyri yanked Faye with enough force to break her away from Marka. "She's coming with me, and that's final."
Marka raised her finger, pointing it at Jyri. "Have you forgotten what I did to you last time, goat man?"
Holger growled. Faye rubbed her now-sore arms, wishing for Marka to leave. She'd never met anyone so persistent. Imagine having her as a neighbor. Faye flinched at the thought. Jyri stared at the leaves that littered the ground. Marka smiled. "Since that's settled, our savior-"
Faye gritted her teeth. "I can't be your savior!"
Marka frowned at her. "But you are. The prophecy-"
"Calls for a woman." Jyri stepped between Faye and Marka, arms folded. "She's not a woman."
Marka peered around his side, eyeing Faye curiously. "You told me you were."
Not a woman. She'd need to have a serious talk with Jyri later. Faye clenched her fists, and slid them into her pockets. She closed her eyes. "I'm part-fairy."
Marka laughed. "Right."
"It's true. I have wings."
"I don't see them."
"They're hidden under my shirt."
"Take off your shirt then."
Faye's eyes widened. "What?"
Marka folded her arms. "Take off your shirt, so I can see them."
"I have them hiding under a corset though. You still wouldn't-"
"You lie."
"Just show her your wings," Jyri said, rubbing his forehead. "You don't have to take anything off."
"She can't see my wings unless I take the corset off."
"Should've thought of that before putting the corset on," Jyri muttered.
"That was the point of the corset. I didn't expect-"
"Your ears!" Jyri shouted.
"What?"
Jyri grabbed a fistful of Faye's chin-length hair, and raised it up, revealing her ear. "See, it's pointed."
Marka stepped forward to inspect. She touched it at first, then tugged at it. Faye jerked her head away. Frowning, Marka stepped away, eyeing her. "You're female?" Faye nodded. Marka looked to Jyri. "So she's a woman."
"A woman half-fairy," Jyri said. "Not a human woman."
"The prophecy doesn't say she has to be human."
"By that logic, your savior could be a frog," Jyri said. "Maybe your savior was the hodag you had us chase out."
"Hodags aren't women."
"Neither are fairies."
"Excuse me?" Faye raised her voice. Jyri elbowed her shoulder.
"Fairies are human enough, to be women," Marka said. "They fit into human society. Hodags are animals that can't think rationally."
"You severely underestimate hodags."
"Even so, she's part human. That should qualify her enough." Marka grabbed Faye's arm again. "We're not taking the chance of losing our savior."
Faye yanked her arm away. Jyri raked his fingers through his hair, then threw his hands up. "You don't even know what you need her to save you from!"
"Ah, but I know what you need to save her from." Two familiar men on horses appeared on the path, sneering at the three. In the heat of the argument, no one heard Kern and Roark approach.
Roark held up a cross bow, grinning. "And we came prepared!"
Marka fled the path, through a patch of trees. Jyri bolted for the estin, but the sudden movement startled Holger, and he raced off. Faye and Jyri charged after him. An arrow whizzed past her ear, and she dodged a second arrow.
Jyri yelped. Faye looked over her shoulder.
"Keep running!" he shouted, clutching at his arm. "I'm right behind you."
She sprinted up a hill. Of course, Holger would lead them up one during a high-speed chase. Her aching feet pounded against the hard dirt, slipping at one point. Jyri panted behind her.
Once they reached the top of the hill, Faye turned around. But Kern and Roark weren't to be seen. She fell to her knees, hand over her chest. "Where'd they go?"
Jyri looked down the hill, off to the distance, where they had met Marka. Faye followed his gaze, squinting at two figures. "They haven't moved." She rubbed at the stitch in her side. All that running uphill for nothing.
"Marka must've done something to them," Jyri said, falling next to her, wincing.
"But Marka ran away."
"She could've spelled them first." Jyri pressed his hand over his arm, pulling it close. "Maybe she hid in the trees, and shot a spell from there."
"Well, we should move, before they get un-spelled." Faye turned to nudge Jyri, but spotted an arrow sticking out the back of his upper arm. She gasped. "You're hurt!"
"I'll be fine."
The grimace on his face said otherwise. Faye reached for the arrow, but Jyri snatched her wrist.
"Pulling it out will only make it worse."
"Then how-"
"Never mind that. Look!" Jyri pointed his good arm back towards the frozen guards. Three unidentifiable persons approached the guards, one on a horse, the other two on foot.
The mystery group pushed the guards off their horses, taking them for themselves. After the horseless people climbed on, the group galloped away from the guards, right towards Faye and Jyri.
Faye leaped to her feet. "Let's go. We can find somewhere safe to get that arrow out."
Jyri stared, silent.
"We don't know if these people are dangerous." Faye tugged his good arm, and he got to his feet, but continued to stare, transfixed as the strangers approached. Faye was about to drag him away, but the three stopped in front of them. Two women, younger than Faye, and a haggard, old man.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
