Kaelyn awoke from a dreamless sleep in a soft, warm bed. Darkness engulfed her, save for a rectangle of light outlining a door. For a heartbeat, she didn’t know where she was, then she remembered they’d walked to Carthway without stopping. Somehow Talar had found Mac in the enormous tent city, and after that, everything was a haze.
“You slept an awfully long time,” said a voice by the door, and out of her hazy memory, she recalled a chair beside it.
“We did walk for a day and a half.”
Cloth sighed and the chair creaked. A shadow rose from the corner. “I could tell from the blisters on your feet.”
Her visitor, a man by the timber of his voice, sat on the edge of the bed. She could discern a lean, masculine figure with shoulder length hair. In the depth of her soul, she realized she knew him. From before.
His image swam through the fog surrounding her memories–blond hair lit into a halo by the sunlight–then was engulfed again in the darkness. She knew his finely chiseled face, his pale hair and blue eyes. She knew his features even as she now knew her own.
And yet there was nothing more. No remembrance of times shared, no sense what their relationship was: brother-sister . . . master-servant . . . lovers.
He reached a tentative hand toward her and brushed a lock of hair from her forehead. “I missed you.”
Her throat constricted and sudden tears burned her eyes. This was why she wanted her memory back. Even if she had to remember the bad with the good. Here was someone, a friend who’d sat vigil while she slept.
He ran a gentle finger along her jaw. She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the tears, but a stray one escaped, trailing across her temple and disappearing into her hair.
“Hey, what’s this?” He caught a second tear on his finger. “These better be tears of joy.”
“I don’t–” She sucked in an uneven breath. She wanted to remember, desperately wanted to remember him. “I don’t remember you.”
“I know. They told me.”
She tried to swallow back the lump in her throat, but couldn’t seem to remember how. More tears escaped from between her lashes.
The man pulled her close, whispering soothing words and brushing away her tears. Everything about him felt right and comforting.
“Why can’t I remember?”
“I don’t know.”
Someone knocked on the door and without waiting for a reply it opened, bathing her and the man in the bright light from the room beyond. She squinted against it at Talar.
“Oh, sorry.” He jerked back and closed the door.
“I guess that’s the call for dinner,” said the man, giving Kaelyn one last squeeze before disentangling himself from her embrace.
She sat up and wiped away the last of her tears.
“Shall I light a candle?” he asked.
“I’m decent.”
“Your feet aren’t.”
A tiny flame flickered to life in the wall sconce beside the door.
“There’s a bowl of water beside the bed for washing, and seeing that Talar didn’t actually leave a message, I suspect there’s no hurry.”
She didn’t move.
The man didn’t seem to notice. “Gerid was supposed to have gone clothes shopping for you. I’ll send in whatever he picked up.”
He placed a hand on the door latch and turned back to her, smiling. “It’s good to see you again.” With that, he slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him. She hadn’t even thought to ask him his name.
Moments later someone knocked.
She sniffed and threw back the blanket. “Come in.”
Mac entered, tossed a pile of clothes at her, and sat in the chair by the door.
“You know,” he said. “Swordsmen don’t cry.”
She looked at the skirt and blouse in her lap. “This evening, it seems I’m not a swordsman.”
“Talar told him you’d want pants, but your gentle giant thought you’d look better in a color.”
Kaelyn raised an eyebrow.
“You can’t find breeches in pale blue.”
She sighed and held out the skirt. “They’re just so cold.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Didn’t you dress as a washerwoman to get into the mines of Bekenmire and that evil wizard’s keep?”
Mac snorted. “I was hoping you wouldn’t remember that one.”
“All I can remember are Mac Theselon tales.”
“I take it Talar has told all.”
He had–sort of–she just hadn’t believed it. “You could say that.”
“So. . . .” Mac pursed his lips. “So what do you think?”
“About what?”
“The Great Mac Theselon?”
“I think he should have told my friend to buy me pants.”
“You’re not disappointed?”
“I haven’t really thought about it.”
He sighed. “I should let you change. We thought we’d dine out tonight.” Mac stood and reached for the door latch.
“Ask me again,” she said.
“Ask you what?”
“About traveling with a legend. Ask me when things don’t seem so strange. When life is normal.”
“All right.” He offered a wry smile. “But I have a feeling that for you, there is no normal.”
good story line so far but this chapter and the last left me a bit – well wanting more. There is no tie in as to how they found each other, nothing of the initial reactions of the different characters when they see each other – how they react, etc.
Interesting Steve, thank for commenting. I will have to give it some thought.
Kelsey
I agree with Steve. I had to flip back to the previous chapter(s) to make sure I didn’t inadvertently miss one! It was quite the jump from Mac and Wyndham in the bar trying to buy information to them already reunited with Kaelyn and Talar. But all in all, I really like the story and characters you have developed; I think I’m half in love with Talar too