Forever Misplaced, page 7
Kody rolled her eyes. “We aren’t kicking you out of your apartment. We’ll make it work.”
The woman smiled and nodded to Tristan. “Thank you. I would be happy for a place to stay.” She turned to Kody and took her hand. “You are known as Kody?”
Kody nodded, not sure what to say. The woman smiled warmly. “I am Briony.”
“That’s lovely. It’s wonderful to meet you, Briony. This is Tristan.”
Briony glanced at Tristan, then looked back at Kody. “I cannot express how glad I am to know you. In the morning, we can set forth on our journey and I can tell you all the family stories.”
“Oh, Tristan and I still needed some supplies before we set out.”
“Don’t worry, I can provide for the both of us in the forest,” Briony said.
“But Tristan is coming too, aren’t you?” Kody turned from her sister and met Tristan’s eyes.
His eyebrows went up, and he glanced at Briony. “Well, I was planning to, but now you have a much better guide.”
“Oh, you still have to come. We’ve talked so much about what we will find in the forest, it wouldn’t feel complete if you weren’t there,” Kody said with a grin, as if it was a joke, but really she was screaming inside. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel safe traveling with Briony, it was that she so dearly wanted a buffer between herself and the past her sister brought with her. And a large part of her didn’t want to part ways with Tristan, as if leaving him would mean the end of whatever existed between them, budding friendship or any possibility of more.
After a long pause, Briony spoke. “You are welcome to join us if it will bring my sister comfort. It’s not unprecedented for Hu to venture into our city, but you will be asked to keep your experiences of our city to yourself.”
Tristan nodded. “I can do that.” Kody rolled her eyes. Tristan excelled at keeping things to himself.
“Fine. We’ll plan and prepare tomorrow, and leave the following morning,” Briony said.
They all agreed, and Tristan led them the rest of the way to his apartment.
After they settled into bed, Kody lay on her side staring into the darkness as she tried to force her mind to still and drift into sleep. Her whole body buzzed with the revelation of the evening and sleep felt an eternity away. Briony was happy to share Tristan’s wide bed with Kody. Kody was only a little uncomfortable with the thought, but it wasn’t about the bed, it was about letting someone into her life who had the potential to hurt her deeper than any romantic fling ever could. She had worked so very hard to convince herself a biological family would never happen for her, and here she was now, lying next to a sister who was so very different in almost every way and yet felt oh so familiar.
While they had readied for bed, Briony commented on how odd the shower and bath combo was. She mentioned something about a waterfall and a natural pool, but Kody just couldn’t picture anything other than an old shampoo commercial. She absolutely couldn’t imagine the magical forest kingdom her sister described. To think in two days they would reenter the strange forest Kody had first arrived in and start a trek to a magical Elvman city to meet her biological family. The thoughts sent alternating jets of excitement and anxiety coursing down her body. Briony hadn’t understood her apprehension. To her, Kody was going home, and that was the obvious option. Kody couldn’t explain her fears and worries without opening up more than she was comfortable.
At long last, Kody’s mind sank and drifted toward peaceful oblivion, but just before she faded to dreamland, she heard her sister whisper in the dark next to her.
“I am so happy to know you at last, Kody, my sister. I will take you home to our father and our family will be whole. Just you wait and see.”
Chapter Ten
Planning and preparing the next day turned out to mean Tristan and Kody showing Briony their supplies and Briony telling them basically everything was pointless. They didn’t need a tent or heavy hiking gear or the sharp blades Tristan insisted they would need to cut through the foliage. The medical supplies and their camping and cooking instruments would be redundant.
“The forest isn’t such an inhospitable place as you seem to think,” Briony told Tristan as he showed her a bottle of magical bug spray.
“Really?” Kody asked, rolling her eyes. “Someone should have told the forest that on my first trip through.”
“Yeah, your blessed forest chewed Kody up and spit her out.” Tristan threw his bug spray into the “staying” pile. “My medicines are the only reason she didn’t lose a leg.”
“What?” Kody gasped. “You didn’t tell me that.”
Tristan shrugged. “I didn’t wanna freak you out, but the poisoned gash on your leg was deep. Left untreated, it could’ve been bad.”
Briony paused in repacking Kody’s bag and sat back on her heels. “That surprises me. Maybe the forest didn’t want you to leave once it had found you again.” She shrugged and resumed packing. “Regardless, you will be welcome with me.” She shot a glance at Tristan. “You too, I suppose.”
“Well, that fills me with cheer,” Tristan said and stood. “I’ve got a few things to clean up in the forge. Meet me there in an hour and we can head to the market to get our provisions.”
Tristan left and Kody fiddled with the discarded medical supplies while Briony continued sorting Kody’s pack. She’d removed everything with long sleeves for their journey, saying it was too hot and they would provide Kody everything she needed when the weather changed.
“Is the forest really alive?” Kody asked.
“Of course,” Briony said immediately. Then she grinned and shot Kody a playful look. “It depends a little on what you mean by alive. Every tree, shrub and moss is alive, a separate organism in the biosphere of the forest. But is it sentient?” Briony shrugged. “Some think so. Dad says it is. It told him when you arrived.”
Dad. Both Kody’s and Briony’s dad. It was such an odd thought, such a heavy title, yet used so freely. Kody ignored it. “But how would that even work? You just said they are all separate plants. How could the forest be a sentient being?”
Briony sat back on her heels again and frowned. “Well, I’ve never studied biological agency or anything of the sort, but it could be some type of hive mind, or a single element in the environment.” She folded a yellow top while she spoke, and finally shrugged, placing it back in Kody’s pack and moving on. “Maybe it’s our great creator god using the forest as their hands. It doesn’t really matter if it’s sentient or not. It feels alive, and it has its own sort of magic. Like magic calls to like, and it responds to its people in kind. The same magic that runs through you lives in that forest. You’ll feel it. You’ll see.”
“Briony, I don’t have any magic.”
“Of course you do. You’re an Elv.”
“Half Elv though.”
“Still an Elv.”
“Yeah, but what if I’m not Elv enough? Maybe I didn’t get any of the magic and that’s why the forest didn’t like me?”
Briony put the last garment in the pack and went to the couch and sat next to Kody. She put a hand on Kody’s arm. Kody tried not to stiffen. “I know I gave your Tristan grief over it earlier, but the Elv don’t hate Hu.”
“He’s not my anything,” Kody muttered.
Briony continued, as if not hearing her. “Your mother, our father’s first queen, was Hu, and everyone in the forest dearly loved her.”
“You knew her?”
“Goodness no. She passed only a few years after your disappearance, a hundred or more years ago, from grief, our father always said. I’m not nearly so old.” Briony’s hand tightened on Kody’s shoulder.
Kody nodded. There was no need to mourn a woman so far out of reach, yet her chest still throbbed with the missed opportunity.
“I forgot about the time difference between our worlds,” Kody said at last. “You’re what, maybe twenty or twenty-two?”
“I’m thirty-seven, actually.”
“What?” Kody exclaimed a little loudly.
Briony chuckled. “Elv age much slower than Hu once we reach maturity. Just wait. You’re there now. You won’t show any more signs of aging for at least fifty years.”
Kody blinked and looked away. She’d left Earth just in time, it would seem. How long would she have lasted before people noticed she didn’t match the age on her ID? She would have been fine for ten years maybe, but twenty? Thirty?
They finished the last of the packing that they could do before shopping and cleaned up before donning cloaks and heading down to the forge.
They met up with a surprisingly clean Tristan whose work for the day clearly hadn’t been intense, and headed to the market to grab extra food and trail snacks for the trip. Tristan offered to go by himself, thinking Briony might be as uncomfortable as Kody traveling through the town, but she was not. She was curious to explore and wander among the Hu. Kody pulled her hood lower over her face while Briony smiled and pointed out interesting things, laughing and trying to pull Kody into conversations.
While Briony was distracted by a pair of soft leather boots, Tristan pulled Kody aside and held out a small, bundled handkerchief.
“What is it?”
Tristan dragged open the edges of the handkerchief to reveal something delicate and shiny. “I figured before you set out tomorrow to find your new home, you needed something to remember your old one.”
He pulled out a chain with a small silver pendant on the end. Kody took it carefully and examined it, trying to understand what it was. “It looks like a bridge,” she said, hoping she wasn’t wrong.
Tristan gave her a weak grin and scratched the back of his head. “The city of bridges; it’s the only thing I remember about Pittsburgh.” At Kody’s stunned expression, he grimaced. “That’s right, isn’t it? I can make something else if it’s wrong.”
“No, no, that’s perfect. Better than some sports logo.” Kody smiled and fiddled with the clasp.
“Here, let me.” Tristan took the necklace, unclasped it, and held it out.
Kody turned her back to him and pulled her curls away from her neck. Tristan’s calloused fingers scraped against her skin as he draped the necklace.
“No matter what you find in the forest, your old life still made you the brilliant person you are now, and that shouldn’t be forgotten.”
Kody dropped her hair and fiddled with the pendant. “Thank you, it’s perfect.”
“I know,” Tristan said, his eyes filled with something other than artistic pride as he met hers.
Kody felt her cheeks warm and turned to find Briony, still absorbed in a pair of knee-high boots, though not so distracted she didn’t shoot Kody a sly grin when she joined her.
They needed little in the way of provisions, and their purchases were quickly finished, but still, Briony led Kody further into the market to see all they could find. Tristan followed dutifully. Briony marveled over a yellow dress made of gauzy fabric when two large forms loomed behind Kody.
“Honored guests,” a deep voice said, causing Kody to jump. She spun to see two tall men in what she could only assume were soldier uniforms.
“We carry a message from our king,” the bulkier of the two, a brown-eyed man with a light tanned complexion, said.
Tristan stepped up beside Kody, but Briony didn’t bother turning as she stretched and examined the fabric of the dress.
“I don’t need any message from your king. I’m busy shopping. Can’t you see?” Briony said.
“My ladies, the king begs for you to see him,” he said, addressing Kody and Briony both. “Please, grant us this request and return with us to the palace.”
“What does the king want with them?” Tristan asked, crossing his arms and stepping in front of Kody.
“Our king has long wished to speak with the Elvman, to make peace. Please grant us this opportunity.”
Kody traded looks with Tristan, who shrugged. Briony sighed and dropped the dress back on the rack.
“We will come with you to hear your king, but our time is limited,” Briony said. She nodded to Kody reassuringly. “Sometimes being a princess means doing things you don’t want to do for the sake of diplomacy,” she told Kody with a weak smile.
The guards let them through the city and up a series of large hills that ended with a sight that caused Kody to stop in her tracks. A tall, perfect fairy-tale castle straight out of her wildest dreams appeared before them, stretching into the sky, and took Kody’s breath away. No clunky towers or angles, every inch flowed in sweeping curves and sloped rooftops. Briony stopped next to her while the guards and Tristan continued on a ways before realizing the women had paused.
“Lovely isn’t it?” Briony said with a wistful voice Kody hadn’t heard from her before. “Our people built that castle.”
“What?” Kody asked, glancing away from the castle for only a moment.
“Long ago, back when this continent was split between our people, the Dwarv, and the Avi, before the Hu invaded and committed genocide against our peoples, that castle was ruled by a great Elv king. Our family was always of the forest, but there are many royal lines among our people that no longer hold the land they once ruled.”
Briony went quiet again and looked up at the castle as she took in a deep, slow breath. “I love that castle. It’s the prettiest one still standing in all of Eres. When I was small, I always dreamed of stealing it back from the Hu.” She glanced at Kody and smiled, nudging her sister in the ribs. “But of course that would be a diplomatic nightmare, right?”
Kody smiled back wearily, not sure if she was joking or not. They continued up the path and crossed under a brilliantly carved stone archway that somehow appeared as if many concrete vines had grown out of the ground and wound together to form a tunnel.
The castle was even lovelier up close. Made of some pale smooth rock, each stone forming the structure fit together so perfectly it was as if the castle was grown and not built, and every door and doorway had botanical themed carvings giving greater emphasis to the life and energy of the castle. The furniture and decorations they passed, paintings and tapestries, none of it felt like it matched the castle. As if the space was decorated by someone who didn’t quite understand the design and intent of the hallways and rooms.
They were led to a large room with columns like tall old redwoods topped with beautiful vine-like arches holding up the high ceiling. When they entered, Briony lowered her hood and allowed it to fall back on her shoulders like a cape, uncovering her green swirled arms and her flowing lilac tunic below.
A myriad of people stood around the room and lined the edges, and they all hushed and turned at their entrance.
On the far side of the room sat a man Kody assumed was the king in a grand chair on top of a dais.
The king was . . . young. Maybe fifteen or sixteen, with a strong chin and clever eyes. When they entered, he excused himself from a conversation and rose. He left the dais and crossed the room until he stopped a few feet from Kody and her companions, the guards quietly disappearing into the background. Kody wasn’t sure what to do. Tristan bowed, but Briony did not, so she decided on a brief nod that felt like a compromise between the two. To her great embarrassment, the king bowed deeply to Briony and her. Kody tipped back her hood as a slight concession, not wanting to seem rude by staying in shadow.
The king rose and placed a hand on his chest. “Thank you for accepting my invitation. I am Corinne, and it is my great pleasure to meet you.”
He looked expectantly at Briony, and Kody also looked at Briony waiting for her lead.
“I know who you are,” Briony said in a strong and somehow commanding tone. “Tell us for what reason you have waylaid us so that we may be on our way.”
A slight murmur rose from those standing around the room, but Kody didn’t turn her head to look. She hoped her sister’s rudeness didn’t get Tristan into trouble somehow.
The king seemed to ponder her for a moment before speaking. “My family has always known of your people and your country bordering our own, my ancestors and particularly my father did not always take measures to foster a positive relationship with your people.” He paused and Kody wondered what history she was missing. “This is something I wish to amend.”
“Attempting to mend centuries of wrongs between our people is a tall order, indeed.” Briony tilted her head. “One I hope not foolishly dreamt up by someone young and inexperienced.”
The king bit his lip, frowning slightly, but to Kody’s surprise, he didn’t look frustrated or angry. “What task has brought you to my city that I may assist you with?”
“Nothing we need your help with, I assure you.” Briony glanced at Kody. “I came to retrieve my sister and bring her back to my people. We leave in the morning.”
The king focused his attention on Kody. “You and yours will always be welcome in my city, and I would never wish to delay your journey.”
Kody wasn’t sure what to say, so she half nodded again.
The king glanced at Tristan. “You are the Misplaced from Pundica, are you not? The one who studied with Blacksmith Rawford. Tristan of Pundica, yes?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Although I have spent many more years in Rohap than I have lived in Pundica.”
“I see. Then I will happily claim you as one of my people.” The king smiled. It was a good-natured smile, as if he genuinely was happy to gain Tristan as a member of his country, and Kody decided she liked this young, informal king. “Tell me, how did you become host to our fine friends?”
Tristan glanced at Briony before speaking. “I met Kody shortly after she arrived from the illusion.” The king’s eyes snapped to Kody with renewed interest. “As you may be aware,” Tristan continued, “since the Spell of the Misplaced was broken, some Misplaced have taken longer than others to return home. Being that I was the only one in Rohap who speaks the same language as Kody, I offered to help her back home.”
