Night Rose, page 28
“Thank the Founders,” Galen said out loud, fishing for his papers. Producing them, he searched for a sign of life, and then…yes, there was a Weiler.
The horse stepped forward as they moved farther down the edge of the biodome. The soldier saw them and shouted something over his shoulder, though no sound pierced the Ardor that formed the dome before him.
Finally, a thinner, permeable section of the biodome formed before Galen, and he urged his horse through it. The first breath that Galen took within went straight to his head, and a wave of dizziness hit him as though he’d just smoked something powerful. Grabbing his saddle horn, he leaned forward and squeezed his eyes shut, blindly holding out the papers. Someone took the stack from him, and the woozy sensation was only abating by the time the Weiler returned his papers and waved him through all the way.
At the first tavern Galen passed, he dismounted his horse and fetched water for both of them. While the gelding drank deeply from the bucket Galen held, Galen dumped water on himself and into his mouth from his freshly filled canteen. It was the best water he’d ever had.
Once they were both satisfied, Galen continued walking through Montclair, though now he only held the reins of his horse rather than riding him any further.
As Galen passed the old tavern he used to visit regularly, an unexpected flood of contentment swept through him. He’d missed Montclair far more than he realized and was starting to regret his little sabbatical to Isa. Though if he hadn’t gone, he wouldn’t have met the old woman who had sent him hightailing it back. Whatever the case, Galen was here now, and that was what mattered.
But how would he get ahold of Maverik?
Maybe he would write to Lycus. The man had told him to write once he’d gotten his shit together, hadn’t he? Did this count as having collected himself sufficiently?
Uncertainty filled Galen. He knew that he should be here, but the idea of seeing his friends again made him replete with anxiety about how he would be received.
What in the six hells was he doing?
Six hells. That was something he hadn’t thought of in a while. Shuddering at the reminder, Galen stopped and looked at his surroundings. His feet, which he hadn’t been paying attention to, had taken him directly to his old apartment building, where many members of Kalaiden maintained a presence. There were places like this in every city, though their biggest presence was in Seradan; Kalaiden’s reach extended far more than the Weilers and King Novak realized.
And just ahead, standing frozen on the sidewalk looking as though she’d just seen a ghost, was Vydian.
Galen’s stomach had already been uneasy, but at the sight of her, it fell as far as it could have possibly gone. He couldn’t swallow the sudden lump in his throat, and he wouldn’t have been able to move any of his limbs even if he’d tried.
They stared at each other, each seemingly unable to make the first step for what felt like an eternity.
“Where the hells did you go?” Vydian asked at last, her voice flat.
“I…” Galen trailed off, unable to find the words. Before he could flounder for too long, he at least managed to say, “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” Vydian’s voice rose to a pitch that had pedestrians glancing towards them with concerned expressions. “Is that all you have to say?”
Just like that, the spell that had been over Galen was broken, and he found he could move again. The words that had abandoned him were now desperate to be spoken. “Please, Vydian. Can we go somewhere private?”
“What, so you just come back after disappearing and want to go somewhere with me? What am I to you, a common whore?”
“Vydian, that’s not what I meant,” Galen said hurriedly, stepping towards her.
“Isn’t it?” she hissed, becoming visibly more furious by the second.
“Please,” Galen begged helplessly. “I need to talk to you.”
Vydian glared at him, breathing hard as she fumed, her fists balled tightly at her sides.
“Please,” Galen repeated, his voice breaking. He took another halting step forward.
The silence stretched on as they regarded each other, Vydian seeming to cool only slightly. While Galen had expected that he would have some explaining to do with her, he hadn’t realized Vydian would be so upset by his disappearance. This was a relationship…no, he couldn’t call it that anymore. It was a friendship, at the very least, that he did not wish to lose. At this rate, however, it was looking more and more like Vydian might not come back around.
At last, Vydian said, “I have to go. I’m late for something.”
Turning away, she stalked down the street. Unable to make himself go after her, still stupidly holding his horse’s reins, Galen stood there and watched until she disappeared.
“Well, I can’t say I’ve ever seen Vydian that upset,” someone commented. Galen exhaled before turning to face another friend.
“Mav,” he said.
The other man, with black hair and dark eyes, was wearing a blue shirt with black pants, and he was standing on the stairs that led into the apartments just out of sight from where Vydian had been. It was just as well; she would have been even more furious if she’d known her elder cousin was there. Likely, he’d been on his way to visit with her.
“Galen,” Maverik said, stepping forward to pull his friend into a hug. “What happened, brother?”
Maverik and Galen were not really brothers, but they might as well have been, and Maverik tended to refer to people as brothers even if he didn’t know them well; everyone was family to him, and he looked after those who stayed close as if they were.
“I don’t know,” Galen said, shaking his head. “I just had this urge to leave, to get as far away as possible.”
They walked down the street, Galen pulling his horse along and keeping an eye out for a stable. He knew the city well enough that he could have taken them directly to a nice barn, but Galen wanted to see where they would end up as they talked. He didn’t want to force anything about this first, fragile act towards reparation.
Well, it felt brittle for Galen—as if one wrong word might break everything apart—but Maverik seemed as calm as he always was.
“Did you find what you needed?” Maverik asked.
Galen looked at his oldest friend, a small wave of surprise coursing through him at the casualty with which Maverik welcomed his return. “Are you not mad?”
Maverik appeared vaguely bemused, and he put a hand on Galen’s shoulder. “Should I be? You came back. It sounds as though you needed this.”
“I left with no explanation. I abandoned you and everyone else,” Galen said, overwhelmed by the need to insist that he’d done something terrible.
“You did do that,” Maverik agreed as they turned at the next street corner. “But these are bad times.”
“That isn’t an excuse,” Galen lamented. “And it isn’t a good reason for me to have left, either.”
“We have been fighting this war for too long.” Maverik sighed. “I can’t tell you how often I’ve wanted to give up, too. I don’t blame you.”
This caught Galen off guard. “You’ve wanted to give up?”
“All the time,” Maverik said.
That was news to Galen, who had always considered Maverik a steadfast and unwavering leader. Unexpectedly, emotion welled up inside him, and he found himself choked up, his throat tight, and his vision blurred.
“I didn’t realize,” Galen said quietly.
“We are all just people at the end of the day,” Maverik said. “But we’ve gotten away from ourselves. How was your time?”
Galen swallowed, the tears drying up nearly as fast as they’d appeared. This was something that he had been dreading. Telling Maverik what he’d encountered in Isa.
“I, ah, have some really bad news,” Galen said, unable to meet Maverik’s eyes.
Maverik, to Galen’s surprise, chuckled softly. “It can’t be worse than what I’ve been discovering here.”
“No…I think it will be at least the same,” Galen replied with skepticism.
“Now, that is a high claim,” Maverik said. “Alright, Galen. I’m now officially dying to know what you have to say.”
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Galen glanced away and, in the movement, saw the barn he’d known they were going to pass if they continued in this direction.
“Wait,” he said. “Let me stop here to get my horse settled.”
Maverik followed Galen to the barn, his hands in his pockets, where they met a stableboy who took the gelding and the generous pile of coins that Galen shoved at him before disappearing down the aisle of the stables.
The horse had been a massive part of Galen’s life for the past few cycles, and he watched him go with some regret, hating to be separated.
“We’ll take him back to base and keep him with the others if you like him that much,” Maverik said, appearing to recognize Galen’s hesitance to leave the horse.
“Base?” Galen said absently, turning back to Maverik.
“Yes.” Maverik nodded. “I think you’ve done enough fieldwork. Though…I have one last thing to ask of you, and then you may finally settle in one place for a while.”
“Anything,” Galen said, and the pair of them walked through Montclair once more, this time heading towards the center of the city—near Parkette Street—where the food and drink were plentiful.
“You won’t like it,” Maverik warned.
Galen gave his oldest friend an incredulous look. “Maybe wait to ask me until tomorrow, then.”
Maverik nodded, a knowing and slightly amused smile on his lips. The pair continued in companionable silence while Galen struggled with the truth of what he had to tell Maverik; he didn’t want to be the one to bring it up.
“You should know that after Lycus met up with you, we tracked down who delivered the checkpoint location to you. They’ve been taken care of.” Maverik gave Galen a sidelong look, and Galen’s relief at that was staggering. Not only because Lycus had believed him, but his friends had defended him even when he’d abandoned them.
“Do you think Vydian will forgive me?” Galen blurted suddenly, feeling heat rise in his cheeks. He had no idea what had possessed him to ask, but it at least shifted the subject away from himself.
Chuckling, Maverik threw an arm around Galen’s shoulders and steered him into a homey little tavern, pausing to order two ales at the bar before they found a seat at the back of the place. They chose a little booth tucked into the corner, where they would be able to observe everything that happened in the bar and have a semblance of privacy.
Taking a sip from his ale, Maverik finally answered, “I think she will.”
Galen raised an eyebrow at the delayed reply, taking a long drag from his glass.
“I mean, it will take a lot of groveling,” Maverik added. “A lot of ass-kissing and maybe some nice gifts.”
Grimacing into his beer, Galen nodded slowly. “In other words, it’s probably hopeless.”
Maverik feigned shock. “Brother, you’ve never shied from a challenge before. Granted, I’m not going to talk you all the way through this one. I mean, she’s my cousin. But you’ve got to at least try.”
“Alright.” Galen sighed and grinned wickedly, twisting Maverik’s words. “It might not be that bad. Vydian does deserve some ass-kissing.”
“Ew,” Maverik said, making a face. “Please don’t ever say that to me again.”
Both men laughed, and the mood was significantly improved, though Galen still suffered through the itching thought at the back of his mind that told him he needed to share what he’d seen with Maverik. Whom he’d seen.
“Maverik…” Galen started after a long while, once more finding it difficult to look his friend in the eye.
“Yes?”
“It is not only your cousin that we need to be concerned with,” Galen said.
“Oh? Is there someone else whom you’ve gravely offended?” Maverik’s tone was still teasing, but Galen swallowed hard.
“Not exactly,” he said. Then, he finally spit it out. “I saw your brother.”
Maverik went so preternaturally still that Galen thought his friend might as well have turned to stone. The color drained from his face, and his knuckles turned white where he gripped his ale.
“That isn’t possible, Galen.” Maverik’s voice was cold. Hard.
Galen finally looked at Maverik, feeling himself sweat a little under his friend’s intense gaze.
“I didn’t think so either,” Galen said. “But believe me when I tell you, Mav. I know who I saw.”
It was Maverik’s turn to look away.
“You were right,” Maverik said eventually. “This is terrible news if what you say is true.”
Galen felt a flash of irritation. “You don’t believe me?”
“I don’t know what to believe right this second.” Maverik’s words were harsher than Galen was accustomed to.
Unable to say more, unable to possibly upset his friend further, Galen sank back into his seat and drank his beer. At least he’d done what he’d come here for. Now he could rest, and after this conversation, it seemed like he’d be on his own for that.
It was early enough in the bioday for the tavern to still be quiet except for the two men. While Galen would find some place to sleep after he left, Maverik would likely need to go to work.
What a terrible way to start the day. Galen felt awful bearing this bad news to his friend but simultaneously relieved to have it over with.
“Okay,” Maverik said eventually when some normal coloring had returned to his skin. “Tell me everything.”
Eagerly, Galen started from the moment that he abandoned watching that Belrose girl to take off and get as far away from everything as he possibly could. He spoke of how he had gone east, how he’d ended up in Isa and then taken an apprenticeship with the smith there to learn to use his Fire Ardor better. For too long, Galen told Maverik all about Beryl and Matty, and he hoped that he could return to them for a little while sometime soon.
“And my brother?” Maverik prodded gently.
Galen nodded and explained the day he’d left the smith, taken a walk, and ended up at the strange house. He told Maverik about the old lady and their frustrating conversation, told him that she’d left him with a truth that would come to pass shortly after. Then, he spoke about walking back to the inn where he’d been staying and about the young woman shopping and the man who’d been with her.
“He didn’t see you?” Maverik asked when Galen finished.
“No,” Galen said, shaking his head.
But the mood had already been entirely soured. Maverik and his brother had a very long history, one that was tightly interwoven with the past of the very planet they lived on, and almost none of it was good.
Regardless, Galen was glad to be back with his friends. The purpose that had led him here hadn’t been good, but all that mattered now was what he did with that information. And from the sounds of it, Maverik already knew exactly what that would be. Resolved to spend as long as was needed making up to Kalaiden for his hiatus, Galen was ready for anything. While Maverik sat across from him trying to come to terms with his brother being alive, Galen was ready to help support him unconditionally.
They would get through this.
Chapter 28
Briatta
Briatta followed Vydian, keeping watch behind them as they crept down yet another back road in D’ivory. This time, they were thorough. They would miss nothing.
They’d left as soon as Vydian returned to the warehouse from wherever she’d gone. The woman seemed withdrawn and preoccupied, and though Briatta couldn’t imagine what could have happened in the half hour they were apart, she didn’t pry. They might be allies because of the Ackmanlee, maybe even tentative friends, but they hadn’t spoken of anything deeper than the competition, so Briatta didn’t feel it was appropriate to pry.
On the way to D’ivory from the warehouse district, they’d briefly considered whether they should try to let Neven know what they were doing. It took only a split second for them to meet eyes and shake their heads. Briatta and Vydian were now a cohesive unit, and Neven would only be a distraction. He wasn’t even a competitor, after all.
As she backed around the corner that Vydian had just taken, scanning the path they’d already covered, Briatta reflected on how Neven had been the one with whom she had felt this way only a short while ago, and how they’d once trusted each other implicitly to have their backs and get the job done.
How quickly everything had changed.
From the warehouse where the remains of the barrel stayed, Vydian and Briatta had ridden Cobalt together, then brought him home to the Belrose Estate on the way to D’ivory. They’d been on foot since, keeping watch for any hint of abnormalities.
Rather than going directly to the alley where Briatta had lost the figure in grey, they started their sweep from the farthest edge of the search perimeter that they’d established on the way over. As an added bonus, Briatta had instinctively signed to Vydian with her hands that they were actively searching as pedestrians passed and discovered that Vydian understood everything. Vydian’s face had lit up with excitement, and her hands had moved so quickly in response that Briatta almost couldn’t keep up.
Being able to communicate silently made the hunt much easier.
As they drew closer to that damned alley where she’d lost her quarry, Briatta grew more restless. Some part of her had hoped that she’d been wrong the first time, and that they’d find new clues as to where Grey Figure had gone, and the other part of her believed she’d been entirely thorough and didn’t want to doubt her work.
Still, with everything going on, Briatta couldn’t squash the tiny flame of apprehension that burned in her gut. It was now a constant companion, whereas she’d never doubted herself before.
Returning to the main street, Briatta straightened and fell into step beside Vydian to appear normal as they walked to the next gap between the rows of buildings.
“Nothing,” Briatta murmured, keeping her head on a swivel and smiling at Vydian as if the woman had said something interesting.
