Dreok

Jadda could see it. Once Kin said the word out loud. This was a grown man, having thickened and muscled, with long hair that had darkened in the years since she last saw him. There were some faint scars on his face, and some whispers of facial hair. He wasn’t the brother she’d said goodbye to years ago. But he was her brother.

She couldn’t speak though. She couldn’t tell if he recognized her or not, and she couldn’t wrestle enough sounds out of her mouth to tell him she knew him, to say who she was, to ask him if he was safe and well, if he remembered… everything… her… Kinsom… There was so much to say, but she couldn’t say a word of it.

Kin took a couple of seconds to orient himself. He said, “I knew you were in the city, but I hadn’t worked out where.”

“And you. You’re a beacon to anyone who knows what to search for. Anyone who’s been where we have.”

The street thugs had faded into the background, perhaps acquiescing out of curiosity – who are these people and what are they going to say? – but they reasserted themselves now. The older one, who seemed to be in charge, said, “Hedrian takes what he pleases, lesser men step out of the way. Or do you fancy yourself something else?”

“Name’s Dreok,” was the answer.

“Should I be impressed.”

“I have some friends.” Dreok pivoted a little so he could more easily draw what appeared to be an impressive, new-minted broadsword. Jadda knew nothing about swords, but she could see something in this one – the glint, the wavy steel; the straight, crisp lines. “This is one amongst them.”

None of their attackers had anything like it. These were men carrying knifes and crude clubs. But there were still ten of them, and they were hard, seasoned, weathered creatures – they weren’t so easily intimidated.

The grey-haired one took a step forward. “You might take a couple of us out with that. But the rest will leave with the man. You don’t want to get involved.”

“Ah, but I am involved. And I report to a man at sunset. So you can decide. Is it worth it?”

“You know his value?”

“Yes, I do. I know mine too.” This was not the brother whose airy-headed dreams of adventure had lured him away from home. This was a different Dreok to the one she’d grown up with. There were airs to his voice, a suggestion of breeding.

You’d never know.

Kin moved to stand beside Dreok. “You care to test yourselves?”

He’s strong, she wanted to tell it to Dreok, the forest did things to him, but I don’t know if he’s as strong as this…

Four men charged forward. It happened in a split second, but was well enough timed that there must have been a signal. Dreok moved in to meet one of them, he moved quickly but easily, as if he wasn’t in a hurry, and the blade cut a whirring arc that ended in the man’s blood, in him doubled up on the cobbles, clutching at his belly. It was a killing blow, and the man knew it.

Two converged on Kin at the same moment. He met one, grabbing him by the shoulders and throwing him backwards, while the other smashed a length of metal against his shoulder. Jadda saw Kin stagger with the impact, but he rallied and turned on the man. Jadda had a moment to be reminded of how strong he was, the way he swatted that assailant aside.

A moment later she had her own problems. A boy with pumpkin-ginger hair came at her with a knife. She wasn’t sure if he even meant to attack her, waving the knife around wildly as if he wanted to drive her off. And she backed away, eyes searching, noting the other five men who were still behind them, readying to move. The boy might be sixteen or less, and she didn’t want to hurt him, but they were going to be badly outnumbered in a handful of seconds. She drew her sad little dinner knife and held it aloft. She managed an inarticulate roaring sound, mouth wide open, lurching forward.

It was enough to make the boy think again, and in the moment that was happening Dreok had come up behind him and slashed him with the sword.

Jadda thought he would survive, she thought that Dreok had shown as much mercy as the situation could spare. She thought that was what she was seeing.

What the gang saw was death. They had the numbers, but it seemed as if strength and equipment favoured the other side. Those that could run took off in different directions, losing themselves in narrow alleys, in the darkness those conjured.

“When did you learn to use a sword?” Jadda blurted.

Dreok turned to look at her, and for a few seconds he was confused, only after that letting a slow smile spread across his face. “Jadda?”

“Yes.”

“What?  But why?”

“To find you.”

“I said… I told you I’d come back in time.”

Kin stepped forward, “it was my idea, I found my way up to the lake on Firenight and introduced myself to Jadda,” at the widening of Dreok’s eyes, “There wasn’t that kind of introduction, I can swear as much. But I did convince her to come with me and help me find you.”

It’s not that simple. Those weren’t his actions. How does he even know what kind of introduction took place?

“Kinsom,” Dreok said, wonderingly.

“It’s not exactly like that,” Jadda tried to work out how to frame the explanation to not sound half mad, but each thread her mind touched led to insanity. “It wasn’t really him. It’s all changed.”

“We have a lot to catch up on. But not out here in the street. Hedrian’s lot will come back sooner or later. The forest changed you, Kinsom, it’s left a mark on you that sorcerer’s want.”

You’ve no idea, Jadda thought.

“You should probably start calling me Kin.” That was what he said.

#

They wound up at Dreok’s house. Or to put it more precisely, at Dreok’s room, since he rented only the upstairs room, along with a second room that had a basin and a narrow little balcony out over the street. Behind the boarding house there was a bricked courtyard, set up with benches and tables. Dreok lead them down an alley to that courtyard, and gestured to where they could sit.

“Jadda,” he whispered, “I’m just glad you’re all right. It was a dangerous journey for you to make.”

“It was just as dangerous when you set out to make it five years ago.” I dare you, she thought, tell me how it’s different because I’m a girl.

He turned to Kin instead, “Thank you, Kinsom, for keeping her safe.”

“He’s not Kinsom,” she needed for that to sink in.

Dreok took it well enough. Apparently he’d seen enough these days that the concept of someone splitting in half and becoming two people was nothing very strange to him. The revelation that he’d done the same, and that that other half of him had died back in the forest, and at the hand of the man who stood before him right now… It should have been a wave of shocking information, but it seemed like Dreok took it all in his stride. He said, “I can see him in you. Well, you are him, and you aren’t.”

“He killed you,” Jadda reminded him.

“I suppose so.”

“And buried your friend.”

“We did the same to him, unwittingly.”

“Exactly. Unwittingly. I was there, I saw the whole thing.”

Dreok lay a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry about all that. There’s a lot to work through here, I hardly… I hardly expected to ever see Kinsom again – I thought you dead, my friend. I thought you must have been swallowed by the forest. I was confused and disorientated at the time I got out of there. I didn’t think I’d see you again,” he turned, “and you, Jadda, I didn’t think I’d see you here.”

“Where did you learn to use a sword?”

“Here. From a mentor.”

“How could you afford it?”

“A gift from the same man. Jadda, I’ve risen since I came to Ashelmarring. I’m not the peasant lad you remember. I’ve learnt things. Reading, writing, figures, fighting. I’ve been lucky in the friends I’ve made.”

“Yes, but what do you do for them?”

“Fair. I have had to walk in some murky light at times. There’s an underside to this town that you would not credit. It’s almost another world. But I’m making my way here, and I was going to head home for a while when I could. Home to you. I was going to bring gifts – things more impressive than the lake can offer. But you’re here now. I will arrange a room for you. I have the coin, I know the proprietress. I’ll see to it.”

She was tired, or still a little scared, because she had a poor rein on her tongue. “But what have you become?”

“What I need to be. A man. An inhabitant of this fine city. Pick from amongst those.”

“You’re not Dreok.”

“Not that one. You said yourself, I left much of my childhood behind me, more than I thought. But you’ve had a hard time, I’ll settle you into a room. Tomorrow we can talk. I’ll show you something that’ll take your breath away.”

#

Well, it didn’t. She didn’t. This girl whose name had trailed Dreok’s since that first village after the forest. Dreok found a tavern where there were outdoor seats and he ordered the best roast beef for them all, along with mead and brandy, crunchy potatoes and roasted eggs. Stewed green vegetables swirled at the side.

Jadda watched as he paid with silver.

Their spot looked across at a street from which a young woman walked. She had blond curls, stacked neatly on her head and held in place with ribbons and a triangular cap. The cap – so Dreok said – was becoming the height of fashion amongst middle to upper class woman. And in a burgundy dress, twinkling with gold trim, she had a look not far removed from a nobleman’s daughter.

She didn’t look at Dreok, and he tilted his head down as she passed, smiling on the arm of a man likely her father.

Kin leaned across the table, “You’ve not said a word to her, have you?”

“Not since I came to the city. She doesn’t know I’m here.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

“Success. Good fortune. Once I know I can plead a good case, that’s when I’ll step up to her and ask if she happens to remember me.”

“And if she finds a husband before then?”

“I’ll hope. I’ll trust in luck.”

There was something though, about the way he looked at that girl; as if the thrill was in the admiration, in the prospect, the unrequitedness, the tantalizing future. All of that would be gone if he approached her and offered his hand. Jadda wondered if he’d continue holding back, not wanting to lose that, until he lost it all. And the girl might still say no.

“What do you see in her?” It came out wrong, but she held onto it, she met his eyes. She wanted to know.

“Well, she’s gorgeous. Graceful. She has as beautiful voice. She’s just so… so…” He laughed at himself, “words fail me.”

“So what? There must be something.”

“So self-possessed. Like she knows her exact weight in the world, what she’s worth and where she belongs. Like she can’t be swayed by simple tricks or flattery or whatever. Like she knows better.”

Jadda pushed down that weird sense of resentment. Why should she hold it against a stranger that her brother was besotted?

Dreok said, “Listen, I can rent us a house. Somewhere we can all live together.”

Jadda started, “but won’t we…?”

“I’m not ready to return to Lake Elfstan.”

Because she’s here. And you don’t want to go back without her on your arm.

“It’ll be perfect. Jadda. I can get you a position in the palace. Kin, you, you’re worth plenty to the right people. I can find you both a place here. Jadda, you can dance at the next ball. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t like that.”

“I don’t know.”

“You came all this way to find me.”

She had. That was true.

“You’ve found me. Take some time to enjoy the experience. I came here looking for adventure, and knowledge, I wanted as much experience as I could fit into a lifetime. I still do. Don’t you?”

“I don’t know what I want.”

“Then you can find it here. For now, anyway. What do you say?”

She didn’t know what to say, and was disquieted to find herself looking at Kin, waiting to see what he’d say, ready to follow his lead. She tried to remember the other one, the one still buried in the earth, still growing and changing, preparing to hatch. Was this a tiny betrayal, or was it just acceptance?

Kin said, “I would like it. But I’ll escort you back to your lake if you’d rather.”

Dreok tilted his eyes at her, “if you’d really rather. If you don’t want to see this city, or swim in the ocean, or sail on a real ship. If you don’t think you want any of that?”

“All right, fine. Fine. We can stay awhile.”

“We can do whatever we want. That’s who we are now.”

She wasn’t sure she felt different – but her brother and his friend, they most surely were. Dreok was sophisticated, Kin haunted. And what did that make her? For now, the sun was shining, the river was a golden snake, and the horizon was lined with rubies. For now, she was an explorer, and the world was wider than she had ever known it was.

 

END

 

Picture credit/discredit: author's own work