Whoohoo! I remembered before the end of the week!
Chapter Four
“Another mug of meeng?”
Neeka grinned at the shake of Kendall’s head. “Let me guess. You’re not a drinker.”
He smiled. “Not
today.” He had to admit the drink was
just as good as sloan, maybe even a bit better; just a bit more bitter. He looked toward the band on the small
stage. The music was fun and very
upbeat. He tapped his foot to the
rhythm.
“Do you dance?”
He blinked, his foot mid-beat.
He did dance. In fact, he quite
enjoyed dancing. In Quelondain. He had no idea if he danced in Thistendal,
however.
“Come on, I’ll show you how.”
Neeka took his hand and pulled him up before he could object.
Kendall smiled down at Neeka as she showed him a series of
steps, slowly speeding up the sequence until they were moving to the same beat
as the music. This wasn’t so bad, he
thought.
Neeka’s light brown eyes met his. She raised an eyebrow.
“You’re hiding something.”
He grunted. “You’d know
this because you know me so well?”
“I’ve been with you all day and something you said when we met
stuck with me. You’re one of those who
thinks shifters aren’t evil, aren’t you?”
She whispered the question, making sure none of the other dancers could
hear.
Kendall missed a beat, effectively managing to step on her
toes. She stopped, counted the beat out
loud, and the pair resumed their dance.
“And if I was?”
“If you were, I’d make sure not to voice your opinion in this
town.” She offered him a small
smile. “It was when you’d asked if I’d
met one. You talk about them as though
they’re people. Here, in this town,
they’re animals and nothing more. Don’t
get caught making comments like that.”
He gave a small nod.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
The music stopped and a slower song started. Kendall pulled her closer so they could keep
talking.
“And what about you?” he inquired.
She shrugged. “I’ve
never seen one.”
When she didn’t offer any more of an explanation, he changed
the subject. “How far from the coast are
we?”
“It’s a good two weeks on horseback.”
“And the nearest port?”
“The same.”
He hesitated then decided to go ahead with his next
question. “This might sound extremely
strange, but you don’t happen to know of any magic wielders in the area?”
It was her turn to miss a step.
She stared up at him, shocked.
Neeka clenched her jaw, took his hand and pulled him outside.
“Who are you?” She
whirled on him and kept walking until he was forced to step back.
“Kendall.”
“Yeah, I got that! What
do you want with a magic wielder? You
know that to use magic is to put a death sentence on your head!”
Kendall hung his head back in frustration. “By the moons, what is wrong this continent?”
Neeka’s eyes were saucers in her head.
“Neeka! Are you
alright? What’s going on?” Brian appeared outside with three more men.
Kendall swore under his breath.
Neeka looked back and forth between Brian and Kendall. Her gaze met Kendall’s.
“I… I’m fine, Brian.
Kendall said his head was spinning.
I thought he could use some fresh air.”
Kendall cocked his head at Neeka in question and relaxed at her
small nod. He needed information. He needed to get home. Getting himself killed wasn’t going to help
anything.
“Brian, you were about to tell me how you got the boar you have
on the wall.” One of Brian’s friends put
his arm around the man and herded him back inside, but not before raising an
eyebrow at Kendall.
The door closed and Neeka glared at him.
“I want the truth.”
Kendall ran through his options. He wasn’t the best of liars and he knew
it. Neeka had already guessed something
was off. Did he keep lying and hope to
throw her off or did he simply tell her the truth?
“I’m not a fisherman.”
There. That was the truth.
She grunted. “And?”
He ran a hand over his face.
“First, tell me this. What do you
think of me?”
She frowned. “I barely
know you.”
“I know. But you read
people. You can get a sense of who they
are by what they say. Like that bit
about me thinking of shifters as people.
You got that. What else did you
get?”
Neeka took a minute to arrange her thoughts.
“You’re a liar, for one, and a bad one at that.”
“True.”
“I don’t know, Kendall.
You seem like a good man. But why
lie if you have nothing to hide?”
“Because I have plenty to hide.” He held his hand out to her. “Is there somewhere we can go talk where no
one will barge out to your defense?”
She hesitated before taking his hand and nodding. She led him to a small clearing just outside
of the town. Kendall glanced up into the
sky and smiled at the two moons appearing over the tree tops. At least something here was familiar.
“I’m not from here,” he stated, giving her hand a squeeze.
She nodded. “You’re not
from down south, either.”
He shook his head. “By
the moons, you’ll think I’m crazy and you’ll hate me.” He paused.
“Look, just… can you promise me something? Can you promise me that before you start
screaming for help you’ll take a minute and think about what I tell you?”
Neeka’s eyes widened and she swallowed nervously. “Are you going to hurt me?”
Kendall gazed into her eyes.
“No. Absolutely not. I promise that whatever happens, I will not
hurt you.” He waited until the words
sank in. “Am I telling the truth?”
She nodded.
“Alright. I’m from
Quelondain.”
“No one but the Gysps cross the sea.”
“Up until this morning, I’d have agreed with you. However, here I am.” He shrugged.
“But how?”
“Magic.” When she looked
like she was about to run, he took her other hand in his. “Neeka, where I come from, magic is an
everyday thing. Magic wielders help
beings with their skills. A good friend
of mine, Hayden, is a magic wielder. She
was working on her displacement spell and the next thing I knew, I was here.”
He could see her rolling what he’d said through her mind.
“You’re not lying.” It
wasn’t a question.
He shook his head. “I
need to find a way to get home.”
“Couldn’t your magic wielding friend bring you back?”
Kendall smiled. She was trying
to help him. “I don’t think so. Hayden has issues with that spell.”
“So, the way you talk about shifters…” She looked at him closely. “Do you have some there?”
He nodded. “We do.”
“Are they hunted there as well?”
“They were. The thing
about the shifters in Quelondain is that they outnumber the humans there. There are two kinds; the Namaels and the
Majs. The Namaels turn into cats like
tigers, lions, and leopards while the Majs turn into dogs. Wolves, coyotes, and that sort of
things. In Quelondain, humans and
shifters live side by side. They’re
allies.”
“So, you have seen
some.”
He ran a hand over his face.
What was the best way to reveal he wasn’t human? Simply shifting was definitely the easiest,
though the whole ordeal might be a bit much for her to handle.
“How do you tell shifters apart from humans here?” he inquired.
“They’ve a mark behind their ear. Some say three spots, others
swear it’s two lines, while others argue it’s a half moon.”
Kendall unconsciously reached over and smoothed the lines on
her brow. “Three different types of
shifters and none of them Namaels or Majs.
Did you know you frowned a lot?”
“Only since I’ve met you.”
The frown returned. “What mark do
your shifters carry?”
“The Majs, the dog shifters, have a crescent.”
“And the cats? The
Nam….”
“Namaels.” He leaned
down, brushed the hair from his neck, and let her look behind his ear at the
straight line that marked him.
Instead of running for all she was worth, Neeka took a deep
breath to calm herself. He’d promised he
wouldn’t hurt her. Had he been the evil
thing she’d been brought up to believe, he would have killed her and Hanna as
soon as they’d seen him.
Kendall jumped at the feel of her finger running along the mark
lightly.
“Does it hurt when your elders brand you?”
He straightened and couldn’t help laughing. “What?”
“When you’re small, you’re branded, yeah?”
“By the moons, who told you that? Of course not! We’re born with them.” He cocked his head to the side. “You’re alright?”
“I… I don’t know. You
just seem so human. I pictured animals
and teeth and bloodlust.”
He smiled. “I’m very
human, Neeka. I just happen to turn into
a cat when I hunt.”
“What kind of cat,” she whispered.
“Tiger.”
The sound of voices coming near made him think of something.
“If you’re caught with a shifter, what happens to you?”
“Any human found helping a shifter or is found out to have
known of a shifter’s whereabouts but hasn’t reported it to the authorities is
hung.”
“Bloody hell.” He fought
the urge to shift so he could better hear.
“You’d better go. Someone’s
coming.”
“But they think you’re human.”
“I’m not willing to take that chance.” He pulled her into a hug. “Thank you.”
“For what?” She looked
up at him.
“For not running away screaming.” He pressed his lips to her never ending
frown.
“Get away from her, you bastard!”
“Brian! Get away! We were just talking!” She stepped around Kendall and put herself
between him and the four men.
“That’s not what it looks like from here!” Brian’s gaze left hers and moved to
Kendall. “She’s already intended to a
good man. Back off!”
Kendall held his hands up to show he meant to harm. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble, chum. I was just thanking the lady for listening to
me while I babbled on about my troubles.”
“You’ve a funny way of thanking ladies,” accused Brian’s
friend. He pulled his dagger and the
other three men followed suit.
“Brian!” Neeka took a
step toward her guardian.
“And you!” Brian’s face
was crimson with anger. “It looks like
you need a reminder of how a lady should behave.”
Whatever feelings were crashing into each other within Kendall,
they completely disappeared at Brian’s words.
“You won’t touch a hair on her head.” It was his turn to step between the pair.
“Yeah? And what are you
going to do about it?”
Kendall took two seconds
to make a decision. He wouldn’t have her
get in trouble for something she hadn’t done.
“How about this. A
fight. I win, I leave tonight and
whatever lesson you feel Neeka needs to learn is forgotten. If I lose, I’ll take her punishment.”
“Fine.”
Kendall watched as Brian took a step forward. What he hadn’t quite anticipated was the fact
that his challenge would bring all four men after him. By the moons, these people were crazy! He didn’t even have a dagger! He dodged to the left to avoid Brian’s blade,
all the while grabbing the blond man’s arm and tripping him.
Neeka screamed as the third man’s dagger slid across Kendall’s
forearm, drawing blood. Kendall’s
instincts took over and he felt his bones rearrange as he shifted into a
tiger. The men surrounding him stood
still with shock. He noticed two of them
looking angrily between the tiger and Neeka who was gawking at him. They knew she knew!
Neeka’s eyes widened as he leapt at her, effectively knocking
her to the ground. They had to believe
she had no clue. Her eyes were filled
with fear as he bared teeth and growled. One of the men rammed his shoulder
into his side and Kendall used the momentum to turn and leap off into the
woods.
The last image to burn itself into his mind was that of Neeka,
standing with the help of her guardian, tears streaming down her face, while
another three men ran into the clearing.
