31. Little cabin in the woods
31
Little cabin in the woods
Talon
N idori tugged on my hair. “Stop.”
I stopped. It had started raining, coming down in a miserable drizzle.
She hopped down and put her hand on the ground. Then she straightened. I was anticipating another fight.
“Someone’s been sneaky,” she said, walking over to the side of a large rock. She knocked on it, the sound thumping like wood. I stepped over, running my hands up and down the thick layers of moss. Yup, there was definitely wood instead of stone here. I found a metal handle and pulled it, revealing a door.
“What is it?” Kaine asked, stepping forward and trying to peek over my shoulder.
I shifted my wing, blocking his view and shooting him a grin. He didn’t notice, going to the other side, where I shifted again. Nidori giggled, and he glared at me as he realised I was doing it on purpose. I elbowed him, getting myself a smack.
I moved my wing out of the way and let him look around. He peered forward with an adorable huff.
“Finally. Some gods-damned comfort in this wilderness hellhole,” he said. “No offence, Nidori. You have made it bearable. But this place has a bed.”
He was right. It must be some kind of stop house, complete with a fireplace, table and chairs, and, as Kaine had said, a back room with a bed. A smile came to my face.
I shrugged off my wet cloak and took off my boots, putting them by the door. I grabbed Kaine’s arm as he tried to march past.
“What?” he snapped.
“Take off your boots, you animal.” I bent down and started to unlace them. He huffed, folding his arms as I tugged them off him. As soon as I was done, he went to the fireplace, setting it up.
Nidori zoomed around, peering at everything intently. I smiled as I heard her ask Kaine if he’d teach her how to light a fire “without Talon’s magic.”
I poked around the back room. There was a set of drawers, which I opened hopefully. Thank the Gods, there were proper clothes in it. Blessedly clean clothes.
I hummed as I took them out, dropping a few coins in as payment.
I came back to the main room and took out my sewing kit. The shirt was big enough for my shoulders, but nothing was ever built to accommodate wings.
I took out my knife, sharpened it, and cut two slits up the back. Now it just needed some buttons. Ideally, I’d hem the seams I’d cut, but I was low on supplies .
Nidori had returned to the door, sitting on the floor by the door with her hands deep in small bushes. She came back with a basketful of berries and plopped down beside me as I worked.
“How do you do that?” I asked, admiring the perfectly ripe fruit she was setting on the table. My question seemed to cheer her up a bit. She smiled with pride.
“Lots of practise,” she replied. “I had so much free time, with nothing to do except perfect food.”
“So, not every woodweaver can do it?” I asked, threading my needle.
She snorted. “Vines are simple. There’s a million things you can get wrong and still have them do what you want them to. But growing food—you have to be precise. You’re making something that’s been pollinated, that is perfectly ripened, that has to taste good and be nutritious too. I’d practise again and again while I was in the nursery until I got it perfect. I hoped, if I got good enough, they’d reassign me to growing food. But…obviously that didn’t work.”
She twirled a blueberry in her hands, gazing at it. Tears were starting to well in her eyes.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to go back,” she said, her voice thick. “As soon as they find out what happened to Laurel and the others, they’ll cut my parts from the Asimir tree.”
“Well, lucky for you, they’re not going to find out,” said Kaine, sitting down on the armchair and putting his feet up.
“Yes, they are. Two of them left. They’ll report what happened.”
“Are you talking about the two cowards that fled when they realised they’d picked a fight they couldn’t win?” he said, eyes flashing. “Because I chased them down and made sure they didn’t escape.”
“Kaine, Nidori specifically told us to let them go,” I said, glancing at her. Her eyes were wide .
“Huh. Must have missed that,” said Kaine lightly, folding his arms behind his head. I pursed my lips.
“So, they’re all dead?” whispered Nidori.
“We should not be regretting that.” Kaine’s posture was still relaxed, but there was steel in his voice. “They came and threatened you. You were kind enough to give them multiple warnings and chances to leave peacefully, and they didn’t. They deserved what they got.”
Nidori sniffed. I glared at Kaine before reaching out and carefully brushing her shoulder.
She looked up at me, moving her hands away from her face. Her eyes brimmed with tears. Kaine came over and scooped her up, his face gentle. She sniffed into his shoulder.
“Am I a bad person?” she asked, voice trembling.
I shook my head. “Nidori…”
“Everyone is going to hate me,” she whispered. “They always loved me. They would come and thank me. They were so grateful. Every time one of them thanked me, I felt horribly guilty knowing that all I wanted was to leave. But…I don’t want them to hate me,” she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. “I wanted to go back and have them be proud of me when I did something I wanted to do. But now, I’ve abandoned the little ones, and it’s my fault those sprites died…Laurel…all because of me .”
I frowned. “I don’t think you’re a bad person. Kaine does have a point—Laurel chose to fight us. She could have just left, but she didn’t. As for running away… I spent my whole life trying to do the right thing. But the right thing isn’t simple. I spent my whole life doing the ‘right’ things for the wrong people. And I think you have too.”
“Not just any people. My people.” Nidori wrapped her arms as much as she could around Kaine’s neck .
“People who abused you,” cut in Kaine, reaching up to stroke her hair. “They may hate you for leaving, but that’s because it’s inconvenient for them, not because you meant anything to them. Don’t waste one more second feeling bad for leaving, Nidori.”
I raised an eyebrow at him, but he didn’t meet my gaze.
I lifted Nidori’s chin. “You’ll find your place again. We can search together.”
My stomach dipped as I thought of the empty space where my oath had been. I still didn’t feel any closer to finding my alignment than I had the day I left the Guild. Luckily, I hadn’t seemed to need it so far on this quest.
Nidori nodded, her expression serious. “I’d like that,” she said, taking my hand. Or rather, my finger. She gave a sweet smile. “I think…it’s all going to work out. Even if the future is kind of scary. I’m here, with you two. I like that. And that’s enough for now.”
“That’s the spirit,” I said.
The fire was crackling, and Nidori moved over to the table, gazing into it.
I’d finished tailoring the shirt. I pulled off the strange vine shirt Nidori had made me and started putting my arm through the sleeve of the new one. Kaine snatched it out of my hands, leaving me bare chested. He pulled me down into a chair facing him. Arousal swirled in my gut as he stood over me.
“Can’t put it off any longer,” he said and pulled out one of his daggers and his whetstone, considering me as he sharpened the blade. My eyes flicked to Nidori, still humming as she brought blankets over to make a pile on the table.
She paused, looking at us and giving us a wave .
“Look here, Talon,” he said, taking my chin and lifting my head up. My heart rate soared as questions burned in my brain. What was he doing? And why was watching him sharpening his knife so hot?
I licked my lips nervously. “We doing this now?” I asked, sliding my eyes back to Nidori.
He tutted, giving me a crooked grin. “Don’t get all hot and bothered. I need to fix your hair,” he said, brushing his fingers through the scorched strands on the side of my head. “I’m thinking…we’ll have to trim the sides, but we can leave the length on top.”
“Oh,” I said, clearing my throat and trying not to sound too disappointed. It took a moment for me to switch gears and process what he was suggesting. “Um, no. We’ll have to cut it all off, I think.” Reaching up, I ran my fingers through it. I closed my eyes and sighed.
“Have to? Do you not want to?” he asked.
“No, I’d love to keep it long on top, but there are strict regulations about hair. It has to be a uniform length.”
Kaine crouched down, looking me in the eyes. “And you care about these regulations…why?”
I opened my mouth, trying to explain, but I realised I didn’t actually have a reason. Not anymore.
“Huh.” I smiled as I leaned back in the chair. “I guess I don’t.”
“No, you don’t,” he said, satisfied.
He moved behind me, starting to detangle the mess. It felt so pleasant, his fingers running through my hair. I closed my eyes. Nidori’s sweet melody played in my ears, the warmth of the fire settled on my skin. When was the last time I’d felt like this? I didn’t want this moment to end, ever.
The easy part was trimming the initial length; the blade simply cut through my hair. I glanced at it, white strands on the ground .
“Hold still,” he said, bringing his blade up above my ear. He held it sideways, the blade running straight against my scalp and shaving off the sides, one stroke at a time. His hand was steady, and he finished without a single nick or cut on my skin.
“There,” he said when he had finished. “Much better.”
“Thanks.” Standing up, I stretched. I ran my fingers over the side of my head, feeling the strangely smooth texture of the shorn sides. A smile broke onto my face.
I crossed over to Nidori, and she held up her basket of berries.
“It looks great. Why on earth did the Guild not want your hair like that?” she asked. “Does having different lengths make you a worse fighter?”
“No,” I said, taking some blueberries. “They…like to look a certain way. They say it helps to build faith in us.”
“Well? Did it?”
I snorted. “Maybe if you have a more common look. I don’t think it did anything for me. People look at me and see an enferni. I practically have to shove the Guild insignia into their faces for them to accept me as a Paladin.”