Chapter 17 #2
Vade rose, and the men roughly grabbed each other’s forearms. “Elshar,” he said with a hint of a grin.
Vade was tall and built, but he paled in comparison to the mountain of a man who yanked Vade to him and wrapped him in a hug, then punched his shoulder hard enough she thought it may have shattered his bones.
Vade smiled, and she was so taken aback by the rarity of it that she gasped.
The stranger’s eyes flew to her. “Aren’t ya gonna introduce me to this pretty lass?”
“Elshar, this is—”
Elshar stepped forward and stuck out a giant, blood-stained hand.
“Elshar, ma’am. Damn pleased to meet ya, though what you’re doin’ with this asshole, I couldn’t say.
I doubt he’s been good company.” He smacked Vade on the chest, and a gravelly laugh came out of Elshar, crinkling his eyes at the corners.
She chuckled. “He hasn’t been. You seem much nicer, though.” Orelia tossed a jabbing grin at Vade who regarded her with little interest.
“Oh, I like her. Get us a few ales, why don’t ya? You owe me after last time.”
The broody fae grunted, then made for the bar.
Elshar pulled up a chair, and the wood groaned when he plopped down and dropped his pack with a heavy thump. “Never much for words, that one.”
Orelia eyed the man’s axe. The chipped blade looked like it had seen a thousand strikes. Elshar caught her staring and patted the smooth wooden handle. “Don’t worry, lass, Skull Splitter ain’t for you. Neither is Heart Carver.” He pointed to the hunting knife on his other hip.
Neither sight nor nickname offered much reassurance, but his friendly demeanor said he wasn’t interested in killing her. At least not yet. “So, you must know Vade pretty well, then?” she asked, though the idea of Vade having a friend was preposterous.
Elshar snorted as he adjusted the leather vambraces around his forearms. “In a way, aye. He kept to himself in the Points, but I guess ya could say I was his only friend. We wasn’t in the same tribe, but we roughed it out as youngins together growin’ up.”
“If you grew up together, how come he doesn’t talk with your accent?”
“I imagine it’s ‘cause he wanted to erase any kinda association with the Points. Didn’t want no one knowin’ he was from up the mountain.”
“But aren’t all fae from Five Points? So they’d know anyway?”
“Only if they knew he was a fae first.”
Her traveling companion stood at the bar with his back to them.
Without the weight of his presence, or the obvious sight of wings, he could pass as a ren, like she’d suspected when she first met him.
He didn’t have tattoos, and he wore his hair only slightly similar.
“I can’t imagine him being a kid. He’s so serious that it seems like he came out of the womb like that,” she said.
“Aye, it does. He wasn’t always that way, back ‘fore his father done what he done. Don’t get me wrong, he’s the most somber fucker you’ll ever meet, but he used to know fun when we’d get into trouble as youngins.”
She cocked her head. “What do you mean before his father?”
Elshar’s bright eyes flicked to the bar, and he leaned in slightly, Orelia doing the same.
He lowered his voice when he spoke. “We was havin’ a meetin’ one day, all five tribes from each Point.
Vade and I was ‘bout seven years old, and our fathers were both chieftains, his of the Sharpe clan, and mine of the Horns. Vade’s wings was smaller than the rest of all us youngins, and he was the only one our age that couldn’t fly yet.
His Pa, the asshole that he was, decided to make a show of his son in front of everyone. ”
Orelia found herself enraptured with the story, the rest of the noise in the tavern drowned out.
Seeming to enjoy a good bit of gossip, Elshar became animated in his gestures.
“He was hollerin’ ‘bout Vade bringin’ shame and dishonor on him for bein’ weak.
The boy hadn’t had his wings but a few months, so I tried workin’ on flyin’ with him when his Pa wasn’t lookin’.
We spent marks up high, come snow or sleet, but it just wasn’t comin’ to him.
When we was all gathered at the meetin’, his Pa said some horseshit about how no son of his wouldn’t know how to fly, then he done kicked him off the side of the mountain as his mother laughed. ”
Her heart sunk. She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t find any words to say.
“Three days later, the stubborn fucker crawled over the ridge, frostbitten, damn near at Nifhell’s door. The Points are ruthless, lass, and no one knows how he survived on his own for days.”
“Gods . . .” Her chest ached as she pictured a scared little boy all alone for days. “What about his parents? Did anyone try to punish them for doing that to their own son?”
Elshar shook his head. “That’d be a death sentence, lass.
You don’t go against the chieftain, especially his Pa.
Most barbaric man I ever known, and that’s sayin’ somethin’.
His mother was colder than ice. There wasn’t a lovin’ bone in her body.
” Elshar’s voice turned deeper, his lips curving into a smile.
“But Vade got his revenge. Oh, yes he did.”
She leaned in further, hanging on his every word. “What happened?”
“Well, a couple days later, his Ma and Pa was found in they bed with so many knife wounds you could hardly recognize ‘em. None of us saw the little devil after that, and I only knew he was still alive when I ran into him when we was teenagers and found out he was doin’ the king’s dirty work.”
Up at the bar, the barmaid set the ales in front of Vade, and Orelia felt the tears lingering behind her eyes as she watched him gather the glasses. “I can’t believe his father would do something like that. How cruel.”
“Wipe that pitiful look off ya face or he’ll know I told ya,” Elshar whispered, then quickly sat back in his chair.
She put on a fake smile as Vade set four drinks on the table and took his seat.
Elshar snatched one up and tipped his head back, draining the mug in seconds.
He wiped the foam off his blonde mustache and let out a satisfied, “Ahh,” then grabbed another, only taking a sip this time.
“Ya still remember I like to start off fast and finish slow.”
Vade huffed. “Is that what women say to you, too?”
Elshar let out a booming laugh that she swore shook the windows. “There’s the occasionally funny asshole I miss.”
Vade took a sip of ale, chuckling.
Orelia tried to stop picturing a boy frozen all alone in the mountains, but the images kept running through her head. She grabbed a mug and focused on drinking the poor excuse for an ale instead.
“Are you with Balor’s crew?” Vade asked.
Elshar hit himself on the chest with a closed fist and belched. “Aye. We traveled down the mountain together, but I’m off to Dallton after this.”
“What’s in Dallton?” Orelia asked.
Elshar grinned like a kid receiving a piece of candy. “A woman.”
Vade scoffed and went back to drinking.
Orelia propped her chin in her hands, elbows resting on the table. “Tell me about her.”
“Biggest woman ya ever seen, with black hair and eyes so green they look like moss guidin’ me north.
Met her in Malke when I came for supplies.
She nearly took me head off with an axe, and right then I knew I’s in love.
She cooked me a meal as an apology, and I swear I ain’t never tasted nothin’ so good.
I buried myself inside her three times that night.
” Elshar’s eyes went distant, accompanied with a goofy grin, like he was picturing doing exactly that.
“Can’t wait to get those tree trunk thighs ‘round my face again.”
Orelia giggled. “She sounds lovely.”
He beamed. “She is, lass. She really is.”
She wanted someone to feel that way about her, and her eyes inadvertently went to Vade, who looked like he was going to be sick. “Giving up the Points for a woman? You’re a man of snow and ice. You’ll hate Dallton.”
“She’s worth it. I would follow that lass anywhere. Straight into the sun if she asked. I’m going to march right up and claim her in a few days’ time.” Elshar took a large gulp of ale.
“What are the others doing this far south?” Vade asked, gripping his mug tight.
“Balor wouldn’t say, but Fren said somethin’ ‘bout gettin’ supplies from Raffk.”
“Why would they come this far for that? Surely Malke has what they need,” Vade said.
Elshar shrugged.
Vade’s eyes darted around the room like he expected Balor to reappear.
Elshar pointed at her. “Now, tell me this, lass. What in the gods’ names are you doin’ travelin’ with this son of a bitch? Can’t imagine it’s by choice.”
Before she could respond, Vade did it for her. “She didn’t know what she was doing and her binding spell latched onto me. We’re headed for Dorsey so the Head Druid can reverse it.”
Elshar’s mouth flopped open. “You’re a witch.”
She dipped her chin. “At your service.”
He untied his vambrace and rolled up his sleeve, revealing a gash in his wrist half scabbed over. “Think ya can help me out? I ain’t never met a witch before. Always wondered ‘bout what they could do.”
Orelia reached across the table and gently placed her hand over the wound.
Elshar stared at her glowing palm, and when the shapes on her fingers lit up, she thought his eyes were going to bulge out of his head.
When she was done, he ran his calloused fingers over the smooth skin of his wrist. “Amazin’! Thank ya, little witch.” He looked at Vade while pointing at her. “You take good care a this one, ya here me?”
Vade’s jaw was hard set. “Trust me, she requires all my focus.”
She threw the broody fae a glare as she sipped on her ale, but he wasn’t bothered.
“Once you’re free a him, where ya headed?”
Orelia wiped her mouth. “Back home to Minro.”
Elshar rubbed his chin. “Minro . . .don’t think I ever heard of it.”
“It’s not much of a village. A blip on the map on the southeast edge of the continent.” She felt Vade’s focus on her, but when she looked at him, he looked away.