Chapter 3a
Ellery and I created a façade of a normal relationship. We slept in the same bed, did the chores together, and yet we still fought, sometimes violently, and Ellery
insisted on going into town alone. He was always disappearing into town and not telling me what was going on. We established a life together and slowly we managed to put up with each other. Some spark of
something tugged between us, drawing us into a lustful embrace often. Every time, something happened to give us an excuse to break away. Ellery continued to try to get me to speak normally, but every attempt ended in tears and more disappointment. It had been two and a half months and I still hadn’t had the guts to visit my family. It was deep winter and Ellery had been disappearing into town every day before the gorge sealed off without word or reason, so I had plenty of opportunity to visit them. But, I was a coward. Winter was fully set in and the gorge wasn’t open for travel at all. The snow had been falling heavily for nearly a month. We were alone.
I slowly picked my way through the yard, picking up the stray sticks that the snow and ice had knocked from the trees. Once again, Ellery had disappeared without warning. I made him breakfast, but he didn’t speak to me. He seemed very rushed and didn’t even look at me. I continued my trek across the yard, thinking about how oddly he had acted. I had mentioned the storm, but he shrugged it off. I had assumed, after finished my morning chores, that he had trapped several animals, otherwise he’d have been back. I worked my way around the clearing that made up the yard, depositing my bundled sticks on the edge of the porch. Once dry, they would make excellent tinder later.
"Cricket!” I didn’t look up at the shout accompanied by galloping hooves. If it was Ellery, he’d know it was a snub for that morning. If it was anyone else, they’d think I didn’t hear them. “Cricket!” I looked up to see Eiryn slide off his horse and sprint towards me. I didn’t even think about how the gorge was shut and it took four days to get around it.
"Eiryn…” I stared, wide-eyed as my brother grabbed me, tightly.
"Papaw is dead.” He breathed. “Memaw is soon to follow.”
"W… what?” It felt like I had been punched in the gut. I felt my eyes water as the full extent of his words hit me. The hot tears steamed and turned to ice as they tracked down my face.
I jolted upright, startled to find myself face down in the snow. Xiu butted his head against me. I jumped at his touch and looked around me. My pile of sticks sat next to me and Xiu butted against me, worriedly. I stood slowly and my vision swam. I saw flashes of my experience with Eiryn as realization hit me. I hadn’t Seen in a very long time. Da had practically beaten it out of me. I didn’t See what was to occur, though. I Saw the situation that would not happen within the unavoidable circumstances. It was hard to explain.
Papaw was dead. Memaw was going to die soon. But no one was going to come. No one was going to tell me. Had my family entirely forgotten about me in my nearly three months of solitude? I walked Xiu back to the barn, glancing at the broken gate.
"Xiu broke it, didn’t he?” I murmured, petting the black hair gently. I had obviously cried out in my vision and he had broken out to take care of me. I smiled at him and continued speaking softly to the horse. I was avoiding the main issue. My family was ignoring me and they weren’t going to tell me my grandparents were dead. I couldn’t focus on the vision. Animals could sense emotions and anxiety made them fidgety and upset. I couldn’t allow myself to get upset or else Xiu would do something drastic.
I calmed Xiu through my soft words and gentle hands and used some spare rope to tie the gate shut. I would have fixed the gate myself, but I had to fix lunch. Ellery would be more upset if I didn’t fix lunch than if I didn’t fix the gate. He’d just assume I didn’t know how. I left the barn and picked up the pile of sticks I had dropped and forgotten. I deposited them on the pile on the porch before continuing on to the kitchen, stopping only to take off the huge jacket.
Ellery walked in the door just as I finished. He leaned against the doorjamb and watched me as I piled sandwiches on his plate. I placed the plate and a cup full of fresh coffee on the table before beginning to clean. I didn’t look at him or say anything as he slowly moved to and sat at the spot I had made for him. He didn’t eat, instead staring at me while I worked. I figured I knew what was on his mind.
"Ellery is thinking of the best way to tell Cricket her Papaw and Memaw are dead.” I said, turning to face him. Ellery looked startled, probably because I was right.
"Who told you?” He asked. “I only found out because I saw the smoke from the funeral pyre and then a messenger falcon found me. “ He held up a small piece of paper. I tapped my temple.
"Cricket can do more than spark.” I replied.
"You can See?” Sight was a rare ability. I shrugged.
"Cricket sees what happens through events that will never occur.” I said. No one understood. It was too hard to explain.
"Oh.” He didn’t understand. I could tell.
“Eat.” I said, leaving the room.
"Where are you going?” Ellery called after me.
"So Ellery is allowed to question as to her whereabouts yet Cricket is not allowed to question Ellery?” I asked. Ellery didn’t reply. He might have given up on our squabbles. I sighed. “Cricket is going to the barn to fix Xiu’s gate.”
“Oh.” Ellery’s voice was soft, meek, and completely out of character for him. Maybe it was the knowledge that I had powers and nobody liked me because I’m odd. Maybe he just hated me. Either way, he wasn’t talking. I hesitated, trying to decide whether or not I should confront him. I decided against it and walked out to the barn, not bothering with the large jacket. It was a quick job and the barn wasn’t cold, so my sleeveless jerkin worked just fine. I would go back inside as soon as my job was done to clean up the mess of Ellery’s lunch. I pulled out the hammer and some spare nails. It took me only a few minutes to fix the gate, speaking gently to Xiu the entire time. It would be counterproductive to get him nervous and agitated with the banging of the hammer.
“So that’s how you tamed him.” Ellery had followed me out. I jumped in surprise; I hadn’t heard him at all. “Does your voice have majik, too?”
“No. Cricket can only See and spark.”
"Really?” He was suspicious. Probably for good reason.
“Cricket can feel when she uses her powers. It's... difficult to explain.” I explained. “Besides, majik was beaten from Cricket at an early age.” I sighed. I still held scars from those lessons. My tattoos tingled and I absently scratched at the swirl on my bicep as I began putting the tools away. Ellery stepped into my path as I turned to leave. His fingers lightly traced the markings, though his eyes didn’t stray from mine.
“How did you get these?” He asked. “Did your father give you these, too?”
“Cricket was too young to remember.” I shrugged. Ellery frowned, anger glimmering in his eyes.
“I’m started to not like your father.” He said, eyes narrowing. I frowned.
"Da is a good man.”
"Not if he beats his daughter to prevent her from utilizing her talents!” Ellery snapped.
"He was protecting the family and the village!”
“From what? A young girl who needed guidance and received pain!”
“Cricket was dangerous!” Fury boiled in my gut. How
dare he accuse
my father of abuse!
"You’re more dangerous now without practice and training!”
“Da would never hurt Cricket without reason!”
“He was just afraid of what you can do!”
"Stop talking about him like that!” I snapped. I was
so angry!
"Why? He
hurt you!”
“He loves me!”
It was like the whole world stopped. My hands clapped to my mouth and my eyes shot open wide. Ellery gaped at me and his jaw went slack. We stood there for an eternity. Tears welled up in my eyes for some reason I didn’t know.
"You…” Ellery took a step toward me. And just like that, the spell broke. I bolted. I didn’t even realize I was sprinting into the woods until I was dodging past trees. I didn’t notice Ellery was following me until he called out my name.
"Cricket!” He was close.
Too close. “Stop!” I kept running, tears blinding me. I spoke. I actually spoke
normally. I ran up the mountain, just trying to get
away. What if it was fluke? What if I wouldn’t be able to speak normally again? What would I do? How could I go back to being such a disappointment? I sprinted up the nearest ridge.
“Cricket!” He tackled me to the ground. I sobbed, struggling to clamp my jaw shut. If I spoke, it would all go away. If I spoke, I’d be a failure again. Ellery rolled me over gently, eyeing me warily even as I involuntarily shivered at the snow.
“Cricket, clam down.” He said, gently. I struggled to slow my breathing, to stop the panic that was already seeping into my brain, to halt the cold that had buried into my bones. I struggled to get
away from him! He didn’t budge.
"Cricket, calm down.” His voice was soft, calm, as if I were a frightened animal. I shook my head, mouth clamped tightly shut. I would
not break this spell. He took my face in his hands and stared deep into my eyes. I shut my eyes, trying to get
away from those gold eyes. I struggled with my panic. I wasn’t breathing and my lungs burned.
“Cricket, breathe.” He ordered, calmly. I gasped in air. “Cricket, calm down.” His voice was low, gentle, protective. I took more deep breaths, but my panic didn’t ease. My body shook violently with the icy cold from the snow and my breathing sped up to hyperventilation. I was struggling with the urge to flee when he kissed me.
My entire body relaxed instantly. I could feel my skin tingle with the sparks, but nothing else mattered in that instant because Ellery was doing
that with his tongue and
gods he was pinning me down and how did his hands get
there? My body arched into his, begging for the overwhelming heat he provided and trying to get away from the ice that bit into my back. A small whine emerged from me and then my legs were around his waist and he growled in the back of his throat, a deep tone that flushed my skin, and he was
everywhere and the
heat was unbearable…
A loud crack instantly halted…
whatever that was. Ellery froze and held a finger to my lips. Slowly we got up and silently moved to the top of the ridge. A small army walked through the trees in the valley below us. They were all heavily tattooed, foreign, and armed to the teeth. We stood, watching them, as they moved quickly around the trees. Ellery pulled me from the sight. We hurried silently from the ridge, being as quiet and quick as possible. I tried to halt my shivering, but being pressed into snow by Ellery wasn’t helping me now. Ellery quickly gave me his coat and then took my hand, pulling me forwards.
“I didn’t think Rogues traveled this far west.” Ellery said, jogging back toward his…
our house. He didn’t let go of my hand.
“Rogues…” The legendary tribes were nomadic, not caring about whose land they were on so long as they had somewhere to stay. There weren’t any records of them visiting my village in the past fifty years. The Rogue people were bound with majik; it ran thickly through their bloodlines. Not every Rogue had majik, but they all knew how to use and control it. I had always wanted to meet one to have her help me with my majik. They were also fiercely loyal people, treating any insult against one as an insult to all.
"We have to warn the village.” Ellery continued. “They were armed for war.”
"Why?” I asked. “They’re peaceful people.”
“Unless the village did something to provoke them.”
“The Elders have some explaining to do if that’s the case.” I said. Ellery said nothing, but pulled me along faster. We reached our house and he ran into the barn. He let go of my hand to saddle Resa.
“You stay here.” He ordered, not looking at me.
“What if the Rogues come through here?” I asked, more for trying to figure out a plan than for the worry of them killing me. I had been taught swordplay my whole life despite being born into a farming family, not to mention I was small and knew the land better than anyone else. The potential hiding places were endless. Ellery paused, digesting my words.
"You stay here. Saddle Xiu and stay here in the barn. If you see any sign of them, ride like hell until you reach the village. I’m going to call a meeting so everyone will be there.” He said.
"Someone has to stay here to help warn the village.” I nodded. He wasn’t assuming I couldn’t do anything. Quite the contrary, he was trusting me with the safety of the village, not to mention
his safety. If I didn’t warn him, he could be shot in the back and be dead before he hit the ground.
“I’m going to see if there’s some way of getting around the gorge that doesn’t involve a four day trek.” Ellery got on his horse and disappeared. I quickly saddled my stallion and peered out of the barn. The falling snow was gentle and peaceful, a complete juxtaposition to my racing heart and the fear that something bad would happen to the village.
What had happened between Ellery and me? We had occasionally moments that sparked heat between my legs and a feeling in my gut that told me I
needed something. It seemed to happen more frequently the more time we spent together. It was always after an incident like that when Ellery disappeared into town the fastest. Something, some… spark, sat between us and flared to life whenever we touched. It was terrifying and beautiful and amazing and it made me want to run away and kiss him and punch him and give myself over to him all at the same time. But, more than that, the feelings were so unfamiliar, so strange… I was lost in the woods, groping about blindly. Ellery wasn’t. He
knew what was going on. He
understood these feelings. And he was still terrified. That thought scared me the most.
A flicker of movement caught my attention.
“Cricket!” Ellery rose back into view, his face ashen. I ran out to meet him. “The gorge is solid ice. We can’t reach the village.” My heart stopped.
“If Cricket and Ellery can’t,” I said, slowly, “Neither can the Rogues.”
"True, but we can’t fend off an army alone.” Ellery sighed. “They’ll have to come right through here in order to reach the village, even going the long way around.”
"What now?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” Ellery bit his lip. “We should get inside where it’s safe.” An arrow flew out of nowhere and hit Ellery in the chest, knocking him from Resa’s back. I felt myself screaming, but I couldn’t hear it.
This is only the first half of chapter three, but because it's so long, I felt like I should cut it in half for you guys.
Reviews? Please? ~LP
