***
“Kyrin?” Alric whispered, and lightly kissed her bare shoulder.
She looked over at him and felt her stomach lurch.
“Are you still sick?” he asked, feeling her forehead.
“Yes,” she told him, and rolled back over.
“Damn, let me get you more drink.”
Alric left to get more medicine and came back in only a few minutes later. She drank some and then sat up to clear her head while she pulled clothes out of a case next to her.
“Erm, sorry about last night,” Alric said, blushing slightly.
She couldn’t help but smile. “I didn’t know you drink.”
“I don’t normally. Azimeth had some elven wine though. It’s really good.”
Even the thought of Azimeth made Kyrin sicker, so she laid back down.
“We really do need to go,” Alric said. “We are too close to Qualsax to stay for more than a night.”
“You all go and leave me here.”
“We can’t leave you here.”
“Why not?” she asked, shutting her eyes.
He kissed her forehead. “I’m not leaving you here alone.”
“Then I’ll go find an inn in Qualsax.”
He chuckled. “That’s so not going to happen. Take more medicine and we’ll see if it helps.”
She sat up and took another drink. When her stomach was settled enough to get dressed, she pulled on a dress and went out to get a breath of fresh air. There was a nip to the air, and Azimeth immediately slipped a fur-lined cloak over Kyrin’s shoulders. Her first instinct was to tear it off, but instead, she walked over to look at the valley below them.
“Ready?” Alric asked, wrapping his arms around her.
“I guess.”
“If it gets too bad, Azimeth is going to tell us.”
“We can’t stop every time I feel sick.”
“Yes, we can. That’s the advantage of being a noble.”
She sighed. “Let’s get going then.”
He kissed her lightly and then took her hand, so they could walk to the carriage together. Their breath was visible in the cold mountain air as they approached the others.
“Well, you have color,” Finn said, looking her over.
She nodded. “For now. Give me an hour in that boring carriage.”
“You’re lucky. You could be out here freezing your nuts off.”
“Finn,” Alric said sternly.
“Freezing what off?” Kyrin asked, looking at Finn.
He grinned. “Get in the carriage.”
“Tell you what… you sit in the carriage, and I’ll ride a horse.”
“No, only women get to ride in the carriage.”
“Exactly,” she said, and laughed when he picked her up and put her in the carriage.
“Sit,” Finn said, and then walked over to get on his horse.
“Are you cold?” Azimeth asked as she sat down.
“Not yet.”
Kyrin sighed when they started moving again, and Azimeth turned to her book. She wondered what could be so interesting about staring at paper all day.
Boredom set in early, and Kyrin felt like she was going to crawl out of her skin.
Smiling, Kyrin cupped her hands together and whispered, “Murinae.”
Gray smoke began to appear between her hands, and it swirled and formed into a large rat with long whiskers and sharp, pointed teeth. The rat looked over at Kyrin and then began licking his paws while she watched.
Kyrin jerked when Azimeth screamed. The carriage stopped suddenly, and the doors flew open before two knights crawled in. Azimeth scrambled out between them and the knights both looked at Kyrin’s hands.
“Move out,” Alric said to them. They both backed out, and Alric and Finn climbed in.
“What’s wrong with the elf?” Kyrin asked them.
Alric sighed and shook his head. “You brought a rat?”
“No, I summoned a rat.”
“You what?”
Kyrin took a deep breath and blew warm air into her hands. The rat disappeared into a puff of gray smoke. “I summoned something to do.”
Finn laughed. “That’s great!”
“No, it’s not,” Alric countered. “You scared Azimeth to death with that thing.”
Kyrin started to argue but held her tongue. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s it? You’re not going to defend yourself?”
She shook her head and looked down at her hands.
Finn frowned. “Were you just bored?”
Kyrin nodded.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?” Alric asked. “We can try to find something for you to do.”
“Why can’t I ride a horse for a while? Put one of the knights in here to watch Azimeth read.”
“No, you aren’t going to be on the front line if we’re attacked,” Alric told her.
Finn backed out and Azimeth returned, still shaking from what she thought was an attack of rats.
Alric left them alone, and the caravan was soon on its way again.
Kyrin was trying not to smile. “Sorry about the rat.”
“It’s okay, Lady Kyrin,” Azimeth said, looking nervously around the carriage.
“It was fake.”
“The rat was?”
“Yes”
“You used magic to cast a rat?”
“Yes”
“Why?”
“I am bored. I learned that spell when I was a kid, and that rat was my only companion.”
“That’s horrible,” Azimeth gasped.
“I won’t cast him again while you’re here.”
“Thank you.”
“Why are you even afraid of rats?” Kyrin asked after a few minutes of silence.
“They carry diseases.”
“Only if they bite you.”
“No, their droppings carry diseases too.”
Kyrin thought for a moment. “They must not be too bad. I’ve slept in plenty of rat infested places, and I never got sick.”
“You have?”
“Yes”
“I’m fascinated by your history, Lady Kyrin,” Azimeth said.
“Don’t be.”
“Why not? Your past makes you who you are. You’re an interesting person, and I’m happy to be your Lady in Waiting.”
Kyrin didn’t want to talk about her past and most certainly didn’t want pity from a royal elf over her upbringing. As the hours passed by, her boredom became more severe, and she was starting to get motion sickness again.
She didn’t think she could keep Azimeth from stopping the caravan, so she kept it to herself and kept her face turned toward the window so the elf wouldn’t see her getting pale again.
Her mind drifted to the night before, when Alric had returned to the tent smelling of alcohol. She was surprised he would do such a thing with his knights in the next tent but figured they must have known it was going on anyway. She couldn’t help but smile though, as his actions began to return to her mind.
When her stomach lurched again, she squeezed her eyes shut to try to keep the world from swaying before her eyes.
“Lady Kyrin?” Azimeth asked.
“What?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
“Are you feeling sick again?”
“No”
“If you do, I’m to alert King Alric immediately.”
“I know,” Kyrin said, and then risked a glance out the window. She frowned slightly when a thought hit. “What day is it?”
“Excuse me?”
“How long is it until the full moon?”
“Only four more days.”
Kyrin started counting on her fingers and froze when the numbers got too high.
“Lady Kyrin?” Azimeth asked, touching her arm. “What’s wrong?”
Her heart was racing. “Stop the carriage.”
Azimeth turned and knocked on the window. Finn rode up on his horse, and she motioned to him
that they needed to stop.
When the carriage stopped, Kyrin jumped out of it and began to run through the trees, weaving in and out as she held her dress up to keep from falling.
“Kyrin?!” Alric yelled, trying to follow her.
She picked up speed and looked around her for any sign of a portal key. She had to get out of Paragoy immediately, even though Daemionis had forbidden her from shifting.
The dress was slowing her down, and she could hear footsteps behind her. She figured it was probably both Alric and Finn, and maybe Trox.
Alric reached her first and dove at her. He hoped to grab her from behind and restrain her hands, but he misjudged the distance and slammed into her, pinning her to the ground. Trox and Finn both arrived when they began to fight.
Alric was trying to get Kyrin’s hands restrained, but she was struggling to get them together. Finn lunged for her when her hands touched, and all three of them froze at once.
Kyrin crawled out from under Alric and limped over to a portal. She grabbed the key, looked back at them, and then shifted.
She stepped into a wind storm and immediately blocked her face with her arm. She had nothing on her for protection from the elements, and the long skirt of her dress was whipping around violently. Bracing herself, she headed off in search of shelter.