A glimmer of movement caught my eye and I turned to the river. Tiny creatures skated across the surface, shouting and calling to each other in sharp, high-pitched voices. I glanced at Romulus but he continued ahead, oblivious to the creatures twitting in the river. Cautious not to disturb their glee, I crept closer until I was able to see them clearly.
They looked like miniature people with feline yellow eyes, large and round in their petite faces. On their backs were delicate, semi-transparent wings almost the length of their bodies, like dragonfly wings. None of them wore the slightest speck of clothing, and their nude bodies varied in color, some brown as tree bark, others pale as the moon. Some were so dark they appeared blue. But they all had yellow eyes with long, light lashes and wide mouths that somehow took up more of their faces than they should. Turned-up noses seemed to sneer, mocking me.
I gasped in astonishment. As the sound left my mouth, the creatures paused, and as one, turned to stare at me. They shrieked, pointing and laughing as they eyed me, before rising from the river bed. They dashed toward me, some running over rocks, others twisting through the air like a storm of bees.
I stood rigid, unsure what to do or how to react to their sudden change of pace. A swift memory of my training regarding known creatures and races of Labraid struck me. They were fey folk, sometimes called little devils because of their mischievous behavior. Quick as a flash, they were upon me, pulling my hair and yanking on my clothes, their shrill voices chatting all at once.
Chapter Fifteen
Miniature fingers wrappedaround my red hair and pulled the waves out of it until it was straight. I yelped at the ferocity of those tugs as my hands flew to my head. More fingers dug into my hips, undoing the straps of my belt and yanking at my skirt and shirt, tugging both upward. In confusion I waved my hands in the air, determined to snatch them and hurl them back into the river. But the little devils were too fast and danced through the air, wings humming like a musical instrument, their strength renewed as they fought me.
Distantly, I heard Romulus’s peeved voice. “What is it now?”
Heat rose to my cheeks as the creatures dragged me toward the water. My belt came undone, and I reached for it, fingers outstretched as the fairies held it in front of me, laughing before they dropped it in the river. My eyes widened. “Stop, you pesky beasts!” I shouted.
Swatting and shouting, I stumbled to the river to regain my weapons, just as something scratched my legs. I shrieked and hopped up and down at the bite. It was surprisingly sharp and painful for such tiny creatures. I gritted my teeth as they yanked on my shirt and snuck between the folds of my skirt to bite their way down my legs. Desperate to get rid of them, I stumbled and fell into the river.
Icy cold took my breath away and my limbs went numb, even though I kicked hard, determined to swim to shore. I’d taken many cold baths in the past, for the centaurs saw it as a way to develop strength. It was also a punishment for misbehaving.
Water splashed but the fey folk continued to buzz around me. They danced on my head and threw water in my face. Flipping onto my back, I kicked out, but to no avail. The creatures laughed, yellow eyes glowing with mischief as they flitted around me. I gasped and waved my arms as ice-cold water surged into my mouth and eyes. Coughing, I attempted to swim to keep myself afloat, but something twisted around my foot, dragging me down. Frustration and anger twisted through me and I gritted my teeth, sputtering and shouting. “Leave me alone! Stop it!” I shouted, although my voice sounded small and childish, even to my own ears.
Water went up my nose, my teeth chattered, and I lifted my chin to keep my head above water when a shout came.
“Et abierunt!” The command smote the air like a clap of thunder, and suddenly everything seemed to move in slow motion.
A fairy wheeled away from me like someone had thrown it and then, shaking water from its silver wings, flew straight up. One by one the others followed until they were nothing but a gray cloud, drifting into the sunlight.
Coughing, I swam toward the shore. Shoulders hunched and head down, I crawled out of the river, using the long grass to aid my progress. A hand gripped my bare arm, pulling me to my feet. Romulus. I kept my head down, my cheeks hot and eyes pricking with tears of embarrassment. His rough hand came under my chin, lifting my head to meet his gray eyes. His face was devoid of expression, no laughter at what had happened, no anger.
“You’re shaking all over,” he said. “It’s spring and the melted snow and ice is still drifting through the river. Undress, quickly now. I’ll make a fire to help you warm up and dry your things before we set off again.”
I opened my mouth, fully intent on protesting, but he squeezed my arm. “Hurry, before you catch a cold. I’ll fish your weapons out of the river.”
Woodenly, I stepped away from him and looked down. My limbs trembled from cold, yet a flush stole across my face, for the water had rendered my clothes transparent. My shirt had molded to my body while my skirt was twisted around my legs. Romulus had seen all of it, hadn’t he? Which was why he’d looked me in the eye? Mortified, I undressed in the tall grass while Romulus retrieved my belt and pouch from the water.
Moving away from the tall grass, Romulus stamped out a circle in the dirt and lay down stones. Deftly, he tore the tall grass and tossed it onto the pile like a shrine, followed by twigs and wet branches. Everything was damp and muddy around the river, and I did not see how he could start a fire in those conditions. I hugged myself and rubbed the goosebumps on my arms as he pulled something out of his pocket and struck it until a flame appeared. He blew on it, coaxing it to life and feeding more grass into it. This was how humans built a fire? It was unlike anything I’d seen. The centaurs usually coaxed a fire to life with their words, and it burned steadily until they told it to go out.
“Aofie?” Romulus held out a cloak. “Come wrap yourself in this. Don’t worry, I’ll avert my eyes.”
“Toss it to me,” I suggested.
He threw the material toward me and turned his back. I caught it and wrapped myself inside the warm cloak. The inside felt like the fur of an animal, perhaps a wolf, or bear? My shaking subsided as I crept toward the fire and crouched before it.
Romulus took my shirt and skirt from me and spread them out near the fire. “That should keep for a while. I’ll hunt for dry wood and frogs; we might as well eat fresh meat while we rest.”
I eyed his tattered clothes and the dried mud in his hair. He said nothing of my nudity. I was thankful he’d appeared to put it behind him, but I had questions. “What did you say to make the fey folk go away?”
He squatted in front of the fire and dug through his pack. “In their language it means ‘be gone.’ It is an old language, the language of the gods. I’m surprised you do not know it.”
“It was not part of my training,” I murmured, dropping my eyes back to the fire. The flames were yellow and licked like tongues, creating a mesmerizing sound as they ate the grass, turning it black until it charred into ash.
Romulus pulled a net out of his pack and his cool eyes assessed me. “You’re an interesting one, Aofie,” he murmured before slipping away to hunt.
I rubbed my hands over my arms and rocked back and forth. The heat of the fire surged toward me and soon a warm halo forced the cold to fade. My embarrassment disappeared with it. The sun drifted lazily across the wide sky, and gray clouds neared. Romulus eventually returned with a net full of frogs and more wood he carefully fed to the fire. He sat down across from me and picked up short sticks, using his knife to sharpen the top. The silence that stretched between us seemed friendly, with the tension of earlier gone. I still couldn’t believe I’d thrown mud at him, but now I appreciated his somber, steady presence. Finally, he spoke in low, gravelly tones. “Have you roasted frogs before?”
I shook my head, the slight movement shaking loose the cloak. I tucked it around myself again before responding. “Nay, frogs weren’t something we ate in the forest.”
A chuckle burst from his lips, mirthless as it drifted into the river. “Do you know how to hunt? Forge?”
