Richard Tuttle - Sapphire of the Fairies

“Why did he give thisLanoirian Star back to you, Master Clava?” Tedi asked.

“He sent it back with amessage, Tedi,” Konic began. “It is a message that you both need tohear and remember. He wanted it to be a reminder to you that youshould never underestimate your opponent. He demonstrated quiteadequately that he could just have easily put that between youreyes.”

“So you think he might be afriend?” asked Arik.

“I don’t know what his gameis,” admitted Konic, “but I know a killer when I see one and thisman is a very capable killer, probably the most capable that I haveever seen. He acts like he has no interest in you two, but I knowthat is a lie. Still, he could easily have killed you both when youwere in the woods talking about the witch.”

“What do you mean?” askedArik. “When did he see us in the woods? If you mean the time that Ithink you mean, there is no way he could have been around. I wouldhave heard him.”

“Son,” soothed Konic, “he saidyou were on a game trail looking for Tedi and finally found him. Hesaid you were talking about a witch in a blue dress and that youeach addressed the other by name. He said that was how he learnedyour names.”

Arik turned beat red as he realizedthat the bandit had been close enough to hear the conversation andhe hadn’t even heard him. He blushed further when he remembered hisboasting about how good his hearing was and how he would be able todetect anyone within one hundred paces. “His advice aboutoverconfidence will be well taken,” admitted Arik.

Tedi, who had been quiet and reservedduring the previous exchange looked sadly at his father. “The onlyproper course of action is for Arik and I to leave Lorgo. If westay, we endanger both of you and the rest of the town.”

Alan started to protest and Konic laida hand on his arm to quiet him. Arik looked up, his face still red,and nodded. “If we can get a new start in another town, we can . .. sorry, Father, but we can lie about our ages and try to establishnew lives.”

Konic went over and hugged his son.“Don’t be sorry, son,” he soothed. “I have always told you that thetruth will never hurt you. I was wrong. You should always try totell the truth, but this is one lie that we can live with.” Hepushed his son to arm’s length and looked him in the eye. “But itis the exception, mind you. Don’t let me catch you making a habitout of it just because I excuse you one lie.”

Arik laughed and hugged his father. “Iwill miss you, Father.”

“I will miss you, too, son,”Konic cried, “but not today. Today we have much to teach you andmany things to get ready before you leave. I also think it is hightime for you to call me Konic. From now on, I will think of you asmy friend and should we meet again, that is what you will be tome.”

Nearby in the woods, two black cladfigures watched the emotional scene in silence. As patient astrees, as quiet as the earth, they stood and waited.

The boys were still having a hard timegetting accustomed to using their fathers’ names, but nobody spokeof it. Konic was laying out the plans for the day. “I figure thatif you two leave tomorrow morning, that should be soon enough. Whatwe need to do today is get everything organized for your departure.Alan, your first task will be to see if the bandit left town or ifthe witch has returned. I will go round up whatever money I canfind so that you will not have to be beholden to anyone until youfind a place to settle down. You two will talk and try to decidewhere it is that you are going. You will not tell anyone where youare bound for, not even Alan or myself. If nobody knows, there willbe no chance of anyone discovering it. We will be back in a coupleof hours.”

As Konic and Alan turned to leave,Kalina tapped Garth on the arm and he turned soundlessly and movedalong a path back to town. Once he was out of hearing range, hebroke into a run. He would be back at the inn well before Alancould make it walking through town.

Kalina waited silently for over tenminutes after everyone had left and then she noisily started alongthe path that would enter the clearing. Almost as soon as shestarted walking, Arik started and turned towards her. Kalina couldhear the two boys talking quietly, but could not make out what theywere saying. She waved to them as she got closer and called to themjust as she entered the clearing. “Hello there! I seemed to havegotten lost on my morning walk.”

Neither boy called back to her, but shecould see one eyeing his bow and the other looking around for thebest escape route. When she got all the way into the clearing, sherealized that the two boys had intentionally divided themselves sothat her attention would be split between the two. She wonderedwhether it was the result of talking or they had done itsubconsciously. She walked right up to within ten paces of Arik andstopped. “Good morning,” she began. “I am staying in Lorgo and Iwas taking a morning hike. I feel silly admitting this to two boys,but I have become lost. Can you point the way back totown?”

Both boys spoke at the same time andpointed to the path that their fathers had taken. “Thank you, kindSir,” she said to Arik and turned towards Tedi. “And you, as well,Sir. That is a most beautiful necklace that you have,” she said asshe walked closer. “Would you consider selling it?”

“No,” Tedi almost shouted.More reservedly, he continued, “I mean no, I would not considerparting with it.”

“Well, I don’t blame you,”Kalina cooed. “It is very beautiful. Your mother must have been aPrincess. Well, thank you both again for thedirections.”

Kalina headed along the path that theboys had pointed out and returned to her room at the Fisherman’sInn. She paid no attention to Garth sitting on the front stoop orthe fisherman across the street watching him.

“Well, what did you make ofthat?” Tedi asked.

“What do you mean?” questionedArik. “She seemed to be what she said to me.”

“Perhaps,” Tedi pondered, “butit is not every day that a beautiful woman comes walking throughthe woods into this particular clearing. And why does everybody eyeup my necklace?”

“It is a beautiful necklace,”commented Arik. “I never knew it was your mother’s. I alwayswondered why you didn’t sell it with money being tight like it is.Now I understand.”

“Does this necklace meananything special to you?” Tedi asked.

“Special?” quizzed Arik. “Iguess it is very special if it was your mom’s. I wouldn’t part withit either if it was my mom’s.”

“Yeah, well, we better getback to making plans,” Tedi said suddenly. “I was pretty surprisedwhen our fathers didn’t object to our leaving. It is to protectthem, but I still thought they would argue.”

“We are to think we are doingit to protect them,” chuckled Arik. “If you had seen your father’sface at the time you suggested it, you would probably recognize thetruth.”

“What do you mean?” askedTedi.

“They were both glad when youstarted to suggest us leaving,” explained Arik, “but my father hadto restrain your father when you gave your reasoning. I suspectthey sat and talked for a long time on the beach last night andcame up with the same solution. I also suspect they have adifferent motivation for us leaving. For some reason they feel thatthey would endanger us if they came along. Neither man wouldsubject us to harm to save himself.”

Tedi nodded slowly as Arik’s logic sunkin. What he didn’t understand was his father’s logic, but he couldponder on that later. Right now they needed to plan their journey.Arik started gathering up the belongings that were scattered aroundthe campsite and came to a halt by his blanket. He bent down andpicked up a gold ring that hadn’t been there before. Tedi lookedover and asked, “What is that? Where did you find it?”