Errant, p.22
Errant, page 22
Aspen passed Sky the bowl of soup. She had one hand touching her forehead, not quite covering her face.
“I’m gonna try it,” Sky whispered to Charm.
“Let me know how it goes,” Charm said. She nudged Aspen’s foot with her own. “I want her to like me, too.”
5
Aspen suspected Tescui would have preferred Sky heal for another day or two at her cottage, but the healer’s patience, never high, was taxed by both Charm’s constant questions and Sky’s impatience to be gone.
There was no danger in hitting the road again. Aspen knew the exercises to do with Sky each morning and evening, and his healing would continue as long as he didn’t overtax his wing. It meant he still wasn’t allowed to fly.
He showed his resentment by sullenly kicking rocks along the path as they walked. Well, Aspen and Sky walked. Charm rode regally on Ruby’s back. As she’d said, she wasn’t grounded like Sky or a noble idiot like Aspen.
Aspen had been called many names throughout her life. Most of them weren’t kind. And yet, when Charm said things like noble idiot or dense henchwoman, they came across as affectionate.
They stopped when the sun was high in the sky for a midday meal. Not long after, they left the main road for a narrow side road, wide enough for people and horses to go single file, but not made for wagons or carriages. It was a sign they were headed toward the mountains.
Charm sighed and cast a wistful glance at the road behind them. “No more taverns, then, I take it.”
“We’ll be camping,” Aspen confirmed. “We won’t go much further today. I want time to set up a good camp and then try and do some hunting and gathering. Plus, Sky has his exercises.”
“I don’t want to do them,” Sky said, the first words he’d spoken all day.
“You heard Healer Tescui,” Aspen said. “If you don’t dutifully do them, you won’t fly again.”
“I want to fly now.” Sky’s steps slowed until he might as well not be walking. It would take them weeks to reach the mountains at this rate. Their peaks only just broke the horizon. It would be a few days through the foothills and then who only knew how long until they found any People of the Wind.
Aspen was officially out of her depth. Charm pursed her lips, equally flummoxed. She adapted quickly.
“There will be no more taverns, but we can still have a good meal and entertainment. Aspen already said she would handle food. Which leaves entertainment to you and me.”
Sky kicked a few more rocks.
“You can help me with my next song,” Charm said. “Aspen, of course, is still my primary source of inspiration.”
“More fights?” Sky perked up.
“This was a vicious one,” Charm said. “Let me see if I can come up with something to start us off with.” She hummed to herself, the familiar tune of the song Charm had sung in taverns at the start of their journey.
Aspen had a bad feeling about this creative endeavor. But since Sky was walking at a reasonable pace again, she refrained from comment or protest.
“Her knife chopped true, the onion died. She wiped her eyes, because she cried.”
Aspen took a moment to turn her face into Mouse’s mane. Mouse, the traitor, laughed at her.
Charm hummed again, this time, dissatisfied. “It needs some work. Sky, you’re now my assistant. We’re going to make a camping song.”
“Why am I your assistant? We’re co-creators.” Sky whistled, keeping to the tune of the song. “I gather wood. It is hard work.” He whistled again. “Aspen wants—no.” He fell quiet again, thinking.
As long as he walked while he thought, Aspen decided she could live with whatever terrible song they came up with.
By the time they were setting up camp, Sky had figured out his first couplet. He sang it to himself as he prepared the fire. “I gather wood. It is hard work. But Aspen needs help, I can’t shirk.”
Aspen shook her head as she checked to make sure she had her sword and her favorite knife. She gave Ruby and Mouse strict instructions to defend Charm and Sky if needed. She trusted Sky would alert her by screaming if there was any kind of danger. Still, she didn’t intend to go far outside their campsite.
She ventured out just beyond hearing range of their singing voices, because Sky was now rhyming about berries and cherries, which could go nowhere good. At least Charm was leaving any bawdy bits out.
And Aspen didn’t have to worry about this one making the rounds in any taverns. No one wanted to hear about great battles against vegetables.
It was nearing winter, which meant there wasn’t as much to gather as Aspen would like. They’d have to find a Wind enclave before true winter arrived or retreat to a nearby town. Aspen didn’t want to be the one to tell Sky they’d have to put a hold on returning him home until the cold season passed, but she wasn’t provisioned for a winter campout.
She set a few snares, because Sky and Charm both appreciated meat, and small game could go a long way if they had the time to make stew. It would mean two stews, one for Aspen and one for the others.
When she returned to the campsite, the fire was crackling. Sky had the extra wood piled well out of the reach of the flames. A pail of water and a pail of dirt sat nearby, ready to use if the fire got out of control.
Charm had arranged their bedrolls and extra clothes into a lumpy, if functional, sleeping area. Aspen noted there was no kind of separation, but she didn’t object the way Charm no doubt expected her to.
“It will be cold at night,” Aspen said. “Sky should sleep between us in order to keep him as warm as possible.”
“Let me guess, with me closest to the fire?” Charm asked.
Aspen shrugged. She took the cooking pot to the mountain stream. The water was frigid runoff from the snowy peaks. There would be no bathing in that. She filled the pot three-quarters full and set it on the fire before she gathered some rope from her bag and returned to the stream.
This time, Sky followed her.
“What are you doing?” he asked. He perched on one of the large rocks by the water.
Aspen began tying the rope. She gathered nearby sticks, ones with some bend to them and tied them into the rope until she had a net of sorts. She walked along the river’s edge until she found the narrowest point of it. She hesitated for a moment before she stripped out of her boots and her socks. The water temperature had not been pleasant.
“Are we swimming?” Sky crept forward. He dipped his hand in the water and then yanked it back. “That’s cold!”
“It’s where dinner is,” Aspen said. If her snares caught anything, it wouldn’t be until morning. And Aspen wouldn’t eat it besides. Fish was a good option. They’d follow the river to the mountains to ensure a food source, even though wading would be miserable.
She handed Sky one end of the net. “Hold onto that,” she told him. She rolled her trousers above her knees, picked up her end of the net, and then took a deep breath and stepped into the water.
It was so cold it didn’t even register at first. Then it stole the breath from her body. Branch, leaf, and root. She walked carefully on the rocky bottom of the stream. The current was moderately strong, and she had to brace herself with each step.
By the time the net was nearly taut, she couldn’t feel her toes anymore. “Dip your end in the water,” she told Sky.
His mouth twisted with skepticism. When he realized he’d have to touch the water, he almost didn’t do it. And then he dunked his arms up to the elbow in the water.
They now had a net-wall covering almost half the stream. Unfortunately, fishing was a waiting game.
“I see one!” Sky cried. His face fell when the fish neatly swam around Aspen’s other side, safely away from the net.
“When I say ‘now,’ I want you to yank your side of the net up,” Aspen told him.
“Okay.” Sky bobbed his head. “Will it scare the fish if I sing to them?”
“It might,” Aspen said and even the lukewarm lie made her feel guilty.
“I’ll just think of lyrics, then,” Sky said. “Charm can help me when we get back to camp. She’s much better with songs than I am.”
A few fish swam upstream, but the rest coasted with the current. None of them came close enough to the net for Aspen to act. It meant nothing to do but talk. “She has a lot more practice than you.”
“I want to be a bard,” Sky decided. “My people like to sing, you know. I’ll be the first to make my living singing for walkers. Maybe I can keep traveling with you and Charm. After I heal, of course. That way, I can fly home and see my family whenever I want. But also have adventures.”
“Sky,” Aspen began, her voice heavy, because she didn’t want to ruin his dreams, but he was confused about a few things.
“You don’t want me,” he said. He drooped, his head and wings hanging low.
“It’s not that,” Aspen told him. “But Charm and I, we’re not—”
“Ready for a family?” He guessed. “But that’s why I’m a visitor. I have a whole community that can raise me. I’m Charm’s co-creator, remember? You won’t have to look after me like my parent.”
“Charm and I aren’t together,” Aspen said.
“What?” He shook his head. “You were at the tavern together when I met you. You only had one room.” Sky gasped, and his eyes went wide. “Were you nesting before you mated? My mom says I’m not allowed to dance for a partner until I’ve built a home for us.”
Aspen wasn’t equipped to explain this topic to People of the Wood, so she certainly wasn’t going to tackle the subject with another People’s child. But Sky was scandalized, and she didn’t want him telling this story to his community or, Great Oak forbid, making a song about it.
“Charm and I are friends. We were meeting for a meal and a chat when you found us.”
“But—”
Fortunately, Aspen was rescued by a few fish swimming over their net. “Now!” she shouted.
She and Sky both pulled up on their ends of the net. Aspen waded through the stream with speed until there were four fish caught in the net. One of them flipped out before she was close enough to Sky to grip the net and prevent any more escapes.
“Fish!” Sky, no longer holding the net, pointed at the flapping tails. “It worked!”
“Of course it worked,” Aspen said. “Did you think I was standing in this frigid stream for fun?”
“Charm says you have weird ideas of fun.”
Aspen decided not to argue that one. “Let’s bring these back to camp. We’ll have fish for dinner. Will you grab my boots and my socks?”
It was odd, walking on her feet when she couldn’t feel anything from the knee down. Thankfully, the sun was still up. She’d still need to sit by the fire in order to fully warm herself up, but it was better than night fishing.
When they arrived at camp, Charm stopped what she was doing to stare. Belatedly, Aspen realized she must look a mess. Her feet were dirty, her pants were rolled scandalously high, and she had a net clutched in her hand with three live fish wriggling in it.
“I have dinner,” she said weakly.
“We caught the fish, the water was cold,” Sky warbled. “Cook them and eat them before we’re old!” He turned to Charm, hoping for praise.
Aspen was happy to leave Charm to that particular performance. She settled by the fire with her bounty.
“What kind of fish are they?” Charm asked.
“Brown trout.” Aspen picked the first up. It was, indeed, brown.
“Creative,” Charm deadpanned.
“Not everyone has your flair,” Aspen said. The fish were a decent size. With the stew already cooking, they would only need one to round out dinner. It meant she could smoke and dry the other two. The more food she could pack with them, the better she’d feel, especially once they were in the mountains. “The other common kind up here is the Stony Mountain trout,” Aspen said. She laughed at the face Charm made.
“Next, you’re going to start telling me about the Ain River trout.”
“Have you ever had one?” Aspen asked. “They’re best baked in the fire and then you squeeze a bit of fresh lemon over them.”
“You’re making this up. I refuse to believe it.”
“It’s true!” Sky said, and Aspen was touched by his defense of her, though she doubted his knowledge of fish. “You told me she’s a terrible liar.”
Shocked at Sky’s bluntness, Aspen laughed. She laughed harder when she saw Charm, her face torn between regret and indifference. Aspen waved a hand as if she could wave any hard feelings away. “I’m not offended. Even if you didn’t intend it that way, I take it as a compliment.”
Aspen continued smiling, even after her laughter faded. She continued to prepare the fish. Once, she caught Charm watching her, something almost soft in the expression on her face. Aspen didn’t know what to make of it.
Charm had neatly dissected Aspen’s relationship with Tescui after seeing them together for only a few days. If Aspen was so easy to read, Charm must know how Aspen felt about her. Perhaps she was cultivating Aspen’s feelings so Aspen would be more likely to bed her.
No, that didn’t sit right. Charm was creative, not always lawful, and told the occasional lie, but she wasn’t maliciously manipulative. Aspen’s growing attraction was her own fault.
What would have happened if they hadn’t met Sky? Charm had a room rented at The Blooming Rose. One room, one bed. Aspen didn’t think she would have agreed to Charm’s plan then, but now, after this adventure, she might. Maybe because this was the longest they had spent together or maybe it was because there had so far been no deadly fights.
Aspen arranged the strips of fish to cook and then dry by the fire. Maybe after they returned Sky to his people, she’d propose the next step in her and Charm’s relationship. They had to travel back to the troupe, after all. There would be plenty of taverns. They could learn each other in a new way.
Of course, if they were going to stay at so many taverns, Charm would need to sing again, and she’d pick that embarrassing one about Aspen. A flush crept over Aspen’s cheeks. She recoiled from the song, the way she recoiled from most attention, but a part of her liked it. Charm didn’t sing it like it was a joke. She sang it like she believed Aspen’s deeds deserved to be preserved in song and shared.
“Well, that was fast,” Charm said.
Aspen startled and checked on the fish. They weren’t finished.
“Your face,” Charm said. “We were counting how long it took you to lose your smile. You don’t let yourself stay happy very long, do you?”
“Anything you can tell me about where to find your home will help,” Aspen said to Sky as they packed up their camp the next morning. “No need to worry if you can’t think of anything. I can find it on my own. It’ll just take a little longer, that’s all.”
Sky chewed his lip while Charm wondered what Aspen’s definition of “a little longer” was. She didn’t doubt Aspen’s sense of the forest, but Sky had given her no clues and Charm knew intimately how vast and unforgiving the terrain could be if you didn’t know where you were going. Perhaps they’d all grow old at the foot of the Seljac Mountains.
“Trees all look the same from down here,” Sky said. “I don’t know where I am unless I’m up high.”
“Let’s get you up high, then.”
“My wing is still broken! Tescui said—”
“Wings aren’t the only way to get up high.”
For a woman who’d scolded Charm over handing the kid a knife, Aspen sure was eager to scale perilous heights with him in tow. She looked a tree up and down the way Charm eyed potential lovers—slow, appreciative.
Before anyone could break a bone and send them right back to the mean old Rain healer, Charm said, “The Wind enclave is called Two Crooked Pines Pointing at the Bald Rock Face to the South, right? Maybe we could use that to find it.”
“That describes an aerial view,” Aspen said. “Going up the tree would still help.”
“So would a map,” Charm said.
Aspen and Sky both scoffed simultaneously.
In truth, Charm didn’t need a map, but it would have protected her from questions. Instead, she lied. “Look, the narrator of The Queen of Seljac does a whole verse about the peaks in this region and how to recognize their silhouettes. That one’s called Asalc ‘at whose far side no trees do grow.’ So maybe let’s head in that direction instead of breaking our necks.”
“I wasn’t gonna break my neck,” Sky said, voicing what Charm had expected to hear from Aspen. Perhaps not in such an indignant tone, but still, there should have been some comment about how Aspen was an elite tree-climber whose heritage, skill, and years of experience Charm should not dare to doubt.
Instead, Aspen was watching her.
It wasn’t as nice as the way she’d looked at the tree. She hadn’t been suspicious of the tree.
Charm nudged Ruby in the correct direction, a narrow trail through the trees that would zigzag up the side of Gulme peak, lead them down into Biecte valley, and eventually deposit them at the foot of Asalc. Aspen didn’t gainsay her.
The rest of the day’s travel passed quietly, because when Charm didn’t sing or make conversation, Aspen didn’t pick up her slack. Even Sky was subdued, other than a few complaints about how slow and laborious walking was.
Despite that, they made good time in their ascent. Charm found a cave for them to camp in. The ground was hard, but the walls kept the wind out. Aspen made a fire and they ate smoked fish.
“I’ve never heard that mountain called Asalc,” Aspen said. “The locals call it Sharp Peak.”
“It’s an old name,” Charm said, instead of correcting Aspen that the People of the Earth were not the only locals, and their name was not the only name. “I learned it from the play.”
“We call it Sharp Peak, too,” Sky said. “But it sounds like this.”
He whistled, and Charm seized the opportunity to change the subject. She imitated Sky’s whistle and he giggled.
“How come walkers can’t whistle right?” he asked.
