Chapter 4
A Pleasant Surprise
Ailey passed through the gates after a quick conversation with Evan. The young man talked about some of the initial signs, but very little of the information he had was new to the medic. Ester was incredibly detailed. Still, it was good to get a first-hand account from someone who had seen the illness already, even if Evan had gotten it by shouting up at his brother from several feet below the city walls. All of the city’s inhabitants were in a quarantine, so no one was allowed inside who wasn’t there to assist with the plague or other essential needs to keep the city going. The young man vigorously waved at her as Ailey left. The look in his eye told her that he believed she could cure his brother. Ailey wasn’t even sure that she would meet the lad. He was a few years younger than Evan, and the kid worked and lived in the most populous area of the city. Finding Aston Thompson would be like finding a needle in a hay stack.
Ailey always made it a point to never promise things she knew she could not deliver, but despite her warning not to get his hopes up, Evan seemed to do just that. She left the town feeling like she had done something wrong.
“Don’t worry about him. Things will work out.”
Ailey knew the voice and was not surprised to hear it. “Good morning, Ash. I suppose I should thank you.”
“There’s no need.”
“But I should.” She found it difficult to look at the man as he walked beside her with his hands in his pockets.
“You don’t want to, so don’t bother.” The response was not what she had expected. Ailey turned to look at the young man, who was looking up at the sun.
“Looking directly at the sun is bad for your eyes. Please don’t do yourself harm by indulging such a bad habit.”
The purplish-green eyes trained on her, and a thin smiled passed over his face. “Is that something like concern?”
Ailey shrugged, “It sounds like it.”
His smile widened. “Don’t let it worry you. My eyes aren’t like yours, so staring at the sun is not going to do damage. Thank you for your concern, though. Here.” He moved remarkably fast as he pulled something out of a small bag he was carrying. Ailey looked at the bag and could not remember him carrying one the day before. There was no point in prying, especially as she realized that he was holding out a small breakfast sandwich.
Ailey gave it a critical look. “If I eat it, will that sandwich knock me out?”
Ash frowned, “I’m fairly certain that you have recovered after a good night’s sleep.”
“So you admit you drugged me.” Her comment was blunt because the medic did not have time to mince words.
Ash closed his eyes for a moment, then looked back up at the sun, the sandwich still extended towards her. When the man opened his eyes again, he unwrapped a part of the sandwich and took a bite. He chewed for a moment, and they both heard Ailey’s stomach growl in response.
Feeling the blood rush to her face in embarrassment, she took the proffered sandwich when he held it back out to her. The medic took a bite as she tried to ignore the look the man was giving her. Finally, he looked forward and responded, “I just made sure that you got a good meal. It was obvious by the way you carried yourself and the way you popped your neck that your body was in desperate need of a good meal and rest. It was also obvious that you were not going to allow that, so I made sure you got a good meal. Your body took over from there.”
Ailey thought through Ash’s words and realized what he meant. By supplying her body with the right nutrients, her body had given into the fatigue. She had pushed herself as hard as she had a decade ago, but Ailey wasn’t in her early twenties anymore. Capable as she was, it may have been time to get a horse when she needed to cover longer distances. It meant she would miss things, though, an idea that did not sit well with the medic.
The woman gave a slight shake of her head, then forced a small smile on her face. “Thank you, Ash. I really appreciate it, even though it means a later start than I had wanted.”
“It means that you will be in better shape to do what you need to do when you arrive in Melzi.”
“Yes, that it does.”
“So you are really going there? You are knowingly going into a city where people are dying of a plague? Even though you are completely human?”
Ailey looked at the man, not expecting him to understand, so she did not offer any explanation. “Yes, I am going to Melzi, despite all of those stated deficiencies.” He appeared to wait for her to say more, but she didn’t have anything further to say.
“Alright, not exactly my first choice, but so be it.”
Ailey stopped walking. “That had better not mean what it sounds like.”
“Of course not.” He smiled at her.
“Good, because it sounded like you were saying you were going to follow me there.” She started walking again.
“Oh, is that what you thought I meant? Then yes, it was how it sounded.”
Ailey put her hand out, stopping the man in his tracks. “No, you are not.”
Ash looked down at her hand. “Of course I am.”
“No, you aren’t.” She frowned and looked him in the eyes. “I am not going to take you with me.”
As her frown deepened, Ash’s smile widened. “Why not? Are you concerned that something will happen to me if I go with you?”
Ailey pursed her lips, but decided there was no point in lying. “The illness isn’t just killing humans. My contact said that it affected all humanoids. It is a big city in a country that is open to all species. Whatever you are, it is very likely to be lethal to you, too.”
Ash shook his head, “You do care.”
“Ye gods, talking to you is like talking to a child.” Ailey began walking, her pace a bit quicker.
“That is so touching. You think of me like a child, so you want to protect me. Absolutely fascinating. Completely wrong, but I dare say it is unexpectedly sweet for someone as cynical and jaded as you.”
“Keep it up, pretty boy. Even medics have a breaking point.”
He laughed, “Pretty boy. Oh, I love that. Say it again.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“If I do, will you promise not to follow me?”
“Absolutely.”
Ailey couldn’t help but smile as she said, “Alright, pretty boy, you have a deal.”
The man’s step was lighter as they moved along. For a while he hummed as they walked, and Ailey had to admit that his voice was incredible. Something in the tone reminded her of one of her earliest memories. She was a young girl running through a meadow on a trip to the mainland. It was the first time she had left the island, and even now she remembered the experience as being the point when she decided that she would not be able to stay on the island. It was like an unreal paradise. The young version of her had torn off her shirt as she ran through the meadow, not understanding why her parents had forced the clothing on her. They laughed as she ran around, her hands brushing against the wild flowers. The island was like paradise, but the mainland had so many charms and so much beauty that it seemed more real. For a while, the medic walked along, smiling at the memory.
“So where are you headed?” Ailey finally asked, dragging her mind back into the present.
Ash looked at her out of the corner of his eye, “I was supposed to meet up with my friends to help them look for someone who went missing a while back.”
“So you are going to meet up with them now?”
“Oh no, they came and went this morning. When I told them that I couldn’t join them, they wished me well and went on their way.”
“You sent Ivy in your place?” Ailey smirked as she watched the look on his face. The man seemed to take the question very seriously.
When he responded, the words were measured, “No, she isn’t my replacement. She made the mistake of trying to steal from my friends. The ring she stole from Noely was one of the few things that my friend had from the man they are looking for. That girl is quite good. Ivy, I mean. Well, Noely is too, but she’s not human, good is expected. And a different type of good.”
“You are rambling.” Ailey looked at the man, a bit baffled by everything he had said.
“Apologies. It is so difficult to organize my thoughts with you around, you are quite a distraction.”
“I have been called many things, but that is not something I have been accused of recently.”
“Then the people you know are very adept at ignoring someone who is completely remarkable.”
Ailey felt a bit of a blush rise to her checks. Trying to hide it, she cleared her throat, “You were attempting to say?”
“Oh, right. I had never met Noely before, but I’ve heard the stories. So many stories. Of course, she wasn’t called Noely in the stories that I heard, but that is to be expected, given what she is. It was such a pleasure finally getting to meet her and finding out just why Cyprian has been so….” The man waved his hands in the air as if trying to find the right words, then he looked at Ailey. “Seeing her didn’t help a lot. I mean she was good-looking in a very traditional sense, but I didn’t really get much of a sense of an aura from her. Maybe I just didn’t know what to look for since that was my first encounter.”
Ailey smiled at the excitement and near incoherence of her companion. “You have only just met her, and yet you call her your friend. You must be very trusting.”
“That is your way of kindly calling me naïve.” He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, causing Ailey to bite her lip. “It’s okay, you aren’t the first.” He leaned his head back and smiled. “I would rather be called naïve or have people think that I am too optimistic than to come across like a martyr or, worse, a stickler for rules.” There was a noticeable shiver from him as he said stickler.
“Is that what you see when you look at me?”
The man let out a loud laugh that caused Ailey to smile. “Not at all. You are serious to a fault, certainly, but you have no problem bending rules, and I dare say completely shattering them to help others. You aren’t the kind to go throwing your life away either. That is clear, and why I am shocked that you are heading to Melzi. There must be something beyond just the plague to draw you. All of the martyrs have already made their way there and died. No, you are something else entirely, I just don’t know what.”
“You can’t say any of that stuff about me with certainty because you only met me yesterday.”
“I say it with absolute certainty. There is much I don’t know about you, but some things about you are as obvious as a beautiful flower blooming in an open field.”
For a second, Ailey’s mind returned to her memory. Forcing herself back into the present, the medic found a smile fading from her lips. Ash had turned and was now walking just in front of her, the smile plastered to his face as he walked backwards. “I believe you were trying to convince me that Ivy is alright.”
“Oh, yes, sorry, you were distracting me.” He turned and fell in step beside her. “I met this version of Noely, said hello to Cyprian-”
“What do you mean this version of Noely? Is she part of an important bloodline?”
“Oh, no, nothing that difficult to follow. She’s the reincarnated version of her previous selves.” Ailey opened her mouth to say something about that, but ended up smiling and shaking her head as Ash continued. “There’s only one of her, and she always falls for Cyprian. This is the first time where they have actually gotten together, though. Good for him, I say. That man has the patience of a saint, and it damn near got him killed far too many times.”
Ailey ran a hand over her face. “I really can’t keep up with what you are saying.”
“Hey, now,” Ash pulled her hand off of her face. “None of that now. No hiding your face.”
“I wasn’t hiding.” Ailey realized that he had not let go of her hand. And she decided not to pull it away from his grasp. It would probably only encourage him to try it again later. She ignored the obvious flaw in that logic, and tried to listen to him as he spoke.
The smile on his face softened for a moment, and he threaded his fingers through hers. Then he continued, “Noely is a – never mind that. She has been around in different versions for a very long time. Cyprian fell in love with her when he was only 20 years old, and that is really saying something. He was practically an infant. Anyway, things were always off for them, and she has never lived very long. Given that it takes over 100 years for her to reincarnate, he tried to forget her. He got married, had a few kids, oh, must have been about 700 years ago. Long before I was born. His wife was killed, then his kids not too long ago. Well, not too long for someone his age. It was all still before my time, I think about 75 or 100 years ago, not quite sure. Cyprian was basically looking for a way to die when Noely came back into his life. Beautiful timing on her part because we would have lost the oldest of our kind, and probably Hisa with him. Talk about stubborn, you’ve no idea.” He looked at Ailey with a grin.
“I can’t imagine.” The sarcasm was thick so that there was no question that he got it. “Mostly because I am having a difficult time following your discourse.”
Ash simply laughed in response. “Hisa makes me look like a meek man.”
“You mean this guy can make you look like an obedient pretty boy?”
Ash laughed and squeezed her hands. “The things you say.” He looked at her, his eyes sparkling in the sunlight. Again, Ailey found herself smiling. “Well, Hisa was keeping an eye on Cyprian, joined the military and everything. Completely out of character, but even that wouldn’t have been enough, I don’t think. Not without Noely. Then Ivy just up and steals Noely’s ring, and all hell breaks loose. If I hadn’t been there, Cyprian probably would have killed her. He has very little love of humans.”
“You mean he hates them.”
“That is still putting it mildly. Given what they have done to him, though, it is difficult to fault him. I mean, they did kill his wife and children, most of them. Remember, this is the guy with the patience of a saint, but when he gets angry, only fools try to face him. Shoot, I wouldn’t fight him if he were only mildly irritated. Life is far too enjoyable to risk that kind of danger. Anyway, I convinced Noely of the value of having a thief with them for their hunt, and she convinced Cyprian.”
“So you convinced a humanoid who hates humans to take a human with him on a trip to look for a long-lost friend.”
“When you say it like that, it does sound a bit reckless. Fortunately, our little Ivy isn’t fully human, only about an eighth, she just doesn’t know it.”
Ailey closed her eyes, trying to process everything. The warmth of Ash’s hand on hers pulled her mind out of the thought process and into the moment. Instead of trying to untangle all of the information, Ailey decided it was best to let Ash finish his story. “Then what happened?”
“Noely convinced Cyprian. Ivy was so terrified of what would happen if she stayed in Derbe that she was more than eager to go. I mean, she did steal a lot of stuff from her room, and they were calling the guards when I convinced them she had no intention of actually leaving with the stuff. Obviously, she is clueless that she is with someone far more dangerous than anyone in Derbe, but why scare her when it benefits everyone? No doubt she thinks she can escape once they get a ways from the town, but that will be her disappointment to bear.”
“You don’t think she will succeed?”
“Not a chance. Even if she knew how to control her magic, there’s nothing she could do against either of those two on her own. Together, the idea is laughable. I mean, it is like saying that a flower stands a chance against a tornado and an earthquake.”
“Do you think she will be alright?”
Ash shrugged, “She will be safe from others and herself. Cyprian will be fine, he’s just ridiculously protective of Noely, especially now.”
“Why especially now?”
“Because – Oh, look!” Ash dropped Ailey’s hand and ran a little ahead of her. “There’s the city.”
Ailey blinked. “We shouldn’t be able to see the city until tomorrow evening.”
Ash gave her a huge grin. “Travel with me and it will always feel like time flies. It’s part of my charm.”
“What are you?”
“Not a human,” Ash’s eyes danced as he smiled at her. “We are close, but best not to press forward anymore today. I’m exhausted and there are a few perfectly good inns here where we can stay. Besides, it will be easier to find us here than down the road. This is one of his favorite places because of the soup.”
Ailey was only half listening as she watched Ash’s unsteady movements. She stepped towards the humanoid just as he swayed a little. She put her hands out to steady him, and Ash leaned on her a little, turning his smiling face to her. He rested his head on her shoulder and looked up at her. “That was tiring, but worth seeing that smile on your face.” Ailey could feel his breath on her face, and she tried to look at him sideways before giving her shoulder a little jolt. He laughed and stepped away from her, nearly stumbling over a few rocks behind him. Ailey reached out a hand and helped steady him before wrapping an arm around his waist and turning to the inn.
Shaking her head for what felt like the 100th time, Ailey knew that her companion needed to sit down and rest. “Whatever you did, you got me a lot further than I could have gotten on my own. I wouldn’t make it to the city today even if I pushed forward, so we can rest here tonight. But remember, you promised not to come with me tomorrow, pretty boy.”
Ash gave her a faded smile, “This way.” He slipped out of her arm, wrapped a hand around hers, and led her to a comfortable-looking inn.