All Things Wild and Beautiful

33. The Osprey and the Black Wolf

The artwork above is not mine.

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    Nascha focused on her magic, trying to ignore the pain in her left leg. Sparring with Aeron in the morning heat left her whole body sore, but her leg ached the most. She hadn't had a moment to sit down and rest it since Vaughan retrieved her for magic training either.

    She took some comfort in the fact that the heat seemed to be affecting him just as badly. His dark hair was tied up in a loose bun and he'd removed his shirt hours ago. His bronze skin was damp with sweat. Nascha could only imagine how jealous Aeron would be when she told him about this.

    She dissipated her magic and wiped sweat from her forehead. "Can I sit down for at least five minutes?" Nascha panted. "My leg is killing me."

    Vaughan tossed her a waterskin and jerked his head towards a log. Nascha sat down gratefully and took a few slow sips of water. She rolled up her pant leg and began to massage the scarred area. "There are salves and ointments that can help with the aching," Vaughan pointed out. "Maybe you should find a healer and invest in some."

    "I'd have to convince Fenrys to take me, and I'm not willing to admit how much my leg actually bothers me."

    "You're too proud to admit it, or you don't want him to feel bad?"

    "Both."

    Vaughan sat on the grass beside her. "I'm glad you're getting along now."

    "It's making our lives a little easier," Nascha agreed. "But he's still annoying."

    "He's Fenrys," Vaughan chuckled. "He's incapable of being anything but annoying."

    "Was Connall annoying?"

    Vaughan's shoulders tensed. "In some ways, but not like Fenrys is." Nascha gave him a prompting look. At last, he sighed and continued. "Fenrys is annoyingly outgoing. Connall was annoyingly introverted. He didn't like to go out very often. He wasn't keen on putting himself into uncomfortable situations. His idea of a good time was reading with a bottle of alcohol close by, or sparring outside after dark. You couldn't get him to open up about anything, and he was always trying to push everyone away."

    Nascha studied Vaughan, curiosity getting the better of her. There was a hint of sorrow in his dark eyes. Sorrow that she knew he was trying to hide. "Did he have tattoos like the rest of you?" She asked, pointing to the tattoo on Vaughan's forearm. She'd noticed that Rowan, Lorcan, and Fenrys all had the same tattoo in that spot.

    Vaughan shook his head. "This tattoo is Gavriel's name. Rowan did mine shortly after I came to live in Terrasen. He did Lorcan's, Fenrys', and his own after the war ended."

    "What does your other tattoo say?" Nascha asked.

    Vaughan glanced over his shoulder, eyeing the strange black marks that traveled down his spine. They were the same marks that made up Gavriel's name. The same marks that Nascha had been unable to read in Arcelia.

    "You can't read the Old Language?" Vaughan asked, not answering her question. Nascha shook her head. "That's strange. Most Fae took great care to teach their children the prayers, songs, and languages of the past."

    "Perhaps my brothers knew, but I was never taught." Nascha took one last drink and handed the waterskin back to him. She continued massaging her leg, grimacing as she did so.

    "It's the names of my parents and little sister," Vaughan said after a few minutes of silence. "And...Connall."

    Nascha resituated her pant leg and propped her elbows up on her knees. She let her chin rest in her palms. "I thought you said you two weren't close."