The Wyvern's Gift

Chapter Twelve

The night passed, surprisingly uneventful. It was the first time Wren hadn't needed to scold them all continuously for making too much noise. Evander was the only one causing a problem. The wound in his leg had led to a limp that slowed their pace considerably. He'd stumbled a bit in the beginning and scared off every animal in the vicinity. It made everything eerily quiet.

They broke for lunch and Evanora leaned over Wren's shoulder to go over the map with him. She'd climbed onto the boulder he sat on so she could be at his height. Between what he knew of the forest and what she'd seen from Isra's back, they narrowed down the route even further.

Haelyn pulled Evander to the side and had him lift his pant leg so she could check on his cut. "This is definitely going to scar."

"Wouldn't be my first, your highness," he said.

"I told you not to call me that," she snapped, tightening the bandage around his leg. "It's bad enough that the Cathian's thought kidnapping me would do anything for their cause." She could almost feel Kris's breath on her neck. He was out there somewhere, following them. It made her back stiffen.

Evander placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. "Hey, you can relax. They won't be taking you anywhere with us around."

"Well what about after? Am I just supposed to wait for someone to try again?" Haelyn kicked her foot and fell back to sit on her heels.

"Have you ever considered traveling the high seas? I could take you to far off lands, where no one has ever heard of you or your family," he offered. "Once we finish this and we're set free, I'm going to buy myself a new ship and get back to where I belong."

For a moment, Haelyn looked intrigued. "How far have you gone?"

Evander sat back with his legs crossed. "Not far enough. One day I'll be able to say I've touched every shore, seen every land, traveled every sea. My father had the same dream."

"Did he do it?" She was hanging on his every word now. Just his voice conjured up the smell of the salt water and the spray that would cascade over her skin. Her stomach seemed to flip as if she were being rocked by the waves. Something in Evander's eyes crashed like a storm that could sink even the massive trade ships she'd seen leaving the docks.

"He must have," he answered. The storm in his eyes died away. "Only a man who found his dream could abandon his son and leave him to pirates. He was quite the determined adventurer."

Haelyn recovered his leg and wiped her hands clean. "Do you think he's still out there?"

The storm returned to Evander's eyes for a moment. "That would be something, wouldn't it?" He pulled himself to his feet with some difficulty. The smile he gave her was nothing like the coldness that had been in his words. "Looks like they've picked a direction for us to go."

Sure enough, Wren and Eva had rolled the map back up and were trying to help devise a way to help Evander move more quietly. The limp would be a hindrance if they couldn't solve it. "If only he was small enough to ride on Isra," Evan whined.

"Or if we'd brought one of the horses," Yophiel said with an accusing glance at Wren.

"Couldn't we just drag him in a litter?" Weylyn suggested, sizing the sailor up with his hands. "He's not so big that we couldn't fashion something at least to get him through the rest of the day. Maybe Evanora can do something tonight to help."

They began to go back and forth, each idea becoming more ridiculous and less helpful than the last. The options ranged from leaving him behind to cutting off the whole leg and being done with it. Naturally, Evander was strongly opposed to any further damage to his person.