The Hidden Crystal

Chapter 42

Iris awoke the next morning when a burst of warmth touched her lips. Her eyes shot wide open, and she sat bolt upright, scanning the area for the fairy. Char and Rath were already awake and rolling up their blankets.

"Good morning!" Rath called cheerfully from across the smoldering embers of last night's fire.

"Good morning," she replied absentmindedly, still searching for the fairy.

"Is something wrong?" Char asked.

She shook her head and climbed out from under the blankets. "I guess not."

"That doesn't sound very definite," Rath commented.

She hesitated, and then she said, "I could have sworn - there you are!"

The fairy was folding and rolling up her blankets, unconcerned about her outburst.

"You're not supposed to be here," she said, squatting down to look at it.

It dropped the blankets and flitted up to hover in front of her face, just for a moment, and then it darted forward to touch her lips and zipped back to the blankets. She giggled and stood up, shaking her head.

"We have a stowaway," she said, gesturing toward the little golden orb of light that shone brightly under the first rays of the rising sun.

Char came to her side and frowned down at the happy little creature. "Are you sure it's just one?"

"No, but I can't do much about it either way, can I?" she asked, smiling up at him. "What's for breakfast?"

"The same as dinner," Rath said from behind her. "And we're eating it on the move. I'd like to put as much distance as possible between us and the soldiers."

"Why did we set up so close to them?" Iris asked, taking the proffered biscuit and strip of dried meat.

"The sky was clear last night. We took the first opportunity we could to get to the ground without being seen, and then somebody was a little more concerned about waking you up than moving somewhere safer," Rath replied, smirking at Char.

The fairy added Iris' blankets to one of the two packs. Char shouldered one and tossed the other at Rath.

"Let's go," Char said firmly, refusing to take the bait.

"How far are we from the capital?" Iris asked, following Char as he set his face to the northeast.

"Three days, I think," he replied. "Sooner if we take a more direct route, but I want to avoid roads and towns as much as possible."

"Probably a good idea, although we should come up with a cover story if we meet anybody," Iris mused.

"Easy enough. We're fleeing the war," Rath provided cheerfully. "Two brothers and - what terminology would you like us to use for her, Char?" he asked teasingly.

"Humans don't use the term 'girlfriend' much, so I guess 'lover.'"

Iris blushed and kept her gaze straight ahead. "Humans also don't have names like 'Char' and 'Rath.'"

"What about 'Rina?' Is that human enough?" Rath teased.

"That will work for me. I think...Charles and Roger for the two of you." She giggled. "Although that sounds a bit formal."

"Charlie and Rog for short," Rath announced. "I can deal with that."

They walked for a while through the brightening rays of morning, dead grass crunching under their feet, the fairy flitting around happily in front of them.