Curse of Eternity

Chapter Sixteen

The three sat around a table at a local restaurant they found by the library. They had walked in, all silent from what had just happened. Anna had no idea what had happened, still trying to wrap her head around it. The boy was acting fine when they began talking to him after they cornered him. Castor, the name the librarian told them, didn't seem to lose it until she began speaking. Something in him changed and she could sense it, something in him stopped momentarily and it was only got worse when he saw the mark on her wrist. She didn't know why he was questioning it. It was just a birthmark. He reacted like it was some mark that would summon creatures from another realm. He almost kinda spirited away when they parted. She was still trying to figure out what it was, and for a reason Alys kept looking back and was rather quiet for her normal non-stop talkative self.

" Hey Alys, whats up. You've been real quiet since we left the library," Anna said, looking at Maliki who simply shrugged and began listening. Alys seemed to hesitate, spinning her spoon around in her soup.

" I don't know. I have this weird feeling that i left something back there but everytime i check i know i have everything. It's like a piece is missing now and i can't find it," she looked up to Anna and shook her head, Anna grasping her free had and squeezing.

" Well whatever it is we'll figure it out. Speaking of that," she slipped her hand out of Alys's and looked down at her food before squaring her shoulders and looking up, " What do we all plan on doing from here on out? This is the end of shifter territory so if we're following our agreement, Maliki you are homefree. You can leave whenever you like, and Alys you're free to do what you choose now. We can all part ways here. Alys can go home, and Maliki can go somewhere safe from Dex," she said as she looked at each of them. Alys looked hard at her as she struggled to keep from caving at the realization that she would be alone again. She had liked being alone, but then she found Alys and had someone to laugh with and cause trouble with and she was going to miss that.

" Well what are you going to do?" Alys asked.

" I'll continue traveling. Trying to finds somewhere i fit in." she said. Alys seemed to think about it.

" Well then i'll stay with you. It's not like i have important business back there, or anything important there in general," Alys said as she sat up straighter.

" But you're clients. I'm taking you away from what you do," Anna said, but Alys just laughed a little.

" I'll get people when we make stops. Alley rats, criminals, people who deserve it. I'll teach you some, we can be partners," Alys said laughing, though she did have a serious undertone to her words. Anna considered it for a moment.

" If you don't mind always moving around once people start figuring me out," she said. Alys shrugged and then they both looked at Maliki.

" I'm going to rent a boat and leave in two days. I enjoyed our travel, but after the harm i caused at my pact i don't want to hurt anyone else. My shift is uncontrollable and if i hurt one of you two on accident i'd lose two friends so quick. I'd rather lose them on good terms" he said. Anna deflated a little. It's not that she had strong feelings for Maliki but he reminded her of little brother, Joey. Just a little, but she saw it in the library today when castor stepped towards her. She saw it and is now having to let it go again. Despite that, she nodded and distantly said alright. They paid for their meal and left, heading back to the inn they we're staying at. Anna and Alys decided to sleep together that night.

Before Anna went to sleep she went to her pack and pulled out a small jacket before walking to the room Maliki was staying in. She walked in and he was half dressed, running a washcloth down his arm, getting remnants of something off. He turned to her, wiping his face and setting the rag back on the bowl it came from. Anna was again looking at the jacket she held, she jumped when she felt Maliki's hands grab her wrists. A tear fell on the jacket as he led her to the bed to sit down.

She started talking without realizing it. " I know you wanted to leave this terriory, to get away from your brother and i respect that. The boat you leave on will take you out of the way if you're willing an-,"

Maliki cut her off. " What do you need done?" he said. She looked up at him, his eyes filled with concern, tracing over her every feature.

" Before i left my house, i took a jacket that belonged to my little brother. Not blood related but he is still my brother. He was five when i left. I left him a small dagger and told our maid to bring him to her house. I took this to remember him, to remember that i still had someone who loved me, that i left behind. I was wondering, if i gave you this could you still find him?" Maliki seemed to look at her a moment.

" Yes, i could still find him," she held back a sob as her hands began to shake.

" Could you maybe, if you wish, have the boat man take you around you're territory and back to my old house. Could you find him for me and give him this? Tell him i love him and i'm coming home soon?" He smiled a little before taking her hands in one of his, and wiping away her tears with the other.

" As you wish little fae," he said. It was almost a nickname for her, and she didn't mind.

" You remind me of him," She said. She saw his head cock in the side of her vision, " So caring and so protective. When i used to walk to the Market with him he would be like that. Once when a teller began to throw things at me, chasing me with a club and shouting obscenities my brother picked up a stone, throwing it at the man and shouted back saying not to hurt his sister. Would this man act that way if it was his daughter in front of him. The man stopped, having been told off in front of a crowd by a five year old boy. He simply grabbed my hand and walked into a different store," Maliki's grip on her hands tightened as she cried harder now.

" A five year old child defended me. A child who wasn't even related to me defended me and loved me. And i see that in you when ever we are out. That protective look you give me when something doesn't seem right, how you step in front of me a little when someone confronts me. Thank you," she said. She went to get up and Maliki hugged her before letting her go.

" I'll find him, and i'll tell him story after story for as long as i can spare." he said. Anna nodded her thanks before looking up to see Alys, with tears in her eyes, waiting at the door. She got to her and she wrapped an arm around her waist before they all went to sleep for the night. Maliki held the child's jacket close to him like it was the last thing in the world.