Savia's Heart [Sequel to Bastian's Song] [HIATUS]

[ 19 ]

[ Auron ]

Auron sang as he removed the wash from the drying line. Though the day had been full of vicious summer heat, the sea sent a gentle wind to cool him. He looked out over the ocean to see the sunset and knew that Savia would soon be awake to share a meal with him.

The thought of Savia made him pause in the middle of taking down a dress, one wooden pin in hand. Savia had finally confided in him after the assassination attempt in Usk, but it was only a small part of her past.

I killed her husband and her children. Savia's voice, so full of bitterness and anguish, floated back to him with the memory of that night. When he had asked her what that meant, because surely it couldn't actually be true, she had refused to speak about it any more.

As the wind tousled his dark hair free from the leather cord that bound it back, Auron stopped singing. His brow furrowed. If only she would trust me completely, he thought, then maybe I could help her bear whatever burden she has on her shoulders.

The weight hit Auron from behind so suddenly that his legs gave out beneath him. He hit the ground with a muffled sound of surprise, his face buried in the dress he'd been in the process of pulling down. Before he could figure out what had happened, something decidedly sharp pressed against the side of his neck.

"Who are you?" The feminine voice was low and firm. Auron decided in that moment that whoever this woman was, she would stab him without hesitation.

"I am called Auron." He racked his mind for anything he could use as a weapon, but he came up empty. Dealing with the wash was never an ideal time to be attacked by crazy people with knives.

"Well, Auron," she spoke his name with an unfamiliar lilt to her voice, "what are you doing here?"

"The wash?" Auron immediately regretted his words. I am going to be stabbed, he thought, because I gave a woman with a knife some attitude.

"Um. Well..." Whoever was pinning him down had obviously not expected his response. In that moment of hesitation, Auron's body moved instinctively.

He lifted up his right elbow and wedged it between her knife arm and his own precious throat. Because he could feel her knees on either side of his waist, but she didn't have his legs pinned down, he pushed up with his right knee. Bending the leg until he could get enough traction to lift his hip, he let gravity help him.

She bucked against the shift, but fell to the right side of him as he shoved himself onto all fours. The knife still gleamed in her hand so he lunged for her and grabbed onto her wrist. Auron lifted her hand and slammed it into the ground until she cried out and dropped it.

He didn't see the other knife until it was dangerously close to his face. Auron arched backward, out of harm's way. Without thinking, he hopped onto his feet and scrambled backward to watch the woman from a short distance.

She crouched in front of him, knives in both hands now, as the wind lifted her blonde curls. Her clothes were delicately spun cloth of a practical cut. Deep blue cloth hinted at money, but the way she gripped her weapons told him she hadn't lived sheltered.

Eyes the color of the ocean on a summer morning stared back at him, narrowed with suspicion. Just as Auron took her measure, she took his. He knew what she was looking at. It was the same thing everyone looked at when they first saw him: the scars running over half of his body were hard to miss. Auron tried hard not to reach up and touch the skin around his left eye.

The self-consciousness he felt drove him to speak first. "What kind of person attacks someone while they're doing chores?"

Surprise flitted over the blonde's face and she stood up from her crouched position. She glanced toward the house beside them and then shrugged at him. "A rude one."

Auron snorted. "You really should apologize. And then tell me what you're after. It'll go easier on both of us if you just ask for whatever it is rather than launch yourself at me."

She smiled at him. "Funny and handsome. I think I like you, Auron."

He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. Handsome. She was obviously blind, but he wouldn't be distracted. Not while Savia was still inside. If the crazy woman with a knife was after her, then Auron would have to protect his friend.

The woman bowed at the waist and then slid her knives into her boots. Her motions were so fluid, if he hadn't seen her do it, he would have thought the knives had disappeared into thin air. "My name is Eryn. Captain of the Sky's Freedom. I have come to find my friend, Savia. Does she no longer live here?"

"Savia?" Auron relaxed. Darkness washed over them as the sun completely set, but the full moon rose swiftly, bathing them in silver light. "She lives here. She should be up any moment now."

"Oh good. I was afraid I'd have to hunt her down." Eryn placed her hands on her hips, her feet spread wide. "So then do you work for her? I've never heard her mention a servant."

He made a face at the word. "I'm not her servant. I'm her friend. And I live here."

"Since when?"

"Since a long while ago. You're awfully nosy."

Eryn laughed. She had a nice laugh, loud and carefree. "I can't help it. I like mysteries. I saw her only three years past, and I don't think you were living here then. I'd remember someone who looked as noble as you."

He frowned at her and stooped to pick up the now-ripped dress. "Noble? Don't you mean 'horribly scarred'?"

"You're that too." Eryn shrugged again. "But you've a striking face, Auron. Surely you know that much."

"It's not like I go around looking at my own face," he murmured as he considered the breadth of the damage to the dress and whether he might repair it.

The creaking of the door made both of them turn. Together, they watched Savia step into the night air. Wind whipped her dress against her legs. Moonlight caught in her auburn hair as she spoke. "Eryn? What a surprise!"

Eryn bolted forward and threw her arms around the vampyre. Savia laughed and hugged her close. Auron couldn't believe his eyes.

The blonde pulled away and beamed at Savia. "I finally found it, Savia."

"Found what, dear one?"

Eryn dug into the pouch at her waist and pulled something out that glinted in the moonlight. Auron drew closer to get a better look. Nestled in her palm was a smooth metal disk with an intricate design wrought over the top. He didn't recognize it, but he could see that Savia did.

The vampyre lifted a hand to her mouth and looked from the disk up to Eryn's face. "Is that?" Her hushed voice was barely audible.

"It is Aides' compass, Savia. I can finally help you find your heart."

Have an extra update! I'm so glad I've finally gotten these two in the same place. I am prepared for much awkward flirting and also some unnecessary brawling. I hope you are too!