Book 1: Youth of Delarn

Chapter 21: Familiar Red

Delarn and Solene walked together, but Delarn walked ahead. She was eager to see James and Margaret, but they were heading to Margaret's house. If they were going to run into either of them, it was going to be her. She didn't intend to go up to her door or talk to her parents. She just wanted to hang around and see if she was there. Maybe she would be in the garden or see them from the window. She didn't realize how much she missed her until now.

She was drawing farther and farther ahead and Solene called, "Wait for me!"

They didn't walk the main paths often. Delarn traveled side roads, indistinct alleyways, and through the sewer and underground as much as Solene. It hadn't gotten necessarily easier, but it had become so routine she didn't consider it difficult. She went close around the corner, as if sneaking, and ran right into a young man in a nice suit with a woman in a dress that clung to her holding his elbow.

"Oh, sorry," Delarn said, twisting to go around them like water and disappear down another road before they could get a good look at her, but then realized the man was James, and it stopped her. It was the impression of his face and his scent, though she was surprised to find he wore a very light perfume. It didn't hide who it was.

"Delarn?" He said, nothing about her mistakable, from her sharp animal eyes and dark red hair to how her voice sounded, except, of course, older. His voice also had changed, becoming deeper, more serious as he said, "It's been so long since I've seen you. How have you been? I hope there's nothing bad between us."

She shook her head, but as he opened his arms to embrace her, she took a couple of steps back. Not that she didn't want him to, but she had long since learned it was dangerous to let someone get ahold of her if she hadn't seen them in a long time. There were exceptions, such as Vermy, but she couldn't justify it with him, especially with how they had parted.

"I hope you haven't forgotten about me," James suggested, and she shook her head.

"No," she answered, "We were actually looking for you. You look different; you look good." He also looked so much older than she remembered. She recalled he was a couple of years older than them, but he looked older than that. If she had to place him, she would say he was in his early twenties.

"Is this a friend of yours?" The woman beside him asked, her voice foreign. Delarn looked at her. She thought she might find Margaret with him, but this wasn't Margaret. This woman's dress was concealing, but not modest. Her black hair was pulled up in a sort of loop on her head, and the red on her lips made her mouth appear small and puckered in disdain.

"This was a friend of mine I had before I took over the family's upkeep," James told her. "Delarn, this is Ralla. She helps me manage everything since it's such a big job, and I'm so young. I couldn't do it without her."

"It's nice to meet you," Delarn said, extending her hand to be polite. She didn't want this encounter to be hostile.

Solene came around the corner. She got the impression he had been hiding and listening rather than struggling to catch up. She dropped her hand in favor of facing him, privately relieved.

"So you're still alive," Solene said, his foot tapping.

"You're still hanging around him?" James asked.

"So what if she is?" Solene said.

"You know he's in the most militarized sect of the Salvikans, don't you? They're going to destroy this city. All they can think about is causing the collapse. They've been caught killing guards, and anyone associating with them is going to get caught up in it as well. You might as well declare yourself an enemy of the crown," James told her.