Fan Fiction ❯ Silverskein ❯ Chapter 1

He was gazing morosely into his beer when the door opened again. He thought nothing of it; though it was late, the tavern was crowded and the men were rowdy. Their voices drowned out the sound of the rain, but he could not forget as he sat beneath a leak and cold water spilled down the back of his neck. The fire was roaring close by, but he shivered and drew the rough blanket closer. It was too crowded to move. He would find no better spot so close to the hearth. His mind thus occupied, he still caught the hesitation of the figure at the door out of the corner of his eye. The beer was working well, however, and his sharp senses were dulled. He thought nothing of her, only looked up to stare through half-closed eyes. She stood facing him, as hastily dressed as he, her face also shadowed by the woolen fold of the blanket across her shoulders.

Blanket.

He laughed suddenly and threw up his arm in a sloppy toast, so that most of the beer sloshed over the side. "Here's to you, Missy, `cause you don't know when to give up."

Her lips tightened into a thin line. She struggled through the crowd until she stood looking down at him, gently took his arm and extracted the mug. "You're already drunk," she said softly, a bite on the edge of her words. "Can you do nothing right on your own?"

"Why ya followin' me?" he growled, his wits sharpened some. "I'm headed into trouble and I don't need your help to find it."

"You need me to keep you out," she somewhat agreed, and threw back the "hood" of her shawl. Gray eyes matched him glare for glare, they always stood on level ground when it came to obstinacy, though he was several years her elder.

"Who's your pretty friend?" asked the buxom barmaid he'd had his eyes on.

"This here's Shace, my…sister."

"I'm not his sister," Shace replied, throwing off her blanket. To his embarrassment he saw that she'd dressed the castoffs he'd been bringing to town for the past several years. She would look good in just about everything, he thought, but it was hard to respect a lady dressed in men's patched clothing. This insight was accompanied by raucous laughter as the other drunks caught sight of the lady in her too-big shirt and breeches. He knew what would come next, and sure enough, the flaming blush crept up to redden her fair skin. He saw her eyes go bright just before she dropped her head and attempted to look inconspicuous beside him. Suddenly he was filled with sympathy, as he often was concerning Shace, and he tossed a coin to the buxom wench and guided the girl out of the dim tavern.

He'd forgotten the rain. It did nothing to brighten his mood. Before he could start in on her, she threw up an arm and took a step back, holding him at arm's distance with both hands pressed against his chest. "Kaligon, before you start in on me, just you remember you promised I would come with you one day."

"That's the kind of thing you say to a little girl before you tuck her in at night," he retorted angrily. "It's not the kind of thing you take seriously. Use your head, Shace! You're grown up now, you're not supposed to be silly and-"

"I'm not silly," she argued, and he heard the heat in her voice. Her temper could be very dangerous, he knew, and the way her eyes flashed and she stared up (and up) at him stubbornly was not good when combined with the dulling effects of the beer. He'd had more than he should, he knew, and of course she would show up to ruin everything. Well, it wasn't her fault she didn't quite understand his sudden departure. He'd tucked her in to bed the night before, just as he always had, and then watched awhile while she was sleeping. He'd known her all her life and she had always been beautiful, but he kept forgetting she was growing up, until finally last night she had been a different kind of beautiful.

Yes, her temper threw up the colour in her cheeks and made her gray eyes flash at him, and she was just so pretty with the rain coming down and getting her hair all wet, with the silver lines running down her face like tears…he thought, I've never been much use when a girl starts crying on me.

"You're not silly," he agreed. "You're really something else, Shace. I don't have a word for it. I'll take you home-"

"It's not home back there, Kaligon. I'm through with Aunt and endless chores. I'm more like you, with your big spirit, and I'm ready to see the world, too."