“Yeah, the strange looking thing?”
“Yeah… well, take a quick look at it.”
Kovos frowned and motioned for Legon to turn around. He came and lifted up the back of his shirt. He looked where the dark green tattoo was supposed to be and felt his breath catch in his chest. He looked harder at the now purple mark, as if by doing this it would somehow change its appearance. For a fraction of a second he thought Legon was playing a joke on him, but the look on his face told him this was no joke.
“What did that? Please don’t tell me magic.”
Legon’s answering silence told him more than he wanted to know. He felt a strange sensation in his stomach, the same he got every time he’d gotten in trouble as a little kid.
“Ok, lay it on me.”
Legon relayed the story to him, a story that, if he hadn’t just seen the purple tattoo, he wouldn’t have believed. He heard about Legon being part Elf and his dead mother, what he might turn into, and way more than his mind could wrap itself around at the moment. At the end, Legon appeared to be feeling better. Kovos rolled the new information around in his mind. He needed more time to think about this. He thought that paying Emma a visit might help.
“Ok, so how does this affect me?” he asked.
“Sasha is going to come with me when I leave. You were right-anything that might happen to me and her on the road is better than what will happen if she stays here. How it affects you is this: I understand if you don’t want to go with us, and if you do, we would like to go somewhere south, but if that doesn’t work for you then…” he said, tapering off.
He was surprised by the pleading look on his friend’s face. Legon was tough, and if he was this upset he must be expecting the worst. Kovos knew Legon would go to any length to protect Sasha, and would go south regardless of what he had to say about it. He also felt worried at the look on Legon’s face. If Legon was scared or worried about something then it had to be bad. A visit to Emma was definitely in order. Kovos only felt a moment’s hesitation in his head.
“The story you just told me is one of the most messed-up things I’ve ever heard, and a smart man would tell you to shove off, but.. ”
Legon interrupted, “But you’re not a smart man.”
“Lucky for you, I’m not. You’re my best friend, and if it’s a question of sticking with you, then you know the answer.” Kovos smiled and stretched his arms. “I think I’m going to enjoy the warmer weather in the southlands. And I hear the women wear fewer clothes down there.”
Legon laughed. “They do not, and even if they do, I doubt it’s the ones you want.”
Kovos chuckled. This was probably true. “I’m going to get back to work. We’ll talk later about when we’re going to leave. I won’t tell anyone about your freaky back, don’t worry.” As he said this he turned and walked back into the shop.
As Legon headed home he felt better. For the first time he felt a slight edge of excitement come over him at the thought of the adventure that Sasha, Kovos, and himself were soon to have.
Chapter Seven
“Our instincts keep us alive and out of trouble, but sometimes they are wrong. Sometimes they lead us away from trouble that is good for us and others. The question is this: When is it a good idea to trust those instincts? Certainly they aren’t always wrong; if anything they are rarely wrong, but then again, that depends on your definition of right.”
Kovos’ feet hit the ground hard. He looked up into the smiling face of Emma in the window. Her sable hair was playing around her face in the dawn breeze. He couldn’t see her brown eyes, but he knew they were looking right at his. Even at this time in the morning with almost no light, her smile made his heart leap a bit. He waved and got on his way. These little visits they had were nice. There was something about waking up next to her that he loved, and there was the excitement of her parents being in the room next door. Emma’s dad hated Kovos with every ounce of his being, and if he knew that once a week or so Kovos was spending the night with his daughter he would probably try to kill him.
That wasn’t why Kovos went over, though. There was something about Emma; she was always in his head. He knew she was probably “the one”, and that scared him just a bit. He was leaving soon and wasn’t sure she would join him. He thought she would, but he had been too much of a coward to ask last night, and it would have been perfect. She had told him that she loved him right before they fell asleep. He should have asked then, but he couldn’t change that now. It didn’t help that her parents didn’t like him, but Kovos’ father had gotten over that hurdle back when he was courting. He had been shot in the arm with an arrow while running away from his now father-in-law. Kovos hoped that wouldn’t happen with him.
No one was up yet, so he was a little surprised to hear the sound of horses in the street. As he turned the corner he saw five of the queen’s soldiers on horseback, presumably looking for a place to rest.
One of the men called out to him. “Hey you, come over here.”
He did as he was told. The man’s face was a blur to Kovos. The sun was coming up right in front of him. “What can I do for you?” he asked sincerely. He didn’t fear the queen’s men. He was a good fighter; he also didn’t think they had a reason to bother him.
“We’re here looking for a man about your age,” the soldier said menacingly.
There was a hint of hesitation in Kovos’ voice when he spoke this time. “Ok, can you tell me his name or what he looks like?”
“We don’t know his name or what he looks like, but we’ll know him when we see him. Do you have any tattoos?”
“No,” said Kovos, his mind racing to figure out what these men were up to.
“I don’t believe you. Take off your shirt.” As he said this, another one of the soldiers who’d circled behind him reached out and started to pull at his shirt. Kovos pulled away, taking the garment off on his own. He was mad now. “Who do they think they are?” he thought to himself.
“Whoa there, buddy. You keep this up and you’re going to have to buy me dinner.”
“Shut up,” said the soldier with a sneer. “Is there anything there?” he asked the soldier behind Kovos. The other soldier shook his head.
“Well then, I guess you’re not who we’re looking for. Do you know anyone who has a tattoo on his back, someone around your age?” asked the soldier.
“What, am I not your type?” He was always more confident and stupid after seeing Emma. These were certainly not men to be toyed with and he knew that he was walking a fine line. A few of the soldiers laughed at his comment, so he knew that he was fine for now.
“No, you’re not. Sorry to disappoint you, but do you know anyone with a tattoo? I’m not in the mood for games.”
“Not around my age. A few of the old guys have them…”
“Well, if you do see someone with one you’ll tell us, won’t you?”
Kovos just nodded his head. This seemed to satisfy them and they continued on their way. He needed to find Legon. It was clear that these men were looking for him. But the men were already heading toward Legon’s house. Kovos thought he could go around the town, but he wanted the cover of people going about their daily business. The soldiers would probably go to the town center and start asking around. He headed home to get changed so the next time they saw him he would be harder to recognize. He would also drag Keither along so it would just look like
