We left the elven hall. The cool evening brought little relief to my suffering. It wasn’t Kull that bothered me so much as myself. I’d been stupid. I’d created feelings for him, he hadn’t done that. I’d wanted him. He had nothing to do with it. I was mad at myself, and I also hated myself a little for letting my heart go so easily. This would be a lesson. I would never again fall for someone who didn’t have the same feelings.
We stepped out onto the street. A brisk wind gusted past. Father offered me a cloak, and I took it, using its cowl to hunch under. The cobbled pathways wound through the towering buildings. I started to follow Father home, but he stopped. He rounded, as if he saw someone behind us. I turned but saw no one.
“Everything okay?” I asked him.
He didn’t answer.
Voices came to us from the buildings. His eyes darted in a nervous gesture. What had him so spooked?
“There is an inn with approved sleeping chambers not far from here. Shall I escort you?”
“An inn?”
“I believe it would be wise if we remained apart.”
“Why?”
“Must I explain everything to you?”
He sounded frustrated. Had I made him angry? I suppose I had, although this time, I really hadn’t meant to upset him.
“Am I in danger?”
“No. As long as we remain apart, you shall be well enough.” He pulled a handful of coins from his pocket and handed them to me. “This will cover your expenses for the night. I must return to my chambers with haste.”
“Are you in danger?” I asked.
He dodged my question and gave me the directions, which sounded very basic and uncomplicated, wished me luck with the pixies, and then went on his way without another word. I watched him go, his lean, willowy frame blending with the shadows, disappearing until nothing remained but an empty street.
I breathed in the night air, wanting to be back in my apartment, wishing I’d never dealt with Wults or elves or my father. He couldn’t even extend the courtesy of letting me stay in his home. Just when I thought we were starting to get along. Why couldn’t life be simple for once?
Elven buildings loomed over me as if I stood in some strange, alien city and not the place of my birth. I started walking, thinking more of my father’s troubled expression than his directions. Was he in danger? He hadn’t given me an answer. I could only assume that he was.
Soft blue and amber lights shone from artfully spaced windows. I heard quiet conversations, a person or two passed me, and then the tall, graceful buildings were replaced with shorter ones.
The streets were labeled with stone pillars on either side, the sign on the right indicated the through street, the sign on the left marked the cross street. According to the road markers, I stood on Chalandria, the cross-street was Galadian. He’d told me the cross-street would be Arien.
Oh boy.
I turned around. Had I missed a street somewhere? I backtracked. I must have missed it, but the streets were so well marked, I should have seen it. Homes replaced the taller buildings, their blue-tiled roofs reminding me of something I might have seen in Greece. But this couldn’t be right. I should have been in the commerce ward.
I stopped, feeling frustrated, tired, and ready to lie down in the street and sleep on the paving stones.
Elves are so great. Their cities are so orderly, blah, blah.
The roads seemed to blur together until I succeeded in becoming utterly lost. I wasn’t sure which way was north or south anymore. But in my defense, the poles are switched in Faythander, and keeping directions straight after spending years on Earth is very confusing.
Finally, I found a city park. Trees rose like church spires around a pond. Stone benches surrounded the water as it lapped quietly to shore. I heard the hummingbird-like sound of nobbinflies flitting over the water, their long-plumed tails reflecting the moonlight.
I crossed to the pond, my soft-soled shoes crunching over the short blades of grass, and collapsed on the bench. Tomorrow’s trip to the pixie kingdom wouldn’t be easy, especially after spending the night on a bench. I curled up on the cold stone, trying to think of anything but my discomfort. The soft material of my father’s cloak fell over my face. The fluttering of the nobbinflies’ wings lulled me, yet I found sleep wouldn’t come.
Why had my dad abandoned me? I’d felt we’d made a connection, yet once again, I was alone. Was he angry with me? Was he afraid of me or afraid of something else? I had no way to tell.
“Lost?” I heard a familiar voice and bolted upright. The cloak fell off my face, and I was certain my hair stuck up in every direction. It had to be the Skullsplitter himself, and he just had to find me sleeping on a park bench looking like this.
“You’ve been following me?” I asked him.
“Of course not. I’ve been wandering this wood for hours now until you showed up and destroyed my solitude.”
“Your ability to lie is almost as bad as your choice in women.”
He leaned back his head and laughed, a real, deep belly laugh that scared the poor nobbinflies. They skittered away as if someone had shot at them. “Still feisty, I see, even after enduring an evening with the elves.”
I stretched and felt my muscles ache in protest. Of all the people to show up. And at this hour. Shouldn’t he have been with his delicate elven angel?
“What are you doing out here?” I asked him.
“I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“I got lost,” I admitted. “I was trying to find the inn, which I am certain does not exist. Why are you here?”
He sat beside me. I scooted away from him. In part, because
