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A lone figure stared out to sea where he stood upon the littered shore. Sand, stone and seaweed were jumbled with gleaming scales from fish and the hard shells of crabs, almost golden in the dawn light. There were no giant scales from the Mother visible however – hopefully Danillo had them all collected.
Further along rested larger shapes that may have been sharks or swordfish... or perhaps worse.
Flir crossed the wet sand with a sigh, coming to a stop beside Notch.
At first, he remained silent. His jaw was clenched but he did not seem angry or close to transforming once more. The mysterious Fura Leones caught the light, revealing an engraving of a sleeping lion.
“Flir, I want to ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
He looked at her now, and the exhaustion upon his face was clear, etched in minute detail by the dawn; lines beneath his eyes, their whites bloodshot too. Even his stubble, greying now, seemed to add a sense that he’d aged suddenly, even if it couldn’t be true. “Can you forgive me?”
“For what?” she asked with a frown.
“For abandoning everyone.” His jaw was set once more. “Maybe if I hadn’t left, Seto would still be alive... or maybe things would have turned out differently. I should have been here.”
She sighed. “We could have used you more than once but I had my own quest, and Seto himself sent me on it... and so I wasn’t here either, you know.”
Notch waited.
“And there’s more, I think. What if you were meant to leave, so you could find those Bracers, and that’s the only reason any of us made it through?”
He smiled now and it gave her heart to see his face change. “You’re going a little easy on me, aren’t you?”
“Whether I am or not, it’s still true. We needed those things, from what I’ve heard about what happened out there.”
“But still –”
Flir gave him a shove. “Enough – you can make it up to us now if you still feel guilty.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. Once the Lord Protector has things in order here, maybe you can help Pevin and I find his brother? And didn’t you leave Alosus back in Ecsoli? You know, if the two nations do decide to trade or become allies in some form, you’d be a great help to Danillo.”
Notch murmured something.
Flir glared at her old friend. “You’d better not be blaming him anymore, Notch. Just because he knew what you refused to accept; he’s been through enough.”
“No,” he said, raising both hands. “I know what you are saying. Danillo himself tried to tell me before I left.”
“Good.”
“I think... everything hit me far harder than I expected.”
She nodded. “I think there’s still a chance, for what you thought you’d lost after Adina...” Or at least, it seemed that way, if Flir was reading Lady Nia correctly. And she was getting good enough with Evakeda’s gift, not to doubt the impression.
Notch, however, was closed.
Before, it seemed the Bracers had been unable to stop his need to restore Sofia but now they acted more like a wall of gold.
Yet she did not need her new ability to understand her old friend.
Notch would have already been itching to leave once more, to take action – an urge she understood well enough.
Maybe he’d spend a day or two in the city but then, no doubt he and Inquisitor Emisa would be using the travel-stones to return to the Land of the Sun. Which sounded exciting, if she was honest... but Flir had her own promises to keep. Ecsoli would have to wait a little longer. “How long will you stay?” Flir asked.
“No secrets with you around, I guess,” he said with a wry grin. “At least long enough to be sure Luik and you are fine.”
“Me?”
“Yes – even a mighty dilar like you could use my help, you said so yourself.”
“Just don’t forget who’d win an arm-wrestle if you took those things off,” she replied with a snort.
He chuckled.
“Can you? Take them off I mean.”
“I’m not sure anymore.”
She pushed her hair back at a rising breeze. “Maybe you shouldn’t, once you go back – do you know what’s waiting for you?”
“Enough trouble to keep me busy but nothing like what we just went through, I hope.”
“I hope that for all of us.”
“I have unfinished business with more than a few people there. One in particular... if he wasn’t lying.”
“Who?”
“No matter, for now. At the least, I must also retrieve my father’s blade.” He looked at her. “What about you – who will you be taking back to Renovar?”
“Pevin, of course. We need to find his brother.”
“That all?”
Flir hesitated. “What are you suggesting?”
“I’m talking about Kanis. The way you’ve been watching him since General Holindo ferried us back is pretty obvious.”
Flir felt her face flush. “Want me to kick you right back to Ilesinya from this beach?”
“Ah, thank you, no,” Notch said as skipped away.
“If you have to know, I will be taking him with me. Maybe Aren too, if he turns up,” she said.
There was still no sign of the dilar, not from Danillo’s search parties still within the city nor according to the Greatmask, but that could have been the amber or Mother’s Lifeblood interfering with the mask... and neither could anyone find traces of poor Renasi.
And so, too, Ekolay had not returned, though in truth, the archer had promised nothing. Still, hopefully he was having some luck, and hopefully also, the Conclave didn’t have too many hidden motives.
“Did you meet the young Storm Singer yet? Fiore?”
Flir smiled. “She’s something special, indeed.”
“Maybe it’s the Storm Singers we should be thanking.”
“The new king is going to announce a festival in their honour, you know. It’s only meant to be a few days from now – think you’ll stay that long?”
“I’d like to... but Alosus needs me.”
Flir nodded. “Well, tell him I’m waiting for a rematch.”
“I will.”
She turned to leave then, starting back for the horse she’d left picketed on the roadside. “I’m going to check on the others – don’t be late; I hear the final repairs on the Queen’s Harper are complete.”
“I won’t be,” he said.
Flir set off at a jog. Halfway there, she turned and Notch was gone – instead, the rising sun lit the golden fur and dark mane of a powerful lion, its paws flinging sand as it ran.