"Faldon!" Bastien trotted to within a length of the gray.
Selina watched, seeing them through new eyes. She never learned the history of the feyquin. Her studies hadn't gone in depth into the history of the creatures across the Sunders Mountains, since none came beyond the boundary of the Shammel River on the Hallor side. Fewer historians took the time to speak with the creatures.
"You made it!" Bastien shifted his gaze to her as she stepped up beside Faldon. "We feared the worst."
Faldon's nearest ear flicked towards Selina, but he made no move to threaten her approach.
"Not a moment too soon," Dewel said, joining them with Meris.
Faldon turned his head to her. "My curse is revealed by sunrise."
The others looked at her, their ears forward. Selina crossed her arms. "Yes, I saw him change."
"What will we do now?" Meris asked.
Before he could answer, Selina spoke. "Take me to the king."
They all looked at her.
"Let me heal him. He'll put Sorvin in his place...Won't he?"
"Unless Sorvin has other intentions for summoning you. I can't let him lift his side of the curse."
"But if that's his purpose, wouldn't you want to know? Couldn't you use the same information to break the curse on yourself? And he may want only to cure his father of illness."
Faldon watched her for a long time in silent contemplation. She found it hard to accept him as the strange man who accompanied her, but she saw the change with her eyes, confirming what she had suspected. In either form, he alluded to his other form as another presence. She wanted him to be the man. That part of him had been more considerate. He was right in saying he wasn't himself as a man. He was better.
The others nickered in that strange language of theirs. Faldon's ear flicked towards them, but his head remained turned aside to her.
"What could it hurt?" Selina muttered. "My life will end in a couple months at the most."
At something from Meris, Faldon pinned his ears and lunged. Meris whirled, escaping bared teeth by inches.
Selina jumped back, startled by the sudden threat. However, Faldon never attacked her but stood between her and the others.
"What was that about?" she asked.
"He swore he would take you himself if I didn't." Faldon spoke in the calm voice she knew from his human form.
"Keep your promise, Faldon," Bastien said. "If you're cured, you can challenge Ballik. You promised us mares. We won't have it if you can't win."
Faldon pinned his ears and lunged at Bastien. The other stallion's ears flattened and he whirled. Hooves flew at his face, but Faldon swerved to avoid it. He bit a chunk of hide on Bastien's shoulder. When Bastien pulled away with a squeal, a bloody wound remained. Faldon spat out the hide in his mouth and turned to kick, but Bastien ducked.
The ordeal ended, but Bastien stayed away from the group.
Faldon stood with his head up on a proudly arched neck, watching the other. "You doubt me?"
Bastien shook his head, sending dark mane slapping into disarray across his long neck.
"Take her to Antorin," Dewel said. "If Sorvin has other intentions, we'll stop him."
"I won't cooperate with him." Selina hoped Faldon listened to reason. He saved her life from the night mares. If she could help him, she would, though she wished she could make him see the advantage of what he considered a curse. He could be the perfect ambassador to bring the peace he sought.
Faldon stared at her, a hint of humanity in those dark eyes.
"Isn't it worth the chance?" Meris said.
With his head low, Faldon walked to within arm's reach of Selina. "He'll try to force you to his way. Sorvin is not a patient man."
"You'll be there. I'm not afraid." She hoped he didn't see the flush that warmed her cheeks. Although he demonstrated his true behavior, she knew the humanity within him. He cared about his principles with more passion than anyone she knew. That realization intrigued her, and she wanted to learn more.
Faldon took several steps away. "Come. You'll need supplies in Dorrinton."
Selina took a deep breath and followed, relieved that he finally conceded. And after what she learned, she didn't want to walk into the Ivory Palace without the feyquin.
After a brief stop in Dorrinton for provisions and rest, Selina set off with the feyquin. Faldon rejoined her at night, after disappearing briefly and returning as a clothed man. She could only guess that he went off to transform where he could find clothes. He never explained himself and she wasn't inclined to ask.
He changed since their encounter with the night mares, arguing less and answering her questions. She learned about the stories passed down through generations of a time when men rode feyquin into battle as partners defending their lands against monstrous invaders.
"I don't believe it." She couldn't imagine any of the feyquin allowing humans on their backs.
"It was long ago, a time when demons and other monsters terrorized the lands." Faldon walked next to her, his head level with hers. "Men and feyquin fought together. After the wars subsided, men settled down and chased feyquin from the best grazing lands. Despite the betrayal, we continue to chase off horrors. Most humans fear us now, unaware of the truth."
"I can understand why, after what you did to me."
"It was not our intention to cause harm." He spoke in a gentle voice.
Selina bowed her head, sorry for her behavior, her eyes on the path before her. "I know."
"I'm tired, Selina. Tired of fighting with men for the right to live in peace. Tired of trying to keep my pact with Antorin's great-grandfather for grazing lands. I'm tired of being blamed for men's troubles. And I'm tired of Sorvin's treachery. My only consolation is that he shares my curse."
Selina straightened at what she now suspected. "How does he
share
your curse?"
"Demons delight in causing torment and trouble, and their favors always come with a price. In Sorvin's case, he takes the shape of a feyquin at night."
Selina let her breath out in a gust, which burst into a fit of laughter. It forced her to halt to catch her breath. Her sides ached and tears wet her cheeks. Sorvin, a feyquin. And Faldon, a man.
Faldon and the others stared at her in silence, but the sparkle in his eyes hinted of humor. "Now you see why he despairs to break his side of the curse. Yet he could only be so lucky to experience life as a feyquin."
After regaining her senses, Selina patted the long gray neck under the thick mane. "I doubt he sees it the same."
Faldon nudged her in the side. "Any human should see it as a blessing."
She ran her hand down the long bridge of his nose and gently pushed him away. He gave no reaction but followed her on the road.
* * *
After nine days of walking in new shoes and stays in a couple villages on the road, she followed Faldon off the road to avoid soldiers who might show loyalty to Sorvin rather than Antorin.
Near sunset of the ninth day since leaving Dorrinton, a distant shimmering palace of white rose high above a magnificent city spread upon the plains. The setting sun ignited the spires in its glow. A crescent shape at the highest peak could have been dual flames of a candle.
Selina stopped at the crest of the hill to gaze at the distant wonder. "It's beautiful!"
"We'll reach it tomorrow. Tonight we'll rest here." Faldon galloped away without another word, while the others settled to grazing.
Selina watched him go, eager for his return as a man.
With the bag of food from the last village, she sat down on a rocky hillside. Back in Dorrinton, Faldon suggested a sack for carrying water. She would not have thought of it. Reen had cared for their provisions.
She now looked at it in sorrow. What happened to her friends? She hoped Reen found Doxon and that Beth returned home safely.
She likely would never know since each day her life ebbed away a little more. When she left on this journey, she had fully expected to die in Vastorn.
From her vantage, Selina watched the sun disappear, anticipating when Faldon would join her. The other stallions grazed nearby. Bastien, who refused her help to heal him, stayed further away since Faldon's attack, while Faldon stayed closer to her.
None of them talked about the fight. She didn't understand their behavior.
But she now understood their attitude towards humans, particularly Sorvin. Whatever he planned for her, she came to heal his father, the king, and she would do that. If he had other reasons for sending for a
Na'Y'dom
, she would refuse to cooperate.
Despite the hard, stale bread, she ate what her stomach demanded to fill it. Tomorrow she would enter the city. Food would be plentiful, if the palace was a demonstration of the richness of Vastorn.
With the stars twinkling in the sky, Faldon's steps crunched on the grass. Selina tossed him a red fruit, which he caught.
"Where'd you go—halfway back to Dorrinton?"
He sat down next to her and bit into the crispy fruit. "Too many guards around. I had to hide until they passed. They looked at the ground and mumbled about tracks. I think they expect us."
"Is that good or bad?"
"Likely bad." He stared at the fruit for a few seconds in a contemplative silence and threw it away.
"What's wrong?"
He said nothing but stood and took a few steps away, his eyes on the city.
"Faldon?" Worry tightened in her chest, especially since his news of the guards nearby. Selina stood up, ready to run if necessary.
"Curing Antorin may kill you."
Was that concern in his voice? "I have some time."
He turned to her, his emotions hidden by the dark night. "No, you don't. There's a sinister reason your life is cut short when the mark shows."
She touched the mark within a hair of completing the pattern around her neck.
"Every time you heal someone, you give them a part of your life. You sacrifice yourself for others. Y'dom was a demon, not a god. It cursed the Healers long ago, Selina, when they tried to destroy it. It's a part of this land's history. The mark glows as it grows. Yours is nearly complete."
"No. He was a god. He gave us the healing gifts. You're just trying to keep me from going. I thought we were past this." She choked on the lump in her throat, her eyes burning with the betrayal. How could he do this now, when they were so close to her completing her purpose...when she cared for him?
"It's the truth. Why do you think Dewel and Bastien refused to let you heal them? Feyquin do not kill. Taking a part of your life is as good as killing you."
Emotions tangled inside her. "You'd lie and speak blasphemies—anything—to get your way."
"I'm not lying...and you know it."
"Then why tell me now, after we've come this far?"
He turned to the others, who watched their argument, and back to her. "You deserve to know the truth. I thought you'd be ready to listen."
"I know the truth. You refuse to let me have anything to do with Sorvin!" She turned to leave, afraid he might be right and unwilling to hear any more blasphemy. Most painful, she didn't want to hear it from him. She would heal Antorin and help Faldon find a way out of this stupid curse of his. Then she would prove him wrong.