…
When they arrived at the next settlement, Hephistole left him and the four spirits within the last fringes of the trees and went in to sell the horses and wagon. He returned quickly enough, and pulled an oval device out of his breast pocket. It was several shades of glimmering blue, changing hue as he turned it over in his hand. It looked smooth, like a beach pebble, but no beach pebble had ever been that colour.
“We all need to be touching or someone will be left behind,” he said, placing a hand on Gaspi’s arm. Loreill was already settled round his shoulders, and the other three spirits chose to touch him rather than Hephistole. He extended an arm for the air spirit, which flew over and landed there, gripping painfully with its sharp talons. The water spirit looked up at him plaintively, so he bent down and picked it, holding it close to his body, and the fire spirit curled round one of his legs.
“Ready?” Hephistole asked. He nodded, and the chancellor rubbed his thumb over the blue pebble, whispering a magical command under his breath.
Nothing happened for a moment, and then the stone glowed with a fierce inner light, and Gaspi was caught up in the disorientating sensation of transportation, but magnified many times its usual intensity. Moments later, his vision returned and he staggered across the floor of Hephistole’s office, struggling not to empty the contents of his stomach over the polished wooden floor. The elementals seemed to be suffering even more than he was. They flowed, flapped and ambled away from him, including Loreill, and curled up together in the corner of the room. He could feel Loreill’s misery through the bond.
“It’s worse over long distance eh?” Hephistole asked, leaning heavily on his desk.
“You’re telling me!” Gaspi answered, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Would it have made any difference?” Hephistole asked.
“No I guess not,” he answered, lowering himself gingerly into a chair while he waited for the nausea to pass. It took a few minutes before he felt he wasn’t in danger of throwing up. Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself back to his feet. He could feel that Loreill was slowly recovering too. He mentally n
udged the elemental, checking if it was okay to leave him and the other spirits with Hephistole for a short while. It didn’t seem like a good idea to lead such a noticeable quartet of creatures around the city. Loreill didn’t like it but he understood the need and gave his assent.
“Will you look after the elementals while I go and find my friends?” Gaspi asked.
“Of course! She’s probably in the Rest,” Hephistole said knowingly.
Gaspi grinned and rushed to the transporter. “Atrium,” he said, and disappeared.
When he reached the Traveller’s Rest, Gaspi found himself wracked with nerves. He’d been looking forward to this moment for ages, but now that it had arrived, he was acutely aware of how difficult it had been to be away from Emmy. All of the insecure thoughts he’d been dismissing for the last few months snowballed into a single, nauseating feeling that tied his stomach in knots. Had she missed him as much as he’d missed her? Pushing self-doubt aside as best he could, he opened the door and stepped into a rush of warm, smoky air and the loud buzz of conversation. Looking around, he tried to see his friends, but they weren’t in sight.
Figuring they must be in one of the snugs, he exited the main room, peering in through the bubbled glass of each small window. He found them in the third snug on the right, his pounding heart racing even faster as he caught a glimpse of her beautiful blond hair. He took a moment to steady himself, drew in a deep breath, and pushed open the door.
There was a moment’s silence as they looked at him blankly, and then they came at him in a rush of noise. Emmy barrelled into him first, flinging her arms around his neck and squeezing him tightly. Taurnil stood behind her, grinning from ear to ear. When Emmy finally let go of him, Taurnil reached out to shake his hand, but then thought better of it and wrapped him in a crushing hug. He clubbed Gaspi on the back a couple of times, knocking the breath out of him.
“Good to see you mate,” he said, releasing a breathless Gaspi from his bear-like grip.
“Easy on the ribs,” Gaspi said, taking an exaggerated breath. Taurnil laughed. “It’s good to see you too mate,” he added.
Lydia stepped up from behind Taurnil and hugged him warmly. “It’s so good to have you back,” she said sincerely, and Gaspi felt a rush of affection for the gypsy girl. As soon as Lydia let go of him, Emmy slipped back in under his arm, holding him with a possessiveness he found encouraging. What had he been nervous about? Emmy was clearly as glad to see him as he was to see her. He tried to catch her eye but she was too busy snuggling into him. No matter. They could talk properly later when they were alone.
“I’ll get you a beer,” Taurnil said, heading out the door, and the rest of them sat down. Emmy burrowed in under his arm.
“Missed me then?” he asked.
“So much,” she said, hugging him even more tightly, which was gratifying in a way, but he wished she’d let go for long enough for him to get a proper look at her. He’d missed her fiercely and so far all he’d seen was the top of her head.
“Emmy just let go a sec,” he said, trying to prize her off him. She protested for a moment, and then let him push her away by the shoulders. When Gaspi saw she was looking down at the floor, avoiding his gaze, his stomach lurched with a sudden sense of dread. “Emmy, what’s the matter?” he asked. When she still didn’t look up at him he placed a finger under her chin and gently tilted her head up until she gave in and looked back at him. She looked positively stricken. “Emmy?” he pleaded, really worried now. What had happened while he was away?
“I didn’t mean for it to happen,” she blurted, tears welling in her eyes and leaking down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry,” she said.
“Didn’t mean for what to happen?” he asked frantically, pulling back from her. Just then Taurnil walked in carrying Gaspi’s pint. He stopped in the doorway, taking in the frozen scene before him.
“Oh! So we’re here already,” he said. He placed the pint down on the table as Gaspi looked at him in utter bewilderment.
“We’re where?” Gaspi demanded shrilly. “Emmy’s saying she’s sorry about something she didn’t mean to happen. What the heck is it?” Emmy looked like she was going to bolt. Taurnil looked like he wanted to be anywhere except right there.
“Lydia and I had better leave you to it,” Taurnil said. “Try and hear her out okay?” he added feebly. Gaspi didn’t respond, unable to take his eyes off Emmy, who was clearly agonising over something. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. Surely she hadn’t cheated on him! Not Emmy!
“Come and see me later if you want to,” Taurnil said, and the couple left the room. As the door shut behind them Gaspi and Emea were left in silence, looking at each other.
“Just talk Emmy,” he said. “I can’t bear to wait another moment!
She took a deep breath. “Everand kissed me,” she said quickly, forcing out the words she had been dreading saying for weeks. She blanched as Gaspi’s face hardened.
“When? How?” he asked, not trusting himself to say any more. He felt like he was going to throw up.
“I’ll tell you the whole story if you’ll just let me say it all in one go,” she said. Gaspi nodded curtly. “I was so lonely after you left,” she started, rushing her words to get through it quickly. “I was thinking about you all the time and I just needed some company to make the time pass. I would have hung out with anyone if they were willing, but the only person who always wanted to hang out was Everand.”
“What about Taurnil and Lydia?” Gaspi interrupted.
“They were having problems at the time. You know, about sex, and they just weren’t around.” That made sense. They’d been fighting about sex right up to the moment he left. He clamped his mouth shut, trying to let Emea finish, even though his emotions were writhing in his belly like a brood of vipers.
“To start with I was hanging out with Everand and his friends in a group, but as time went on he kept arranging to do things on our own. I thought it was a bit strange but he never tried anything and I thought he was just being a good friend.” She drew in a huge breath after speaking too long and too fast without breathing.
“Breathe Emmy,” Gaspi said distractedly. He thought he could see where this was going, and a white hot spark of anger towards Everand flared into life in the pit of his stomach.
Emmy pushed her hair back over her shoulders and sat back against the seat, collecting herself. She started speaking again, but more slowly this time.
“Taurnil and Lydia sorted their problems out over a month ago, and they started hanging out with me again,” she started. Gaspi made a mental note to speak with both of them about how they’d abandoned her for so long. “I thought that might be the end of it, and to be honest I was a bit relieved. He was pretty intense sometimes, and Lydia thought he was interested in me.” She looked into his eyes. “I should have seen it coming Gasp, but I didn’t want to. I just felt so bad. Everand had been there when I needed a friend, and when my real friends came back, I didn’t want to just send him packing. You know what I’m like,” she said sheepishly.
“I really do,” he said wearily. Emmy would do anything to avoid hurting someone’s feelings. She smiled faintly at him before continuing.
“So instead of me hanging out with Everand’s friends, it was him who was hanging out with mine.” She wrinkled her brow. “It was weird really. I knew Taurn didn’t like it much.”
“I bet he didn’t,” Gaspi muttered.
Emmy took a deep breath before carrying on. “It all happened a few days ago, when Taurnil and Lydia left us alone together here in the pub. I think Taurn was sick of Everand and made Lydia leave. Everand got me some wine, and it made me a bit drunk. I didn’t mean to, but he got the strong stuff, and then just when I realised I was drunk and tried to go, he started saying he had feelings for me.” Her eyes widened as she remembered. “He said he knew I had feelings for him too, and then he kissed me. I slapped him really hard!” she said indignantly. “He was pretty angry, and wouldn’t believe me when I said I didn’t feel that way about him. I told him again, and then he finally got it. He was really upset. When he left I think he was going to cry.” She looked at him, her eyes full of uncertainty. “That’s about it,” she said, tailing off into silence.
“Do you have feelings for him?” Gaspi asked.
“No!” she insisted. “Of course not. I mean, he’s handsome and all that, but no. I love
you
Gaspi, and besides, he’s awfully arrogant. But when I had to tell him I didn’t like him like that, he looked really hurt. I swear he was really upset.”
“You sound like you feel sorry for him,” he said sharply.
“I do. I mean, he spent all those weeks thinking I liked him. He must be really broken-hearted!” she said, looking tortured.
Gaspi was filled with sudden fury. “Emmy,” he said, biting off her name. “I totally understand why you wanted company. I can’t blame you for hanging out with Everand if Taurnil and Lydia weren’t around. I’m pretty angry with them for that by the way.”
“Lydia did say she was sorry,” Emmy said hurriedly.
“Not to me,” he said, still angry at the two of them for leaving her on her own for weeks. “Anyway. I can’t blame you for any of that, or for the fact that the snake tried to steal my girlfriend while I was away. I’m even more angry at Everand.”
“But Gaspi,” Emmy interjected. “He was just…”
“STOP DEFENDING HIM!” Gaspi roared, surging to his feet.
Emmy went white with shock, sitting bolt upright and gripping her skirts tightly with both hands.
“IT’S THE SAME CRAP AS LAST YEAR,” he shouted, furious at her for putting him in this position again. “WE ALMOST SPLIT UP BECAUSE YOU COULDN’T STAND ME DEFENDING MYSELF AGAINST THAT IDIOT!”
Emmy started to say something but he stopped her with a look.
“AND EVERY TIME I TRIED TO TELL YOU WHAT A LYING TOAD FERAST WAS YOU DEFENDED HIM. YOU ALWAYS WANT TO BELIEVE THE BEST IN PEOPLE, BUT YOU TAKE IT SO FAR YOU CAN’T SEE WHAT’S IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE, AND IT’S ME WHO ENDS UP PAYING FOR IT!
Tears were streaming down Emmy’s face as she dropped her gaze to the floor. “I’m so sorry,” she said as her shoulders started to shake. Gaspi’s heart felt like it was going to break, but he was far too angry to comfort her. He made a monumental effort to stop shouting, but he didn’t sit down again.
“I’ve spent the last three months missing you every day, and this is what I have to come back to?” he said bitterly. “Whether you like it or not, I’m going to put Everand in his place. If you try and stop me, it’s the end for us.”
“Please don’t go,” Emea pleaded, looking up at him, tears swimming in her eyes, their tracks staining her pretty face. “I’m truly sorry.” She extended a hand.
Gaspi ignored the searing pain in his gut that made him want to double over. He resisted the urge to comfort her. “I can’t talk to you right now,” he said rigidly. Feeling like his heart was breaking, he turned around and walked out the door.
…
He paced through the campus in a rage. All he could thi
nk about was Everand kissing Emmy. He could easily imagine the arrogant idiot assuming she would feel the same way and being outraged when she turned him down. It would never occur to him that she might prefer someone else over him. The thought that he’d tried to get her drunk first made him even more furious, and he increased his already frantic pace, stalking towards the tower in a fury. Ignoring the concerned looks of passers-by, he rushed through the entrance to the tower, crossed the floor of the Atrium in a dozen long strides and transported up to the Warren. He strode through the corridors in a rage, and as he neared Everand’s door, he saw that it was open, the sounds of laughter emanating from within.