FrivYeti/CalinPg16
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"Penny for your thoughts?"
Amanda started, splashing water all around her, and nearly dropped the clothes she was washing into the stream. She spun, and gave Lani an annoyed look. The other girl had walked up to the stream that fronted one side of the town, where townsfolk went to wash their clothes and to fetch water. "Dragons, Lani, don't sneak up on a girl like that." She glared at Lani, but a twitch of a smile belied the feigned anger.
Lani blushed, and smiled. "Sorry, Amanda. Didn't mean to startle you. But I wasn't sneaking - you were really focused on that shirt." She stepped up next to her friend, pulling out a jacket and brush, and sat down. For a few moments, the two washed clothes in silence, and then Lani spoke again. "You've been really quiet, ever since that thing with Bryce happened. What's up?"
"Oh, uh..." Amanda shrugged. If she was being quiet enough for Lani to mention it, chances were there was already gossip going around the more talkative members of town. Lani wasn't chatty, most of the time, and tended to let people work through their own problems. "It's just weird, coming close to death. I don't know, Lani. You're a hunter, maybe it's different for you. I've never been in real danger before. It was... not fun." She looked down at the water, realizing that there was more truth to the lie than she'd let herself think about. While concern for Bryce and for what the Fair Folk might do to the time was taking up her thoughts, she could still see the two hobgoblins closing on her when she closed her eyes, and feel the heat of their blood when Bryce stabbed them.
"No, I know what you mean." Lani turned to look at Amanda, who was resuming her own washing. "Once, when I was hunting, I saw a cougar sitting directly above me on a branch, poised to pounce. I felt like my heart was going to explode." She smiled faintly, lost in her own memories. "It was a hell of a moment, and I never quite forgot it."
"Really? You never told me about it." Amanda stopped washing again, sitting back. Lani didn't share moments of her life often; she must really be worried. "When was that?"
"Last year. It didn't pounce or anything, it just watched me. I backed up slowly, and it didn't follow. Guess it wasn't hungry. But it might have been." Lani sighed, and looked out over the stream, her eyes fixed on a moment in the past. "All this Fair Folk stuff... I think we're in a lot of trouble, Amanda."
For a moment, the secret Amanda was keeping hovered on her lips, seeking to reassure Lani. But it wasn't her secret to give. Finally, she just nodded. "Well, Redman and Markus left yesterday. It's a week to Greyfalls from here on horseback, five days if they ride it into the ground - and they will. If the Fair Folk keep going like this, there'll be help soon."
"They won't." Lani's voice was darkly predictive. "I've heard stories about Fair Folk. That many hobgoblins only travel with lords, and lords mean trouble. We're going to get attacked." She paused, scrubbing fiercely. "I almost wish that they would. It's better than all this waiting."
"Don't say that." Amanda hugged her friend for a moment, and then returned to her washing. "Things are going to be alright. The Fair Folk probably aren't attacking because they don't have the forces. And when the Dragon-Bloods come, they'll help the people who are hurt, and things will be fine. After all, they're Exalts. Protecting people is what they're here for."
"I wish I could trust the Dynasty as much as you do, Amanda." Lani smiled tiredly. "But I'll try. Thanks."
"No problem." Inside, Amanda was less confidant. She knew that if the Wyld Hunt came - when they came - they were almost certain to uncover Bryce. The story about the spear had deceived the town, but the Hunt knew better. She thought back to the two packs, heavily packed, with dry rations and everything that she and Bryce would need to survive in the woods of the valley and the jungles to the south. If push came to shove, she wasn't about to lose him.
Because she was so preoccupied, she failed to notice the haunted look in Lani's eyes. She finished her washing, and nodded to her friend. "I have to get home. Mom and Dad are expecting me for dinner. Do you want to join us tonight? We're having venison."
"No, thanks." Lani smiled faintly. "Father is expecting me, too, and I don't want to worry him. Give my regards to your parents."
"And you. Tell Karim my mother wants first dibs on the trout tommorow morning." Lani smiled, and Amanda chuckled, before turning with a wave and heading off towards home. For a few moments, Lani watched her go. When she spoke, it was barely above a whisper.
"You don't understand, Amanda. I pray that you never do."
