Chapter 12

Nathaniel stood there in shock as she ran from him.  She had admitted to liking him.  Hope flared in his chest before she pushed it down with a roll of his eyes.  Of course, the woman liked him.  Why else would she attempt to keep him alive while all others had given her a simple solution to her predicament?

“Hurt her and you’ll regret it.”

He looked over at the old woman, who he now knew as Cora.  She was the one who had gotten them into this mess, but she was warning him of hurting their precious Abe?  If Cora had kept her attention somewhere else besides on Aubrey’s affairs, none of this would have happened.  He would not have the chance to hurt the woman.  He shook his head.  “I never planned on hurting her.  I know that you can see it, but I could never do anything to hurt her.  Do you not understand that?  She is different from others.  She has this inner light; I could not be the one to put it out.”

“There are others who will wish to do what you cannot.  Remember, Nathaniel, looks can be deceiving.”

He stared at Cora as she told him this.  It sounded like a warning, something he should keep in mind in his journey.  His eyes flickered towards Aubrey.  A large smile was on her face, but it was not really her face.  It was one that she hid behind.  What would happen if Nathaniel found a way to expose her true form to everyone?  Would they do as she thought and treat her differently?  Or would they still see her as Abe, the one with a dragon who helped them as much as she could?

He turned his attention back to Cora, only to realize the woman was no longer in sight.  Shrugging, he made his way towards the laughing duo, Aubrey and Alin.  Nathaniel would have laughed at how well their names sounded together, but he did not want to laugh, he wanted to pull her away from the man, whose hand was on her arm.  He wanted to push Alin away, but he couldn’t.  He could not do anything but stand there and watch the two joke with one another. 

Stopping a dozen feet away from the two, he stood there and watched.  They were remarkably alike.  Her long, straight, black hair flowed down to her waist, but Alin had her beat when it came to darkness.  The man’s hair was so dark that it had a tint of blue when he moved a certain way.  The brown eyes that were so common with gypsies seemed to bypass Alin.  His eyes were a dark blue color, but Aubrey kept the brown of the gypsies.  One of Alin’s hands reached out and wrapped around Aubrey’s shoulders.  The urge to pull her away hit him once more, but this time, something happened.  Instead of her staying where she was, she flew back towards him.  Before she could slam into him, she turned and threw her hand out. 

His back hit the ground, the air whooshing from his stomach, and light exploded behind his eyes.  Footsteps crunched by his ear.  Her brown eyes came into view, worry etched into them.  “Are you well?”

“You threw me a long way,” he mumbled attempting to find the fire from the camp.  Finally, he spotted it, a small little fire, where he knew it was large in reality.

She dropped down to the ground beside him.  Brushing a piece of hair from his face, she sent him a guilty smile.  “You took me by surprise is all.”

“Yes, well, you had the same effect on me.”

“You should not use your magic on someone like me,” she mumbled with slight anger in her voice.  “What would have happened if I did not hold back at the last second?  How was I to know that it was you?”

“You are right,” he whispered, but she did not listen.

“You could have died.  I could have killed you.  Your family would have come after me.  I would be dead.  Then, my father would have to kill your family, causing a war between the two most powerful families.  It would have been a disaster.”

He smiled at her as she babbled.  It was obvious to him now that this was what she did when she worried.  She talked, not only that, but she said exactly what she was thinking.  He sobered, this was the reason she wanted to rid herself of this curse.  Because she knew, she would not be able to keep herself from talking.  No one could trust her with their words.  What would it be like to be her, to have a curse because they were too powerful?

“I am fine,” he told her in a level tone. 

Her babbling stopped; she looked at him with wide eyes.  “I did not mean the last words.”

He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.  “That it would have been a disaster?  It would have, you were right.”

“No,” she said.  “The other thing.”

“That was the last words I heard.”

A bright smile crossed her face as she hopped to her feet.  “Good, that is the best news I have heard all day.”  Her hand went out.  “Let me help you up.”

He was tempted to ask her what she had said, but he let it go.  If it was not meant to be said, he would not force her to tell him.  Gripping her hand, he allowed her to help pull him to his feet.  The area around him spun, but soon settled back to its normal place.  He must have hit harder than he thought.

“Hold still,” Aubrey mumbled while running her hands up his arms.  They continued their path to his shoulders before she circled him.  Her fingers flowed through his hair.  He winced as her fingers connected with a sore spot.  “There it is.”

“There what is?”

“Your wound, of course.  Just hold still for a moment more.” A tingling sensation spread across the back of his head.  It was not unpleasant, but it itched.

“What are you doing?” His question got no answer.  He struggled to turn, but she kept him still by some invisible force.  “Aubrey, what are you doing?”

Finally, the magic that held his still vanished.  He turned; ready to yell at her for not answering when he noticed the dazed look in her eyes.  Her face was pale, and it was when he noticed that it was indeed her face.  Not the one she used to masquerade as Abe.  It was Aubrey’s face, the one that he had only seen for a moment before she hid it once more.

“That hurt,” she mumbled while bringing her hand to the back of her head.  Her hand came back into view, and he noticed the blood on her fingers.  “That really hurts.”

He caught her as she pitched forward.  “What did you do?”

She smiled at him.  “All magic has consequences, some more than others.”

“You should have left it alone.  I was fine,” he mumbled, not knowing how true his words were.

“Guilt is very powerful,” she said in a sleepy voice, with the smile still on her face.

“Tell me what to do,” he pleaded.

“I am fine.”

He let out a chuckle at her words.  Even when she did not feel well, she was still as stubborn as ever.  Nathaniel shook his head at her before glancing over his shoulder.  “Daisy?” he whispered as something slithered towards him.  His heart began beating erratically, if it was not the dragon, what was it?

He soon got his answer as the slithering thing came into view.  It was not Daisy; it was, in fact, a snake.  He bit his lip, looked down at Aubrey, and felt a ping of panic hit him.  He pushed it down.  That was an emotion he could not afford to feel.  Shifting, he made his body shield hers.  He would not have been so afraid if the thing did not come straight at him as if it was ready to pounce at any second.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, the thing leapt.  How a snake could fling itself in the air, he had no idea.  Closing his eyes, he waited for the bite, but nothing happened.  Her heard the hissing and knew the thing was only inches from his face.  Opening an eye, he looked at Alin.

The man held the creature in his hands as if he did not have a care in the world.  The only thing that Alin’s attention was on was Aubrey who was still slouched against his back.   The man looked at her in awe.  “She is beautiful.”

Nathaniel shifted more, not caring how close the snake was to his face, he sheltered Aubrey behind his body, effectively blocking the other man’s view.  Alin looked at him and chuckled.  “Do not worry, it was just a surprise.  I knew who she was, but not what she truly looked like.”

“That is nice,” Nathaniel replied, while glancing towards the snake still in the man’s hand.

Alin followed his gaze.  “I almost forgot.” He moved his hand up to where Alin stared the creature straight into the eyes.  “I know someone sent you here, but it is time for you to go home.  There is nothing here for you but death.”  With that, Alin bent down and let the creature free.

Nathaniel stiffened, expecting the thing to turn on them, but it slithered away just as fast as it had arrived.  “We cannot take her back to camp,” Alin mumbled, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He looked at the man and nodded.  “What do we do? They leave tomorrow morning, and I do not think they will stay for this reason alone.”

Alin shook his head.  “They will not.  There is only one solution.”

“What is that?” Nathaniel asked, not sure if he trusted this man as Aubrey seemed to.

“I’ll return to camp, grab Daisy and some supplies and return here.”

“That is a great idea.  You can leave whatever supplies you grab here, and when Aubrey wakes, the two of us can travel wherever she wants.”

Alin smiled at him.  “Oh, I figured we could travel sooner than that.  Daisy could carry her on her back.”

“We?”

“We,” Alin echoed, his smile turning into a large grin.