The Blood Forest (Tree of Ages #3)(19)
Malida watched him cross the room, a thoughtful expression on her round face as she wiped the perfectly clean wooden bar with a rag.
Reaching her, he set his meal down and took a seat on one of the tall stools. “Ready for my epic tale?”
She smirked. “I’m ready for you to tell me what’s going on between you and Breya . . . or is her name Finn?”
“I see you’ve already spoken with your daughter,” Kai sighed.
“I did,” she replied, “and now I’m wondering about a great many things. Last I saw Finn, she was sneaking out of my home at dawn. Now you are somehow back together, but not as husband and wife. Instead, you’re traveling with a large party. You never travel with large parties, so I assume that part is Finn’s doing.”
“Yes,” he sighed, wondering if he should attempt to keep the ruse going at all, “she’s a very demanding wife.”
“She’s not your wife,” Malida stated bluntly. “Did you truly think you could deceive me? I can see that you love her, but there is no clear understanding between the two of you.”
He blinked up at her, entirely dumbstruck. He knew Malida had been suspicious, but to have known all along? “Then why did you go along with it?”
She chuckled, then grabbed Kai’s ale to take a swig. “Why not? After all this time, I knew I could trust your judgment, and I genuinely like her. She’s a sweet lass.”
Kai leaned his elbows on the bar and buried his head in his hands, letting his tangled, chestnut brown hair fall forward. “I suppose I’ll start from the very beginning,” he sighed, “long before we came here the first time. It’s the only way I can fathom explaining it all in a way that makes sense.”
Malida took a moment to refill his ale from one of the large casks behind the bar, then gestured for him to go on.
He snuck a quick glance over his shoulder at his party, then began, “It all started back in Garenoch, when we met an odd, long-haired girl, and her elderly companion . . . ”
He went on to detail their entire journey, leaving out exactly who Finn was, and what she and Iseult sought. He told Malida of their long sea voyage, and detailed all that happened once they arrived back on land. He also admitted, though Malida already seemed to know, that Finn was never truly his wife, but that he really was trying to help her. He hoped in coming clean Malida would take pity on him, and would still allow him to stay in her home that evening. She was at least still speaking with him, which gave him hope she understood his reasons for lying.
As he finished his long-winded tale, Malida pursed her lips in thought. “So when you first came to me, you were simply attempting to help Finn find that man?” She nodded in Iseult’s direction.
He gazed down at his uneaten stew. “Yes,” he admitted after a moment. “I was only trying to help her find Iseult and her other friend, àed, again, but I was worried someone else might try to collect the bounty on her. I still don’t know the meaning behind the bounty, or who originally ordered it, but at the time it seemed the safest option to keep her hidden, and to use a false name.”
He lifted his eyes to meet Malida’s narrowed gaze. “So you lied to me,” she began again, “to protect a young lady, even though you had nothing to gain, and in fact, stood to lose not only your partnership with Anna, but a great deal of coin.”
He frowned. “When you put it like that, I sound like a fool.”
“And even after she left you,” she continued, ignoring his lament, “you then went on to follow her. You traveled all the way to Migris, just to make sure she was safe, then sailed to a legendary tree, just so she could find answers. Now you’ve followed her all the way back to this Faie infested land, and in all of this, you have absolutely nothing to gain.”
He huffed in exasperation. “Is the point of this entire conversation just to make me feel like a blithering idiot?”
Malida smiled warmly. “I see my early speculations were correct, and yes, you’re a blithering idiot, but only if you won’t admit you love her.”
He took a long swill of his ale, relishing in the slight feeling of numbness it brought. There was that word again. Love. “I’d be a blithering idiot if I thought that it mattered,” he replied finally, seeing no use in denying it any longer.
Malida simply smiled, then slid his stew bowl closer to him.
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What are you thinking?”
She smiled wider and shook her head. “Never you mind. Eat your food and tell me more about what you saw in Migris. We’ve had a few travelers make it this way from the West, but it’s been difficult to believe what they’ve been saying.”
He took a bite of his now cold stew, then replied, “Believe it. Believe everything you hear. After the things I’ve seen and experienced, I will never question any odd Faie tales again.”
She nodded. “I trust your judgement, but I must ask, where are you off to now? Most travelers who’ve come into contact with the Faie are hiding in the smaller towns, or wherever else they can find shelter. Few want to brave the roads anymore.”
He took another long swig of his ale, draining his mug. “Anna and Finn are both on a mission for the same, um, item,” he took another swill, hoping Malida wouldn’t pry into what that item was. “I’m coming along to make sure they don’t kill each other,” he finished, lowering his glass.