Free Souls of Aredyrah 3 - The Taking of the Dawn by Tracy A. Akers Page A

down. You’re both half froze. Haskel…get those
wet boots off your feet, and Dayn…yours, too.”
    Haskel yanked off his boots, then grabbed up
Dayn’s, which were now in a wet heap by the fire, and took both
pairs to the front porch.
    “Back in a mite,” Vania said as she turned to
follow Haskel out the door. “Oh…Alicine, would ye watch the tea?
And Morna, dear, ye look exhausted. Why don’t ye take yourself to
bed? Dayn’s home now. We’ll hold off any talk ‘til ye get up.” She
glanced at Dayn, then back at Morna. “The boy just needs some
warmth in his belly. He’ll soon be ready for the pillow.”
    Morna nodded, but after the door clicked
shut, she stepped to Dayn and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m
glad you're home, son,” she said softly. “We’ll talk later, all
right?”
    Dayn did not respond. His eyes were focused
on the flames in the hearth, but his mind was somewhere else
entirely.
    Taking his cue of silence, Morna headed for
her bed.
    Eyan slid off his mattress and shuffled
slowly toward Dayn. His long hair was in a wild disarray, and his
dressing gown was a rumpled mess. “Where’d ye go?” he asked. “I
mean, if ye don’t mind me askin’.”
    “Nowhere,” Dayn muttered.
    “Well, ye can’t have gone nowhere ,
eh?” Eyan said. “Otherwise Father would’ve found ye standin’
outside the door.”
    Dayn turned to Eyan, expecting to see humor,
but Eyan looked completely serious. “I went to the springs,” Dayn
said, then returned his gaze to the hearth.
    “Why’d ye go there?” Eyan asked. Then his
face grew concerned. “Are ye sick?”
    “Something like that.”
    “Let me get your tea then,” Eyan said.
“Mother says it can cure any ill. I’ve been sick plenty o’ times
and it always made me feel better.”
    Dayn sighed, then nodded. Eyan grabbed a
towel and lifted the tea kettle off the spit. “Mother knows lots o’
things,” he said. “Like what herbs can cure a fever, or help ye
sleep, or ease the aches.” Eyan poured the brew into a mug. “Here,”
he said, holding it out to Dayn. “It’ll make ye feel better.”
    Dayn accepted the tea and drank it down. It
hadn’t been over the fire long enough to get hot, but it sent a
flood of warmth to his bones nonetheless.
    Eyan took the mug and refilled it. “Where do
ye hurt? Is it your head?”
    Dayn forced a laugh. “My heart.”
    “Your heart? Hmmm…I don’t know anythin’ about
that,” Eyan said quietly. “Father says I should avoid the affairs
o’ the heart. I don’t know what that means though.”
    “It means love,” Alicine said.
    “Love?” Eyan fixed her in a bewildered
stare.
    “Yes,” Alicine said. “You know, like when you
love someone.”
    “Ye mean like for a mother and a father?”
    “No. It’s more like between a mother
and a father.”
    “Oh.” Eyan paused for a long moment. “Is that
kind o’ love better?”
    “No. It’s just different. Right, Dayn?”
    “I don’t want to talk about it,” Dayn
said.
    “Why?” Eyan asked cautiously. “Is it
bad?”
    “Yes,” Dayn replied.
    Alicine slapped Dayn on the arm. “Is not,”
she said.
    “No? Tell us how it’s good then.”
    “You know how it feels. Don’t you dare put me
on the spot.”
    “Well Eyan doesn’t know how it feels. Why
don’t you explain it to him.”
    Alicine glanced toward their mother’s bed
across the way. Morna’s steady breathing indicated she was fast
asleep, but Alicine lowered her voice, just in case. “It’s like you
love someone special, someone you want to touch or—” Alicine
blushed. “—or kiss on the mouth. You know.”
    Eyan looked away awkwardly. “I haven’t been
around enough people to feel that way about any of ‘em.”
    “Be glad of that,” Dayn said.
    Alicine slapped his arm again. “Don’t say
that!”
    Dayn laughed.
    “Is that kind o’ love…funny…like a joke?”
Eyan asked.
    “Sometimes,” Alicine replied.
    “Never,” Dayn added.
    Eyan shook his