Free Orlind by Charlotte E. English Page B

then,’ Eva said, and Rheas’s house faded
away.
     
     
     

Chapter Seven
     
    A day or so
later, Eva emerged from her room to find Tren already waiting for
her. She quickly hid her tiredness and mustered her usual smile for
him. She’d slept for days, or that’s what it felt like, but her
body still ached with weariness. Too much PsiTravel in a short
space of time took its toll.
    ‘ Good
morning,’ she said. ‘I think.’
    Tren returned her
smile, but then his gaze travelled downwards and the smile
disappeared. His eyes widened.
    He said something
inarticulate, then coughed. ‘Uh. Is it the “good” part or the
“morning” part you’re unsure about?’
    ‘ Maybe
both,’ she replied, her lips twitching. Tren’s eyes still hadn’t
managed the long climb back up to her face.
    ‘ Wh...
what are you wearing,’ he said faintly.
    ‘ Trousers.’
    ‘ I can
see that, yes, but...’ He swallowed. ‘Wh-where did those come
from?’
    ‘ I
took a pattern from Llan’s.’ Llandry habitually wore trousers, of a
pretty style she’d said was popular in Nimdre. Hers were fluid,
with lots of soft fabric, and they were gathered in at the ankle.
Good for flying, Llandry said.
    Well, Eva didn’t
have wings so flight wasn’t her concern. Running was. If she had to
flee for her life again anytime soon, she didn’t want the hem of
her customary long skirts working against her. So she’d avoided
loose, billowy fabrics altogether. Her modified trousers were
sturdier, flexible... and somewhat more closely fitting.
    They were much
more practical, but she hadn’t considered the potential effect on
Tren. Women in Glour didn’t usually wear trousers: skirts were much
more common. Long skirts, with layers and lots of fabric to hide
everything under. Her new trousers, on the other hand, outlined her
curves in some interesting ways.
    ‘ I
think I understand the new game plan,’ Tren said weakly. ‘Fatal
distraction.’
    ‘ Think
it’ll work?’ She turned this way and that, checking to see how the
new trousers looked from various angles.
    Tren backed away.
‘I, um. Think I left something. In my room.’
    He
fled.
    Grinning, Eva
began to walk after him - then stopped when something hit her back,
impacting with a solid thwack. The same something whizzed
past her ear, bestowing a vicious fly-by bite upon it on the way
past.
    Rikbeek. He’d
kept up a steady grumble of protest ever since he had discovered
that her skirts were gone. No more draping folds of fabric to hide
in, no shadows for him to conceal his dark little self in. He’d
made a pretty good effort to hide in her trousers, and finding that
futile he’d retired to the ceiling, grumbling all the
way.
    It seemed he
would like her to understand that she was not forgiven.
    ‘ Little wretch,’ she muttered. Touching the tip of her right
ear, she found blood.
    ‘ Plague,’ she added.
    Rikbeek’s
response resounded in her thoughts. His mutterings never resolved
themselves into meaningful communications in her mind, but she had
no trouble understanding the gist. For every name she called him,
he had worse to say in return.
    ‘ I’ve
a blouse,’ she offered. ‘Quite a lot of fabric in that. There’ll be
a coat, too, later on.’
    No
response.
    ‘ Fine.
Try to keep up.’ She set off down the corridor, Rikbeek stubbornly
maintaining his station near the top of the wall. But when she was
almost out of sight, he peeled himself off the plasterwork and
charged after her.
    ‘ Good
plague,’ she smiled. ‘I’m probably going to need you.’
     
    Devary had been
given his own room, of course, like the rest of them. The Library
certainly wasn’t short on space. But he’d taken to spending most of
his time among the bookshelves, specifically those relating to
musical studies. He had spent many hours there, before he’d left
the Library for Rheas’s house. Eva wouldn’t be surprised to find
he’d gone straight back there upon his return.
    She made for the
music