CHAPTER ONE

There were a lot of things Aven didn't know about living on land. He knew that. He accepted that, just as he accepted the fact that he knew so little about living on land that what he did know was dwarfed by the many, many things that he didn't know. Not to mention the things that he didn’t know that he didn't know. Ignorance was annoying.

There was, however, one thing that he could have done without learning.

Falling off a horse hurts!

He sprawled in the dusty road, glaring up at the horse that seemed to be studying him with placid confusion. The horse was a mare, Memfis had told him, and docile enough for a novice rider. Her name was Cloud, and she stood over Aven, as if to ask, “What are you doing down there? I thought we were past that.”

“Aven?” Owyn had turned his horse and came back down the road. “Are you all right? What happened?”

Aven slowly got to his feet, grumbling. “I’m fine. Just bruised, I think.” He caught Cloud’s dangling reins. She snorted and rubbed her nose against his sleeve, and he scratched the star on her forehead. “I’ll be sore later, but it’s not the first time.”

Owyn didn’t look convinced. “You haven’t fallen off in days. Are you sure you’re all right?”

Memfis joined them, leading Aria’s horse and their packhorse. He drew his big horse up next to Cloud, studied Aven, then said, “You fell asleep, didn’t you?”

Aven looked down as his face warmed. That was exactly what had happened. “I think so,” he answered.

Memfis nodded. “You’ve been looking a little drawn since we moved out of the trees and we had to put the hammock away. Still having trouble sleeping on the ground?”

“It was fine the first two nights,” Aven said. “Last night, though?” He shrugged. “Not sure why—” His voice trailed off as Aria circled low and landed on the road nearby.

“Why did you stop?” she asked as she joined them, tossing her dark braids back over her shoulder. “Is something wrong?”

“Aven just learned it takes skill to sleep on a horse,” Memfis answered. “He’s not broken.” He looked around. “Did you see anything?”

Aria shook her head. “We’re still not being followed. Nor do I see any structure that’s not a ruin.”

Memfis swore softly. They’d been on the road ten days, and their supplies were starting to run low. “I had no idea things were this bad outside Forge,” he said. He gestured widely, taking in the brown and barren fields around them. “The last time I rode this way at this time of year, this was farmland. These fields were ready for the harvest.”

“When was that?” Owyn asked. “Because there have been food shortages in Forge since I was still on the streets.”

Memfis grumbled, then nodded. “Point made. It’s been too long. But you’d think that this sort of thing would be more widely known—”

“It is,” Owyn interrupted. “When you have to make the choice about paying for a roof over your head, or paying for a meal? It’s known. Food prices have been going up and up for a long time now. Best meal I ever had was the first one under your roof, Mem. When you’ve always had coin, you don’t notice as much how expensive things are getting. Especially when it creeps up a little at a time.”

Memfis’ frown deepened. “I thought I was paying better attention than that. I thought I was keeping an eye on things.”

“In Forge, you were,” Aria said. “But if, as you said, all of the news wasn’t getting to Forge? What would you have done differently?”

Memfis nodded. “That doesn’t change the fact that I should have paid better attention.” He looked around. “I’ve been keeping my head down, waiting for you all. But that means I haven’t seen what’s been happening outside my own walls.”

“We’ll be all right, Mem,” Owyn said. “How much further to the healing center?”

Memfis looked up at the sky, then down the road. He shook his head. “Three, maybe four days. But we’re low on supplies. That dead village we rode through two days ago was supposed to be where we resupplied.”

“Can we hunt?” Aven asked. “Aria, have you seen any game at all?”

“I’ve seen very little game from up high, but I was paying more attention to looking for hunters,” Aria answered. “Regardless, if there’s nothing for game to eat, there’s no game for us to eat.”

Memfis frowned. He looked around. Then he nodded. “Aven, mount up. I know where we’ll spend the night tonight. It’s a bit out of the way, but it’ll be safe and we’ll be able to hunt.”

“It’s still early, though,” Owyn protested. “We got a lot of ground to cover.”

“We’re stopping early,” Memfis said, in a voice that brooked no argument. “And we need to figure out what our next step will be. I’ve been running on faulty information. We need to rethink. I need to rethink. No. No, I need to think, and properly plan, and that was never something I was any good at. Aria, ride with us a little.”

Aria nodded. She went to Aven’s side and slipped her arm around his waist. “Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” Aven answered, putting his arm around her and pulling her close. “Just tired. And now a little sore.”

“We need to get you used to sleeping on the ground,” Owyn said. “We can’t always use the hammock. You want to ride with me a bit? You can nap, and I can keep you from falling again.”

“I appreciate it, but I’m awake now,” Aven answered. He sighed and shook his head, reaching for his water skin. The warm, salty water tasted good, and he drank deeply before sealing the bottle and slinging it from his saddle. “All right. Let’s go.”

Aria kissed his cheek, then went and mounted her own horse. Aven smothered a yawn and hauled himself back into Cloud’s saddle.

“Where are we going?” he called.

“Someplace where you might just be able to get a full night’s sleep,” Memfis answered. He led them down the road, then onto what looked to be a rarely used trail that branched off from the northern road, veering west. Owyn guided his horse alongside Cloud, riding knee to knee with Aven.

“You’re sure—”

“I’m fine, Mouse,” Aven said with a laugh. “A little bruised is all.”

“You can fix that, though,” Owyn said. “Right?”

“No,” Aven answered. “Have to let it heal on its own.”

“What?” Aria brought her horse up on his other side. “Why? Why should you be uncomfortable?”

“Because healers can’t work on themselves,” Aven answered. “I’m not entirely sure what would happen. I asked my father once, and all he said was ‘Don’t even think of it.’ He called it Healer Rule One. So I’m guessing it’s bad.”

Owyn grimaced. “That could get ugly, couldn’t it?” he asked. “Healing power gone very, very wrong?”

“What was it you said, back in Forge? Six heads and no ears?” Aven grinned. “I don’t think it would be that bad, but I’m guessing that the wounds wouldn’t heal right. So I’ll be purple from my hip to my shoulder for a few days. I’ve had worse.”

“I like purple,” Aria said, softly enough that Aven wasn’t sure anyone but him heard it.

Until Owyn snorted and added, “Me, too.”

Aven looked at Aria, at her small smile and high color. Then he glanced at Owyn, who was grinning. No, no, the other man wasn’t grinning. He was leering.

Well, they had been on the road for ten days, traveling constantly, and had no privacy to speak of. Aven snickered and shook his head.

“You both can take a nice, close look later,” he said. Aria giggled, which started Aven and Owyn both laughing. Memfis glanced back at them, shook his head, and kept riding.

***

The trail led north and west, and gradually down, and long before they could see it, Aven could smell salt water.

“Memfis, are we camping tonight near the sea?” he called.

“You’ll see,” Memfis called back. “The trail is going to get steep. Go slow, and single file, and let your horse pick her footing.”

Aven frowned, looking at Owyn. “Do you know where we’re going?”

“Not a clue,” Owyn answered. “I’ve never been more than a mile outside Forge before. This is all new to me, too. When we get onto the trail, lean back. It’ll help. And let the reins go loose. Cloud and Star will follow Memfis and Dasher.”

It did help, but Aven still felt as if his horse was going to slip and tumble all the way down the steep high-walled trail. It turned sharply, then turned again. “Owyn?”

“It’s all right,” Owyn called from behind and above him. He was at the rear of the line, following Aria. “It’s a switchback. Keeps it from being too steep. The trail to the coal yards is like this. Worse, because you have to do that one with a cart.”

“I do not want to do something like this in a cart,” Aria called out. “Or on a horse. There is a reason I have wings.”

“It’s not bad,” Owyn said. “Just let Star and Cloud do the work.”

Aven clung to his saddle-horn and tried to trust that Cloud wasn’t going to fall, but it was hard. He thought about closing his eyes and waiting for it to be over, but decided that, if he was going to fall to a certain death, he wanted to be able to see it. Another sharp turn led to another trail that seemed to turn almost immediately, as Memfis vanished from view. Then Cloud took the turn, and Aven saw the sea for the first time since he and Aria arrived in Forge.

The trail opened out into a cove — seaside plants gave way to a white sand beach. Small waves kissed the shore with the crash and hiss that was almost as welcome to Aven as his parents’ voices would have been. He tore his gaze from the water to see that Memfis had dismounted, and was leading Dasher over. He took hold of Cloud’s bridle and grinned up at Aven.

“Were you waiting for an invitation?” he asked. Aven gaped at him, then looked back at the water.

“I can swim?” he asked. “I can change?”

“Go on. Just bring something up to eat.”

Aven swung down from his saddle and started toward the water. It felt strange to be walking on sand and not feeling it, so he stopped and tugged his boots off, leaving them where they fell. He stopped at the high water line in the sand, and started to unbuckle the harness that held his swords.

“Are you not going to wait for us?” Aria called. Aven turned and saw her and Owyn coming toward him.

“Are you going to swim?” Aven asked. He laid his swords down on the sand, then took off his carry-bag and his vest. “Owyn, do you want me to teach you?”

“Nah, you go ahead and hunt. I’ll watch,” Owyn said. “Memfis is going to take care of the horses, so someone has to stay on watch. That’ll be me.”

Aria laughed. “But what will you be watching? The trail, or us?”

“I never said I was going to watch the trail,” Owyn answered, and Aven laughed.

“Aven, go on,” Aria said. “Go be in the deep.”

“Don’t leave the cove!” Memfis shouted. “Not unless you have to in order to hunt!”

“I’ll need something to hunt with,” Aven said, stopping as he was about to strip off his trousers. “Aria, may I borrow one of your javelins? It’s close enough to my fishing spear.”

“Of course!” Aria ran up the beach to where Memfis was taking the tack off their horses. She came back carrying one of the short javelins that Memfis had given her. They were one of the weapons of choice of the Air tribe, and Aria had shown herself to be skilled with them when there was still game that they could hunt. Aven folded his trousers and laid them aside, then accepted both the javelin and a kiss from Aria.

“Do I get one, too?” Owyn asked. Aven grinned. He leaned down and kissed Owyn, then turned and headed out into the water.

***

Owyn watched as Aven dove in and vanished. The sight made him slightly nauseous, but he wasn’t going to show it. Not in front of Aria. He turned back to her and blinked — she had reached up to unfasten the buttons across her shoulders.

“Want help?” he offered. “And you’re going into the water?”

“It’s the closest thing to a bath we have,” she answered. She knelt in the sand so that he could more easily reach; once the panel was unfastened, she took off the wrapped jacket and bent to take off her boots. “And to tell the truth, I miss swimming with him. He’s beautiful in his sea form, Owyn.”

“Will I be able to see it?” Owyn asked. “From here?”

“You could come closer to the water,” Aria said. “Or… those rocks, over there? Let’s go there. You can stay on the rocks and watch from there. You’ll be able to see more. I will swim, then I will join you on the rocks. And when he comes up, it will be a good place for Aven to change.”

Owyn looked where she was pointing. The rocks looked as if they’d tumbled from the top of the high cliffs that curved around one side of the cove, and formed a jagged platform that extended out into the water. It looked solid enough. He didn’t need to go far. And the water certainly couldn’t be that deep — the end of the rockfall wasn’t that far from shore.…

“All right,” he said slowly. “That doesn’t look too bad.”

Aria kissed his cheek and waded out into the water. Once she was facing away from him, Owyn took a deep breath and rubbed his hands on his thighs — his palms were sweat-sodden. He swallowed, then headed for the rocks.

It wasn’t as bad as he’d feared. The rocks were close enough to the shore that walking on them wasn’t much different from walking on some of the areas of cracked and broken pavement in the poorer areas of Forge. As he got farther out, he could almost imagine he was climbing over rocks at the coal fields. Almost. There wasn’t a cold water spray from waves crashing on the rocks at the coal fields. He tried not to think about it, looking at where Aria was splashing in the water. She’d combed out her long braids, and her wet hair clung to her skin. There was water dripping from her feathers.

“Can you fly with wet wings?” he called.

“Not well, but I should not need to,” she called back. “And I will come up there and sun them dry.” She smiled up at him. “I will not stay in the water too long. It’s cold. You can tell that it’s late in the year and winter is coming. In the mountains, it would be snowing already. Does it snow here?”

“Snow? Only once in a while. Not often. Mostly it rains here in the winter. It doesn’t get cold enough to snow. What we do get probably isn’t anything like what you get in the mountains.” Owyn said. He moved to the center of one of the large rocks and crouched on his heels. “It’s nice and warm up here on the rocks. Shouldn’t take you long to get warm and dry. How long will he be out there, do you think?”

Aria dunked herself under the water, then swam toward the rocks and climbed up onto them. “As long as it takes for him to catch something,” she offered. “Although I think we may have a hard time getting him to come out of the water. I can fly whenever I wish. He can only be his true self in the deep.” She stretched out on her stomach next to Owyn, spreading her wings wide and pillowing her head on her arms. “The days we were out on the canoe, between when we left the island and when we first saw Mannon’s ships, those were good days. He taught me to swim, and we played in the water. Aven taught me to clean fish, and to eat oysters from the shell. His family treated me as if I were one of their own, and we were happy. Since we reached Forge, there’s been a tension to him, like a bowstring pulled too tight. I worry that he might snap. This will help.” She looked up at him and smiled. “You help.”

“Do I?” Owyn murmured.

“You share the weight. It will be easier, when we find the others, I think.” Aria closed her eyes and sighed. “The sun feels good.”

Owyn looked at her, admiring the lines of her, the curve of her back down to her waist, and the sweet, soft flare of her hips to her arse. She’d told both Aven and him that she wouldn’t have sex with either of them until she was sure that she would not come away pregnant. He admired her restraint — he didn’t think he’d have been able to say no. Not when faced with two people who both adored him and who were willing to do whatever it took to make him happy. He closed his eyes, remembering the big bed back in Meris’ house, being in Aven’s arms, with Aria touching them both. He’d stopped them then, before they’d gone too far, because he wasn’t sure that his need was his own, or the remnants of the drugs he’d been fed. Now he regretted it.

He heard Aria gasp, and looked up in time to see the long, sinuous form arch out of the water. Aven’s tail gleamed in the sun, looking like molten silver as he dove back down into the water. Aria burst out laughing.

“Did you see him?” she asked. “Isn’t he beautiful?”

“Yeah,” Owyn breathed, and shifted, trying to ease the ache in his groin.

He was definitely regretting stopping now.

The Only Girl on the Team

Juan de Casa

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