Bard: Chapter 20

Liam stared at the primer in growing frustration, trying different sounds under his breath. None of them seemed right. He glanced furtively at the other beginner students around him, none of whom seemed to be having the same troubles. Briefly, he considered asking one of them for help, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. Right when he was ready to shut the primer and give up for the night, Trista slid into the chair next to him.

“What’s giving you trouble?” she asked quietly, leaning in a bit so she could see the pages in front of him.

Liam groaned inwardly. Of course Trista would know if he was frustrated with the letters, and worried about someone noticing, she could smell it. Well, not smell, but that seemed the easiest way to think about it, he didn’t understand exactly how her demonic senses worked.

She didn’t seem to be judging him for having trouble with a primer meant for children, though. On the contrary, she sounded genuinely curious, and ready to help. Liam moved the book between them so she could see it better and pointed to the offending word.

“It’s that middle letter,” he admitted, keeping his voice low. “It changes all the time.”

“It does,” Trista agreed, and helped him with the word. It wasn’t just the single letter anymore, it had joined with another to make a new sound entirely, no wonder.

Trista stayed with him for a few minutes, listening while he stumbled painfully through the most basic of sentences and giving him helpful nudges when he got stuck. Liam waited for any sign of amusement or ridicule in her voice, but there was none, just gentle aid.

Another student squeezed behind their chairs, stumbled, and kept going. Trista let out a quiet yelp, jumping in her chair.

“Are you alright?” Liam asked.

“I’m fine,” Trista said quickly. Glancing around them, she leaned in a little closer to whisper. “I forgot to mind my tail.”

“Oh?” Liam said, understanding. “Are you hurt?”

“No, no,” Trista said quickly, shaking her head. “I’ll take care of it when we’re home.”

If it was something that needed to be taken care of, that told him she had been hurt. He wanted to press, to make sure she was alright, but more students were moving about the room, passing too close to safely discuss it. Before they were in the clear, Trista left to help another student, and Liam tried to to turn his focus back to the primer, less frustrated than before.

After class, Trista stayed to tidy up and check in with the professor like she usually did, and Liam waited for her outside the classroom.

As she passed by, walking towards home, he fell in beside her. She didn’t startle the way Laura did sometimes when he did the same thing to her. Although, if Trista knew who was at the door when they knocked, it made sense that she’d know who was approaching her on the street. She always seemed to know where he was when he waited for her as well, even if he was out of sight.

“You didn’t have to wait.”

“I like walking with you,” he said. “How’s the tail?”

“It’s fine,” Trista said with a shrug, though he didn’t believe her. He glanced behind them, but of course could see nothing. Even the drape of her robe didn’t betray anything. He wondered how much effort it took to keep everything hidden all day.

It really was all day, too. Liam tried to remember the last time he’d seen her real face, without the illusion, and found he had to think back before the ice storm. She was keeping hidden all the time now.

“Are you doing alright?” he asked. “In general, not…the tail.”

“What do you mean?” Trista asked, looking up at him.

“You don’t take your pin off anymore,” he observed. “You’re sleeping with it on as well.”

“Oh…I just realized I don’t really need to take it off,” she said. Gesturing at the illusion that covered her face, she added, “I can’t really feel this or anything, so…”

“You don’t really need it at home though,” Liam said. “You can be yourself.”

“I know, I just…” Trista hesitated, going silent for several steps. Liam waited, giving her time to put the words together. “I scare people,” she said quietly.

“I’ve never been scared of you,” Liam told her.

“I know,” Trista said, furrowing her eyebrows. She held his gaze for a moment, then broke away, biting her lip.

“Is this because of that meeting you had, with what’s his face?”

“The grandmaster?”

“That one.”

Trista shrugged again, looking down at the road as they walked.

“He knows what I am,” she said after a moment. “He knew right away, and…he’s wary, at best.”

“Are you safe?” Liam asked, and Trista looked up again, surprised.

“Yes,” she said. “I think so, for now.”

“Let us know if something changes,” he said. “If you need help.”

“I will,” Trista replied, looking a little taken aback. They walked on in comfortable silence for a while before she spoke again. “Liam?”

“Yeah?”

“Why haven’t you ever been afraid of me?” Trista asked, keeping her eyes straight ahead.

“You’re not scary,” he said simply.

“I’m being serious.”

“So am I.” He paused, taking her gently by the arm so she would face him. “I know what you can do, Trista. Just recently I watched you hold back an ice storm, order a dragon to take a step back, and rip a hole in reality–”

“It wasn’t a dragon,” Trista cut in quietly. Liam snorted.

“Regardless,” he went on, holding her eyes. “You can do all that, and I’m sure you could order me to do whatever you’d like and I’d have no choice in the matter–”

“I won’t,” she said quickly, reaching up to hold him by the arm as well. “I won’t ever, Liam. Not you or Laura.”

“I know,” he said firmly. “You’re our friend, we trust you.” He gave her arm a gentle squeeze and let go, she released him as well. “And you’re not scary.”

“I’m glad you think so,” she said, smiling shyly.

They arrived at the flat to find Laura at the table, mulling over a particularly official looking paper, a bright burst of flowers next to her.

“What’s all this?” Liam asked, shutting the door behind him. Laura looked up, blinking at them.

“I got offered a position with the guard,” she replied. Then, taking in Trista’s raised eyebrow and Liam’s amused expression, shook her head. “Oh, you mean the flowers don’t you?”

“The offer is also important,” Liam conceded.

“I don’t know where these came from,” Laura said, brushing some of the greenery with her fingers. “There’s no note. Can you magic out where they came from, Trista?”

“I don’t think so,” Trista said.

Liam joined Laura at the table, suppressing a smile. He had a decent idea of where the bouquet might have come from, but if Travis hadn’t sent a note he might not be ready to say anything yet. They could also be from someone else entirely, Liam didn’t know every person his sister encountered in a day.

“What are you smirking about?” she asked, squinting at him.

“I’m not smirking.”

“You are so,” Laura leaned forward, staring him in the face. “Do you know who sent these?”

“I do not,” he said flatly, and honestly. It could have been anyone. Travis hadn’t mentioned sending flowers.

“Do you have an idea?”

Liam hesitated just long enough for her to notice, on purpose. “No.”

“Liar!” Laura exclaimed, she turned to Trista, who was kneeling near their sleeping pallets with their small medicine kit in front of her. “Is he lying?”

“I don’t know…” Trista said uncertainly. “It doesn’t seem like something someone would lie about, does it?”

“You did hurt your tail.” Liam pushed back from the table and joined Trista on the floor, reaching for the medicine kit. “Let me help you.”

“Don’t wriggle out of this.” Laura followed, nudging Liam aside so she could sit beside Trista instead. Rather than ask for the kit, she took it right out of Trista’s hands. “What happened?”

“It’s nothing, really,” Trista insisted.

“Someone stepped on her,” Liam explained. Laura scoffed, pulling salves and bandages from the kit.

“It’s nothing, I can take care of it,” Trista said, an anxious edge to her voice. Laura gave her a serious look, lifting an eyebrow and rolling her shoulders back.

“I’m the elder sister, this is practically my job,” she said, adding pointedly, “Although it’s much easier when I can see what I’m doing.”

Liam moved back, so she wouldn’t feel like both of them were just sitting there staring, and Trista pulled her pin free of her robe. The illusion fell, and Trista looked down at the floor while Laura tended to her.

Her tail was badly skinned, right near the end, to the point of bleeding. Laura clicked her tongue but didn’t say anything as she cleaned the scrape.

“You don’t have to–” Trista began, but Laura cut her off.

“Hush,” she said. Then, turning her attention to Liam. “Who sent the flowers?”

“I don’t know.”

“But you have an idea!”

“That’s all it is!” Liam exclaimed. Trista raised her head to look between the two of them, her anxious expression shifting into an amused one.

“So tell me the idea.”

“I can’t,” Liam said. “If I’m wrong it will just be embarrassing for both of you, and me.”

“It won’t be embarrassing.”

“What are you going to do if I tell you?”

“I don’t know,” Laura said, gently smoothing balm over the scrape and applying bandages. “Nothing embarrassing.”

“I’m sure they’ll reveal themselves when they want.”

“Who do you think it is?”

Liam sighed.

“If I get anything better than a vague idea, I’ll tell you,” he said. “I promise.”

“Fine,” Laura huffed, carefully tying off the end of the bandage.

As soon as she was done, Trista slipped her pin back on.