The Tragedy of Yinx - 8. Leaving Avelin

Laneer

Well, if we are going to be traveling this long, Yinx should get some better clothes. The outfit he has on now does not cover enough skin. His arms are completely bare and you can see his hip bones easily. Obviously that is not at all good enough here. It is snowing here.

Yinx argued that we’d only be using the winter clothing for about three days at the most.

I guess I can’t really argue with that.I managed to convince him to get a fur-lined parka and some nice gloves.

He can take it off when we are no longer in the cold. We can’t have him getting sick as soon as we start now can we?

I told Beatrix about the trip and she practically ran home to get her things ready.

Now I have to ask at least two guards to come with us. I have a feeling this trip will need more than just three people. No offence to Yinx, but he is blind.

I could always just ask the twins. I heard them complain about guard duty before. They want to be out of the castle and patrol the streets.

Surely they would not decline my offer? I would be a bit surprised if they did.

First, I need to let my father know that I will be gone for a few weeks.

I have no idea how long I’ll be gone but it would not hurt to let him know that I will be gone.

A few servants guards nod to me as I make my way to the war room. Of course, I nod back. I may be spoiled, but I am not an animal.

Well...bad choice of wording.

The only one in the room is Andromel, my father’s adviser.

“Hello, Laneer. Looking for Lionel?” He smiles.

“Yes,” I say. “Have you seen him? I will be accepting a contract and I do not know how long I’ll be gone.”

“A contract?” He raises an eyebrow. “What sort of contract?”

I just shrug to play it off. “I am supposed to escort a person to the desert.”
Yes I am lying. Well not entirely. I have a feeling that if they learned that I was helping a Serendian, they would try to stop me.

“Oh. That will be quite the journey. I am afraid your father is a bit busy. I’ll let him know of your absence.”

Ah...I guess I should have expected this. Not even Andromel thinks that this is important.

“Alright then.” I smile bitterly. “I’ll see you later, Andromel.”

He nods and I make my way to my room to pack my things.

Should I have expected this? Yes. Should I have known not to get my hopes up? Also yes, but I did anyway because I am stupid.

Of course father would be too busy to care about his son leaving the city. Maybe he is angry with me. He ignored me this morning, so obviously I have done something wrong.

Was it because I skipped on that stupid party and stayed with Yinx and Irene? I am pretty sure the party guests were fine without me. I was just helping to move some things into Yinx’s house. I will not be sorry for it.

If Father is mad at that then I am fine with leaving without him knowing. Obviously he does not care about me. Why should I let him know? I am pretty sure that even if my cold dead body turned up here, he still would not care.

I am supposed to be traveling in the desert. Where exactly are we going in the desert? I’ve never been there. Only heard stories about how there are cities who practice magic. Some even worship demons. That is terrifying to think about.

Does Yinx worship demons? When I mentioned the Morgoren shrine, he did not seem too pleased to hear the name.

I thought Morgoren also watched over demons. He keeps them in line. Shouldn’t a demon worshipper be happy with that? Or maybe the opposite? They would hate Morgoren for keeping demons in chains?

It hurts my head to think about it. If Yinx happens to be a demon worshipper...well, let us hope that is not the case.

Yinx wanted to leave tomorrow morning. I guess I have plenty of time to get things ready.

I had offered the idea of taking horses but Yinx said it was a bad idea. Something about creatures targeting horses in the magic forest.

If that did not terrify me before, it sure does now. Seriously, why do we need to cut through the forest? I would not mind walking around it. It would make things so much safer.

It can’t be for any pretty sights. Yinx is blind, so why would he so badly want to go there?

Maybe I will figure it out when I am there. Even if I really don’t want to go there.

For now, I should talk to the twins and think of any last minute things I will need to bring.

~~
~~

It is the next morning now.

Everyone is supposed to meet at the northern entrance of the city’s walls.

I already saw the twins making their way there now.

Well this is it. The start of my first time exploring the world. I guess it is not really exploring but it will feel like that to me. Beatrix has at least been to the mountains. I am not too sure about the twins. They were born here in the city but I have no idea if they have traveled anywhere else.

The twins seem the type that will take this a little too seriously however. Whenever I or my father are in the room, they instantly go silent and stand at attention. I was lucky to hear them complaining about their guard duty. If we are lucky, they might loosen up around me during this trip.

The twins are a brother and sister. They both have short hair and plenty of scars all over their bodies and faces. The sister has a missing eye however.

I have a few scars as well, but I can hide them pretty well. I guess you could say I am a bit self conscious. Thank the gods Yinx is blind. That honestly makes me feel a little better about myself.

The twins always try and do things together which is why everyone simply calls out ‘twins’ and they both know to show up. Their real names are Nalgon and Nelga.

Perhaps I was too tired to think, but I tried to find my father again. I really should not have bothered. He was still ‘too busy’.

I simply ignore any hurt feelings, threw my pack on my shoulder, and make my way out of the castle.

The feeling of this upcoming adventure soon melts away any bad thought. Excitement sparks to life and I hurry to find Yinx.

I do not think I have ever been so excited!

Obviously I will be coming back, but it feels as if I am saying goodbye to Avelin. It feels good. I have never had any bad thoughts about the city, but I am happy I get to finally see something new.

I see Yinx and Beatrix talking with the twins. Nalgon waves a hand in front of Yinx’s face.

I walk faster to shove him away but I see Yinx laugh and swat at his hand.

Ok, nevermind. That was still rude however.

“Good morning, stranger.” Beatrix sleepily smiles at me. “Ready for some adventure?”

I can’t help but grin. “You know I am!”

Yinx smiles and pulls out three folded pieces of paper from the inside of his new parka.

I must say, the grey fur really looks nice with his hair and eyes.

“This is a map for everyone. Don’t worry, Irene marked it out for me.” He laughs to himself. The dork. “It shows the spots to meet up if we happen to separate.”

Everyone opens their map. There are three yellow circles on the map. One of them looks a little too close to a blue shaded area.

We really are going through the forest. I know I have thought it over multiple times, but it still scares me. It just kind of hit me that we are really going there.

“The trip should take about a week if we do not go through a lot of troubles.” Yinx says.

“How long did it take you to get here?” Nelga asks. Wow. She just spoke in front of me. Maybe they won’t be so serious afterall!

Yinx smiles for a moment before answering. “A long time.”

Ah, the same response for when I asked. I wonder what he could be hiding? He never seems to give a lot of details with things. I am pretty sure the only thing he does not mind talking about is his sight.

Beatrix claps her hands. “Well! Let us begin, shall we?”

~~
~~

The sun has finally begun to rise over the horizon. The city has disappeared into the trees around us and we finally make our way to wherever Yinx is supposed to be.

Yinx stands in the front to lead us on. It is a bit strange to follow a blind person, but I trust him. Beatrix is next to me and she weirdly does not say much. It is a bit of an uncomfortable silence. The twins stand in the back, already keeping guard.

It is a bit interesting how everyone was talking before I joined up. Again, maybe I am overthinking it, but I feel like this is my fault.

I try not to let it get to me. I even stare at Yinx’s ass to distract myself. However, the fact that the only noise being made is armored boots hitting the ground makes me uneasy.

“You all are rather quiet.” Yinx says. “I thought I would have been annoyed by all the noise by now.” He turns and smiles at everyone.

Beatrix chuckles and lets out a sigh. “I am just tired. Did we really have leave so early in the morning?”

The twins mumble their agreements and then they laugh.

“Had I known you were all a bunch of night owls, maybe I would have left last night.”

Instantly, everyone starts talking again.

Beatrix tells everyone about our little stories. She mentions one lady who wanted us to murder her husband for cooking her pet chicken on accident.

Obviously we did not kill the man, but he did want us to sneak him away so he could never see the lady again.

That got everyone laughing.

The twins give us a bit of details about their life. They are orphans since birth, their mother died giving birth and their father had died in a previous war against the Serendians. They tried to assure Yinx that they were not bitter about it.

They had lived in the orphanage till they were about 13 years old. Then they decided to train together to protect themselves. I could tell they were a bit hesitant to mention how bad the streets had been back then, but I simply agreed with them. Mother made sure that Father placed more guards in the city.

The twins then joined the ranks of the Avelin guard, only to get guard duty. Maybe when we get back, I can try to pull a few strings to move them somewhere else.

Yinx stays quiet throughout most of the conversation. Every now and then he’d laugh or look back at me, but other than that, he just keeps his gaze forward.

When Beatrix and the twins continue to talk to themselves, I move up to walk next to Yinx.

“Hey.” I say.

Yinx smirks but does not turn to face me. “Hey you.”

“I thought you could use a bit of company up here. I would not want you to feel lonely.”

Yinx laughs and glances at me. “Maybe I like being alone.”

“Is it alright if we are alone together then?” I smile.

Yinx raises an eyebrow. “Oh my! I never expected the prince to be so forward! Whatever shall I do?” He covers his chest and privates and poses in a dramatic way.

“Oh shit.” I feel myself blush. “That did sound pretty dirty didn’t it?” I am an idiot.

He laughs before walking again. “Yes, just a bit.”

He turns to look at the rest of the group and then looks at me. “How are you supposed to hunt with others around?” He whispers.

Ah yes. “I have been trying to figure that out myself honestly.” I say.

A few people in the castle know about the curse. I know for a fact that the twins are not apart of that crowd.

“Should I tell them?” I ask. Yinx shakes his head.

“I would not want to reveal things like that.” He says. “Especially in the middle of nowhere. Three against two does not seem rather fair.”

“Yeah.” I nod. “Beatrix is a good fighter, though.”

Yinx bites his lip as he glances at her. “Is she? Then I do not know how we would survive against them.”

I look at him a bit confused. “I am pretty sure the twins would not be able to handle all three of us at once.”

Now Yinx looks confused. “What? You think Beatrix would not mind?”

Oh. I see where we got mixed up.

Oh! He was willing to fight with me! Oh gods, my heart!

“Uh-Beatrix already knows. She is very much fine with it. She was actually jealous you got to see my wolf before her.”

“Really?” He says in surprise. “Am I the first to ever see your wolf?”

I try to think if there was anyone else. Of course my Father and Mother saw me, but they both would have seen that anyway, so they do not count. I do not think anyone else has seen it honestly. Maybe that one night when I lost control?

“I think you are the first.” I say slowly. Still not too sure.

Yinx smiles to himself. “I guess my charms really did lure you in, huh?”

I just laugh and feel a blush climbing my neck. You have no idea.

“I know you are scared of Drulai.” He says. “I believe the most dangerous things there are pixies. Except they only try to steal your things and eat the brains of animals.”

I shiver at that. Yinx laughs.

“Are you sure it is not dangerous?” I ask. “I-I would hate if you get hurt and I have to carry you the whole way.”

He actually giggles. Giggles.

“What if I have to carry you the entire way instead?” He smiles.

Well that’s a thought.

“I would like to see you try.” I chuckle. Yinx barely reaches my shoulder. I doubt he could pick me up.

“Is there a reason we are headed to your home?” I ask.

Yinx’s smile disappears. Dammit.

“Um...I do not know why I am headed back, actually.”

I frown at that. “What do you mean?”

Yinx turns to me. “I don’t want to go back, yet I have to.”

Now I am not sure this trip is a good idea. “What do you mean that you have to? Nobody has to do anything. If you do not want to go, we can easily just turn around. We’ve only walked about two hours.”

“It is not that easy. My...Papa...he said something was happening. Apparently I have to be there to help him.”

Well, this is interesting. He’s finally talking about family.

“Is he nice?” I ask. I kind of only have one idea of a father. So far they tend to be mean and cold.

Yinx does not say anything for awhile. I probably should not have pushed. Clearly he has some trust issues.

Surprisingly, he does reply about a minute later. “He is nice.”

I think that is all he is going to say, but he keeps going.

“My Papa was very sweet. Not only to me, but to everyone. Everyone loves him for it. I just think that maybe he was too nice to...some people. Mainly those that did not deserve it.”

He says the last sentence in a bitter tone.

I smile anyways. This is progress!

“Thank you for telling me.” I say. “My Mother was very nice as well. I think the only times she wasn’t was when she was speaking with or about my Father.”

Yinx tilts his head in confusion. “How come I have never heard about your Mother? Everyone sure loves to talk about your Father.”

Well I have not spoken about my Mother in awhile. I think about her a lot, but nobody really asks about her.

“She was banished.” I say. “My Father grew tired of how she would say bad things about him in front of everyone. He did what he thought was best and banished her. I guess everyone also feels as if that means to never speak of her again.”

Yinx frowns and stares at the ground as we walk.

Another silence comes between us. I do hear Beatrix cackling behind us however. I am glad they are enjoying themselves at least.

“Have you heard from her?” Yinx asks.

I shake my head. “No, I have not. Even if I wanted to, she is not allowed to try and contact me. It is forbidden with her banishment.”

“Really? That is stupid.”

I laugh. “Yeah it is.”

“Do you miss her?”

I sigh before answering. “All the time.”

Yinx bites his lip before speaking again. “Sorry if that was personal. I will not ask such things again.”

Oh hell no!

“No! No, really it is fine. I do not mind sharing things with you.” I say.

Yinx looks at me, or my shoulder, and gives a small smile.

“Thank you.” He says.

I smile. “Of course.”

I must say, the fact he can never seem to tell where my head is, is adorable in some strange way.

~~
~~

We walk for about another hour in silence. This time it is not as awkward. Beatrix and Nelga seem to be getting along nicely.

The woods around us is rather pretty. There is not as much snow, but there seems to be twice as many trees. Every now and then we’d come across a fallen tree that has landed on the road.

How did Yinx even managed to survive out here? There are so many things that could attack him. Wolves, bears, or even a damn griffin.

I have a feeling he was not alone. It seems way too impossible for him to manage his way around danger.

Well, this is officially the farthest I have been from home. I just wish the scenery was a little different. It is still similar to home. I want to see new things!

We make a small stop for some lunch. Yinx pulls out a bunch of bread rolls for everybody. How he has so many in that bag of his is beyond me. Everyone got at least three!

Everyone sits together to eat.

Yinx is busy digging around in his bag. He stops and just stares in front of him for a moment. He blinks a few times before he seems to remember where he is.

“I’ll be right back.” He says out of nowhere and moves to walk into the woods.

I frown as I watch him leave.

“Relax.” Beatrix says next to me. “He is probably just taking a break from your constant hounding.”

The twins try to hide their laughter. I roll my eyes and shove Beatrix from her seat. She falls onto the snow beneath her cackling her heart out.

“You’re such a pain.” I say. I end up laughing anyway.

About 15 minutes pass and Yinx has not returned.

“So, uh…” Nalgon says. “He didn’t ditch us, right?”

Beatrix just laughs. “Of course not. Right, Laneer?”

Should I check on him?

Beatrix doesn’t see me laugh and so she narrows her eyes at me.

“Right, Laneer?” She says again, a bit more dangerously.

I stand up and move to where he may have headed. I easily pick up the spiced-honey scent and follow it.

“I’ll be back.” I call out.

He wouldn’t have tried to run for it, right?