Page 49 of Ties of Legacy

Avery

Securing places on a barge heading upriver was simple, especially without the cart in tow. She had picked a vessel designed for passengers rather than goods which meant it even had comfortable stabling for Nutmeg.

Lorne had offered to keep the mare until Avery returned for her cart, but she didn’t want to be separated from her faithful equine companion. Plus, as she told him with a grin, she was used to walking long distances, but she had no desire to do so carrying a heavy pack. With two of them, there was no question of riding, but that didn’t mean Nutmeg wouldn’t be of use.

“Ahh,” Avery sighed with pleasure as she joined Elliot at the rail to watch the shore pass by. “River travel suits the Oakden Legacy’s slower pace of life.”

“I always loved it when my mother and I would travel on one of the rivers,” Elliot said. “When I was sixteen, I made plans to travel to the coast and sign up as a sailor on one of the merchant ships.”

“What stopped you?” she asked, trying to imagine him as a sailor. She didn’t like the idea—perhaps because they would have never met.

“My mother.” He said the words shortly, his tone loaded with a mix of negative emotions. “She’s an expert at guilt and manipulation.”

Avery’s eyebrows rose. It was more than he’d ever said about his mother—other than about her love of travel.

“She likes new and exciting.” He kept his eyes on the riverbank. “But she isn’t nearly so keen about work. So it suited her very well to have a traveling companion to do all the tasks she didn’t want to do herself.”

“Where is she now?” Avery dared to ask, hoping her question wouldn’t shut down the conversation.

“I have no idea. And I don’t want to know.” He gave a sharp laugh. “Nowhere near Bolivere, that’s for sure.”

Avery’s eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. What did Elliot’s mother have against Bolivere?

“You did leave her eventually,” Avery said. “But not to become a sailor.”

Elliot sighed. “She convinced me I had no choice but to stay with her until I became an adult. And when that time came…” He trailed off, something dark crossing his face. “All I wanted by then was stability,” he concluded eventually. “Not a new form of transportation.” He turned to look upriver. “But I do like the water. That’s why I decided to pick a capital city to settle in—since they’re all built on the water in one way or another.” He finally turned to look at her, his smile back. “Since I love pumpkin, Sovar seemed the right choice.”

His unexpected comment surprised a laugh out of Avery. But behind it, her heart hurt. She had learned to love travel in the company of her warm and caring parents—she hadn’t needed stability or a proper home because they were her stability and her home. But Elliot had been forced into travel by a selfish parent who had apparently weighed his well-being asunimportant beside her comfort. No wonder he didn’t want to travel anymore.

For a brief second she considered what it would be like to settle down herself. To have a regular house and tend a garden. To make friends with the neighbors. And to sit at night by the fire, with Elliot at her side.

But the image wouldn’t stick. She could see the value and comfort in such a life, but she couldn’t imagine herself in it—no matter who was beside her.

Thankfully, Elliot knew nothing about her silent imaginings, his attention still on the shore. And though their histories and future dreams made the two of them incompatible, she could still enjoy their shared journey in the moment. Her parents had always encouraged her to live in the moment, rather than falling into the trap of always dreaming of somewhere more amazing that she might visit in the future.

It took three days on the barge to reach the bustling capital city of Glandore, but it only took two days for Frank to find her. She heard his caw before she saw him, followed by the ringing, familiar words.

“Merchant girl! Merchant girl!”

She laughed, turning to greet him as he swooped in. His bright plumage was brilliant in the sunlight as he perched on the barge’s rail.

“Frank! I was starting to think something had happened to you! We crossed the border into Glandore nearly two days ago.”

“Water!” the parrot barked, swiveling his head, his eyes peering everywhere with equal distaste. “Filthy stuff!”

“It’s actually very clean, nicely flowing water,” she said with feigned innocence.

“Filth!” he snapped. “Utter filth.”

“Frank?” Elliot asked in a strangled voice, apparently recovering from the momentary silence brought on by the bird’s dramatic entry.

“He’s an old friend,” Avery said affectionately. “He normally joins me as soon as I cross the border into Glandore. Unlike me, he doesn’t like to leave his home kingdom.”

“I’ve heard that when people try taking Glandorian parrots across the border, very little of the Glandore Legacy’s effects remain. They become almost the same as regular parrots.”

“Who are you?” the bird cawed rudely, training one of his beady eyes on Elliot with an unnerving expression of disgust.

“I’m Elliot.” Elliot held out a fist, like you would for a dog to sniff, only to think better of it and drop his hand.

---