Page 17 of The Gargoyle's Glade
Hailon waved, and they walked over. The mixed flock of birds hanging around Merry was now five. Instead of circling above the women, two hawks, a raven, an owl, and a falcon had all perched on the roof to watch instead. A pair of rabbits and aracoon had joined in, and were following them as they walked. My teeth ground together, a distaste for the growing following giving me heartburn.
“We’ll be set for planting soon,” Hailon enthused. “Merry has our garden beds all planned out. Any requests?”
I eyed the tool Merry had in her hands. It was the same trenching spade she’d been using before. It looked even more wickedly sharp now that I was seeing it up close. My hands ached to snatch it from her, to keep her safe from it.
The chattering and flapping from the animals gouged into my brain like talons, even from a distance. The whole nearby forest seemed alive, thrumming with sound. I couldn’t think past it all for a moment and snapped out, “Where did you get this? You could hurt yourself.” Merry’s expression shuttered, joy replaced by confusion, then anger. The words tasted like acid as they left my tongue. This was not how I wanted to speak to her. Not at all. I just wanted her to be careful. “It’s… sharp.” The pitiful addition made me cringe.
Merry’s normally bright tone was cool when she addressed me. “I didn’t realize using a simple gardening tool, same as I’ve done my entire life, was such a cause for concern.” Her hair caught the sunlight, a fiery halo burning around her.
“It is when you decide to work alone.” I put my hand out, and she placed the wooden handle into my palm. Relief at the tool being away from her loosened my chest, but only a little.
“I’m not alone. Hailon has been with me most of the day.” Merry crossed her arms, head tilting as she leveled a glare at me. “And I borrowed it from them.” She gestured toward the construction crew.
Ribs burning, words continued to fall from my mouth. “You were certainly alone this morning when you were digging all around the cabin you’ve barely moved into.” Her mouth opened, then closed again. “Have you no self-preservation at all? Firstthe windows and doors all wide open, even while you slept and now this?”
“Coltor!” Hailon barked.
Merry was pink in the cheeks, and I could feel the heat of her anger as she glared at me, but that was nothing compared to when she opened her mouth to blister me with her words. “Clearly Iwasn’talone if you were watching me. And how doyouknow I slept with the windows open?”
My accidental admission was obvious, and there would be no covering it up. “I?—”
“AndifI was, what business is it ofyours?” Her volume had hardly risen but her tone was cutting.
My pride was wounded, well-earned embarrassment leaving me to stumble over my own words. “It’s unsafe to be so casual about?—”
“I have no interest in being punished for things you found while performing a security check I didn’t request to begin with.” She spat the words, and my whole body buzzed like it was full of angry bees. “Or perhaps there’s another reason you’re creeping around my cabin at odd hours? Walking into bathrooms, checking windows, watching me work? Surely there are easier ways to get a free show?” The angry flush blossomed into her neck and chest, and I felt the full heat of her fury. She held her arms out from her body, the shadows and sunlight making it look like she’d spread her wings. Between that and the halo because of her hair, she had become the embodiment of a firebird.
A stunning, angry firebird.
Hailon was alarmed. “Wait, walking into bathrooms?”
Shame flooded me. I was still messing it all up, but I couldn’t seem to stop. It was like I was watching myself fail as tragically as possible from outside my body. “Merry, I?—”
“I’m not a child, Coltor, nor a woman who requires someone else to do simple tasks for me. I can use a spade, or a knife for that matter, anytime I wish. And not that I need to justify it to you, but I damn sure can take care of myself. I can even do it scared if I have to, that’s nothing new to me. If you have something to say to me, just come out and say it. You agreed to me coming here, even after you were offered alternatives. So if you changed your mind, if you want me gone, ask me to leave. I’ll go.”
“No, that’s not—” I reached out a hand, grasping for any part of the last several minutes back that I could grab.
“Then what I do and how I do it is none of your concern.” Merry turned on her heel and strode back toward Hailon’s cabin.
Hailon stared at me, expression caught between horror and fury. “What iswrongwith you?” The words were coated in venom, but true worry came through in her gaze.
“Saints, I wish I knew.” I pinched the bridge of my nose between a thumb and forefinger, willing the sudden pounding in my skull to stop. At least the buzzing in my chest had gone.
“Well, figure. It. Out.” Hailon’s voice never raised, but the words punched at me like she’d shouted them. “Merry’s dealing with plenty too, if you hadn’t noticed. The city—everything here—is new and strange to her. She’s dependent on the kindness of others to get her feet under her, which for her—for any of us, I think—is very difficult to accept. I just barely got through telling her it’s fine to ask for help and then you come at her with accusations? For what? Now I look like a liar. I don’t appreciate being made to look like a liar, Coltor.” Hailon’s voice was sharp as it dropped low. “Did you go into her bathroom?”
“I did, but not for no reason, I swear.” Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s happening to me.” I scrubbed my hand over my chest, worried my last meal might make a second appearance. “I’m truly not trying to be overbearing, or rude, ormake you look like a liar.” My insides were all in upheaval, my stomach twisting in on itself, my heart beating a strange rhythm. Even my skin felt too tight and itchy. It took everything I had not to run away, to deploy my wings and fly off to suffer my mortification alone.
Hailon inhaled slowly, her tone deadly when she finally spoke again. “Do you remember what happened last time you weren’t trying to be rude? With me?”
I clenched. “I do. Seir put a dagger into my thigh. Despite your quick action and healing talent, I still wear the scar.” I’d used it as a reminder more than once, in fact.
“Precisely.” She stepped right up to me, her finger poking into my sternum. She only stood as tall as my chest, but that made no difference. “I will personally give you a matching one if you don’t mind your manners with my friend.” She stepped back, producing her obsidian-handled herb knife from somewhere in her skirts and pointed the blade my direction. “And that’s not even considering what she’ll do on her own. It would be wise not to underestimate or antagonize her.”
“I can see that.” She tilted her head, eyes blazing. “I understand, Hailon. I do.” I held the useless excuses that sprang on my tongue back, the taste of them bitter. I deserved her ire and owed Merry an apology. She’d done nothing wrong. After several long, silent moments, I asked, “Are the animals acting unusual?” I hoped the change in subject would allow me to recover some of my dignity.
“Yes.” Hailon huffed out a breath. “They definitely are.”
“They’re very noisy.”
