Page 12 of Overexposed

Auris stilled, this time not for as long. “We could. It would have to be at night. I would not take Jan. I don’t even want to take you.”

I sighed. “I told you. I won’t leave you. And I don’t want you to do that alone either. I… I’m curious.”

He smiled at me. “I know that about you, my sweet. I am not yet sure I fully approve of your sometimes daring curiosity.”

The mention of curiosity made my mind go to questions that had formed over the past two weeks when he’d told me about Tove and Owain, almost like patterns in the sand left behind by the tide. I’d weighed whether to ask them or not, because Auris deserved not to be pressured into telling me things, just like he never pressured me into talking about anything either.

Today, curiosity won out. “Speaking of that, I was wondering, you know. When you told me that story about Tove and Owain? I was wondering what happened. And whether Tove is still around.”

Auris nodded once, not an answer, but an acknowledgement. “You want to know if Owain is like I am.”

“Yeah, kind of. It seemed important, the way you told it.”

Auris nodded. “Then I told it right. But at the same time, I think the best I can do to answer your question is continue the tale, in the right way.”

I put my laptop on the coffee table, my feet in Auris’s lap, and settled in to listen.

Chapter Four

Auris

Tove had not lied to Owain, nor had he made false promises. To remind you, the time was not such that both might have been a given. That Owain agreed -- and agreed so easily -- spoke of his very adult desperation on one hand and childish hope on the other. Well, I shouldn’t call anyone’s hopes childish. Hope can be magic. But then, Owain hoped like a child might hope when he hides under the stairs on Christmas Eve in a bet to see Santa come down the chimney. It was unrealistic.

And yet, not so with Tove. Although, there was a sort of test for Owain. We had to get back to the island, of course, and Tove was in no mood to make us travel by foot or cart.

When we had finished the bread in the marketplace, Tove decided we should leave the village, start the way along a well-traveled road.

“Is your castle that way?” Owain asked. He had turned Tove into some sort of fairy tale lord, and me into the heir most likely.

“It is in that general direction, as the crow flies,” Tove replied. He focused me in a hard, silver stare. “You do not approve.”

I lowered my eyes and shook my head. “It’s not my place to approve or to tell you what to do,” I said.

“Perhaps not, but you are old and experienced enough to have an opinion that isn’t just gilded in fancies and follies. Speak your mind, and I will judge the merit of its contents.”

That was a very typical Tove thing to say. He had lived through the golden age of natural philosophy, and whenever he told stories of Athens, his eyes got a faraway look that made me wish I could see back into the past through them.

Owain glanced up at us, but he kept quiet. When he wasn’t looking, I jerked my chin his way.

Tove gave me the look of a displeased teacher. “Have I not taught you that words are like wind and music? They can fill any crack, and they can carry invisible meanings like pollen or a story caught in a melody.”

I cleared my throat. “Of course. I just kept thinking about that baker. I imagined what he would do if he found rats feasting on his grain, those sharp-toothed creatures that people say are vile and evil. What if someone told the baker there lived a rat in his grain?”

“He’d get a mouser for sure,” Owain said. “There’s not a baker who doesn’t at least have one.”

Tove smiled at Owain’s innocent comment. “You are very bright, young Owain. He would get a mouser. They have sharper teeth than rats, and good mousers are rare. But even a whole nest of chatty rats wouldn’t stand a chance to one, don’t you agree, Owain?”

“Yes, sire,” Owain said, the address coming off his lips a little wobbly. “And you can always get a second if there’s really a rat plague.”

At this, Tove looked properly amused. “Do you hear, Auris? You can get a second.”

It was quite clear that Tove disagreed with my reservations. But as I said, when the sun started its descent, Owain’s first real test came.

By then, the road was empty, and we were alone. I knew Tove would have known if humans had been near enough to see us, so I wasn’t worried about that. I was worried Owain would start screaming once he was in Tove’s arms, that the boy would fight Tove’s hold, drop to his death… I did not like the idea of that at all.

Tove kneeled in front of Owain. Night had fully fallen, and we could see but outlines -- we meaning Owain and myself. Vampires see quite clearly in the night.

“Young Owain,” Tove said. “I will share the first secret that you are to keep now. Do you promise to keep it, as my ward’s servant?”

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