NIGEL

CHAPTER 7: UNEXPECTED

Spending the night with the Loveland's in their odd home was not exactly peaches and cream. In fact it was incredibly uncomfortable. Lily and I squeezed into Kieran's small straw bed which he offered to us while he slept on the sofa. I didn't normally sleep for very long or much at all, but Lily did. Her head rested on my chest and I thought she had gone to sleep when suddenly she lifted her head up to look at me. "What's the matter?" I asked, confused.
            Lily sighed. She seemed apprehensive but it was clear something was weighing on her mind.  Finally she came out and said it. "Are you happy Nigel?"
            I furrowed my eyebrows, taken aback by her seemingly out of the blue question. "What?" Was my immediate response. "Of course, why would you ask me that?" My tone sounded slightly defensive and I wasn't sure if it was Lily or myself who I was trying to convince.
            "Nigel, you're not happy and you haven't been since I met you. Earlier, you told Rosalie that you were 'content' with your life. Happy and content are different things." Responded Lily.
            "Where is this coming from?" I asked her.
            She shrugged. "I just want you to be happy and if you're not then I wanted you to know I'm willing to do anything you need me to do to make that possible."
            I smiled, moved by her words. "Thank you," I managed to say. Lily grinned at me reassuringly and I returned it with a kiss.
#

            The next morning, Rosalie Loveland prepared us a messy breakfast which I hardly ate and Kieran graciously made us some actually drinkable tea as opposed to his mother's confused cooking. The human side of me liked certain foods and tea was definitely one of them. It was a custom in both Severno and Andella, but Lily is the one who liked it even more than myself. We always had tea on our cart and some of it we would sell and some of it we traded for more exotic kinds from far west Laitharia and the southern spice of Ibhan.
            Rosalie fretted about the room, pacing back and forth, forgetting who we were every five minutes until Kieran posed a distraction for her in the next room. That left Lily, myself and Kieran sitting awkwardly in the eat in kitchen (if you could even call it that) chatting casually about practically nothing.
            "So, you guys are leaving today?" Kieran asked.
            "I'm afraid so." I answered respectfully. Truthfully, I actually did like Kieran when I first met him, or at least when I first had a real conversation with him. He was very sweet and intelligent. But, as far as I was concerned Lily and I were leaving so there was no reason to get attached. It was easier to be aloof and move on. Little did I know that Kieran was not the type to give up easily.
            "Where's all your stuff then?" Asked Kieran.
            "Being kept safe by the Lord. What's his name?" Said Lily off handedly.
            "Lord Bernard May." Answered Kieran.
"Ah that's it!" exclaimed Lily. "sorry, there are so many Lords and we travel so frequently from town to town that it's impossible to remember them all."
"I totally understand." Chuckled Kieran, rolling up his sleeve. I was struck by how tan Kieran was for someone with his typically fair features and that of his mother who looked locked inside all day. It's not as though he was super dark or even close to the shade of Lily's skin, but I expected a redhead with freckles strewn about his face to be as pale as myself. While I was studying Kieran, I felt something move past my shin. I looked to Lily, figuring she had accidentally brushed me with her leg, but no. I looked under the stable, slightly startled to see a tabby cat. I felt immediately silly for my little fright, but I was not expecting to see a cat, since it hadn't been around yesterday.
"Oh I see you found my cat Evie!" Said Kieran, picking up the beautiful little black and white feline as it gave a sweet and quiet 'meow'" The cat purred in Kieran's arms. "Quite the cat." I remarked. "You have no idea," said Kieran with a chuckle, "She's too smart for her own good this one." The cat hopped off of Kieran's lap and walked over to Lily, staring at her with its big yellow eyes longingly. Lily finally picked up the cat, who was all too eager, and it sat peacefully in Lily's lap as she stroked its soft fur.
We continued our morning chat, all of us up far too early but Kieran was an early riser, I didn't sleep much and Lily couldn't stay asleep on such an uncomfortable bed. We waited for the morning to fully bloom and then proceeded to say our goodbyes to Kieran, who looked very disappointed at our departure, Rosalie, who didn't even know who she was saying goodbye to, and most importantly, Evie the cat. Before we left, Rosalie did, of course, another strange thing by taking Lily's hand and saying rather sadly, "I'm afraid it's so my dear. Don't despair, it'll be alright in the end." She said with a warm smile before transforming once again into her usual mad state of being.
Lily clearly was put off by this. She was not herself for the rest of the day actually. Immediately as we walked out of the house, I asked Lily what that woman could have possibly meant by that or what she was referring to. "It's nothing Nigel." Lily told me trying to maintain her calm demeanor, though I knew something was wrong. Lily normally told me everything, so I figured she would let it out in her own time. I would know what was bothering her eventually so I didn't want to press the issue too far.
Lily and I picked up some items to take with us back on the road. Lily was very good with a  sword and a bow by this time, and I didn't need much because I found there were so many things my body was capable of that didn't require me learning to use a weapon. Besides, I didn't have the patience for it anyway. Then we went on to get our cart back from Lord May who wanted to trade with us some last minute items he had been eying as we packed up. Everything carried on as normal and leaving a town was never very exciting. The most thrilling part was seeing the gates open to reveal the vastness of the now rarely touched forest. Every time it was both so frightening and so exciting because we were moving on to the next 'adventure' as Lily and I called it.
We were on the road for quite some time, the road becoming much less tamed and overgrown which we knew nobody was planning on fixing. The trees swayed in the wind, beams of light breaking through holes in the forest canopy. I didn't like to be in the sun for too long. I wasn't surprised given what I am, but again I didn't like being reminded of it. Lily's roots were of Ibhan, which was nothing but sun all the time in such a hot place. She relished any opportunity to feel the warm rays of the sun on her face, but that was also most people. If I was in the sun for too long I would become horribly burned. It would be the equivalent to a pale person sitting out in the sun unprotected for hours, but for me it only took maybe an hour so before I could feel the burning sensation creep across my skin.
I turned to say something to Lily who still looked a bit uneasy, I assumed from whatever it was Rosalie Loveland was talking about before we left, when I heard a strange noise. "Lily quiet for a minute please." I said, stopping the cart. Lily and I listened intently, the chirps and other familiar sounds of the forest in our ears. Then, I heard it again! A little "meow" coming from the back of our cart. I jumped down and walked around to the back worried that poor Kieran's little cat had jumped onto our cart with us. To my amazement, I was shocked to see not only the cat under the cart's tarp, but Kieran as well! "What are you doing?!" I cried, the cat squirming out of Kieran's grip and hopping down to the ground.
Lily of course immediately came over and realized what I had been screaming about. Kieran smiled sheepishly and got himself up to face us. "I'm sorry, I know you probably don't want me here, but I just-" he tried to explain when Lily cut him off.
"What in the name of the gods do you think you are doing?!" She cried.
Kieran sighed. "I wanted to help you! I was fascinated by what my mother said to you and more importantly, this was my opportunity to get out of there! My mom can't even remember my name half the time! I have my own magic sensitivity that can never be explored if I stay stuck in Robin's Nest!"
Lily and I exchanged sympathetic glances. I knew right away what she was thinking. Kieran reminded us both a little bit about how I felt leaving my home all those years ago. Lily sighed exasperatedly. "Kieran you can't just sneak onto our cart like that! I mean, what was your plan here? We had to find you eventually!"
Kieran shrugged. "I didn't think that far ahead. I just shoved as much as I could in a bag, grabbed Evie and left."
"And why did you bring the cat!?" exclaimed Lily, gesturing to the little creature, purring against her leg.
"I couldn't just leave her!" Said Kieran defensively. "I don't think my mother ever realized we had a cat! Besides, Evie wanted to come." He said half-jokingly, letting the cat jump back into his arms. Lily and I remained silent for a while. Kieran finally blurted out, "Oh please please please let me come with you! I can help! I can do some of my own seeing into the future! I'm clairvoyant sensitive myself, though not exactly trained, but that can be improved if I keep practicing! I'll take care of Evie and I promise I'll-" He went on and on, stuttering and nervous for what felt like forever. I never met a person who talked more than me in my entire life! Lily was sassy when she needed to be, but was otherwise a relatively quiet person. Kieran had more nervous energy than I had ever seen.
"Alright!" cried Lily just to get Kieran to stop talking. Kieran paused, anxiously waiting for our answer. Lily threw me a look, to which I nodded and eventually she let out a firm. "Fine, you can come." To Kieran who looked like he was going to burst at the seams. Kieran leaped up and hugged both of us, thanking us profusely. "Yes, yes darling, enough of that." I said, practically peeling him off of me.
"You hear that Evie?" Said Kieran to our new furry companion. "We're going to Andella!" the cat meowed in response and hopped back up onto the cart.
"Don't make us regret this." Said Lily to Kieran.
"You won't I swear!" Kieran insisted, sitting himself back on the cart with Evie the cat.
I took a deep breath and walked with Lily back to the front of the cart, readying the mule whom Lily and I dubbed Mumps, and getting ourselves situated to start our journey again with an added companion. "Oh dear." I said to myself with a sigh. Lily and I had been alone for the longest time it felt like. We hadn't had a third person with us since Taji, and I was unsure how well this would work out. Kieran seemed nice enough, but I didn't know if him being around would disrupt anything between Lily and I. Lily nodded in response, looking back at Kieran who happily played with Evie on the back of the cart full of miscellaneous items to be sold.
"Well, this should be interesting." whispered Lily to me sarcastically.
I chuckled. "I think it will." and off we went. "Oh dear."  I repeated, "Oh dear, oh dear." The dark wood lying before us like it always did, yet somehow, this time, appeared entirely different.