Drawn to the Flame- Book 1 Council of the Light Series

12

He pulled his top back on, words failed him. He just wanted to be sick.

"I always wondered- all the time we have been travelling, all the time I've been with you in Gelding Town. Even when you came to my home on Earth- you never took it off." She sat up. "The scar on your arm was enough to illustrate your past," her voice halted. "I'm so sorry Clarence."

He hung his head, he wished his mouth would work so he could distract her, deflect her onto anything else. He wanted to detail every moment of their time together the night before because at least if they argued over that it would take the focus off of the mess of scars from the beatings he had received as a child.

"Why didn't you get them healed?" she whispered. "Can't Leprechauns heal themselves?"

Clarence's lips drew into a thin line, all he could do was shush her. His mouth wouldn't work to do anything else. She noticed how uncomfortable he was and she reached for his hand and squeezed it, her eyes met his, held them, and then she changed the subject. "I'd like to Jump somewhere close to civilization. I've been giving it some thought. If we go to the Fringe it will be obvious that we are hiding. We can't speak the languages and we are too different. We need a trade world- somewhere far enough away from a portal that it's remote but close enough that speaking Joining Earth Standard isn't odd. Somewhere where people have enough money to afford a teacher- but you can't play the violin- I think that's how they found you before- you're too good." She kept his hand in hers, spoke quickly so there was never a pause for thought. He felt a great sense of relief and overwhelming gratitude towards her. She understood exactly how he needed her to act.

"Remote but busy, close enough to the central world to feel connected but far enough away that nobody will find us? That's a tall order, Beatrix."

"It might well be," she agreed, "But we need to make a living. Your bag of gold won't last forever."

"What will you do?"

"Open a pub of course, what else? Just a little one though, the best way to hide is in the open. Before I came to Joining Earth I kept myself safe by being useful, by finding a job that gave me things to trade. That's how people are Clarence, a person's true value is dictated by what they can give, not what they can take."

"You are so jaded," he told her. "Always thinking people are driven by self-preservation-"

"The sensible ones are. You are. I am. Bobbin downstairs is deranged for being different. People like him get people killed. Worse, they justify why people should be killed."

Clarence got up and brought the water jug over, Beatrix stank of alcohol and once she had drunk from the jug she grew sleepy and their conversation became more and more abstract until she fell back to sleep. He tried to do the same but woke frequently and by mid-morning his stomach was rumbling and he was desperate to eat. Beatrix was puking into a bucket.

It wasn't until the mid afternoon that they were able to go down stairs, the night before still unaired between them.

Bobbin was sat in his usual spot carving his usual chess pieces, he now had half a set and if he had heard anything of their nighttime antics he didn't say anything more than, "Is your head as bad as mine?" After the agreements were half grunted he switched to other matters. "I've given our problem some thought Clarence if we want to eat we will have to break cover."

"Wishford?" Clarence asked.

Beatrix groaned.

Bobbin nodded, his face grim. "We will have to steal some food," he told them. "I think if we focus on the outlying houses we can get eggs at least."