Page 18 of Ryld's Shadows

The room was neat and tidy. A bed, dresser, nightstands. None of the items Cress had brought with him remained. “This was the room Cress stayed in, but I don’t see anything that belongs to him here now.”

“Okay. Good. If I find anything, we’ll ask Lysander where to send it.” Hank put his bags down and took something from around his neck that he placed on the nightstand. “There we are. Now I can sleep here.”

Ryld shifted on his feet, staring at the nightstand.

“Ryld?”

“It’s rude to ask about personal things. But not always.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess. I think it’s okay to ask as long as you let it go if the person doesn’t want to tell you.” He picked the object up again to show it to Ryld. It was a stone, gray patterned with green and gold, with a hole. The stone was strung on a leather cord. “It’s atekstone. From my mother. I don’t know if goblins in other worlds even have them. It’s to keep your child safe.”

“Oh. How does it work?”

“The parent pushes some of their shielding into the stone. But mostly, the ritual’s about love.” Creases had appeared at the corners of Hank’s golden eyes, a sheen on them of water gathering. “A parent’s love for their child. To keep them safe. I tell myself… I tell myself I can still feel her in the stone. I don’t know. It’s probably my imagination.”

“You miss her. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” Hank wiped at his eyes. “I do. I miss them both. I don’t know why it’s hitting me so hard tonight.”

Ryld lifted his hand. Very slowly he placed it on Hank’s arm. Touch was a strange and dangerous thing. Mostly, he didn’t like it when someone touched him. But sometimes he ached with the need for touch. Some touches, even uninvited, had been comforting, lifting him from despair. Logically he knew that the type of touch, the person doing the touching, and the circumstances around it were all factors in how the sensation made him feel. Still, it was confusing to try to anticipate how other people might react when he touched them, no matter what his intention might be.

“You are in a strange place, with a strange person. Sometimes that can bring emotions to the surface when we don’t expect them.”

Hank covered Ryld’s hand and gave a little squeeze as he drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “You’re right. Sure that’s part of it. Probably still a little tired, too. Dinner. Let’s go see what we can round up.”

Relief was one of the feelings Ryld liked best. So far Hank had made him feel relieved several times in the few brief encounters they’d had. He hadn’t recoiled from his touch. Surely a good thing in someone who was a companion.