Page 11 of The Gargoyle’s Glade (The Gargoyle Knights #3)

Coltor

D own time, it would seem, was not something I would be enjoying.

Between the sounds of hammering and the unusually loud animal noises from outside, I couldn’t relax. I resigned myself to the fact that my daylight hours, usually spent sleeping or resting in some capacity, were instead going to be active.

The stone sleep had revitalized me, but I thrived on routine and now mine was being thrown off. It certainly wasn’t the worst thing to happen, but I had to work to settle my mood somewhere between disgruntled and neutral before leaving my hut.

I dressed and followed the construction noise to the nearly completed cabins that were close to one another past the hot springs.

“These are looking good,” I complimented the crew. They all seemed so young to me, though I recognized a handful of them from several classes below mine at the training academy.

“Thank you,” the lead smiled back. He extended his hand to shake mine. “Coltor, yes?”

“That’s right. Pleasure to see you again, Neill.”

His smile went wide as did his eyes, clearly surprised that I remembered his name. I’d spent very little time at the conclave since my first assignment out of training, but I was good with faces.

As I let go of his hand, I got a little jolt from my gift.

I turned, surveying the construction in progress, trying to picture how and why what I’d seen might happen.

Nothing seemed out of place, and stone kin in general were quite hardy.

Being equipped with wings and skin that could be turned to stone made us uniquely durable around things like nails and large planks of wood.

Shaking off the vision, I let Neill lead me around the two new buildings.

It was clear they all took pride in what they were doing and enjoyed working with one another as well.

I noted several names and their particular skills.

I’d pass along to my father what I’d seen, though he’d likely chosen them all himself for the very reasons I had noticed them.

Neill walked with me over to the area where the final structures would go, stakes and twine marking off the dimensions. As he finished describing the plans to me, I discovered where much of the noise was coming from.

The whole area around Seir and Hailon’s cabin was alight with activity. I frowned, trying to stare through the trees for the cause of such commotion. Then it appeared. The pair of women, both smudged with dirt but with bright smiles on their faces rounded the rear corner of the building.

“Well. I’d best get back to it.” Neill clapped me on the shoulder and returned to his work, leaving me there alone. The coward.

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 a racoon 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? First the 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 I wasn’t alone if you were watching me. And how do you know I slept with the windows open?”

My accidental admission was obvious, and there would be no covering it up. “I?—”

“And if I was, what business is it of yours ?” 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 is wrong with 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, or make 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.”

Annoyance returned to my friend’s face. “Can you imagine what it must be like to have them follow you around like they’ve taken to doing with Merry?”

Surely whatever was happening would also explain the squirrel. “I’m not imagining things?”

“No, you’re not. She’s collecting creatures. Not intentionally, mind. We’re… working it out.”

“Working what out, exactly?”

“You’ll have to ask her yourself.” She raised an eyebrow, knowing that was a challenge at the moment. “Tap may come through later on. Just so you know. Seir is trying to arrange a meeting for the two of them. We’re not sure if it will be here or there.”

“Alright.” I fidgeted. I couldn’t decide whether the idea of another demon—no matter how friendly—coming into the ruins bothered me, or if it was the fact that he’d be doing it because he wanted to talk to Merry that rankled.

Hailon crossed her arms, disappointment and sympathy on her face. “Coltor, I don’t understand. I thought you didn’t mind Merry coming here?—”

“I don’t. It’s not that. It’s not her.”

“Then why did you say those things?”

I scrubbed my hand over my face, then tried to do the same with the ache that had returned to my ribs.

In the end, I was a coward and gave the simplest explanation, but not one that included my messy feelings about Merry.

“The noise,” I said. “There’s so much lately.

I just… it’s like daggers inside my skull. ”

“Well, I’m sorry about that, truly, but it’s no excuse for your behavior.”

“I know. Please tell her?—”

“You can apologize to her yourself. And you should, she deserves a proper apology. But not now.”

“Of course. I am sorry, Hailon.”

Her shoulders sagged. “I believe you. I’m sure this is a lot to deal with.”

Hailon pulled me into a quick hug, carefully avoiding the sharp tool I still held in my hand. She then turned toward her cabin, throwing me one more warning over her shoulder with her eyes.

Once she’d gone through the door, I dropped my chin to my chest as I took several slow breaths. I hated the way I felt when I had outbursts like that. And I hated the way I made others feel when I lashed out infinitely more.

After a moment, I went back toward where Neill had resumed work on the cabins. I tossed the tool onto the ground near several others. “Can I be of any help?”

Neill smiled and clapped me on the back, and I joined in the group that was moving planks and other supplies from near the portal to the site.

The joyful attitude of the crew, and the way they immediately accepted and appreciated my efforts smoothed a bit of the edge to the racket they created while they worked.

Walking along the paths, using my muscles in a way I didn’t normally and having a simple job to accomplish helped clear my head.

Guilt had its claws in me something fierce for what I’d said and done. I could make it right, though. I would.

As we set the last stack of planks down, I turned and could only watch in horror as my earlier vision played out right in front of my eyes.

I shouted, hand raised as I sprinted back toward the cabin, but it was too late.

The stack of large roof tiles someone had piled up while our backs were turned cascaded from the peak down the slope, catching one of the men right in the shins.

He was agile and propelled himself away from the heavy stone tiles, but it was not enough.

Everything happened too quickly for him to truly deploy his wings, and even his shift was barely half-managed before he hit the ground.

In what seemed like no more than a few breaths, he’d gone from working peacefully to having fallen off the roof.

As I approached, I knew what I would see but wished not to.

I sucked in a breath, finding one of the offending tiles broken and punched through his body, right in the soft place below his collarbone near his shoulder.

He wheezed, blood seeping both from the wound and from between his lips as he moaned a curse.

“Infirmary at the conclave. Now,” I ordered, and the four men standing closest, all of whom had momentarily been frozen in surprise, carefully collected the injured man between them. We all made for the portal as quickly as we could, paths be damned.

The stone kin settlement no longer felt like home to me, but I knew if anyone could help the unfortunate builder, my sister could.