Opting to forgo the evening festivities in favor of our first quiet time together in about a month or so, Heddro and I stopped for the night at the inn. He was quiet for a while as we looked out the window into the party outside. Lomweg perched on the ledge, breathing in the smells of carnival food and bobbing his head to the music.
The bed was just big enough for the two of us, so we spooned facing the night sky. Finally, Heddro broke the silence. He began talking about how he couldn’t believe he actually beat Iceborn in the tournament and how he felt like a different person since his time in Monolith.
Heddro left Fellhaven on his own after Monolith had been attacked. Since Trueflame would not even consider accepting him as a soldier, Heddro found a mercenary crew when he got to Monolith. His crew fought alot of bloody battles against evil dragonborn and kobolds. He still felt extreme guilt over the man he killed.
“He thought we were with them and he attacked us. We thought he was one of them, and we killed him. It was a mistake. It was a terrible mistake.”
I gently kissed his hand. He sighed and pulled me closer. He said he was glad to be with me.
“Every night when we would stop to rest, I would look up at the moon and think of you. Hoping you were looking at the moon at that same moment. I missed you.”
“While I was on the road to Lakemists, when I would stop to make camp, I would fall asleep staring into the trees, hoping that one night I might catch you hiding in the branches.”
“I worried about you. I know I shouldn’t. You’re a dragon slayer, you’re so much stronger than me and I know your friends need you.”
“I think I need them more than they need me,” I explained how I had been able to do so little when Solstice was poisoned and how I had nearly let her be killed because I couldn’t stay awake.
“And where were your friends while this was happening?”
“Well, Kriv was guarding the temple and the others were…at the inn I guess…”
“Sounds to me like you can do quite a bit on your own.”
We talked about why Heddro felt the need to fight in Monolith and how he didn’t want to go back. I told him he didn’t need to go back and I didn’t want him to. There was plenty of call around Fellhaven for dedicated guards.
“So, I have to ask, where’s your brother been while all this is going on?” Heddro asked lightly.
“Well, that’s something I need to tell you,” I said hesitating as I tried to think of how to explain the situation. The fact that I was Tock was irrelevant at this point since that physical difference was no longer an issue. For all intents and purposes, where Heddro is concerned, Tock never was Tock.
“What? You’re not really related and you’re seeing each other?”
“No, it’s nothing like that. That would be easier to explain.”
“What then?”
“Well, we’re really…the same person.”
“You are not the same person, there’s no way. How?”
“I dressed like Tock…”
“But you had a beard…”
“I’m a wizard. Simple tricks can imitate that,” I held out a hand against the moonlight and conjured a sixth finger.
“Gah! Okay, stop, I don’t want to know what else you can do with that. So you mean to tell me that all the times Tock was with us, that was you?”
“Yeah.”
“Why? I mean, why would you want to dress like that?”
“It started back at the university. People treat you different if they think you’re…”
“If they think you’re a man…”
“…yeah…it was just easier sometimes to be someone else.”
“So I shot you with the crossbow that day in the forest?” Heddro started to look back at all the encounters with Tock.
“Yes. You did,” I pressed his fingers to the scar. “I’ve never really understood why it left such a scar.”
“You were the one with the dagger to my ear.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re here with me now?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you cared. When that orc nearly killed me and I was bleeding down there in the sewers. When the fight was over and everyone else had started scavenging the bodies for gold, you came to help me.”
He held me tight. Still and quiet for a moment, I whispered, “I found another dragon.”
“Where?”
“The garden. It’s a silver dragon.”
“Like yours?”
“Like a full grown dragon.”
“And you just found it there? Did no one else notice a dragon in the garden?”
“It’s sleeping, disguised as a giant boulder.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
“I don’t know…” the room was quiet again. I kissed Heddro’s hand. He kissed the top of my head and I clutched his hand to my chest. He let out a sigh of pleasure as his body shifted. I rolled over to face him and kissed him again. His hand slid down my side across the scar on my rib. As things heated up, I stopped for a moment, “Be careful.”
“Sorry, am I being too rough?”
“No, I just…I haven’t…”
“Oh,” he said, pulling his hands back, “We don’t have to if you don’t want to…”
“No, it’s not that, just…be careful.”
