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Episode Twenty-Nine Not Happy

H azlan

"Is the Works on the way to the Village?" Lylah asks as we close the cabin door behind us.

Will she ever cease to amaze me? This morning she hurried to get dressed in her borrowed tunic, leggings, boots, and fur coat so she could pick stiff, dead grasses from the nearby forest, then come back in and sweep the floor.

There was something so touching about her desire to leave the cabin better than how we'd found it. I guess it shouldn't surprise me. She's already improved my life from when she found me.

"We have to travel northeast," Zoron says as the elf jumps on his back. "If we travel in a straight line, we'll miss the Works completely."

He must think, as I do, that she'll never want to see that place again.

We're all ready to head out, but she doesn't move. She must be sorting something through in her mind.

"How far out of the way would it be to detour there?" Her gaze is steady as she asks.

"An hour. Maybe less," Eldar says. His eyes narrow as he watches, wondering what she wants.

"I'd like…" She started her thought strong, then ran out of steam. "Um, please, I'd like…"

"Look around you," Zoron says, his voice calm and encouraging. "There's not a human man among us. We're your mates… or we will be soon. Every one of us wants to please you, Lylah. Finish your sentence. What would you like?"

"I want to go back." This time, her voice is firm.

I like the centaur more every day. He's thoughtful, kind, direct, and has accepted the two of us in ways we had no right to expect.

"It's settled then." It's the elf. That's surprising. I assumed he wouldn't want to go one step out of the way to please her. He doesn't even demand to know why she wants to return. "We head to the Village by way of the Works."

There are a lot of moving parts in this new foursome of ours. Many battles to fight to make sure we mesh well together.

If we'd been together longer, I'd speak up and mention it might make more sense for Lylah to ride the centaur, as opposed to the elf who's over six feet tall. It's not worth starting a fight, though, and Lylah hasn't complained, although she's slowing us all down.

"At this pace, we might have to sleep in the forest tonight," Zoron says after we've been traveling for an hour. Perhaps it's his way of hinting Lylah should be riding instead of the elf.

"Join me, mate," Eldar says, reaching a hand to Lylah. "You can handle her extra weight, can't you, love?" he asks the centaur.

"Aye, the more the merrier," Zoron replies, although he glances at me and shakes his head. "I'll have to draw the line at you, proudborn, though you're much healthier than when we met."

We all have a good laugh. All tension has disappeared as Eldar helps her onto the centaur's back, then settles in behind her.

Soon, the three of them begin singing a tune I've never heard before. Perhaps Lylah notices my irritation because she explains, "Zoron taught me some centaur songs on our ride yesterday. They're easy."

She looks so happy, riding the centaur, the elf's hips pressed to her backside. A flare of anger and jealousy flash through me.

Instead of putting words to the venom sluicing through my veins, I pay attention to the words and can soon join in on the chorus.

An innocent onlooker would think we're four best friends tramping through the woods. They'd have no idea that not one of us is happy, least of all me.

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