Kre closed his eyes and pursed his lips. He finally understood what she was getting at. She was afraid that he had given up on life. “Sy,” he said, opening his eyes and looking deeply into her own, “I can promise you, no, I swear to you that I haven’t given up. This, what’s happening to me right now, is unfortunate, but it’ll pass. If we go back to your hurricane comparison, I know there are more hard times ahead, but after that it’ll be clear skies. I know it.
“This is just me, being me.” He smiled at his friend and leaned down a bit so he could whisper to her. “Life has been way too serious the last few days and I really just need some good laughs right now to help clear my head before I have to deal with Braun again. I can easily promise that I’ll never let old weasel boy chalk up a win against me as long as I have any breath left in me.”
Sy smiled back up at Kre and sniffed. If there happened to be an excess of moisture in her eyes, then Kre would never tell anyone else, not that they’d believe him anyway. Plus, Sy would kill him if she found out that he told anyone else that she had a heart. Still, it unnerved him slightly that she would think he had given up. He also wondered if there was some specific memory she was referencing.
“Well well,” came a cackling voice. “Looks like two love birds, all ready to kiss and say bye bye.”
“Gantry,” Sy snarled. While she could normally keep all of her emotions in complete control, she never could control the lip curl or eye twitch that accompanied Gantry’s arrival.
“Folks were starting to wonder if you made a run for the woods,” he continued, not even pausing to acknowledge Syonette’s displeasure at his presence. “I guess if you have a near death sentence anyway, you might as well risk making time with Noj’s girl.”
“Gantry Hadam,” Sy snapped, “you are a displeasing childish excuse for a boy.” She hated it when people referred to her using Noj’s name. She always had been an independent person, much like every member of her family. Being known markedly because of her affiliation with someone else was anathema to her sense of self. It didn’t help that Noj was a golden child for the people of Mintas, so everyone tended to raise him up on this odd kind of pedestal. It went so deep, in fact, that one of the dishes typically served in the Lodge was known as ‘Noj’s usual’, the road that circled the town was known as ‘Noj’s track’ as he used to run it several times every morning, and even the caravan that Noj worked for was known as ‘Noj’s caravan’ despite the fact that he was nowhere near the top of the caravan’s food chain.
“We should get inside,” Kre said, trying to snap Sy out of her focused rage. “Folks are probably waiting to start eating until we get seated.”
Gantry snickered, “Hows about I just tell folks that you’re with Sy and you’ll be along once you guys are done with your business.”
“Why you little…” but it was too late, Gantry had already headed back inside the Lodge. “Someday, I’m going to pummel that worm.”
“You’re letting Gantry get under your skin. Take your own advice and handle him like you advised me to handle Braun.”
Cracking her knuckles, Sy nodded. “You’re right. I still don’t know why you’re friends with him.”
Kre looked around at the town around them. Mintas wasn’t large by any stretch of the imagination, but it was growing fast. The town itself was little more than two dozen buildings scattered around a large square. Most of the families lived on homesteads farther outside of town, where the closest neighbor was usually out of sight. That’s probably why most of the townsfolk liked to gather together in the Lodge most nights.
There were about sixty families that made Mintas their home, and about two new families were showing up every season. Mintas was located in the Milo Region, which was the northern most region of Tehyn. Though, if the expeditions to the Jayde Line were successful, there might be a sixth region established across the Milo Sea to the north. The Milo Region had been mostly unsettled territory since the First Migrants came to Tehyn, almost two hundred years prior. Once folks realized that the land was fertile and safe for settling, people started moving in from the other regions. Most of the resettlers were opting to live near the Milo Sea, in towns like the Tri-Steppes, but a few were moving inland towards towns like Mintas. Kre had no doubt that a newly resettled family would be staying at his family’s home temporarily, tending to the flock and the gardens, until either his parents returned from the Jayde Line or the new family established a more permanent residence.
Still, even with the influx of new citizens, there weren’t too many options when it came to friends. “He’s harmless,” Kre answered back, “and if you actually looked past his instigating antics, you’d find a good heart underneath it all. Plus,” he waved a hand around, “options are pretty limited.”
“I doubt I’ll ever see him the way you do,” she shrugged. “I think my life will still be complete. Now go in there and go see folks. They’ll be ecstatic to see you not in chains.”
“Aren’t you coming?” Kre asked.
Sy nodded. “I’ll be there in a minute. I’m going to check on something.” She darted away before Kre could ask her anything else, leaving him standing there wondering if he was really ready to face the social event after the most traumatic three days of his life.