Chapter 2: A few more for the road.

         The clock in the common room read twenty-first. Midnight. Elspeth was in her room, sound asleep. Narise was wiping down the tables while Wren and Shane bid the remaining customers goodnight and locked the door. Sydnie sat on the hearth, her back to the dying fire. She felt useless and alone. Elspeth’s brother and sisters all had their place and things to do. Sydnie felt like an outsider peering through the window at strangers.
         “Aren’t you going to bed?” Wren asked as she passed the outlander.
         “No. I’m gonna stay out here awhile. I’m not really tired just yet.” Sydnie smiled up at Elspeth’s younger sister.
         “Suit yourself.” Wren shrugged, waving to the others. “Sleep well!” She disappeared up the stairs to her room.
         “I’m turning in, too.” Narise scruffed her brother’s hair as she walked by. He glanced up from the papers he’d begun to sort only long enough to smile in return and wish her a good night.
         Alone, the two sat without speaking. A paper rustled every now and then accompanied by scribbling from Shane’s quill, as he tallied up the day’s profits and expenses.
         Clouds had rolled in earlier in the evening and were thick by the time the inn closed. A few flashes of lightening and some thunder told Sydnie tomorrow’s roads would be muck.
         Good thing we’re not going anywhere tomorrow. She thought.
When the rain finally started, Sydnie moved to a table by the window. She watched one of the first drops run down the glass to the sill where it blended with the others already fallen. She pushed all thoughts of home and family aside and concentrated solely on the weather outside.
         A sense of someone watching her caused Sydnie to turn back to the room.
         “What’s wrong?” Shane asked. He had obviously been watching her.
         “Home. Here. My family. You and Elspeth. Everything.” She turned back to the window without looking at him. “I miss my home and family. Yet, I like it here. It’s so different. And you and Elspeth . . . . . I have to get back soon, or I don’t think I’ll ever want to.”
         There was a soft knock on the door. “Shane? Can you open the door? I’m freezing out here!”
         “Keiran.” Shane gave Sydnie an apologetic glance for the interruption, and then opened the door to admit a soaked and shivering Keiran.
         “Why are you out so late? And in the rain no less.” Shane took Keiran’s cloak, hanging it near the hearth.
         “I wanted to talk to Sydn-“ At that moment he spotted her at the window. “Oh good. You’re are up.”
         “What did you want to talk to me about?”
         “I- Well, first I should tell you I was eavesdropping on you and Elspeth this afternoon.” The young mage shoved his hands under his arms, immediately defensive of Sydnie’s raised eyebrow. “Elspeth doesn’t spend a lot of time with other people. In fact, she doesn’t spend a lot of time anywhere but the inn. I was curious. And then you told Errol where you were from! I couldn’t believe it!” He sat heavily on the bench opposite her.
         “Humph. Believe it. How is it everyone here seems to know of Earth if its so crazy I'm 'from' there?” Leaning forward, Sydnie propped her elbows on the table, her chin resting in her hands.
         "Its legend! The scholars say that Kerthrin and Earth were once one planet. That there were wars fought over whose beliefs were the right ones. The Goddess, we know her as Anaba, pitied her creation. She could not bear to see them destroyed. So, she separated the magic from Earth and used it to create another world. Kerthrin.”
         “Really?” She screwed up her face. “Why don’t any of us know that?”
         “It is just legend. Myth. Like any belief.”
         “Damned convenient considering how I got here.” Sydnie muttered.
         “How did you get here?”
         The young woman studied the apprentice mage sitting across from her a moment. There was something about his presence. Something, . . . . . she searched for the right word, soothing. “My great-grandmother had an old mirror in the attic. I accidentally used it to get here. Like a portal.”
         “A portal. Yes, that makes sense. At first, the Goddess gave portals to each of the worlds so that those who wished could visit their counterparts. But, when the people only used them to continue their war, she had them destroyed. Or so they thought. I’ll bet the Mage-Guild would know.”
         Sydnie nodded. “Elspeth says there’s a fair in the spring. Some place called, Seernall?”
         “Seiranell. Yes. I was hoping to go there myself one day.” His tone carried a hint of longing.
         Sydnie patted his arm. “I’m sure you will. You seem the type to make it.” Trying to hide the fact she did not know a damn thing about what went on at the fair, she hoped her comment was comforting.
It seemed to work.
         The expression in Keiran’s eyes changed to something she couldn’t quite read. It seemed a mixture of approval, gratitude, and something else. She growled inwardly, wishing she had Elspeth’s gift of observation.
         “Tell me about Earth.” He leaned back in his chair. The expression changed not a bit.
         “Well, where do I start?” Sydnie drew her legs up beneath her.
         “Start with your family.” Keiran crossed his arms, shifting slightly.
         “Well, there’s my Mom. Kimberly. Everyone calls her Kim. My Dad, Walter. And I had a brother, James . . . . . . . . . .”
         The two talked until the sun’s rays broke through the Inn’s eastern windows.

         “You’re up early.” Elspeth came out of her room, wiping the sleep from her eyes.
         Sydnie and Keiran looked from Elspeth to each other.
         “I can’t believe it. We talked all night.” Sydnie glanced outside. “I didn’t even notice.”
         Keiran stood quickly. “I should be going. My brother will be worried.”
         Sydnie stood also. “Sure. It was nice talking. I had fun.”
         “Yeah.” Keiran plucked his cloak from the hearth. “Me too.”
         Sydnie unlocked the door and stepped outside with him. Glancing back through the window at a stunned and ignored Elspeth, she asked. “Could we have lunch? I’d like to hear more about the mage-fair.” Her breath showed as a tiny cloud in the cold morning air.
         Keiran smiled. “I’d like that.” He gave her directions to Tamsin’s house. He would meet her and from there, they would find someplace for lunch.
         “What about your house?” The young woman thought it was an innocent enough question.
         Keiran’s face darkened. “I spend most of my time at Tamsin’s or Master Errol’s.”
         After Keiran’s departure, Sydnie went back inside the Inn, rubbing her arms to return warmth.
         “Up all night talking.” Elspeth nodded. “I see. And of what did you speak?”
         Sydnie gave her roommate a scathing look. “Home.”
         The bard smiled serenely. “Home. Is that home now, home before, or a home yet to be?”
         Sydnie did not appreciate the tone used. “Home before. And what is it you’re getting at?”
         “Just be sure you know where your intentions are. Don’t make any long term plans if you’re going to leave.”
         “I know what I’m doing.” The offworlder snapped.
         Elspeth merely shrugged in response, though her expression said she was reserving judgment on that.

         Sydnie spent the morning doing much the same thing she had done her first day at the Inn. She washed dishes and helped set up orders in the kitchen until Alida came in to relieve her near the lunchtime rush.
         As she left the Inn, the offworlder ran over Elspeth’s comments from that morning. What was Elspeth on about anyway? Long term plans. Whatever. It’s not as if I’m going to marry the guy. Sydnie crossed her arms. Her head down in thought, she did not notice Keiran fall in step beside her.
         “Humph. Some people’s kids.” She muttered. She kicked a small stone on the road, then stopped when it bounced back into her path a second later. Looking up, she saw Keiran grinning at her.
         “Thought I would meet you instead.”
         Her indignance forgotten, Sydnie smiled. “Thanks.” She linked her arm with his. “What’s ta eat?”
         “Ah. Tamsin’s made some of his famous chuck stew. If you don’t mind spicy food-“
         “Are you kidding?” She interrupted. “I love spicy food!” She put her free hand on the arm hers was linked with.
         “Then you will like this.”

         Tamsin turned out to be an aging elf that cared for his two grandsons, Quinn and Colin, along with all the friends they dragged home with them. Up until fifty years earlier, he had been a craftsman of some renown. He worked with various metals and gems to create some of the most sought after jewelry on the continent. When his son, Padraic, came home with his two young sons after his wife died, Tamsin retired and took up childcare.
         “There you are, Keiran!”
         A slender man stood in the doorway of the cottage they approached. His hair was salt and pepper, though the salt seemed to be winning out. He grinned at the pair as he moved aside to let them pass, his blue eyes twinkling.
         "Colin has been on all day about your visit, Miss."
Sydnie stopped just inside the door, forcing Keiran to halt behind her.