Ember Read Online Free Page B

Cornelius?” tried Ikovos. Still
nothing. “. . . Corni?
    Cornelius grimaced, and with eyes still
closed he responded. “Please don't call me that, Ikovos.”
    “Ah-ha, you're awake. I thought that might
work,” said Ikovos, sounding very pleased with himself.
    Cornelius still lay there motionless. “I had
the weirdest dream Ikovos, you would have liked it. Thoran and I
were out scouting in the other dimension, looking for some new
creature Demian mentioned, when we ran into a couple keepers. And
you wouldn't believe what they were after.”
    “I could take a guess,” drawled the boy.
    Cornelius continued. “It was a girl, a girl
of all things. Isn't that odd.”
    Ikovos looked up at me and smiled
apologetically. I raised an eyebrow.
    Why was my sex such a big issue with these
guys, did they have something against women? I've never considered
myself a feminist but that sure as heck doesn't mean I'm tolerant
of Chauvinists.
    “Ah, Master, I think you should open your
eyes now,” said Ikovos.
    “Of course you're right, my boy.” He lifted
his lids, squinting at Ikovos. “Hey, where are we anyway—AH!” As
soon as he saw me he jumped onto his feet.
    After a few uncomfortable seconds realization
seemed to dawn on him.
    “Hi.” I waved, adding a smile for his sake,
but inwardly feeling very out of place. You know inside jokes? It
was starting to feel like I was one that everybody but me
knew about. I looked at Cornelius face again . . . apparently it
wasn't a very funny joke.
    “Oh, my dear, I am so sorry. Please ignore
everything I said, just an old man’s ramblings, and a half asleep
one at that.” He paused. “How, um . . . how was it that I ended up
on the ground, though?”
    “Well,” began Ikovos. “First you came through
the portal and started telling me that you weren't you. Then I came down to try and figure out what was going on. That's
when you started talking to the bush . . . which ended up being a
girl . . . . You then began arguing with said bush-girl, who
proceeded to jump out from behind the bush. At that point I
pretty much went into shock, she screamed, you fainted, it was all
very confusing.”
    “Yes, I can see that.”
    “Bush-girl?”
    “But what I don't understand is,” Ikovos took
a breath. “Why you were trying to hide her from me?”
    Cornelius threw his arms into the air. “Don't
ask me to explain the logic of my lunatic of a partner. I'm just
following orders.”
    “Oh, so it was Master Thoran,” said Ikovos
grudgingly. “I should have known, and I'll bet he didn't say
anything about Jaden right?”
    “If he didn't it would be for good reason,
Jaden doesn't have half the fanciful ideas you do on the subject.
Nor is he as prone to unbridled, unrelenting ,
curiosity.”
    “Oh, that's just what he wants you to think.
I should know he's my best friend.” His face turned sour and
he pointed a finger at Cornelius. “And you know what else? This is
unfair and prejudicious treatment, I am personally offended.”
    Cornelius rolled his eyes. “Oh, Ikovos, it
doesn't matter anyways, Thoran didn't want anyone seeing
her. She is just spending the night and in the morning I'm taking
her back home.”
    Home. At this point the word gave me
mixed feelings. On one side I longed for the comfort and safety of
the familiar. At the same time it was the last thing I
wanted. And besides that: watching Cornelius and Ikovos talk had
been the most entertaining experience I'd had in weeks.
    Cornelius interrupted my thoughts. “Now if
your finished ,” he gave Ikovos an evil stare then turned to
me. “Again, I am most sorry for the insensitive conversation.
Between you and me this one doesn't know how to keep his mouth
shut.”
    “Hey, I resent that,” said Ikovos.
    “Are you ready to continue our journey?” He
paused. “No doubt you have even more questions now, but I would ask
you to postpone them a while longer.”
    I nodded. “I’m ready. I know you will answer
my questions when