For Your Heart (Hill Dweller Retellings) Read Online Free

     
    Tamrin
     
         When the sky turns grey and the dew is still on the leaves in the forest, I make my rounds.  Because I am a knight and it is my duty to protect those who live in my assigned territory, I visit each of my five neighbors to be certain nothing is amiss. 
         When Roxel discovered that I do this, she laughed at me.  “You are supposed to keep them out, not protect them as you would the fae in your care,” she had said.
         I shrugged and replied, “Well, since they are the closest threat, does it not make sense to keep watch over their affairs?”
         She didn’t have an answer for that.  And I’m glad of it.  I like my morning rounds.
         Smiling, I reach for another branch and swing to the next tree.
         “Slow down!  Master!”
         Branch to branch, light as a feather, agile as a squirrel, faster than a Dunrhe – I can circle my territory in less than an hour, though I’m slower today because Enmire insisted he come along today so he may see White Cat.  He has a fascination with White Cat.  White Cat has a fascination with him, though both are aware that cats and fae should not be friends. 
         “Master!”    
         I pause, perched on a branch and glance over my shoulder.  “Your little legs do not keep up with mine.”
         Between the arrows slung over my back, I see his lithe slate-colored form.  Long, triple jointed arms, short legs.  Hardly a neck, hunched and boney back, an unattractive face.  Still, he’s a nice little Rhumbring and I like him more than the other fae, so I humor him.  Truly, I can’t complain.  Someone with a handicap like mine should be grateful there is a fae who has a fondness for him at all.  Of all the Aos Si traits I thought I would manifest, the attraction of a familiar is the last of them.
         “Do hurry.”
         Enmire grumbles at me under his heavy breathing, but he picks up his pace and I continue forward, leaping to the next branch.  A few minutes later, we’ve reached my favorite neighbor’s house.  This is where Lovely lives.
         I slip down a trunk and crouch in the thick undergrowth, peeking through the leaves.  Lovely is already out with White Cat.
         I turn and knock my fist lightly against Enmire’s bony skull.  “You’ve made me late.”
         He reaches up and rubs his head, feigning hurt.  “Not like she’s going to do anything different than any other day.”
         Still.  I don’t like to miss watching her.  At first, I felt as though doing this was wrong – as if I was spying.  But I’ve watched many humans since then and I’ve come to learn that it’s okay to look at the things that please you.  Women see babies and they smile at them simply because children give pleasure.  People make hobbies out of watching animals or other people do things.  Boys Lovely’s age purposely go out of their way to see pretty girls pass by on the street.  I do not do what some of those boys do.  I would never cross the green lawn and peek into a window.  And I would never follow her about in her daily routine so I may see more of her. 
    I make a point of standing at the end of my property to see my neighbor let her cat out every morning.  I see her like I would a peacock or a piece of art, simply because she’s nice to look at and something about her gives me great peace – as if seeing her alive and well every morning lets me know that all is well in the human world.  There’s nothing strange about it.  It’s regular, non-invasive, and pure.
         “When are you going out there to speak to her?”  Enmire asks.
         I shake my head.  “I could never do that.” 
         “Why not?”
         He doesn’t understand.
         This one visitation is enough.  It is what I give myself.  If there is to be more, then she will have to make the move.  She will have to come to me.  But I know it’s not to