Macha's Journey

When they entered headquarters, she noticed people began to whisper in hushed tones. Luna sensed something was amiss and turned to him, "What do you think happened?"

Krystof kissed her forehead and gave her hand a squeeze, "Maybe they forgot how beautiful ya are?" Nothing seemed odd to him. Since Luna had a tendency to overreact and over-think things, he ignored her concern. Today, Krystof was in an exceptionally good mood because she confessed that she loved him on the ride back. That high still lingered and made everything else in the background fade.

After they got up to their apartments, Luna made plans to have dinner with Krystof and went to her office. While she was checking her mail, she came across an envelope from Macha. Holding it in her hands, she flipped it over a few times. With a puzzled look on her face, she thought about how unusual it was for Macha to write to her instead of just waiting to tell her of any news. Luna"s mind jumped to conclusions, and she wondered if Tyr and Macha had eloped. She stared at the letter and wondered if this had been to inform her of their pa.s.sionate choice. Her hands shook with excitement as she opened the letter.

Krystof forgot to give Tyr the pounamu stones that Macha wanted, so he headed up to their apartment and knocked on their door. No one answered, so he made his way to the offices. Luna"s door hung open, and he looked in. "Hey beautiful, do ya know where Tyr is?"

Luna had started to read Macha"s letter and her brows furrowed. Not wanting to be distracted, she hushed Krystof.

The way she looked worried him and he moved to look at what was upsetting her.

Luna"s hands shook as she read about how Macha left the guild because Tyr did not accept her confession. Macha admitted that she would love to return someday after she got over her feelings and hoped they could still be friends.

The realization that one of her best friends was gone made Luna cry. She did not understand what had gone wrong. When they left, Tyr and Macha seemed so happy. It did not make any sense.

This news was surprising. Krystof did not like that Macha"s departure upset Luna. He held her in his arms. "Luna, let me find out what happened. Go take a shower and relax. Everything will be all right. I"ll take care of it." He did not understand why Tyr would reject Macha. His friend acted as if he were head over heels in love, so this development made no sense.

Krystof made sure Luna entered her room before he began to ask around. Everyone had different interpretations of what happened and rumors flew around like crazy. In the end, he uncovered the facts. It appeared that Freyr had gone up to the apartment with Macha, and she wore his shirt. Tyr found them and fought with Freyr in the courtyard. Later Tyr left and Macha called out in the lobby that she liked him, only to be rejected.

Since he knew Freyr since childhood, Krystof was certain that Freyr would not have an affair with Macha. Freyr would not do that, especially because his parents died from a jealous lover"s attack. The doubt of an affair was even stronger because Tyr and Freyr had a good relationship. Giving a sigh, Krystof realized to understand the whole picture, he needed to ask Freyr what happened.

After questioning the guild, Krystof went to his room and washed up. He did not want to go to the palace with his dirty traveling clothes on. Although he was certain Freyr would see him since they grew up together, he still cared about appearances. He was still a Lichnowsky and did not want to make his family look bad.

Freyr was in the palace library reading a book on laws when Krystof entered. Freyr smiled warmly at seeing his old friend. "What brings you here?" Despite being friends, Krystof rarely visited him, so he wondered if he needed a favor.

"I needed to ask ya something," Krystof replied as he hopped up on the table that Freyr sat at. He did not worry about what the answer would be because he was sure it had been a misunderstanding. He had confidence in his ability to read people and knew Freyr would not intentionally upset Tyr. Not wanting to beat around the bush, he asked, "Macha left the guild cause Tyr rejected her. It was the same day ya went up to the apartment with her. What happened?"

Freyr stood up. He was not informed that Macha left the guild. If she left, he had no way of finding her. Concern laced his voice, and he asked, "Where is she?" Freyr worried that she could be hungry on the streets somewhere. He realized he should have gone to check up on her, but he had been so busy lately.

Earlier in the week, Sierra offered to send someone to check on Macha for him. They reported that she had been doing fine and training daily. Now he was confused and would have to look into it himself.

Krystof shook his head, "Not sure. Luna n" I just came back. What happened?" He scratched his head and leaned back to rest his arms on the tabletop while kicking his legs.

A silence fell, Freyr felt unsure if he should explain the situation. After considering who he spoke with, he decided that they were all friends. "Jarnvid attacked Macha, and I stopped him. I took her up to the apartment and wanted to stay with her until she calmed down. Tyr found us sitting on the couch and misunderstood." Freyr paused, "I do not understand. I thought he talked with her about what happened. Why would he reject her?"

Krystof shrugged his shoulders. With a sigh, he said, "That"s something I gotta find out. I gotta find Tyr." He sympathized with Macha and understood what Freyr implied with the word "attack". He remembered how broken Luna was after Liam raped her. Now he wanted to hit Tyr for being such an idiot. Macha confessed to him after the attack and he turned his back on her.

His eyes narrowed when he thought of Jarnvid. "What are you going to do about that p.r.i.c.k?" the carefree tone which usually laced his voice was gone.

A mixture of emotions played across Freyr"s face. He wanted to kill Jarnvid the moment it happened but Macha stopped him. Then he wanted to charge the man for it, but if someday she agreed to be his Queen, he did not want that in her history. In his opinion, the fee for attempted-rape was not a strong enough punishment either. Today, he had actually come down to the library to research options. In a steely voice, he said, "I will not let him off."

Krystof headed back to the guild to ask about Tyr"s whereabouts. Eventually, he found out that Tyr went to Kochi to help them with their war. This news made him shake his head. It was too rash of a decision and he wondered if Tyr had a death wish.

Krystof dreaded having to tell Luna all the things he found out but knew she needed to hear an explanation. He used his key to open the door to her apartment. "Luna?" he called into the quiet apartment. It was dark except for a light coming from her bedroom, which was at the end of the hall. Krystof hopped over the piles of clothes and dishes that littered the floor. He resisted the urge to clean them up as he made his way to her bedroom.

He found Luna laying on her bed. She petted her wolpertinger as she thought about Macha. Luna worried because Macha had nowhere else to go and might encounter trouble. Although she realized Macha trained daily to defend herself, she still considered her friend small and too trusting. When she saw Krystof enter the bedroom, she sat up. "What did you find out?" her voice was soft and anxious.

Moving some things off the bed, he laid down next to her. Krystof pulled Luna into his arms and explained what he had learned. Luna asked him many questions, and he answered the best he could. As he divulged what Jarnvid did, Luna"s body grew tense. Krystof foresaw that news of Jarnvid"s attack would strike a chord with her.

After everything had been explained, Luna tugged Krystof"s sleeve, "Krystof, I know it"s selfish of me, but can you find Tyr and bring him back? He has no business in that war and he"ll be too reckless. While you do that, I want to try to find Macha."

Luna wanted to make sure Macha was all right. Her friend was alone in this world and probably felt terrible after the attack. She remembered how she was lucky to have Tyr and Krystof to support her when Liam raped her. The thought of her friend being shunned afterward caused her to tear up. She cursed her brother for being so hot-tempered.

Krystof already knew Luna would ask this of him. He contemplated going after Tyr himself, so he had waited for Luna to ask. "Of course. That idiot really knows how to mess stuff up. I"ll leave tomorrow, "kay?" Krystof gave Luna a kiss on the head.