Macha's Journey

For this mission, she and Krystof had to travel to Tāne Forest to visit the Cave of Tāne Mahuta. This cave was known for its soft breath-like breeze that exhaled from the cavern"s entrance. Alchemists used this air for high-grade creation spells. It was a safe mission, but required an experienced magic user to gather the breeze.

Rushing over to his side, Luna pushed Tyr over and freed her hat. She tried to reshape it but worried he ruined it. Luna glowered at Tyr and snapped, "Why did you have to sit on it?" Her brother rarely paid attention to her things when he came into her room. It frustrated her that he treated her things with so little respect.

Tyr pushed the other clothes that covered the couch to the side in a pile next to him. "If you cared so much you wouldn"t just leave it lying around. Your room is a mess. Why don"t you just move in with Krystof and let him clean up the place?" he scoffed. Tyr hated how disgusting Luna"s apartment was. He found it revolting that a woman so pretty could live in such filth.

While Luna hugged her hat, she pointed out, "There is an order to my chaos. I know where everything is. Besides, I couldn"t do that to Krystof. You know how much he enjoys cleaning. If we moved in together, I would end up feeling guilty and actually have to start putting things away." Luna tossed her deformed hat to the side, "What brings you here, anyway?"

Tyr crossed an ankle over his knee and eyed a dirty plate that had been on the floor for over a month. He knew it was the same plate because the fork on it was a one of a kind gift he gave her for their hundreth birthday. Tearing his eyes away from the plate, he explained, "Freyr is having me look into that Purple Rain drug I told you about. I need you to tell Macha that I"ll be going on the mission with you."

Luna frowned and crossed her arms. It did not feel right lying to Macha. "Why can"t you just tell her the truth? Just tell her you won"t be able to come home for a few weeks because you have to go undercover." She understood that Tyr"s mission was dangerous so he would not want to go home every night.

Of course, his sister brought up something he already considered. Tyr shook his head. His eyes held a firm resolve in them and he explained, "If Macha knows it would just put her in danger. It"s better if she thinks I joined you and Krystof." He did not like lying to Macha, but he would sleep better at night knowing that even if someone caught him, she would not have any connections to his mission.

Luna pouted, "Fine, but I don"t like lying to her. If she asks details I don"t think I can keep up the deception." She did not like that her brother was forcing her to lie. In her opinion, he needed to stop being so overprotective whenever Macha was concerned. It seemed wrong that he did not keep secrets with Fenrir, but he did with Macha.

Once he got his sister"s promise of secrecy, Tyr crossed the hallway and entered his apartment. Macha was not back yet, so he began transferring the rest of her clothes into his closet. He did not see a point in them having separate bedrooms anymore. She spent the nights with him anyway and he hated how she would move to her room in the morning to get ready.

After a little while, the front door opened and the sound of Macha taking her heels off by the door drifted through the apartment. He quickly hung the last few hangers on the rack and went out to greet her. "Welcome back. What took you so long?" He reached over and lifted her head so he could kiss her. Tyr noticed she had paint and flour all over her clothes.

Macha accepted his kiss. "Close your eyes! I visited the orphanage and made you a surprise." When Macha heard him coming, she hid the pies she made behind her.

When she ordered him to close his eyes, she gave a wide smile that caused her nose to crinkle. He loved moments like this, so he obediently closed his eyes. He already smelled something delicious but pretended to have no idea what the surprise could be.

Macha made her way to the kitchen counter to put the pies down, then led Tyr to it. When he was situated in front of the pies, she wrapped her arms around his waist and beamed, "All right open your eyes."

Tyr opened his eyes and saw a plate of small bite-sized pies that had hearts cut out on the top. He looked down at Macha and felt like he was the luckiest man to have such a sweet woman. "Thank you. They look wonderful." She picked one up and held it up for Tyr to eat. When he took a bite, he realized the strawberry filling was extremely sweet. "This isn"t Unai"s recipe is it?" Although it had a good flavor, it seemed overly sweet, even for his tastes.

Macha smiled, "I thought it needed to be sweeter. I know you prefer sweet things. How was your day?" She sat down and took another bite-sized pie for herself. She kicked her legs back and forth and waited to hear what Tyr did.

The smile faded from his face as he prepared to lie to Macha. "I visited Freyr to drop off the rum. Luna and Krystof are going to need me for their mission to Tāne, so I"m going to leave with them in two weeks." He moved to get a gla.s.s of water because he wanted to hide his face from Macha.

Macha"s eyes narrowed when Tyr told her about his day. She could not put her finger on it, but something seemed off. Pretending not to notice, she accepted what he said, "Oh. That"s too bad, but I guess it"s safer for you to go with them. The shop should be opening around that time, so I"ll be busy anyway."

She then thought about mentioning meeting Jarnvid, but decided to keep it a secret. If he was going on a mission in two weeks, she did not want him to become stressed. Although Jarnvid kissed her, he had stolen it. Knowing Tyr, he would challenge Jarnvid to a duel because of it.

After he filled his gla.s.s with water, Tyr turned around. He saw Macha was pondering something and had a serious look on her face. Worried that his lie was being discovered he mentioned, "The area is famous for their pounamu stones. They can hold magical properties in them and are often used for tools. Maybe they have cooking things made out of them. Why don"t you look into it and let me know if you want anything?"

The change of conversation lightened Macha"s mood. The pounamu stone sounded interesting and she would definitely have to research its uses and effects on cooking.

****

The two weeks pa.s.sed quickly and Tyr regretted telling Macha a lie. Every time they talked about the mission his conscience felt heavier and heavier. The weight of his lie increased because she had prepared some homemade jerky and bread for them.

The morning he left, Macha presented him with a jerky bouquet. She had crafted the whole thing out of meat and wrapped it in a paper as if they were real flowers. He had seen her spending many hours crafting the bouquet for him. He gave Macha a bittersweet kiss and told her to be safe while he was gone.

Tyr walked down the stairs and met Luna and Krystof in the courtyard. He gave them the bouquet and bread to eat on the road and took one flower for himself. In a melancholy tone, he mumbled, "Here. Macha made these for us to share."

Luna and Krystof both gave him looks of disapproval. Krystof agreed with Tyr, but Luna gave him such a look of betrayal when they talked about it, that he did not voice his agreement. He knew life was easier if he sided with her.

Luna accepted the food and stated, "You can still go up and tell her the truth. This isn"t like you." She refused to look at her brother because her anger would increase.

Tyr shook his head and gave a heavy sigh. There were a lot of things he kept from Macha concerning the drug. He mentioned to her that he took care of the gang, but did not tell her all the details. He was aware that the things he did were dangerous and preferred to keep the worst parts a secret. He did not want to cause her excess worry.

Ignoring his sister"s attempt to make him change his mind, he said, "Macha wanted to know if we could get her some pounamu stones while we"re there. She wants to use them as pie weights for a particular pie she wants to make."

After hearing her brother continue to use words like "us" and "we", Luna"s anger increased. Not only did he want her to cover up his lie, now he wanted them to go shopping for him. The whole thing was getting out of hand and she thought about going up and telling Macha the truth.

Krystof noticed Luna"s reaction to Tyr"s request, and he quickly pulled Tyr to the side. He pleaded, "Tyr, don"t make Luna have to lie for you any further. It"s really bothering her. I"ll pick up the stones for you. Is there anything else?" Krystof was trying to ease the tension between the two siblings. He could tell Tyr was really upsetting Luna at this point. Any further requests would result in a full-blown argument between them.

Tyr shook his head. "No. That was all Macha wanted. Let"s go. I"ll see you guys to the front gates since I"m headed that way." He summoned his mount and fastened his bags to the saddle.

Luna waited for Krystof to summon his tiger and muttered under her breath, "More like you want to have Macha see us leave with you." Her lower lip pouted out and she crossed her arms.

Her mood seemed worse now that Tyr requested they pick up the pie weights. Krystof kissed her lightly and gave her lips a light tap with his fingers. "Don"t be like that. You"re gonna make me challenge Tyr to a duel cause I wanna see you smile." He lifted Luna up into his saddle and got on behind her. "Do you want me to?" he asked in a serious tone.

Luna knew Krystof was sincere because he changed the way he spoke. He usually kept a carefree air because his family forced him to be serious while growing up, but when Krystof took things seriously he did not put on any airs. Luna shook her head and whispered to him, "No. I"ll get over it." She put her hand over his and leaned against him.