Page 21 of Charmed

“She’s your sister?” asked Stone, noticing that the girl who just left them had pointy ears and Persimmon didn’t. Plus, one had light hair and the other was stark black.

“Yes, Lira is my sister, but I just found that out. This way,” she told them, leading them to the kitchen.

“You didn’t know you had a sister?” Stone thought this sounded odd. Especially since they were both in their twenties already.

“Nay,” she told Stone. “My father never mentioned it to me. She is my half-sister, actually. We both share the same father. I came here to Mura to find him since my mother just died. Sadly, my father doesn’t seem to want me.”

“That’s horrible,” said Stone, reaching down to pet his dog on the head as they walked. “I’m sorry to say that your father seems like quite a⁠—”

“Quite a what, you big oaf?”

Stone stopped when the elf they’d seen in the caves suddenly appeared standing in front of him. Stone almost crashed right into him. Elric had his hands on his hips again, and as he’d already learned, that wasn’t a good thing. The dog growled lowly at seeing the elf, and Aithrod groaned.

“What are you doing here?” asked Stone. “I thought you abandoned us.”

“Stone, this is my father, Elric.” Persimmon held out a hand to introduce them. “And, yes, Father, why are you here?”

“Talk about not being wanted, I feel as if none of you want me here. Therefore, I’ll just leave.” Elric made a haughty face.

“Nay, wait!” Stone held up a halting hand to stop him. “I want to talk to you.”

“If it’s about—” Elric stopped and glanced over to his daughter before saying more. “If it’s about anything we’ve already discussed, forget it. You’re not getting anything from me.”

“Father, what are you talking about?” asked Persimmon.

“Nothing,” said Elric, picking invisible lint from his tunic.

“By nothing, he means the gemstones he found in the Quamm Caves. Gems that were stolen from our king on Taelgonoth.” Stone glared at the little man.

“I didn’t steal anything, and I won’t stand here being accused of crimes I didn’t commit.” Elric’s chin lifted up into the air. “I told you before, I found them.”

“Father, do they mean stones like the one you were using as part of your bid in your card game when I arrived?” asked Persimmon.

“You did what?” Stone was aghast at hearing this. How could anyone take such a risk with such a valuable item?

“You’re not helping matters, daughter,” grumbled the little man. “And you wonder why I favor Lira over you. I have things to do. I need to go.” In a blur, the elf was gone.

Stone looked up to see the wetness of Persimmon’s eyes. Her father had been harsh with her. It hurt him to see anyone treat this kind woman so badly.

“Don’t let him upset you with his crass words.” Stone stepped forward and took her by the arm. “Let’s find some food and ale. Then we can all sit down and talk. I’d like to hear all about you, Persimmon Burroughs. You seem like such a fascinating young woman.”

“I don’t think my father would agree with you on that.” Her words sounded as if they held shame.

“I get the feeling your father wouldn’t agree with anyone if his life depended on it,” Stone responded. “But I am, I assure you, much more of a benevolent man than Elric in any land.”

That made her smile. It was good to see the spark of light and hope return to her eyes.

“Yes. Yes, I believe you are,” she told him, using the back of her hand to wipe away a stray tear from her cheek. “Now, let’s get you two some food and ale and go back out to the great hall so we can get to know each other.”

The dog sat down and whined. His tail swept back and forth over the floor.

“I’m sure I can find something for you, too, Fang,” she said with a giggle, petting the dog’s nose.

“I appreciate everything, Persimmon. However, what I want even more than food or ale is information,” Stone told her.

“Information?” She looked up at him and her brows angled. “What do you mean?”

“Well, first of all, I need to collect those gemstones from your father. Then I need to find a different thief and his counterpart and get back through the portal and return the stolen gems to our king. Therefore, I’ll need to know where Elric lives.”

“Oh.” Her smile was gone, and she suddenly became guarded. “I can’t help you because I don’t know where to find Elric. I have no idea where he lives.”

“You don’t know where your own father lives?” asked Aithrod. “How can you not?”

“It’s the truth,” she said, looking upset that they didn’t believe her. “Now, let us get that food so you men and poor little Fang don’t starve to death.”

Persimmon could tell by the look on Stone’s face that he didn’t believe her at all when she said she didn’t know where her father lived. She supposed it wasn’t quite the truth. Since being here in Mura she heard that her sister, Lira banished Elric to some high cliff in Glint to live by himself. Still, she had never been there personally and couldn’t give anyone directions. Persimmon had never even been to the elven land of Glint before, but heard it was on the other side of the Picajord Mountains. The land of the elves actually sounded exciting to her. It was a place that she would very much like to visit someday to find out about the elven race and understand more about herself.

It was a new feeling for her, but part of Persimmon didn’t want Stone to ever know where to find Elric. She supposed it was because if he knew, there was a good chance he’d collect his king’s gemstones and head back through the portal and she would never see him again. After having glimpsed an image in her mind of them kissing, she selfishly wanted time for that to come true.

Persimmon’s life had been sad, quiet and lonely. To her, that was true imprisonment. She was the type of person who loved being around people. She liked conversing with men as well. Living most of her life in a convent, she was never allowed to have a normal life, and still wondered why her mother put her there. All her mother ever told her about it was that Persimmon would be protected there. From who or what was information that had never been divulged to her.

Persimmon found herself intrigued by Stone Nightstalker, even if she didn’t like the fact he hunted men for a living even if they were bad. He said he wanted to know all about her, but she wanted parts of her past life to stay hidden. Nay, she didn’t want to tell him much about her childhood because it brought up sad feelings in her heart. She was done being sad. Here on Mura she had a new life to look forward to, and here is where she could be happy for the rest of her life.

Deciding she would have to conceive a plan that would keep Stone here for a while until they got closer, she would need to do the only thing she could think of that might work. Still having the vision of them kissing burned into her mind, she realized she was going to either have to tell him about it, or kiss him herself, to make him want to stay.