Angelfire | The Whispering Wall #3

Forty Five: Socialising

The dinner at the temple that evening was lively with chatter. Most of the Unspoken in the city had found a way to drop in for at least a few minutes around patrols, and any who didn't have patrols had filled up the main hall with a sea of black cloth and the din of voices. Many of the Unspoken who had arrived from the Guildtown were staying on to cover the gaps left by those going on the expedition, and there was a general air of excitement as old friends reunited.

"Are you hiding in this corner all evening?" Thirris appeared out of the crowd carrying two drinks. He handed one to Jordan, who sagged with relief. He'd just spent several minutes bracing himself to push through the throng for a refill.

"I'm not hiding," he muttered, even though he was.

"Mm." Thirris sounded unconvinced. "It's not an obligation to be here, you know, Thorne."

"I know that, but..." he glanced at the door. "I wanted to be here in case my sister showed up."

He took a furtive sip of ale and glanced around the room again, feeling distinctly claustrophobic and a little bit guilty for it. His head was such a mess of thoughts and feelings that trying to be social without snapping at anyone was almost impossible, so he had retreated to the corner and hoped people would forget about him.

"Ah, yes, she's coming on the trip, isn't she? Cara mentioned something about that."

Jordan glanced at Thirris sidelong. "Wait, you're coming?"

"Of course." The old man sounded a touch indignant. "I'm not missing this."

"What did Yddris have to say about that?"

Thirris sniffed. "Oh, plenty. I told him to go sit on a carrot."

Jordan snorted. "What did he have to say about that?"

"I'm sure I don't know. There was too much grunting."

"Sounds about right." Jordan grinned despite himself, some of the tension easing from his shoulders. Inside his hood, Ren twitched in her sleep and began purring.

The door to the hall opened, spilling in a cool evening breeze. Several heads turned to see who had arrived, voices already rising in greeting. Jordan swallowed, heart leaping into his throat, but the fact that Astra walked in instead of Grace did nothing to lower his pulse. Henrik entered with her, immediately swept into a conversation with several other Unspoken as Astra found Jordan's eyes unerringly through the crowd.

"I'm finding I mysteriously, suddenly and quite desperately require the privy," Thirris said, nudging Jordan's elbow in the most unsubtle way possible. He vanished back into the crowd even as Astra found her way through and joined him in his corner.

"Well met," she said.

"Well met." Heat rushed to his cheeks. He thought he knew what was happening between them, but that didn't mean he was certain what to do with that information. Astra was unlike any other girl he'd ever talked to, and he'd certainly never tried to conduct a relationship when neither knew what the other person looked like.

He started saying something at the same time Astra did and they both fell silent again.

She was the one to break the stalemate. "You seem sad."

He blinked. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised anymore at Astra's uncanny abilities, but she stated it so bluntly it was hard not to be taken aback.

"I fell out with my sister," he said, before realising he intended to be truthful. "I got angry with her and she got really upset." He snorted softly, this time with no humour at all. "And now I'm still angry but feel bad about it, which doesn't seem like a huge improvement."