"It must have been good if you won't say it."

I eyed him ruefully, but I was unable to keep my face from blushing. "Man, you're just on a roll today."

He grinned wider, then dropped onto the floor using his seat to lean against. "Well we have to do something to keep ourselves entertained."

I smiled, then leaned into my hand. "What do you normally do here when you're alone?"

He poked a small twig at the fire. "Eat, read, at some point I'll have to check the tunnels. Speaking of," he added, hopping suddenly to his feet, "I'm hungry, and you still need a tour of our little watch-post."

I laughed at his abrupt exuberance. "Okay, then."

The next thirty minutes was a boisterous mix of him pointing out sections of the large cave, whilst attempting to cook food over the fire. He was in a very chipper mood all of the sudden. I guess he was trying to make me feel comfortable given the situation.

It worked. By the time we were leaning against the wall with our plates of food, I felt completely relaxed.

"So," he said, breaking the laughter over his last comment, "how have you been here, really?"

I cleared my throat. "I don't know . . . it's only been an hour or two."

He set his plate down and I warily checked his face. The dim light wasn't much to go off of, but I could easily see the skeptical gaze. Obviously my feigned misunderstanding hadn't worked.

On my tour Ikovos had informed me that the two fires were actually real, completely normal. They flickered substantially, filling the cave with shadows and twinkling reflections. A smirk crossed my face and I looked back at him. "It'd be way too cheesy to have a serious conversation in here."

He narrowed his eyes, then looked around. After a second a grin appeared. "Okay, you are absolutely right."

I smiled victoriously and took a bite of food.

"But be prepared when we get to a less romantic location."

My chewing halted and my heart skipped a few beats. Then I got a hold of myself.

He meant it in the other way, Evelyn. Stop being a weirdo.

Before my face had a chance to turn red, Ikovos tapped my knee. "Hey, I got an idea. Do you want to look up your name?"

I tried to swallow my most recent bite. "My name?"

He nodded. "Yeah, Avest, right? I have a few books here. . . ."

Before I could respond he jumped up, dug into a pile in the corner, and came back with a small stack of tomes.

Once he was situated beside me I set my plate down on my right and looked back over, this I wasn't prepared for.

Resting on the bridge of his nose were the glasses from earlier. I bit my lip hard to hold back a threatening smile as he opened the book. When he glanced at me once, he did a double-take.

"What?" he asked.

I shook my head and narrowed my eyes, trying to concentrate on the book.

He looked back down, flipping through a few more pages. "It's L, Y, N, right?"

I lost it then, bursting into the laughter. I tried to cover my mouth as he looked at my face, but it wasn't helping much. "I'm sorry," I burst out again, "it's just . . . I didn't expect you to-" more laughing. He cocked his head slightly and I pointed. "It's the glasses, they're-" I lost it completely as he eyed me, obviously still confused, and pulled the spectacles off to examine them. I covered my mouth again, finally managing to keep my giggling to a minimum.

A slight grin crossed his face. "What's wrong with my glasses?"

I shook my head quickly. "Nothing."

He eyed me dubiously. "It has to be something."

I chewed my lip uncomfortably. "It's just . . . when you picture someone with glasses, you are not the type of person that comes to mind."

He considered this, then his grin widened. "You're prejudiced against glasses?" It was more of an accusation than a question.

I shook my head again. "No!"

He nodded. "You just have preconceived ideas about people who wear them. . . ."

"I . . . oh. . . ." Maybe I do have a problem.

As I settled into the possibility he laughed, slipping the glasses back on and pointing to the page. "Okay, Evelyn. We've got . . . bird-like."

I tried to catch up to his words. "Bird-like?"

He nodded.

"As in, like a bird?"

He nodded again.

I considered this then shook my head. "I don't see it."

He swiveled his eyes at me, then threw out a hand. "Yeah right. What are birds?"

I pursed my lips. "Like their qualities?"

He nodded once.

"Umm . . . they sing a lot."

He lifted one finger. "Okay, you totally do that."

I scoffed. "What? No I don't."

He grinned. "Oh, yes, you do."

"Like when?"

He eyed me slightly. "All the time."

I chuckled, hoping it was a joke, but his face remained serious.

"Name once."

He waved a hand. "Easy. At the cabin."

"The one near Tiver?"

"Uh-huh."

"When?"

"When you were taking a shower."

My eyes widened. "You could hear that? I was singing?!"

He nodded slowly, an entertained smirk growing across his face.

I shook my head. "Oh, no, did Jaden-"

He nodded again.

My head fell.

"If it helps, I'm pretty sure you only do it when you think you're alone."

I looked back up. "That's great."

He shrugged.

"Let's just move on so I can disprove this bird theory."

He smiled again. It was so hard to stay irritated with him doing that.

"Alright. Name another."

I thought more carefully about this one. "Birds are . . . delicate."

He laughed heartily then lifted another finger. "Okay, check."

I narrowed my eyes, but was a little afraid of arguing that one. Ah-ha! "They're skittery."

Another finger shot up.

Oh, great job Evelyn, take an idea from yourself.

"Free?" I checked, sure that this was too off to argue. But another finger went up.

"Free-spirited," he clarified.

I sighed heartily and dropped my head again.

"Let me take it from here," said Ikovos, before putting up his fifth finger. "They're sweet, for one . . . and gentle." His fingers cleared back to one, which I guessed signified the six. "Curious. You can't argue with that, you said it yourself."

I looked up carefully and he glanced away.

"They're very regal, or . . . untouchable. Like they're above you, too good for you . . . like they could leave you at any minute. . . ."

My heart was beating way off kilter at this point. These were all true things about a bird, but me?

His concentrated gaze cleared, and with a much lighter expression he fixed his eyes on me again. "And they're odd, you know, a little eccentric. You'll like that one." He cleared his throat and I forced a laugh, sniffling.

"Yes, I suppose they can be a little strange."

Our eyes met, then silence fell.

He broke it with a heavy breath. "Okay, so, that makes ten. And, I'm sorry, but ten definitely cements you as a bird-like person."

I squinched my eyes, then waved a hand. "Fine. I'm a bird."

In truth he still hadn't convinced me of this fact, but I wasn't about to argue it . . . not after what he'd just said, not when my head was still buzzing, and my thoughts were so jumbled, and definitely not after the look his face held now. He was pleased by my adherence, and that made me very happy.

He leaned up suddenly. "Well, I have to go patrol for a while. We can look up your last name when I get back."

I straightened. "Okay."

He stood up, wiping dirt off his pants. "I shouldn't be gone too long."

"Are you going far?" I asked, much too quickly to sound not nervous.

He grinned as he leaned over to pick up a stray sword. "No. Just around the tunnels. But if something goes wrong just make a break for the portal."

I tensed, standing up now. "Something could go wrong?"

He walked closer to me then, with the sword and the dim lighting he seemed much more intimidating than usual. "You really don't have a clue what you signed up for, do you?"

My eyebrows knit. The statement took me completely by surprise. From someone else, fine, but Ikovos had encouraged me to stay from the beginning. "I know how dangerous it is, "I informed him harshly.

To my, once again, surprise the corners of his mouth twitched up. "Okay," he said. "Now, come here. I've gotta show you something."

He went over to a dark corner that hadn't been part of the tour, then lit his hand. I saw that it was an opening in the stone down to a lower-level tunnel.

"This is where we watch for incoming troops. One way leads out, and the other leads back to the portal."

Before I could acknowledge him with a nod he jumped into the dark hole.

"Ikovos!" I gasped, it had to be at least fifteen feet down.