“Bunejab,” Jeremiah said. “I got you some food in town. Here.” He handed him the paper bag. “So you won’t go hungry tonight.” Bunejab smiled and chittered. “You’re welcome.” Jeremiah patted him on the shoulder. “Chalice and I are meeting some friends for dinner downstairs. When we get back, we will need to talk to you about something. We’ll see you in a bit.” The Chinuk nodded and they left the room.
Descending the staircase, Chalice saw the innkeeper near the door talking to a tall, thin man in a dark, hooded cloak. She thought it was strange that he kept his hood up. She could barely make out the grey beard and long nose of his face. Then, the man parted from the innkeeper and took a seat at one of the tables by himself in a dark corner of the room. From the corner of her eye, she could see, or rather feel that he was watching her, his face shrouded in the shadow of his cloak. At that moment, the innkeeper took note of them.
“Well, hello again,” he said. “I see you have found your young man.”
“Oh yes, thank you, we were just in town doing a little shopping.” Chalice smiled warmly. His expression of apprehension puzzled her. “What is it?”
“Hmm, if you need anything, just ask me or my wife. We can have someone here go get it for you. There is no need to enter the village.”
“You mean, you supply your guests with provisions they need?” She thought this was a little strange.
“Oh, yes. Our guests don’t usually visit the village.” He gave a light cough. “They don’t like to.”
“Why? Is it dangerous?”
“Sometimes. There are some strange folk in these parts. You know, pickpockets and brigands and the like. They live in the mountain and have been known to come this way.” How come we didn’t run into any on the road then? Chalice wondered. The expression of surprise must have shown on her face because he added: “Not to worry, my lady. We have protection here at the inn. Our strongmen keep an eye out for us.”
“Oh. Right. Well, we didn’t run into any when we were in town.” And actually had a pleasant visit there, she thought. She had a feeling that the purpose of the innkeeper’s offer was purely financial. “Also, we were easily able to find exactly what we needed thanks to Jezebelle.”
“Jezebelle?”
“The spice lady,” she told him, surprised that he didn’t register the name. It seemed to Chalice that Jezebelle was a woman not easily forgotten.
He scratched his chin. “Hmm, she must be new.” Pausing for a moment, he looked at the door. “That’s odd,” he said.
“What’s odd?”
“Well, no one really moves to Woodrock, just through it. For years it has been more of a crossroad than anything.”
“Oh … well … maybe she’s not new. She seemed to know the town really well.”
“Hmm … maybe …” Just then, they both turned as the inn door opened slightly. A brown head popped in from the outside and surveyed the room. Once its dark eyes fell upon Chalice, Tycho jumped to hug her. He still looked the same as he had when he was young, with his dark skin and chubby cheeks, although he had mostly grown out of his “baby” fat, as he called it.
“Jeremiah, hey man! How the heck have of you been?” Tycho said as he reached out to shake Jeremiah’s hand.
“I’m doing well. Long time no see, Tyke! How are you?” Jeremiah laughed. Kirna also walked up and hugged both of them.
“Friends of yours, my lady?” the innkeeper asked.
“Oh yes. Master Duncan, this is Kirna and this is Tycho,” Chalice said and he shook their hands. “They will be having dinner with us tonight. Is that alright?”
“Of course! Of course! Right this way.” He showed them to a table in the middle of the room and they sat down. “Tonight’s choice is chicken cacciatore in a tomato and herb mushroom sauce on a bed of noodles or beef burgundy served with fresh vegetables and sourdough bread.”
“Wow! That sounds great!” Tycho said and to the innkeeper’s surprise added: “I’ll take both.”
“Still has the same appetite, huh?” Jeremiah asked the girls.
“Oh, yes!” they said in unison.
After they had ordered, they broke into excited conversation. Chalice and Jeremiah sat back as they listened to Kirna and Tycho who were eagerly relating their story. Chalice flitted a glance at the hooded man again in the corner of the room. He had lowered the cowl of his cloak, but his facial features were still hidden by the shadowed corner. He had been brought a supper with a goblet of wine and was now dining by himself. That man is odd, she thought. He appeared to be watching her, but only at intervals. It seemed he was surveying the room. Maybe it’s just my imagination. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, she told herself. The mention of the Pandretti Inn and Winery pulled her from her thoughts.
“Yeah, the last thing we saw from the trees was the men gathering all of the villagers. Many of them were trying to resist, but it didn’t do any good,” Kirna said.
“What do you mean?” Chalice broke in. “Didn’t they put up a good fight?”
“They tried, but from what my father told us, and from what we saw sneaking out of the village, our people didn’t stand a chance. It was awful, especially for those who had families. I’ve never seen fighters like those, Chalice. It was disturbing.”
“Did you see my grandparents?” Chalice asked eagerly.
“No, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t make it out alive. We left right when the fighting started, so we didn’t see much actually.”
“But we did see many of our classmates,” Tycho interjected, “like us, fleeing the village on their parents’ orders with their younger siblings. I think most of the young people escaped unharmed.”
“Yeah, it was very organized,” Kirna said, “as if they had it planned a long time in advance, which is strange. You remember the days leading up to it, don’t you, Chalice? It was almost like they were expecting an attack like that.”
“Yeah, I do. It is weird!” Chalice knew what Kirna was talking about. She did remember. All of the older adults, including her grandparents, had been acting very strangely right before the attack. A noise caught her attention and she looked up at the serving maids who had arrived with their plates and a tray of four glasses of milk. “But why would they be expecting it? And why would the King target Canton and then Branbury?” Jeremiah looked at her and she knew what he was thinking. She was grateful that he chose to keep silent.
“Branbury? What happened to Branbury?” Kirna asked.
As they ate, Chalice continued to recount her experiences after leaving Canton, arriving at the village, and meeting up with Jeremiah. Kirna and Tycho listened intently to her as they ate. She decided to conveniently leave out the part about the book they found. She didn’t want to think about that just yet.
Chalice paused to eat her food and they were all silent for a moment. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a large group of rough-looking men enter the room from the tavern and sit down at the table next to theirs. The serving maids approached them and they ordered. She also noted that the strange man in the corner was still there, drinking his wine and monitoring the room from where he sat in the shaded corner.
Two scruffy farmers from Couzon, who were passing through Woodrock, sat dining at the table on the other side of them. One was young and the other was older with grey hair and missing teeth. Honing in on the two men, Chalice caught bits of their conversation.
“Yeah, I tell ya, he dun shed he shaw da White Beauty runnin’ tru da trees lasht week. A ghosht in da night.”
“Ah, he’s ravin’. There aint no White Beauty. She’s a myth.”
“He shwears itchda trute.”
Just then, Tycho looked up. He had finished both his plates first and was patting his stomach. “Aah, that was great. Best meal …”
“You’ve ever had. Yes, we know,” they all said in unison and he smiled. Tycho always said the same thing after every meal.
“So, Chalice, what happened after that? Why did you two leave Branbury?” he
asked and she was just about to answer him, but stopped suddenly, and in a split second, tensed when she saw one of the rough-looking men at the table next to theirs pull a knife from the back of his belt. She noticed that he had been glaring in their direction and could sense that the knife was meant for them.
Then, it all happened at once. Moving faster than her conscious thought could follow, she dropped her silverware and jumped onto her chair. Running over the table, sending chicken, beef and milk everywhere, she leapt up and flew through the air in a right foot side-kick, knocking the man firmly into the wall. Unconscious, he fell to the floor. She whirled on the spot, and with a knife hand to the throat, collapsed another one who had gotten up from the table and was towering over her. She knew all of the pressure points and all of the tender vulnerabilities of the human body.
Moving through the forms she had learned from her Shaunta, she watched her friends from the corner of her eye. Kirna was quick, jumping up and round-housing the nearest thug that had lunged for her. Tycho was slow, as always, but jumped into the fray as soon as it registered that they were being attacked. Jeremiah, who was never a fighter, but tall and muscular all the same, utilized a chair that he smashed over the head of the one nearest to him. All the other guests in the dining room ran for their lives while the inn’s strongmen shouldered in to help. The fight seemed to be going well, until …
A bright grey light exploded from a corner of the room and Chalice spun around to find the source. Before she could see anything, however, she felt a sharp pain on back of her head and her knees buckled. Next thing she knew, the floor was rushing up to meet her and then … darkness.
Benjamin Graeystone
“Is she going to be alright?”
“She will be fine. I traced the injury. There is no permanent damage. It will heal.”
A sigh of relief.
“Good.”
Two voices echoed down a white marble hallway, Jeremiah’s voice and the voice of another that Chalice did not recognize. How did they get here? Which room were they in? This was her place. She had been coming here ever since she was a child. No one knew of it except for her.
“Come on, Chalice. Wake up.” There he was again. Where was … wait! I’m dreaming. I need to …
Chalice opened her eyes and Jeremiah’s handsome face materialized in front her. She was lying on a settee in a strange room and he was kneeling at her side.
“Hey! How are you feeling? Man, you gave me a scare.” He wiped his sleeve across his forehead that was beaded with perspiration. He was shaking and worried.
“Let me see her,” the deep, unfamiliar voice said behind him and Jeremiah moved to the right to reveal the strange, cloaked man that she had seen in the dining room. Old, with lengthy grey hair, a white beard, and bright, grey-blue eyes, he stood in front of her no longer wearing his cloak. The lines of his tanned face were etched deeply into his skin and his age contrasted starkly with his clothes that were newly sewn of a fine material. Dark trousers and a fine shirt fashioned of grey silk hung on his thin body like a drape. Kirna and Tycho sat quietly behind him in plush green chairs next to a snapping fire, Tycho nursing a black eye with an ice pack.
“You!” Chalice cried out and sat bolt upright, glaring at the man. She immediately wished she hadn’t as her head throbbed in pain.
“Relax. I’m here to help you,” he said calmly and she wondered if that were true. She glanced around at the others. They seemed to be comfortable with him there.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “Everyone is alright. I took care of the situation down in the dining room. Although, you were putting up a pretty good fight.”
“You should have seen it, Chalice!” Kirna said excitedly at the same time as Tycho. They were both speaking at once about what had happened and she strained to listen. She couldn’t catch everything they said, especially in her condition. She gathered from the words she did hear that the attackers were seized by an invisible force and pinned up against the wall, frightened out of their wits.
“He is Terravailian!” Kirna exclaimed, motioning toward the old man.
Chalice was not impressed. She wanted to know who he was and why he was staring at her the whole time during dinner. She scowled.
“Sit back and rest,” the old man said. “You have just sustained a severe blow to the head. I’m sorry I distracted you. I’m afraid it was my fault you were hurt. In any case, your attackers are gone and they won’t be coming back. I made sure of that.”
Chalice did not obey. She stayed exactly as she was, sitting upright, trying not to fall back. She was being stubborn and would not show any weakness.
“Who were they?” she asked. Jeremiah, who sensed her instability, sat down next to her and held her in place.
“Brigands. They were after your money, well, at least that is what they claimed, but I can’t be sure if they weren’t working for Dar’Maalda. Therefore, we can’t stay in Woodrock for very long. News of what happened tonight will spread quickly, so we will have to leave tomorrow morning.”
“Wait! We? You mean you want to come with us? Why? Who are you?” She was unsure of this man. She didn’t trust strangers. “Why would a Terravailian be so interested in a group of Naeon?”
“Good question. It is good that you are suspicious. I’m sure you get that from Sebastian.” She looked up at him in disbelief. How did he know about her grandfather? The old man sighed. “You probably want some answers, I would imagine.”
“Yes, that would be nice!”
He smiled. “You are just like your father. You look very much like him.”
“You know my father?!” She tried to stand up, but immediately fell back down on the cushions, swaying. Jeremiah caught her in mid-air.
“My head is pounding!” she said, rubbing her temples.
“Jeremiah, is Bunejab with you?” the old man asked.
“You know him?!” It was Jeremiah’s turn to be surprised.
“Who is Bunejab?” Tycho whispered to Kirna who shrugged her shoulders.
“Yes. Please go tell him I need him … and tell him to bring his medicine bag with him,” the man said and Jeremiah rushed out of the room. He then turned to Chalice and spoke softly: “I could heal you, but I get the impression that you would not let me if I tried. Bunejab can give you something that will work just as well … probably better.”
“Umm, who is Bunejab?” Tycho asked again, still confused.
“He is a Chinuk and an old friend,” the man responded.
Kirna’s eyebrows shot up. “A Chinuk?! In the lowlands? How odd!”
“He helped us travel over the mountain. We couldn’t have done it without him,” Chalice said, still massaging her head. “Jeremiah and I had to sneak him into the room so we wouldn’t draw attention.”
The old man smiled. “Yes, I saw that. That was very clever.”
She looked up at him, confused. “You saw us?”
“I had just arrived and I saw you from the other side of the stream. That is how I knew it was you. I knew Bunejab would be with you.”
“But the Chinuka never come down this far,” Kirna said. “I’ve never heard of one who associated with people.”
“Well, he is sort of odd for a Chinuk, but he does have their talents in the medicinal arts. He is very skilled in many ways and has bailed me out of a few tight spots in the past.”
Just then, Jeremiah and Bunejab burst into the room and before Chalice knew it, the little Chinuk was handing her a warm drink with a powder he had mixed into it. She took it gratefully. She trusted him. Everything he had done for her had helped her. She had no reason to believe this time would be any different. And it wasn’t. The potion took effect immediately, relieving the pain and vertigo. She noticed then that Jeremiah had brought his bags with him, setting them on the floor next to the settee as he reclaimed his seat.
“Thank you, my old friend,” the man said. The little Chinuk smiled and chittered at him. “Yes, you did. Thank you for seeing that she arri
ved here safely.” Bunejab nodded and Chalice glared at the two of them.
“Seeing that I arrived here safely? You mean … that’s what he’s been doing this whole time? Delivering me here? Why didn’t he tell us?”
Bunejab was digging into his rucksack again, pulling out some type of green, leafy material, and handing it to Tycho. Apparently, he wanted Tycho to use it for his eye. Tycho, who was dumbstruck by the fact he was seeing a Chinuk for the first time in his life, fumbled as he took the material and wrapped it around the ice.
“He was asked not to, just to see that you traveled unharmed over the mountain.”
“What’s going on? Who are you and who is my father?”
The old man was removing a pipe from his pocket that he lit by borrowing a lick of the fire from the hearth. Then, he took a seat on a chair near the settee and crossed his legs. Behind him, Bunejab had climbed up onto the bed and taken a seat in the background to watch and listen.
Jeremiah studied the old man, frowning in thought. “Are you Ben Graeystone?” he asked and the man nodded. “Now I remember! I thought I recognized you. Nice to meet you again.” With that, they gave each other a nod of the head. Chalice looked at Jeremiah and he answered her unasked question. “He’s the one who visited my parents when I was young, the reason I came to stay with you and your grandparents for three years.”
Jeremiah knew him. Chalice was immediately comforted by this and felt the tension in her shoulders loosen. Jeremiah looked over and spoke to the old man: “They never told me where they went or what the mission was all about. What were you doing with them all that time?”
“We were looking for Chalice’s father. I found a lead and came to ask your parents for help. I needed their skills and knowledge. I also needed their expertise in the Chinukan language. I wasn’t familiar with it at the time. We searched in vain because we didn’t find him, but we did discover some crucial information. Now that Chalice is here, I am hoping she will be able to help me find him. I have been looking for him and waiting for her for nineteen years.”
The Raie'Chaelia (Legend of the Raie'Chaelia, Book One 1) Page 15