Green Rider

by Kristen Britain

  Karigan smiled. “I’m glad I could help.”

  “I now know what else that letter contained. Captain Mapstone told me all about it, and all you endured to bring it.” Lady Estora’s eyebrows became set and her tone more serious. “You know, that night in the throne room, I saw much in you that reminded me of F’ryan.”

  “I didn’t know him,” Karigan said. “At least not well.”

  Lady Estora seemed to search for the right words. “You were not going to let anything stop you, and you did not. That was very like F’ryan.”

  Karigan looked at her knees. “I couldn’t stop. I was afraid. I was afraid for my father, I was afraid for the king, and I was afraid for me. If I stopped . . .” She spread her hands wide for Lady Estora to come to her own conclusion.

  Lady Estora studied her thoughtfully.

  “Something wrong?‘’ Karigan asked.

  “No.” Lady Estora shook her head and her hair shimmered in the sunshine like a river of gold. “F’ryan was never, forgive me, strong enough to admit fear. He shrugged it off like nothing, but I could see it in his eyes.”

  They sat in silence for a while, lumpy white clouds sailing across the sky far above, and a toad scampering beneath some bushes. A hummingbird darted from blossom to blossom with whirring wings. All of these small details of life Karigan had taken for granted.

  Presently Lady Estora asked, “Will you be staying in Sacor City?”

  Karigan shook her head. “No, I’m returning to Corsa. You?”

  “My father wants me to find a good suitor.” Lady Estora rolled her eyes. “Coutre Province is isolated by the Wingsong Range and a treacherous stretch of coast. He thought I’d have a better chance of meeting a fine young nobleman here. I thought if you were staying, we could be friends.”

  Karigan smiled regretfully. “I—”

  But now Lady Estora was gazing across the courtyard. “I believe someone is waiting to speak to you.”

  Karigan followed her gaze. Standing at the far end of the courtyard was King Zachary watching her expectantly. She pushed her hair behind her ear and licked her lips nervously. Why did the king make her feel so out of sorts?

  “You had better go,” Lady Estora said. “It is not good to keep a king waiting.”

  Karigan smiled weakly and bid Lady Estora farewell. She walked the gravel path amid shrubbery and flower beds. As she approached, a Weapon stepped in her way to intercept her.

  “It’s all right, Wilson,” the king said. “This is Karigan G’ladheon.”

  The Weapon’s expression brightened, and he bowed. “I am usually guarding the tombs,” he said, “but recent upheavals have me on duty here. There has been much talk down below of your deeds.”

  Karigan reddened. Before she could respond, however, Wilson slipped away to a discreet distance, leaving her and the king to stare awkwardly at one another. King Zachary looked well, but as if he had aged years. There were new lines crossing his brow and hollows beneath his eyes. She could not imagine the strain he had been under dealing with his brother’s betrayal and death. The treachery of those he believed loyal, and the deaths of those who had remained loyal, had undoubtedly taken their toll on him as well.

  Finally he said, “Would you walk with me?” Karigan fell into step with him on the gravel pathway. “I have just stepped outside for some fresh air,” he said. “It seems summer has finally found us.”

  “Yes,” Karigan said.

  Another silence fell between them.

  “I—” he began.

  “We—” she said.

  They stopped and glanced at one another.

  “Karigan,” he said, “I still haven’t heard a full account of what went on in the throne room that night. I was a bit dazed, you know, when you broke the spell binding my brother to the Eletian. It seems you and my brother vanished momentarily. Laren—Captain Mapstone—seems to think it wasn’t the power of your brooch. Where did you go? What happened?”

  Karigan felt the energy drain from her. She disliked revisiting that night for it hounded her in her dreams and intruded on her waking thoughts. Over the last week she had found too much idle time to mull over what could have been. What if she had made the wrong choice? What if she had taken the Eletian up on his challenge to a game of Intrigue? What if she had lost? The vicious whirl of what-ifs exhausted her.

  She started to turn away, but the king caught her arm. “Please,” he said.

  She nodded. “It is still strange to me.”

  And there in the courtyard, among the fragrant flowers, the buzz of bees, and the trill of birdsong, she told King Zachary of her experiences in the white void in which she had been trapped. The longer she talked, the wider his eyes grew. Her heart grew lighter as her words poured out. She realized, as she spoke, she had made the only choice she could have possibly made, and that none of the alternatives would have made sense to her then, or ever. In relating her experiences to the king she also learned she did not have to carry the burden of those choices by herself.

  “I have heard,” he said when she finished, “there are many layers to the world. The domain of the gods is one layer. The world of the afterlife is another. I have also heard that when you use magic, you enter yet another layer. Perhaps this is what happened.”

  “I don’t know,” Karigan said. “Agemon called it a transitional place.”

  The king shifted the sling on his shoulder. “Karigan, you have astonished me time and again. I am more grateful than you know for all that you have done. Without you, my brother would have taken all and destroyed Sacoridia.”

  “Jendara,” Karigan said, “stopped your brother.”

  “She killed my brother, but it is you who stopped him and the Eletian. I know there was an understanding of some kind between you and Jendara, but know that in the end, she found the most merciful way out for herself. The justice of Weapons is ancient and brutal. Despite her final act, the Weapons would have branded her a traitor, and she would have suffered a great deal prior to execution.”

  Karigan glanced down at her feet. “I know. I hope she wasn’t buried in some unmarked grave.”

  “She is where she deserves, interred beside my brother in the Halls of Kings and Queens, albeit along a more obscure avenue. But I do not wish to speak of tombs.” The song of a chickadee perched on a slender white birch lilted across the courtyard. The king put his fingers beneath her chin and raised her face into the sunlight. “I’m asking you, no, imploring you, to reconsider joining the Green Riders. Your valor will not be forgotten.”

  “I can’t—” she began.

  He cut her off. “I simply ask you to reconsider. Go spend time with your family and think about it. If you return to Selium to finish your schooling, all the better.”

  “I’m not going back there,” she said. “That’s how I got into this mess in the first place.”

  The king’s brown eyes danced with amusement. “A Green Rider should soon be handing Dean Geyer a message sealed with the royal mark, explaining how erroneously he judged you. You are free to return there.”

  Karigan wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or annoyed that she no longer had an excuse to stay away from Selium. It would not do to appear ungrateful, however. “Thank you,” she murmured.

  He grinned with a lightness she did not expect, and he took her hand into his. “Your deeds will not be forgotten, brave lady.” He kissed her hand and bowed.

  With that, he turned away, his cloak rustling behind him as he strode off.

  Karigan returned to her room at Rider barracks feeling rather giddy and blushing madly. Her saddlebags were packed and there was little to do but await her father. She sighed and leaned against the window frame. The wind bent the grasses of the pasture and horses grazed in the distance.

  The king. He stirred up feelings in her that she would rather not think about. She was leaving Sacor City to be a merchant. Or, was she simply running away again?

  She would miss Sacor City, but she would miss the peopl
e even more: King Zachary, Mel, Captain Mapstone, Fastion, and Alton D’Yer. Alton had left the city two days ago for his ancestral home. He was supposed to help figure out how to mend the breach in the D’Yer Wall. He was sorry she had decided not to stay on, and he made her promise to visit frequently. After the Battle of the Lost Lake and the discovery of his shielding talent, he finally felt like a proper Green Rider.

  The door creaked open, and her father strode in looking resplendent in a cloak of sky blue. He placed his hands on his hips and smiled broadly at her. “Ready?” he asked.

  She grinned and crossed the floor to embrace him. He felt as he always had with his arms around her: strong and safe and warm. “I’m glad you’re here,” she said.

  Her father laughed aloud. “I am glad we both are.”

  Karigan pulled away and looked up at him. “What has you in such good spirits?”

  “I’ve had some meetings with Captain Mapstone. She has told me many things about your journey—things you had not told me. It took seeing it through the captain’s eyes for me to realize how much you’ve grown.”

  Karigan made a face. “I am Karigan G’ladheon, merchant.”

  “I told the captain that. She is short on messengers and thought I could talk you into joining up. I told her you were returning to Corsa with me. Even so, she insisted upon riding out of the city with us.”

  Karigan threw her saddlebags over her shoulder. She was pleased the captain was joining them, and she could tell by the sparkle in her father’s eye that he, too, was pleased.

  They found Captain Mapstone by the stable holding the reins to Bluebird. She looked well and rested. Only a small bandage on her forehead and a slight limp hinted at the battle she had endured. According to Mel, it had been no easy task keeping the captain quiet while she recuperated. The menders had their hands full with her, and many had simply thrown their hands up in exasperation when she stubbornly disobeyed their instructions.

  Mel and Sevano led the other horses out of the stable. Karigan hugged Mel soundly. The girl was as cheerful as ever, but Karigan wondered if the night of the takeover ever plagued her dreams. She would not talk about it, but preoccupied herself with chores around the stables, or running about the castle with messages.

  “It seems like we keep saying good-bye,” Karigan said.

  “You’ll be back,” Mel said.

  “I’m not too sure about that.”

  Mel grinned and handed over Condor’s reins. “The captain is thinking about sending me to Selium for school.”

  Karigan patted her friend on the shoulder. In a low voice she said, “A little advice if you go: don’t ever think about running away.”

  Mel chuckled and hurried off into the stable.

  The foursome mounted and rode in silence across the castle grounds and through the gates. Captain Able and his guardsmen who had swung from nooses at the gate had been removed and buried with honor. Still, Karigan couldn’t help but feel a certain dread when she passed beneath the portcullis.

  In the city, the added security was evident everywhere. Soldiers in silver and black patrolled the streets in pairs and questioned travelers, particularly Mirwellians, at the gates. However, the hawking of merchandise from streetside booths, and the singing and playing of buskers, and the bustle of people flowing this way and that had not changed.

  Captain Mapstone nosed Bluebird alongside Condor. Karigan’s father and the cargo master rode on ahead. The captain twisted in her saddle so she could look directly at Karigan. Her hazel eyes were intent. “I am sure King Zachary requested you to join the messenger service,” she said. “Add my invitation as well.”

  Stevic G’ladheon overheard and opened his mouth to protest, but the captain forestalled him with a stern glance. “Hold, merchant. You agreed to let me have my say.”

  He pursed his lips, but could not contain himself. “Yes, and a lot more.”

  “You made a bargain, if you recall,” Captain Mapstone said.

  Karigan raised her eyebrows. “Bargain?”

  “I found you, more or less,” the captain explained. “Your father agreed long ago to reoutfit my unit—which happens to be the whole of the messenger service—if I found you.” She turned her hazel eyes back on Stevic. “Remember, make them conservative and green.”

  Stevic rolled his eyes. “Aeryc and Aeryon preserve me from making deals with Green Riders.” He shook his head and turned his attention back to the road ahead.

  “Them?” Karigan asked, mystified.

  “Uniforms.” The captain smiled smugly. They rode for a bit more and the smile faded to a more thoughtful expression. “Karigan, please consider joining us. You have shown rare courage, and we would be proud to have you.”

  Karigan worked the reins between her fingers and looked down at her hands. She felt the pull of the Green Riders, but didn’t understand it. She needed some time to think it over. “No, I don’t—”

  The captain cut her off. “You do not have to decide now. I won’t pressure you. I believe you will feel enough pressure in . . . well, other ways.”

  The captain did not explain further and the conversation shifted to more inconsequential things for the duration of the ride through the city. She rode with them through the last gate, then halted.

  “I have some things for you,” she said to Karigan. She reached behind herself and unfastened a saddle sheath complete with saber. She presented it to Karigan. “This isn’t the blade of the First Rider though I think you deserve to carry it. Agemon of the tombs demanded its return. This was F’ryan’s.”

  Karigan ran her fingers across the worn leather sheath. “I recognize it.”

  “You have his brooch and horse,” Captain Mapstone said. “It seems logical for you to have his sword as well. I think he would be pleased.”

  “Thank you,” Karigan said.

  “One more thing.” Captain Mapstone’s expression became grave and she scratched at her neck scar. “I saw you after the Battle of the Lost Lake. I saw what you did with those black arrows. Here.” She handed Karigan an oblong bundle wrapped in cloth. “These are the arrows that killed F’ryan. I’m not sure why you broke all the others, but I have a feeling it would be a good idea to break these as well.”

  Karigan took the bundle and clasped Captain Mapstone’s hand. “Thank you for everything.”

  “Good-bye, Karigan. I hope your journey home is far more pleasant than any other you have taken lately.”

  Karigan watched as the captain rode Bluebird back through the gate. She turned Condor away, away from Sacor City, away from the imposing castle atop its hill and the man who inhabited it. She rode with her father and Sevano and left everything that had happened far behind.

  When they reached the spot where she and Alton had picnicked by the Lost Lake, she dismounted Condor and walked alone into the cool shade of the beech tree. She unwrapped the arrows.

  She shuddered as her fingers touched the black wood of the shafts. Blood still crusted on the steel tips. Without ceremony, she broke the arrows over her knee and let the pieces drop to the ground.

  F’ryan Coblebay appeared before her, very faint, his luminescence fading. She could see meadow grass waving through him. Thank you, he said. No arrows protruded from his back now, no blood flowed. His face was not creased with pain. Others remain enslaved, but you have helped many. Now I, too, may go home. He turned and walked away, fading out as he went until he was no longer there.

  Karigan mounted Condor and reined him up beside her father. He smiled at her and reached over to squeeze her knee.

  Karigan touched the winged horse brooch fastened to her shirt and sighed.

  “Let’s go home,” she said.

 

 

 
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