Soldier Song (The Teralin Sword Book 6)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Where are these master archives kept?”

  “Again, that moves over time. When one place becomes untenable, another location is found. It seems the guild has chosen to move from where I last recalled it.”

  “How can they move an entire archive like that?”

  “You might be surprised,” Novan said.

  Endric frowned. There was something more than what Novan was sharing, but he had a sense that Novan didn’t intend to tell him. Maybe he would learn when they reached the guild, but maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe Novan would keep that information to himself.

  Endric stared at Novan for a while, watching to see if there was anything that he might share, but the historian said nothing. Instead, he simply watched, looking at Endric with an expression that was rimmed with amusement.

  There was something to it, but maybe it didn’t matter. Eventually, Novan would have to share, though Endric wasn’t entirely certain how he would convince him to do so.

  Novan stared at him and Endric watched him in return, looking for some sign of recognition, but he didn’t see any.

  And maybe, he decided, it didn’t matter. Maybe Novan didn’t have to share with him what he knew.

  There came another flicker of movement. This time, Endric was the only one to see it.

  Or so he thought.

  “It seems that we have company,” Novan said. He reached for his staff, which he had slipped into the saddle. As he did, there came a slight surge of teralin against Endric’s senses. It was strange that he should detect it so frequently around the historian, and yet for whatever reason, it seemed as if Endric always managed to display some connection to teralin.

  “I see it. It’s a scout. Pendin and I noticed something earlier in the day.”

  “Is it anything that we need to be concerned about?”

  “You’ve been traveling through these lands. What do you think?”

  “I have been traveling a little bit of a different type of journey, Endric.”

  He smiled to himself. With Tresten involved, Endric could only imagine what sort of journey Novan had taken. The historian probably wouldn’t tell him, though Endric wasn’t sure that it mattered. It likely was some task on behalf of the Conclave.

  “We’ve been patrolling in the north and have come across a few similar attacks like this. Most of them are insignificant. Fifty or more raiders, but none of them of much danger or skill.”

  “I find it interesting that you would say that fifty is an insignificant number.”

  “Considering some of the things that we have encountered, fifty is an insignificant number. Anyway. We have kept an eye out for these raiders, and the Denraen continue to patrol, but they are fearless, as if unconcerned about our presence.”

  “Why do you think that is?”

  Endric shrugged. “I couldn’t say with any certainty. They don’t seem to be organized in any fashion.”

  “What do you make of the fact that we have been trailed like this?”

  “I suspect someone sees an opportunity. We aren’t a large enough party to be worrisome, at least not to some of these groups that we have encountered. And yet, we pose a curiosity, I suspect. There is likely a factor of wanting to know who we are and what we might be doing.”

  “I find your lack of concern both reassuring and I suppose also worrisome.”

  “There’s nothing to be worried about, Novan. Besides, I’ve seen you in a fight.”

  “Yes, well, let’s hope that it doesn’t come down to you relying upon my fighting ability.”

  Endric smiled, and as they rode, he paid attention to the sense of movement near them. He wanted to ensure that they didn’t come across anyone unexpectedly, and he wanted to be careful, but as they went, he couldn’t help but feel as if they were followed, and in this case, followed by someone who had more than a bit of ability.

  Guiding his horse forward, he reached Senda. “Keep them going in this direction.”

  “What is it?”

  “Something I need to check out.”

  “You will be careful?”

  “I’m always careful.”

  “Just you?”

  “I think I can move more easily and with less likelihood of detection. Besides, if something were to happen, I want all the swords available to get moving.”

  “What about yours?”

  “You can do without mine for a little bit,” he said.

  With that, he veered off, streaking toward the movement that he’d seen. He wasn’t terribly surprised when he heard a galloping following him, and he looked back to see Novan riding up behind him.

  “Historian.”

  “I thought I would observe.”

  “Just observe?”

  “As I said, I think that you don’t want to rely upon my fighting ability.”

  “We both know that’s not quite true.”

  “Perhaps we do,” Novan said, smiling. “Regardless, if you saw something, I thought it best for me to follow and see if there’s anything here that I need to be concerned about.”

  “Why? What’s taking place? Why has the historian guild gone silent?”

  “I have not been as closely bound to the guild as I once was. Unfortunately, there are things that I’m unable to determine.”

  “Such as why the historian guild has gone so uncharacteristically silent as to worry both the university as well as the Denraen?”

  “Unfortunately, such as that.”

  Endric pulled up as they reached the top of a rise, looking down. As he did, he breathed out a sigh of frustration. There had to be two hundred soldiers down below, far more than what they would be able to manage with their small party. It was far more than should be out here at this time.

  “Is it the fact that they are here that bothers you, or is it the fact that you can’t do anything about it?”

  “I think that it’s more about the fact that my father doesn’t seem to share my concern.”

  “Are you so sure that he doesn’t?”

  “He was never eager for me to take soldiers out of the city.”

  “Just because he didn’t want you to doesn’t mean that he didn’t think that it was necessary.”

  “I suppose it doesn’t,” Endric said.

  “What now?”

  “I think that it is time for us to be a little bit more intentional about our pace.”

  As he said it, activity down in the camp motioned in his direction, and he swore under his breath. They had been seen.

  “Perhaps even more so than I realized,” he said.

  “Perhaps we should get moving,” Novan said.

  They started riding, and as they went, Endric paused every so often to look behind him, noticing that there was a large group of soldiers following them. Somehow, he’d have to get word to the Denraen, but first, he needed to get back to the rest of the party, get them moving, and from there, they could finish this task.

  “Why do I feel like you’re having fun with this?” he asked Novan as they galloped, racing away from the soldiers.

  “You would be mistaken.”

  “Would I?”

  “Perhaps not. Sometimes it’s nice to do things that aren’t involved with the Conclave. Sometimes it’s nice to have simpler battles to face.”

  “And yet, serving the Conclave helps ensure a different sort of peace.”

  “That it does, Endric.”

  When they reached the rest of the party, Endric made a quick decision. He sent the lower-ranking Denraen away, back toward Vasha. They didn’t even have to head all the way back to Vasha. There would be Denraen stationed in Tharend, which wasn’t all that far from where they were. They were to get troops and bring them out to deal with these raiders.

  “Are you sure that is a good idea?” Pendin asked. “If we need—"

  “I’m not abandoning the Denraen responsibility,” he said.

  “I wasn’t saying that you were. I’m just suggesting that we might need them.”

  Endric
glanced over at Novan. The historian sat atop his horse, an almost smug expression on his face. “I think that we won’t. Now that we have Novan, it might be best to keep our party a little bit smaller. This time, our task is not the raiders.” He found it difficult to turn away, but this was the task he’d chosen, and he would not fail.

  9

  The seashore stretched in front of them. Endric stared at it, watching the waves crash against the shore and the ships that moved in and out. It had a sort of rhythmic quality, and everything about it seemed peaceful and relaxing. The more he stared, the more he felt as if he could finally relax again near the sea.

  They had slipped around the raiders, the ride going quickly, their numbers not so much as to be noticeable. He wasn’t surprised that they made such good time. With Novan, he had to wonder if the historian did something that allowed them to move more quickly than they otherwise would have managed.

  “You still think about it, don’t you?” Senda asked.

  “Don’t you?”

  “I think about it, but I try not to. It helps that most of those memories are little more than a blur to me.”

  “I suppose that would help,” he said with a smile.

  “You know, you survived.”

  “I know that I survived.”

  “No. You survived what could have claimed you. The ocean can be deadly, there’s no questioning that, but you managed to survive it, and more than that, you thrived. There aren’t too many people who can claim to not only survive the violence of the sea but can also claim to have become stronger for it. You experienced something that very few people ever can.”

  “I never really wanted that,” Endric said.

  “No one does,” she said with a smile.

  In the distance, the city of Boastin stretched along the shoreline. It was an enormous city, one of the most northern cities in the nation of Gomald. The regional king was a good man, at least as far as Endric knew, and he ruled justly. The same couldn’t be said for all regions of Gomald, though Endric had some experience with the Saeline king. He had come to the Denraen to train and had spent some time with them before returning.

  “How much do you think they’re going to charge us?” Endric asked.

  “More than they should,” Novan said.

  “Why?”

  “Because we need to ask them to take us to Coamdon, and it’s not an easy journey.”

  Endric shook his head. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “It’s not quite like traveling to Salvat, but the journey is difficult. The water is choppy between the north and the south, and while there aren’t the same dangerous and deadly rock formations as you can find there, it still presents challenges.”

  “Challenges?” Endric asked.

  “Challenges means that we need to reach the shore, and once we do, we need to find an adequate port, and from there we need to ensure that we can ingratiate ourselves within the guild.”

  Endric smiled to himself. “Ingratiate ourselves. It sounds as if you’re not entirely certain the guild will welcome you back.”

  “I never am,” Novan said. “If I were certain, I don’t know that I would need you for this task.”

  “You’re worried.”

  “When even my connection to the guild goes silent, I worry.”

  They continued their ride into Boastin, and the city quickly swallowed them. It was like many of the great cities of the north, though this one had a distinctive harbor that curved out into the ocean. They were a seafaring people, and the Boastin navy was notorious for the number and swiftness of its fleet. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t be traveling by one of the Boastin navy ships. They would be traveling by another captain, possibly a pirate or someone else of that ilk. Hopefully the captain they hired wouldn’t abandon them at the first sign of a storm.

  Endric watched the buildings as they passed. Most of them were impressive and seemed designed for the storms that a place like this would encounter, storms they never had in Vasha. Endric wondered just how powerful the storms would be. With the wind whipping out of the west, gusting in and carrying the smell of the sea, it wasn’t hard to imagine that the storms would be violent, which meant that the buildings would need to be well constructed.

  “Will we stable our horses?” he asked Novan.

  Novan shook his head. “I’m afraid that we will need to sell them.”

  “Sell them?”

  “Unless you intend to return for them.”

  “The Denraen stable master will be displeased,” Pendin muttered.

  “What was that?” Novan said.

  Pendin shook his head. “Nothing.”

  “Nothing? You’ve barely spoken, Pendin. I can’t claim to know you the way that Endric does, but I seem to recall you having a little more fortitude than what you’ve shown.”

  “You question my fortitude?”

  “I question your willingness to reveal it. Is there a reason for this?” Pendin’s gaze drifted over to his mother, and Novan only shook his head. “Is it because of your mother? For if that’s the case, I’m sure we can resolve this.”

  “Novan, don’t do this,” Endric said.

  “Don’t do what?”

  “Don’t get involved.”

  “We have a long journey ahead of us,” Novan said. “If we can’t resolve this now, then we will be dealing with it in a place where it won’t be nearly so easy to do. Now, I have no interest in having an argument on the sea.” Novan glanced over at Elizabeth. “Can you deal with this?”

  She frowned. “I think that I can manage with my son.”

  “I would think so too, but so far, you haven’t proved that you can. It seems to me both of you are responsible for maintaining this distance between you.”

  “The distance is none of your business, Novan,” Elizabeth said.

  “The distance is palpable, and seeing as how your son is Endric’s friend, and all of us are traveling together, I am left to try and work this out amongst us. If I don’t, I worry we will be dealing with tempers.”

  Endric would almost have smiled if it weren’t for the heated gaze he saw on Pendin’s face. Pendin was angry at the way this had gone, and while Endric didn’t want to take sides, he did feel as if his friend were holding onto a grudge unnecessarily.

  “I’ll be fine,” Pendin said.

  “What was that?” Novan asked.

  Pendin looked over at him, and he leaned in slightly. “I will be fine.”

  The historian smiled widely, as if that had solved everything.

  “Now. If that is resolved, I do know a place where we can sell our horses, and likely make enough to pay for our transport.”

  “Pay for our transport? That’s it?” Endric asked. “These are Denraen trained mounts.”

  “Which is why they will be valuable.”

  Endric looked at Novan. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “Most of the time, I do.”

  “Just most of the time?”

  “Well, most of the time I know what I’m doing, but it’s not all of the time,” Novan said. “If I did, this journey wouldn’t be necessary.”

  “And now?”

  “And now, we need to sell these mounts.”

  Novan guided them to a horse master in the middle of the city. Endric was surprised there was someone like that here, and even more surprised to see that Novan seemed to know the man. He negotiated a price for all of their horses, and Endric kept his mouth shut, not wanting to argue, though he felt as if the price they were offered for their horses was not quite what he believed them to be worth. At the same time, there wasn’t anything he could have done anyway.

  When it was done, Endric patted his stallion on the flank. He had been with him for years, long enough that he had formed something of a connection to him. It felt almost like a betrayal to abandon him, though he knew he shouldn’t feel that way.

  “Come on,” Pendin said.

  “He’s been with me for the last few years,” he
said.

  “I know. So have I.”

  “But I’m not selling you off,” Endric said.

  His gaze drifted to his mother, where she stood on the street, waiting. “Are you so sure?”

  Endric frowned. “I’m not selling you off to her.”

  “And yet it feels much the same way.”

  “Pendin—”

  Pendin turned away, and Endric stared at him, worried that he was truly angry, though not able to tell with much certainty. Pendin could be difficult to read, especially when it came to his mother.

  “We need to encourage them to have it out,” Novan said.

  “I think you need to stay out of it.”

  “And I think you, as his friend and commander, need to be more involved.”

  “Novan—”

  The historian raised his hands, shaking his head. “I am just saying that if you were more involved, we wouldn’t need to worry about how either of them would react once we get on the ship.”

  “I’m not worried about how either of them would react. I’m more concerned about you.”

  “Me? You feel as if you need to be concerned about me?”

  “You are behaving differently than you normally do. It seems as if the threat of heading to the guild has gotten to you.”

  “It hasn’t gotten to me. It’s different than that.”

  “Then what is it?” Endric asked.

  “It’s—” Novan started, but Senda interrupted by joining them.

  “Do we have transportation arranged?” she asked.

  “Not yet,” he said.

  She glanced over at Novan. “How much were you able to sell them for?”

  “Enough,” he said.

  “That’s not an answer,” she said.

  “And yet, that’s the answer you get,” Novan said.

  Endric smiled. Maybe Novan was right that the two of them were far too similar. He hadn’t thought so at the time, but they shared the same stubbornness. He knew Senda had it but hadn’t known Novan had it to that same degree.