She still wasn’t too sure about Sir Jeriel, who seemed anxious about what they’d be facing. Still, she gave him points for volunteering when so many of their fellows had taken the coward’s path. And it wasn’t like she didn’t understand his anxiety. Not when they didn’t know who they were up against, what they were capable of, and even if they had any hope of saving Aricia.
The last thought had her chewing the inside of her cheek as she began thinking strategy beyond their current ambush plan.
* * *
The western sky was a riot of burning red, piercing orange and blinding yellow as the sun set on the fourth day since they’d left the palace. Terrwyn followed Michme’s lead to the only inn that lay in the small town, the three-story building rising above its squat stone fellows. This late in the day there were only a handful of people out. The lights in the windows of the whitewashed houses answered the question of where the people had gone.
Reining up in front of the inn, they dismounted and handed their mounts off to the two stable boys who came tumbling out of the wooden side building, both with straw sticking out of their curly mops. Terrwyn patted her mare absently prior to heading inside with the two men, all of them hiking their personal packs up onto their shoulders, each leaving their sword arm free.
Inside the floor was dirt, the whitewashed walls a tad dingy before they stretched up to become wood and eventually joined with the ceiling. A large stone fireplace kept any hint of chill away while the small bar at the back was doing brisk business. Tables and chairs were scattered throughout the main room, only the narrow wooden stairs and small desk beside them clear.
Terrwyn let Michme do the negotiating for their rooms, knowing he was the best at haggling. She could do it, no one in her family couldn’t, but she didn’t live for it the way her father and brother did. Getting a great deal was one of their greatest joys, and she didn’t even pretend to understand why.
She studied the room, noting that most of the people seated were men, with few women besides the servers present. Many of the men only had drinks in front of them, while nearly all the women had food as well. She eyed the meals and was underwhelmed. Still, it was better than any of the three of them cooking.
Jeriel glanced around as well, his focus mostly on the servers. Given the way about half had their blouses pulled low, she imagined they were offering services other than food. Here, on the border with the Wild Lands, living was hard and Terrwyn wasn’t about to judge.
When Michme nodded at them, they followed him up to the second floor, the stairs creaking beneath their feet. The two rooms he’d rented were at the back, the smaller one obviously for Terrwyn. That was the only sign she ever got from the older knight that he recognized her as anything other than a knight, and she would admit to some relief that he did so. She’d had some knights not understand why she refused to share a room with them until she expressly told them she was a woman. She couldn’t imagine how they forgot, but it seemed to happen far more often than she’d thought possible.
With their packs dumped into their rooms, they headed downstairs and claimed a table in the middle of the room. It was a matter of heartbeats before one of the servers swooped in, her fluttering eyelashes and display of cleavage making it obvious why she’d jumped on them. Terrwyn imagined it was rare that knights passed through this town.
She took their orders and came back with drinks in minutes. None of them said anything, focused on their lagers, the road dust practically coating their throats. As she took a long pull from her rough-hewn mug, Terrwyn kept her ears open to the chatter happening around them. Any whisper, any rumour about Aricia could help, could give them an edge against the man who’d taken her.
Most of the talk was inconsequential, but one conversation had her focusing hard on its speakers, gaze remaining on her drink. “... Wild Lands have been worse of late,” said a man.
A second male voice snorted. “You doubted it? More people on the edge have been disappearing than ever. It won’t be long until town isn’t safe either.”
“The hunters aren’t daring the outskirts anymore,” said a third voice. “Even the treasure seekers have stopped coming as often. Rumour is the Wild Lands are expanding, that there are too many monsters, murderers, and whatever else lives there, so they’re moving out.”
“That’s not what I heard,” the first man said. “I heard that they’re being pushed out. That something darker has moved in and is forcing the lesser powers out, that the monsters we’re used to are running away.”
Silence greeted that proclamation. When they three men started talking again, they spoke about the weather and how the crops were doing. Terrwyn looked at her companions, noting Jeriel’s wide eyes and pale face a contrast to Michme’s resignation. It saved her having to repeat what she’d heard.
Terrwyn acknowledged the small, cold wriggle of fear working its way in among her worry, guilt and anger. But it didn’t change anything. No matter what she heard, her duty was clear. It would have been clear even if she hadn’t liked Aricia, but she did, and an army of demons wouldn’t make her stop trying to rescue the princess.
But she wasn’t about to walk in blind. If the locals were saying things were more dangerous than normal, they needed to take precautions beyond just setting watches at night. She wondered if they could find anyone to act as their guide, or a map of the Wild Lands, if something like that existed.
Seeing their server head towards them with three plates of faintly steaming food, Terrwyn set her ideas aside for the moment. They needed to eat. Once they were finished, she could see what the other two thought and if they had any ideas. It was obvious that however difficult they’d all thought this would be, it was going to be worse.
They had finished eating, the server having cleared their dishes away, and were each on their second drinks when a visitor arrived at their table. Dark grey hair tied into a tight bun that was practically invisible underneath the scarf she had wound around her head and shoulders, her body all but shapeless under her worn layers of skirts and shirts, the woman gave off a distinct air of ill-repute. She smiled at them, causing the heavy lines of her face to deepen, only the prow of her nose emerging from the sea of wrinkles. “You young ones seem to be far from home.”
Terrwyn nodded while Michme failed to entirely hide his grimace. It was Jeriel who spoke. “How did you know?”
“Ah,” she said, reaching into the pocket of one skirt and pulling out a worn deck of cards. “I had some help. I am a diviner, someone who can help you avoid the upcoming dangers in your path.”
Michme snorted and Terrwyn rolled her eyes. The woman glowered. “You unbelievers would do well to listen to me! Even without my cards I can tell that you will be surrounded by death and pain, that you will only come to ruin if you continue down the path you’re on!”
Before they could say anything else, she whirled and stormed off to a small table by the fireplace. She shuffled her cards and glared at them. Terrwyn turned away, sharing an exasperated look with Michme.
“Do—do you think we should check with her, just to be safe?” Jeriel asked.
“It’s a waste of money.” Michme crossed his arms over his chest and leaning back in his chair. “Those people make up what they think you want to hear to get you to pay them.”
“We need to discuss what we’re going to do once we leave town. We’ll be in the borderlands by afternoon, if what we’ve been told so far is true.” Terrwyn frowned.
“We’ll have to be prepared. I don’t know what the roads are like once we get in there, so we should be ready to cross overland if necessary. The Tower is at the centre, so as long as we keep heading straight, we shouldn’t get lost.”
“If we can head straight. We don’t know what kind of obstacles we’ll be dealing with. Even if the kidnapper doesn’t expect pursuit, these are the Wild Lands. From everything we’ve heard, we sho
uld be incredibly wary about making ourselves easy to track.”
“I still think our safest route is to head straight, as much as we can.” Michme drummed his fingers against the table. “Getting lost is a concern, in addition to whatever else we might find ourselves facing. We’ll need to get the princess out again, and I don’t know about you, but I would prefer to face the demon I know, rather than run right into the unknown.”
“Are we likely to see demons?” Jeriel asked, unable to keep his voice from rising half an octave.
Terrwyn shrugged. “I doubt it. They’re rare and by all accounts, have to be summoned. But we need to keep ourselves open to all possibilities.”
Michme stroked his mustache, his lips thinning. “We should have a plan in case one of us dies. Is there anyone you want told of your deaths or any bequests you want made?”
Jeriel blanched. Terrwyn wanted to sigh but swallowed it. She guessed it was his first serious mission, and he just wasn’t as used to the realities of that yet. “My family. And no, I’ll leave it all to them, not that I have much to leave.”
“I want my wife and son alerted if I die. And everything is to go to those two, no others.”
“I—I guess my family?” Jeriel whispered, gaze on the table.
Michme clapped him on the shoulder. “No need to sound like your death’s been signed. It’s only a precaution, same as any other. And we’ll want to do as much hunting as we can on the way. We have food, but the farther we can stretch it, the better.”
“We can always try setting snares around our camps and check them come morning. It should be simple enough to set up, and if we’re lucky, should give us some meat without us having to stop and hunt,” Terrwyn said.
“Good idea. We certainly don’t want to waste any arrows we don’t have to. I’m not much good at making them.”
“Neither am I. Though I can do simple spears, not that we’d have the time to hunt with them.”
“No, but they could prove useful later.” Michme smiled faintly. “Who knows what skills will come in handy when we’re outside civilization? Do you have any ideas about what to do if we get separated?”
Jeriel’s eyes flickered between the two of them, lips remaining firmly shut as he sat and listened.
Terrwyn frowned. Her immediate idea would work, but would put them even farther behind Aricia. However, she couldn’t come up with anything else so... “If we get separated, we head back to our last camp. Whoever reaches there first should wait a full day then move on and leave some sign indicating direction so that if anyone does appear later, they can follow.”
Michme nodded. “We should agree on signs so we don’t alert any pursuit we might encounter about where we’ve gone.”
“Good point.”
“There may be the tracks of our kidnapper as well. He had to have gotten into the Wild Lands at some point before the portal spell, and if we’re very lucky, we might be able to find out how. Though there’s no guarantee about the safety of that route.”
Terrwyn took a long sip of her lager. “I’m not going to be relying on luck. We need to keep moving as quickly as we can without being reckless.”
“Agreed. Now, what can you tell me about the princess and her capabilities?”
As the talk turned to the training Terrwyn had put Aricia through, she felt her stomach tense, making her next swallow of her drink hard to get down. Terrwyn kept reminding herself that she was doing what she could, that being reckless would likely only result in their failure. But it was hard to argue with the guilt weighing her stomach down.
Chapter Six: Wild Lands
Terrwyn sat in front of the remnants of egg hash and bread that had been her breakfast and rubbed her eyes. After having been laughed at multiple times when asking about a guide for the Wild Lands or even a map, she’d had more difficulty sleeping than was becoming normal for her. She was finishing off the last of her water when Michme dropped down across from her. She opened her mouth to greet him when she noticed the lines around his mouth and the deep furrows running across his forehead. Before she could ask what the problem was, he handed her a small piece of paper.
She unfolded it, gaze dropping to the words inside.
Sir Michme,
I know what you’ll say, how this will look to you, but I know now that if I continue on, I won’t survive. It’s been made clear to me that if I enter the Wild Lands, it’s my fate to die. The cards don’t lie. You may think me a failure, that I should have been prepared for this, but I’m not ready to die. Not when it’s a certainty. I’ll risk my life, but not when there’s no hope of winning.
I wish you all the luck and I’ll be praying for your success. I hope you find the princess and are able to save her. You’ll move faster without me, I’m sure. I’m sorry.
—Jeriel
By the end of the note, Terrwyn’s hands shook with how tightly she’d clenched her fists. She had to force herself to release the note and hand it back to Michme, unable to speak without screaming. She swallowed hard, forcing her feelings down, an eye twitching as she did so. Once she had herself under some semblance of control, she met Michme’s gaze.
“We’re better off without a coward,” she hissed, unable to keep the anger completely out of her words.
He sighed heavily. “He’s young, short-sighted. Confronted with the possibility of death...”
Terrwyn glared. “He is a sworn knight, the same as you and I! He made vows, swore to uphold his honour and duty, swore to protect others, and at the first test he’s run. He is no knight, and I can promise you that when we return I will see him stripped of his knighthood.”
“He may learn in time.”
“I don’t care. He’s abandoned not just us, but Aricia. How can anyone who has sworn to protect the crown abandon the future wearer? He is a coward of the first order. When word of his desertion reaches the court, I hope he is banished from it. I won’t have anything to do with him from here on out.”
Michme rubbed his eyes, looking tired. “This was his first true mission and I know he was nervous about it.”
“Then why did he volunteer to come? Certainly the rest of our fellows found it easy enough to stay behind in the safety of the palace.”
“I don’t know. I... I think he’d hoped to prove himself out here.”
“Well, he’s done a splendid job of it so far,” Terrwyn snapped. “At least his true colours have shown now, before we relied on him in a fight. If you’ll excuse me, I should ready the horses.”
She shoved herself to a standing position and turned, not really seeing the way Michme shook his head then sighed again. Terrwyn stalked out of the inn, teeth clenched tight. She couldn’t believe Jeriel had abandoned Aricia, abandoned his duty and honour, abandoned his knighthood out of fear of death. How could any knight be willing to run at the mere discussion of danger? They hadn’t even been attacked!
As much as she wanted to slam the stable door open, Terrwyn wouldn’t take her bad mood out on the horses. Her hands were gentle as she began to saddle her mare while her thoughts continued to seethe. Michme talked about his youth, but Jeriel was a year older than her! It wasn’t as if he was a new knight, out on his first season. He should have known better.
She hoped his family ostracized him for this, saw him for the spineless rabbit he was. Terrwyn knew that she’d have a great deal of difficulty not hunting him down to beat him when they got back. And if Aricia was harmed or...if his presence could have made a difference, she’d kill him, and even his surrender probably wouldn’t be enough to stop her from doing it.
Terrwyn paused as she finished tightening the girth and pressed her head into her mare’s neck. Why was it so many of her fellow knights didn’t seem prepared to uphold the oaths they’d sworn? Three out of nearly two hundred knights were all who had volunteered. And one of them had ru
n away, abandoned their mission. If this was how things were going to go...
She shook herself. She couldn’t think like that. They would find Aricia, save her, and get her home. Thinking of any of the worst possibilities was a waste of energy and emotion. And she was lucky. Michme was solid, seemed professional and, while he was more forgiving of Jeriel, definitely took his oaths seriously. She should be grateful for the help she had, since she’d been prepared to go alone if she had to.
Her focus should be on the road ahead and Aricia, not on how much she wanted to ride after Jeriel, beat him to within an inch of his life and leave him to crawl home like a dog. Aricia was all that mattered. Terrwyn patted her mare’s neck. She’d failed in her duty once and wasn’t about to do it a second time, not when she was half of what remained of the rescue mission.
She turned her attention towards what she could do, and at the moment that was getting their packhorse geared up. Michme needed to eat, and Terrwyn found her thoughts easier to deal with as she moved. The sooner they could head out, the faster they could find the kidnapper and save Aricia.
* * *
The border of the Wild Lands wasn’t much different from the area around the town. The yellowing grass spread over hills scattered with rocks and small stands of trees. Amid patches of birdsong and the heat of the sun, they continued on in silence for most of the morning. Terrwyn was fine with that. She wasn’t sure she’d have been a good conversationalist, jaw still tight over Jeriel’s betrayal.
But after a brief stop to eat lunch and water the horses, Michme cleared his throat. “Have you seen any signs of people or monsters?”
Terrwyn shook her head. “Just tracks of animals I’d expect to see if we were headed towards my home. From the talk...”
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