“I have some good news to give one of the members,” I said with a grin.
He looked at me questioningly, but I only smiled and brushed past him to get inside.
The others were already sitting around the table having a drink. We joined them and I ordered wine from the serving girl. “We have had quite a day,” I said it to no one in particular and it had the desired effect. They all stopped talking and looked at me.
I introduced Roscien to them all and asked him to tell them what his Talent was. They looked suitably impressed.
When he finished speaking, I filled in, “Even better, we will be meeting our next to last Alliance member in a few days. Roscien is able to contact him and we are arranging a meeting with him.”
Tas looked at me, frowning. “What do you mean next to last? Quiniewa told us there were eight families left including you Kadin.” He looked pointedly around the table. “At last count we are seven members around the table right here, which would make him the last outstanding member.”
A laugh escaped me. “Brilliant understanding of numbers there, Tas, but you are forgetting one thing. Or should I say one person.” I looked meaningfully at Trissa. “I know where Dhillion is.”
Her eyes went wide. Joy was the first expression to cross her face, but it quickly darkened until she had her mouth pulled into a tight line and spots of colour appeared on her cheeks. “You mean to drag him into this mess. You mean to use him. He is only a boy!” She wagged her finger in my face. ”I will not allow it. Mark my words; I will not!” Her voice had risen to a shriek. She spun on her heel, nearly knocking her chair over and fled the room.
I was astonished. I had pictured telling her the news in my mind and although there had been several versions in my head of what she might say, none of them resembled what had just happened. What had just happened?
Even more surprising was the glare Alathaya shot me across the table before she followed Trissa out. Brant was hardly suppressing a chuckle, which earned him an icy look from Seran. The serving girl brought my wine and scurried off without a word. She had obviously heard the uproar. Malion looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “How old is the boy?”
I opened my mouth to answer when I realised I did not know. I looked at Seran. “I think he is about twelve turnings now.”
Incredulity flooded me. “Seran, you were only what, fourteen turnings when you fought in battle, right? And you were already battle trained at ten. So what is the problem here?”
He looked up to the ceiling as if asking for help from some deity. “Several problems really. First, you are right, I was battle trained at age ten, the key word being, ‘trained’. He is most likely not. Second, like my mother, she as his sister will never be ready to let him go to battle. Third, she has not found him alive again yet, and now she is already imagining him dying on some unknown battlefield. Are you starting to see where you went wrong here?”
I did. “I only thought she would be happy at finding him. I did not really think beyond that.”
I stood up, but Seran held a hand up. “Where are you going?”
I shrugged. “To go and explain. If she does not want him to take part in any battles then he need not, but we can still go and find him.”
He gestured with his hand for me to sit. “She needs some time before you go and try to make it better and you need to think this through. If you find him, she will not let him out of her sight. That means one of two things. Either she will leave us and stay with him or he comes with us.”
“But we will need her in the battle. Her Talent alone has saved us already,” I protested.
He nodded solemnly. “Agreed, but she still has a choice in the matter. I do think she would stay and fight, but who knows, because by default, if she and therefore, he stays with us, we are dragging him into this. At the same time, now knowing that we could go and find him, she will not be able to leave him there. We will go and find him, she just needs a bit of time to think it through and arrive at that conclusion.”
Roscien started laughing uproariously. “How is it that you,” he jabbed a finger in Seran’s direction, “know so much about women and you,” his finger jabbed towards me, “know nothing?”
I assumed his question was rhetorical and ignored his laughter. I still wanted to go and talk with her, but he knew her better and I accepted his advice. Instead, I pulled out the map from my pocket. I laid it flat on the table and gestured for them all to have a look. They leaned forward and studied it carefully.
Finally, Tas pointed to a village on the map. “I know where that is. I think I have been there once before. At a guess, I would say it is probably about ten days’ travel from here, although I could be out by a few days.” I smiled; it was more than we had a few moments ago. Despite Trissa’s reaction, I was still excited to go and find him.
After what seemed quite a while, the women returned. Trissa’s eyes were red rimmed and her expression was stiff. She refused to look at me, to even acknowledge that I was there. I opened my mouth to explain, but a severe look from Alathaya silenced me. Why would Alathaya be upset with me? I had told her before that I thought Dhillion may also have a Talent. The conversation was halting at best after that. Not the best introduction to our group for Roscien.
It was at that moment that Aliana came in. I groaned inwardly, not because I did not wish to see her, but because the tension was still thick enough to cut with a knife. She walked over to the table and greeted us with a broad smile. She looked at me expectantly and it took me a moment to realise she was waiting for me to fetch a chair for her.
She smiled graciously as she sat down. “Ah, I see you have found Roscien.” She turned to him. “I hope you do not mind. I had been telling Kadin of your concern over my travelling plans and he wanted to thank you for your concern by buying you a drink.”
He shrugged and seemed to be on the brink of responding when she continued. “That merchant was as much of a dragoon as old Mistress Frieda. Perhaps it is the profession that sours them so.”
I plastered a concerned look on my face. It was hard to feel genuine concern for such a trivial matter after what had just happened in our group. “Did it not go well?” I tried to hide my utter disinterest.
She brushed her hand against my arm. “No, it went fine. Luckily, I have had some practice in dealing with such men. I managed to get him to drop his price by a quarter before accepting the deal.” Her face shone with pride.
I wondered where she had gained such experience. Apparently, I had worried needlessly about Aliana feeling uncomfortable with the tension in the room for she appeared not to notice at all. I caught a glimpse of Alathaya’s dark expression and thought that she had picked up on that as well.
“Aliana, I had not even had a chance to ask you yet, how are Moma and Lilana?” I asked.
She gave a small smile. “I am afraid I have not seen all that much of either of them recently. I have been so busy with my apprenticeship. You understand, don’t you?” She stroked my arm again.
“Of, course. So, when do you leave?” I queried.
She sighed and looked at Brant. “I will set off early tomorrow morning. I do wish I could spend more time with you here.” She looked back at me.
“Well, I suppose we should enjoy our last evening together then. I think we are all about to order some dinner. Would you like to sup with us?” I offered.
She beamed. “That would be lovely.”
We spent a long evening talking late into the night. Eventually, the people around the table started trickling away to bed. Until finally, it was only Brant, Aliana and I remaining. We talked and laughed about growing up together and the mischief we got up to. It did however remind me that Brant and I had not always got on well. An understatement. There had been a time when he hated me. How much of that had really changed and how much was simply being civil so we could travel together in peace? Was the Cha’s plan of keeping him close to keep him on our side working? I certainly had not seen any signs of him cha
nging or looking to leave, but then he had been very quiet of late.
Eventually, we all decided it was time to say goodbye. Since she would be leaving at dawn, I was sure I would not see her in the morning. She actually seemed to have tears in her eyes as she gave first me a long hug and then Brant, who then walked away. I glanced after him before pulling out the necklace I had bought for her in Brailen. She exclaimed over it as though it was made of gold. Truth be told, I had been wondering whether to give it to her at all, but decided that I would only throw it away if I did not. She thanked me profusely and gave me another warm hug. Before walking away, I asked her to keep her wits about her while travelling, but she laughed my comment away.
I climbed the stairs to my room on the second floor and nearly jumped when Alathaya suddenly appeared in front of me.
“I thought you were staying up all night,” she said, and folded her arms across her chest.
It was dim in the corridor, but I could see the anger on her face. “I need to talk to you, but not out here. Can we talk in your room?” She continued.
I opened the door and led her in. I walked in and sat down on the bed. She stood awkwardly by the door. “You know, you can sit down, I will not bite, I promise.”
She sniffed but came to perch on the end of the bed. “Trissa is very upset.”
I realised that, as I had the night before, she might be able to hear us through the crack in the wall. “I do realise that, you know.” I whispered.
She looked around the room as if expecting someone to step out from the shadows. “Why are you whispering?” She asked in a low voice.
“These walls are very thin and I would not want her to hear us talking of her,” I explained.
She nodded and thankfully did not realise her mistake of the previous evening. “I know you were probably trying to do a nice thing for her today by surprising her so, but you made a real hash of it.”
I sighed. It was either sigh or let frustration bubble over. “I have already had this conversation with Seran. I just hadn’t thought about it that way. What does she want to do?”
She folded her hands in her lap and sat staring at them. “What she really wants to do is knock you on the nose.” She shook her head dismally. “Unsurprisingly though, she wants to go and get him. She is trapped between a swamp and a lake. Either way, she will get wet, but at least she can get through the swamp. He will now be involved in this, but she wishes to keep him sheltered from everything as much as possible.”
I nodded my understanding. “Do you know how old he is?”
“He is fourteen turnings. They have been separated for three of those turnings and as you can understand she is eager to reach him as soon as possible.”
I nodded. “We have to first meet the final Alliance member here, but we can leave as soon as possible after that.”
She took my hand in hers. “She is happy that you found him. She just needs some time to come to terms with it all.” She squeezed my hand and swept out of the room. I lay down on the bed. She had only held my hand for a moment, but it had still set my skin on fire. I heard her enter their room, but I did not hear them talk. Either she heeded my warning of thin walls or Trissa was already asleep.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
As I expected, Aliana was already gone by the time I went down for breakfast. I was pleasantly surprised however, to find Roscien sitting at a table in the common room. He smiled brightly at me when I sat down. “How is your lady friend?”
I frowned at him. “Which one?”
His smile turned playful. “You always know things are either very good or very bad when you need to ask that question. Trissa, is it? The one you so upset last night.”
I cringed. “I am yet to speak to her again, but I think she will agree that we should go and find Dhillion.”
He nodded more seriously. “That is what I thought she would decide. In that case, I have a suggestion. You do not all need to wait around for this meeting. How about you go and find Dhillion and we can meet up with you again as soon as we have him recruited.”
I thought about this a while before answering. “It makes sense. The quicker we can gather everyone we need, the quicker we can go to Magtisanya. Who do you suggest stay here?”
He shrugged a little too casually. “Perhaps Malion, his Talent fascinates me and I would like to explore that more... and maybe Brant. He has mentioned that he is a bit travel weary and that he would prefer to stay here for a while.”
I shook my head slowly. “I am not all too sure that Brant should stay.”
“Do you not trust me Kadin?” I swung around in my chair. Brant was standing a couple of feet behind me.
I could feel colour rising in my cheeks. “It is not that I do not trust you, simply that I think there was a good reason why you were travelling with me in the first instance.”
He walked around the table and took the chair opposite me. “I know that, but this will only be a few days. You do not think that a few days away from your radiant presence will turn me to the dark side do you?” He said the last part with a laugh in his voice, but I could not bring myself to reciprocate his light tone.
I knew I had to tread carefully. He was not a child and if I tried to keep him on a leash, he would most likely fight against it. I did not want any resentment, but then, did I dare separate from him when we were this close to the end? He was watching me silently, but his face had gone still and hard.
I nodded. “Fine, it is agreed. You will stay here if that is what you want.” He shared a triumphant smile with Roscien. They had clearly discussed all this beforehand. I took out the map that Nassarit had drawn and we discussed possible points where we could meet up again. We settled on a town called Pherindea.
I waited for the rest to come down for breakfast. Trissa sat down with a stiff back and fixed me with a level gaze. “You have certainly put me in an awkward position, but I am grateful for the opportunity of being reunited with my brother. I would like to take you up on it and find him as soon as possible.”
Relief flooded through me. She may still be looking at me with icy eyes, but underneath that, I could see her eagerness. “If you are agreeable to it then, we do have a plan.”
She did not say anything, but raised one eyebrow in question. I explained the plan to her.
She nodded and stood up. “What are we still waiting around for then? Shall we go?”
I smiled. “Shall we have breakfast first?” She reluctantly sat down just as her stomach gave a rumble.
The rest arrived soon after that and while we ate breakfast, I filled them in on the plan. Trissa gulped down her breakfast in a few big bites and rushed upstairs calling back over her shoulder that she needed to pack her things.
It was still early morning when we set off. Seran, Trissa, Alathaya, Tas and me made up our party. We were expecting to travel around ten days to Warrendil, but we were unlucky with the weather for the first three days of travel. Intermittent spells of pouring rain and blazing sunshine marked our progress. Just as we dried out in the sun, the clouds roiled in again and we would get soaked once more. The fourth day finally broke clear and stayed clear - a blessed relief. We made good time and I was relieved when we reached one of the towns marked on the crudely drawn map. It seemed that we had overestimated the journey time.
We stopped for the night at an inn in the village. The first thing I did when we arrived there was to have wash water sent up. I felt like a new person afterwards. I washed my clothes in the small basin as best I could and left them hanging over the back of the rickety chair to dry. Back in the common room, I saw Alathaya and Trissa speaking with the innkeeper. They joined me at the table soon after I sat down. “We asked him for directions.”
I frowned. “We did not need directions. We have our map and we know where we are.”
They looked at each other and I saw Alathaya rolling her eyes. “Yes, a map drawn by a man I would not trust to clean my shoes. Besides, he could tell me how long before we reach it; n
ine days.”
I could just about feel my eyes bulging. “Nine days? But, on the map it does not look far at all.” They both gave me a flat stare. I held up my hands in surrender. “Where are Seran and Tas?”
Trissa pointed vaguely in the direction of the market we had passed when we arrived. “They are buying supplies for the rest of the journey.”
Dusk was already in the air and we decided to leave first thing in the morning. We had an early dinner and I went off to bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
A sudden noise woke me in the middle of the night. A figure was standing at the base of my bed. The window shutters were flung wide open. The figure started moving towards the window. He was limping as if injured. Without even thinking about what I was doing, I focused my Navitas and sucked in breath. When I later thought on it, I decided I must have focused my Navitas on the air outside the window and then by inhaling strongly, had drawn that air to me. The shutters slammed shut. The creature pushed at them violently, but they did not budge.
Then the stench hit me and I realised what this figure was, a Scavenger. It was the second time one of these had searched my rooms and I intended to have some answers. With my Navitas focused, I could see him even in the dim light. His face seemed to be misshapen somehow, but I could not get a good look. His torn breeches showed enough of his leg to see a part of his thigh was missing. No wonder he was limping.
He froze when he realised he could not get out of the window and slowly turned to face me. His face was not misshapen; half of it was gone as if neatly carved by a butcher. I had stood up out of bed and Sunder was bare in my hand. “What are you looking for?” He mumbled unintelligibly before turning back to the window and giving it another yank. He turned to face me again. I repeated my question, but got the same mumbling reply. I thought that it might be due to the gross facial injury he had suffered.
I held up Sunder and pointed the sword at him. “You follow me. No noise, no attempt at running. If you do, I will cut your head off so quickly, you will not even know what happened.” I was hoping that this creature had some sort of survival instinct. It did give a small nod of understanding though and I backed up to the door. I opened it and peeked up and down the dim corridor. I gestured for him to follow me out and pointed for him to lead the way down the hallway.
Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One Page 29