by David Wind
“We will have to work on it.”
They left the cottage fifteen minutes later and, with Gaalrie scouting the way ahead, began the trip to the river. Five hours later they crested a steep hill and saw the river below. From his maps, Mikaal knew they were near the headwaters of the river, which flowed for several hundred miles, and grew wider the further east it went.
To their right was a small village built on the bank of the narrow river: to their left they saw the mostly hidden house Queen Ilsraeth had described. The house was not visible unless you knew exactly where to look. When they drew their kraals to a halt thirty feet from the house, a tall man emerged from the doorway.
Areenna took in his visage, which emanated strength. He was slightly taller than most, perhaps an inch taller than Mikaal, with long dark hair reaching to his shoulders. His almond shaped eyes were deep blue and made almost luminescent by the sun burnished hue of his skin. A longsword was strapped to his waist and as he looked at the two mounted riders, his right hand gripped the pommel.
His aura was that of a deep internal power and it resonated within Areenna.
He drew his sword, but held it lightly, pointed earthward. “What do you here, travelers?”
“We seek you, Master Timon,” Areenna said. The man’s eyebrows rose in question as Areenna dismounted Hero and walked toward him.
“No one seeks me other than those I know,” he stated, his eyes narrowing. “What business do you have with me?”
Areenna took another step toward him. In warning, the man lifted his sword a few inches. Mikaal dismounted at the gesture, took a step, and gripped the pommel of his own sword.
Easy, Areenna cautioned.
Timon gripped his sword in both hands and lifted it in warning. “Come no further,” he ordered Mikaal.
Mikaal froze at Areenna’s silent command, not the man’s. She held out her hand to the man, palm up showing him Ilsraeth’s ring. “The queen has sent us to you.”
Timon looked at her hand and took a step closer. He lifted the ring from her palm and stared at it. A moment later he sheathed his sword and nodded to them. “What is it you seek?”
“Transport down river.”
“The kraals as well?”
“Yes,” Mikaal said.
“What is your destination?”
“We go to Aldimor, to Dees,” Mikaal said.
Timon studied them, his features clearly showing he was working it though until, finally, he said, “There is an old road, just north of Keepsie. About seven hours downriver. This road cuts due west, and reaches the closest border with Northcrom. There, the road turns southwest and then south, where it descends into Aldimor and follows the mountains until Dees. Will that do?”
“Well traveled, is it?” Mikaal asked
Timon stared at him. “It’s old. People use it,” he replied dryly, looking from Mikaal to Areenna. “But not overly so. There are more…direct ways to Dees, of which I am sure you are aware.”
“I am sure there are,” Areenna said.
Timon looked at the sky. “It is mid-afternoon. I have no desire to travel the river at night. It is shallow and narrow here, and only broadens fifty miles downriver. We leave in the morning.”
Areenna glanced at Mikaal. We cannot stay overnight. We must be on the water.
Yes, Mikaal replied in silent conversation.
“Master Timon, it is important we travel now, and especially by water. I can make certain this trip and your return will be smooth and your boat safe.”
“Can you now?” he responded, a glint dancing in his eyes. “You are that powerful?”
Areenna met his challenging stare. “I am.”
Timon gazed at her thoughtfully, his eyes boring into her in an unusually intense way. A moment later he nodded. “Your power remains to be seen, but if My Lady Ilsraeth sent you, she trusts you. I can do no less.”
“We are indebted,” Mikaal said.
Timon smiled. “No, it is I who is indebted…my Prince. Your father gave us stability and the freedom to live safely when there was none. There is no debt upon you.”
“You know me,” Mikaal whispered.
“You are your father’s image and I spent three years in his camp. You have your mother’s eyes. And you My Lady?”
Areenna bowed her head to him. “I am Areenna, daughter of Nosaj of Freemorn.”
Timon smiled. “A good man is Nosaj, a noble fighter as well. I had thought of moving dominion to Freemorn, but there is no river large enough and I could not live happily without the waters.” He paused momentarily. “There is stew on the fire. Eat while I ready the boat.” He led them into his house. After they began to eat, Timon left to prepare the boat.
When the door closed, Mikaal said, “He seems a good man. A bit, ah, touchy though.”
“With good reason. He has chosen a lonely life. He and Ilsraeth were…lovers before she became queen. He has never looked to another woman.”
“Because he still loves her?”
Areenna sighed. “Because they still love each other—but they have not been lovers since she became queen.”
Mikaal took a long breath as her words rolled across his mind. “I envy him not,” he said, his eyes locked on Areenna. He broke the stare quickly and unrolled one of the map scrolls. Once laid out on the table, he traced the route Timon spoke of with his forefinger. “It looks easy enough. With luck, the wraiths will not find us after we go down river.”
“They won’t. They’ll be watching the east. They will be waiting for us by the Island.”
“We will figure out something,” Mikaal assured her.
“We have to,” she added.
<><><>
Having woken to a dark and deep sense of danger, Enaid had gone to her haven within the circle of trees. Closed-eyed and naked, sitting cross-legged a few feet from the crystal waters of the pond with her aoutem lying next to her, she sent out a thoughtful probe in an effort to feel Areenna and Mikaal.
She cast her thought outward, something she had learned long ago, and searched carefully for them. The sensation of danger was growing stronger and she knew she had to find a way to warn them. As she pushed her senses toward the north, she encountered a terrible, dark visage so vile it turned her stomach.
She held back, testing the areas carefully before expanding her thoughts to discover what this thing was. A moment later her eyes snapped open, her body strangely chilled to the bone.
A wraith—huge and dangerous. It was one such as she’d never before encountered.
She shivered. Such danger….
CHAPTER 19
LESS THAN AN hour after arriving, with perhaps two hours of sunlight left, Mikaal brought Hero and Charka to the rear center of the main deck, where there was a pen large enough to hold livestock for shipment down river.
The boat itself was a handsome craft, a full thirty feet long. Its hull gleamed with rubbed oil, and its single mast, three times a man’s height, stood proudly. The tall mast was set slightly forward of center and the carved wooden wheel Timon used to steer the ship was on a small raised platform before the mast. There was an opening in the deck just before the elevated wheel platform. Below the main deck was a large area divided in two. The rear for storage and supplies, the front held a bed, a table and four stools. A small kitchen was off to the side, with several cabinets, in which Timon had stored food for the trip, including the remains of the stew they’d eaten earlier along with several loaves of bread. A brazier style stove rested on a counter extended out from the hull.
After Mikaal urged both Hero and Charka into the pen and closed the low gate, Timon stepped next to him. “A fine mount, prince, but you should tie him and the other to the post,” he advised, gesturing toward one of the posts in the center of the pen. “It would be ill for them to be hurt by a sudden shift.”
As if the kraal knew Timon was speaking about him, Charka moved forward until he could nuzzle Mikaal. Mikaal stroked his head, but made no move to follow the river m
an’s advice. “They are better off untied. On this you will need to trust me.”
The river man’s raised eyebrows were answer enough. A wise man, Timon knew better than to argue with a prince over advice not accepted. Either the kraals would do well, or one or both would be hurt. It was no longer his responsibility. “Very well, Prince Mikaal.”
“Mikaal,” he corrected, looking directly at the river man.
Timon held the prince’s gaze for several seconds before saying, “As you wish…Mikaal. Be so kind as to untie the stern line.” Turning, Timon went to the bow of the boat and untied the line while Mikaal did the same for the stern line.
From her vantage point near the kraals, Areenna watched Mikaal and Timon free the boat. She understood Timon’s acceptance when Mikaal would not tie the kraals and liked the fact the river man did not argue. He was, she saw, secure in his own skin and had no need to show his importance—and he knew he was of vital importance to them.
Once the boat was released from its moorings, Areenna went to the kraals and silently called them to her. She stroked each of their heads, and as she did, sent calming energy to them.
Timon allowed the boat to drift outward, using the tiller to direct it. When they were a dozen yards from the shore, he went to the center mast and unfurled the sail. The heavy cloth rippled momentarily and then fell straight. While Mikaal and Areenna watched, the material undulated again and caught the low breeze coming off the water. Although the sail did not fill, it trapped enough of the breeze to coax the vessel forward.
Timon grasped the wheel and, without looking at them, said, “When the sun sets, the evening breezes will get stronger. Until then, feel free to acquaint yourselves with my boat. Your eyes will be needed when dusk comes. The river is dangerous, the rocks the least of it.”
“Thieves?” Areenna asked.
Timon smiled broadly. “No thief will bother this boat. It is the life upon the road we travel. Water snucks are particularly nasty and very large and if they are hungry—and there are trigetores as well.”
“Trigetores attack us? We are too large,” Mikaal said.
“So I once thought. But it depends on how well their hunting has been, and this season has not been good for these nighttime predators. Too little rain has caused their normal prey to move inland. It happened a few years ago, and when a trigetore is hungry, it cares not where its food comes from. They are the dumbest of birds and their blindness is not in our best interests.” On the last word, Timon held up his left arm, the material from his shirt dropped to reveal a ragged ugly scar running from wrist to elbow. “This happened eight years ago.”
“We will keep a sharp eye. Thank you, Master Timon,” Areenna said. With a slight motion to Mikaal, she went to the bow. Mikaal followed.
Areenna went to the left and Mikaal to the right. “This is more comfortable than riding a kraal,” Mikaal said lightly.
“Yes, and for us, safer.”
“The river is clear?” Mikaal asked.
Areenna closed her eyes and joined with Gaalrie who flew above. Through her aoutem’s eyes she saw no other boats on the narrow river and the way ahead was clear.
“Yes,” she said.
“There has been no training today,” Mikaal reminded her.
“There has been no chance. And now it is impossible.”
“Why?”
Areenna looked over her shoulder. “Timon, all is clear.”
At Timon’s nod, she lost herself in thought. A moment later she sent him a thought rather than speak aloud. We are to be on watch for rocks, branches, and animals. There are other ways besides your eyes. You learned well the lessons about sensing what living things are around us. Now try to do the same, but sense what is in the water whether living or not. Concentrate on what is below the water.
Mikaal gazed at Areenna, judging the seriousness of what she asked. To see something not alive would seem impossible.
What is not alive?
Rocks.
Areenna smiled broadly. “A rock is neither dead nor alive, it is but a rock. In the water, life is everywhere. Why would life not be upon a rock or under a rock or within crevices of a rock?” Seek the blank spaces between what lives in the water. You know what a tree feels like within your mind. What of the plant life growing on the large rocks that fall from the hillsides and mountainsides into the river? she asked silently.
She pointed to the tall, tree-filled mountainsides that angled steeply down to the river.
Mikaal followed her pointing finger, thinking—and far from the first time—of how smart and how wise was this woman who was years older than the barely eighteen she had lived.
I understand.
He closed his eyes and allowed his mind to expand. Pushing his senses down and outward, he began to work on finding what lay below the surface of the river. While he did that, Areenna joined with Gaalrie again, and kept watch on the river ahead.
Two hours later, beneath a setting sun, the river widened and the waters became rougher. Areenna went to the stern, called the kraals to her and gently pushed a thought for them to lie on the deck.
Behind her, Timon watched in surprise. It was a rare event to see a kraal on the ground for they slept standing and only lay down when badly sick. He had never seen one voluntarily lie down. Now he knew why Mikaal had not tied them.
Areenna turned to find Timon watching her and smiled.
“Well done My Lady,” he said.
“They do only what is asked,” she replied. A moment later the sail filled and the boat lurched forward.
“As promised, My Lady, the evening breezes have begun. Now is the time for vigilance.”
Areenna went forward, but paused when she reached Timon. Even in the descending darkness, with the last bands of daylight a bare glimmer of the day just passed, she saw the pain in his eyes. Carefully taking his hand, she whispered, “She loves you still. Do not forget that.”
“She told you,” he asked, his tone one of disbelief.
She shook her head. “I could not help but sense it.” She released him and went to the bow, where she saw Mikaal in deep concentration. Closing her eyes, she opened herself to him and was joined, sensing what he did, beneath the water.
<><><>
“What bothers you?” Stepping behind Enaid and wrapping his arms about her, Roth put his hands across her abdomen and pulled her to him. The length of her body fitted tightly against him.
She leaned her head back, resting it at the joining of his shoulder and neck. “I fear for them. I cannot stop the worry filling my dreams. I spend the days thinking about what they are facing, and I am frightened.”
“Yet there is nothing you or I can do.”
Enaid sighed, covered his hands with her own, and pressed them tighter to her. She took comfort in the warmth emanating from him and drew the security into herself. “There must be something we can do.”
“There is,” he said. “Keep faith with the visions you have had. To believe we will rise to whatever occasions are demanded of us and to have confidence Mikaal and Areenna will grow into what they must for Nevaeh to survive.”
“Ah, only that is it?”
“That,” Roth said, his voice lowering, “and thoughts of riding east tomorrow.”
Turning within his arms and looking up at him, she searched his face until her heart beat faster. “You know me so well, Solomon Roth. And for that I am forever grateful.”
<><><>
The hours on the river passed smoothly after the initial roughness. Consistent breezes pushed the boat forward. The travelers stood in the center of the boat, Timon at the helm, Mikaal and Areenna on each side of him. As she had since darkness, Gaalrie flew low in front of the boat, showing them the river ahead, her eyes the sharpest of all.
There had been no flying water snucks, nor had there been any signs of trigetores. The ride down river had been smooth and uneventful.
“We will be there soon. Are you certain you do not want to go all the way dow
n river?” Timon asked.
Areenna shook her head once. “Thank you, Timon, but we must go to Dees. It is of great importance for me to speak with Queen Atir.”
“As you wish,” he said.
Less than a half hour passed when he said, “We are close.”
Areenna sent Gaalrie farther ahead and, a moment later she saw the village and several boats tied to docks. Through Gaalrie’s keen eyes, she saw no one walking near the boats or in the village and told the others so.
“There is an inn a half mile along the road. Mostly fishermen stay there when they are caught on the water at night,” Timon said as he steered the boat into the curve of the river. He edged the craft toward the right bank and five minutes later said, “There,” pointing to several small fishing boats. “There are only a few here now. There should be room enough. The inn is small, its keeper honest.”
Areenna glanced at Mikaal who shook his head in agreement with her thoughts.
“I think not, Master Timon. We will find a site to camp,” he said.
“At this hour? Not a good idea.”
“We cannot take the chance of being recognized.”
“That much danger seeks you?”
“No one must know about us, it—” Mikaal began.
“—it is best not to go there,” Areenna finished.
Timon stared at them. “Ilsraeth trusts me enough to send you to me. Be honest with me so I can help you as she would want.”
Areenna studied him, letting her senses free to discover. She knew the truth of the man, thanks to the gift from Layra, but she needed more.
“You are right, Master Timon, but much of it cannot be told. What I can impart is that the dark powers are regaining strength, and they are preparing for something terrible. I have been charged to go east, to the…the Island, to seek certain things. Prince Mikaal is accompanying me as protector. What we go to do is of great importance to everyone of Nevaeh. More, I cannot say.”