Dream of Embers Book 1

by J.B. Kleynhans

Chapter 7

  Exile

  Shala woke at noon the following day, and her heart sank, her hard straw bed and a few quiet minutes reminding her of the horrors they had endured. They were in some valley on the other side of the Black Mountains and already Attoras felt so very far away. At least she had slept deeply, the marvel of the Druid’s magic having given her a good night’s rest. She felt much renewed, even if she was hungry again, a hollow spot forming on her stomach. She found the shed empty and she exited, swinging open the barn-like door, and was exposed to the onslaught of a very sunny day.

  Down below against the river she saw Edran, sitting alone with his fishing rod, and whistling a tune as old as time itself. There was no sign of the others. Shala’s feet ruffled through the long grass and Edran jumped up at the sound of it. Again he swept off his straw hat from his head, and bowed deeply. ‘G’morning Your Highness! I trust you slept well?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes I did. I have to thank you for your refuge, Miller. I can’t imagine what would have happened to me if not for all the help I have had. If only there was some way to compensate you. I fear I have no money on me as I stand here.’

  Edran shook his head. ‘No payment needed Your Highness, it’s enough for me to know that I could serve the crown, and have provided our very own Queen-to-be a meal and a bed. It’s enough for me,’ he repeated, nodding.

  ‘Queen-to-be,’ Shala sighed, ‘I’m afraid that seems very unlikely now. If only I had men like you on the Council I would never have been dethroned,’ said Shala to Edran.

  The man Edran blushed deeply, ‘Afraid I’m not smart enough to be on any Council Your Highness, can’t even rightly read!’

  ‘I had many men in my service too clever for their own good. Kingdoms thrive on loyalty and respect, not on the intellect of sinister minds.’

  ‘You do me too much honour Lady, I would not know what to say,’ said Edran.

  Shala smiled. ‘Then say nothing. Where have my companions gone?’

  ‘Kaell scouts the road, he makes sure your way to the stables is clear, while Metrus hunts so that we may sup. And Bhask wanders as he always does. They should all return soon.’

  ‘I’ve noticed Bhask’s skin is as bronze as a man who spent time wandering deserts. And his dialect is profoundly neutral, like diplomats who travel the world. Why is it he wanders so?’

  Edran shrugged. ‘Heard he’s cursed to wander, though I do not mean to speak out of place, I do not know if there is any truth in it.’

  Shala realized she might've stumbled onto somewhat awkward subject matter.

  ‘Have you caught anything yet?’ she asked nudging her head at the river.

  ‘Not yet Highness, but its due time. If you’ll excuse me I’ll get back at it, in case the Master Druid fails at his hunt, although I highly doubt that he will.’

  ‘Go ahead,’ Shala said smilingly.

  Shala sat on the sloping bank next to Edran, and he seemed uncomfortable for awhile, as though he felt pressured to entertain the Princess.

  She rather turned her attention to her surroundings, as best to show Edran she was more than comfortable in the silence. She would wait for Bhask or Kaell or Metrus, and only then return her thoughts to what will come next. For the moment she was content listening to the river, and revelled in the idea of maybe finding the privacy later on to wash the goblin blood from her. But the river itself became a distraction. She followed it with her eyes as it wound back to the mountain, where Attoras sat on the other side. Watching the mountain sternly she somehow found no smoke rising beyond the peak where she imagined Attoras would be. Are we too far to see it?

  ‘You slept two nights and a day Princess. The fires subsided sometime yesterday. Master Bhask watched them for a long time. Although he might've been more concerned about potential pursuers coming from the mountain,’ said Edran intuitively.

  Shala snapped her head toward Edran. ‘I slept that long?’ she asked in surprise.

  ‘You sure did Highness. You were tired, Bhask said, and the Druid said his magic would let you sleep as long as you need.’

  Shala nodded. Her gratitude for the chance to rest notwithstanding, she felt she had lost out on precious time. She had no idea on how, but she would need to return to Attoras in some way to clear her name. Having not done so immediately raised certain anxieties and she instantaneously started considering things she thought she could set aside for at least awhile.

  ‘Did you say Kaell is clearing the road to the stables?’ asked Shala.

  ‘Yes Highness, the Arwark stables are west of here. There you’ll take horses from one of Master Bhask’s contacts for your road ahead.’

  ‘Road ahead? I didn’t even know we intended to go anywhere,’ said Shala in uncertainty.

  ‘Master Bhask mentioned something this morning; said you still have to decide exactly where you’re going. But he did say Attoras isn’t safe anymore, that you’ll need to flee the continent,’ recited Edran.

  Shala was shocked. She had not expected to simply waltz around the mountain range and into Attoras again, but she had certainly not considered the need to flee any further than they already had. Who would come look for them here? Simple-minded goblins? But she had second thoughts on that. There was nothing simple-minded about the goblins of last night, they looked to be a fighting force, maybe not organized, but effective and deadly all the same. And then of course there were the wraith-kind and Shala wasn’t sure it was possible to escape them even to the ends of the earth if they truly decided to hunt a person.

  It became abundantly clear to Shala that she could indeed not stay here. In the whole world there was only one place she wanted to go and only place where she would find proper refuge, wherefrom the wraith-kind and any other foul creature would be repelled. Allandiel; I want to go to the Crimson City, she thought by herself.

  II

  Kaell was first to return, Shala barely noticing him above the excitement of Edran having caught another fish. The miller had come upon a passing by school of steelheads, and always one of them was baited by the too-good-to-be-true display of food. Edran kept the caught ones in a net pinned down in shallow water. Having seen them up close for the first time in her life, Shala considered them rather beautiful in their ugliness.

  When she saw Kaell again she found herself a bit surprised. All of last night, or rather the night before that, Shala reminded herself, had not been enough to accustom her to this stranger he’d become. For some reason she’d thought he might have woken to be Kaell the cook again.

  It was a fabrication, he had said. The disciples of Evrelyn and those who commanded the wrath of dawn in Allandiel were taught revealing spells, designed to take away illusions spun by other magical agencies, most often the forces of darkness. There was a temptation for Shala to bring such a spell over Kaell, to see if there was illusion at play here. She turned away from Edran awhile to speak to him.

  He in turn did not approach her like Kaell the cook would have and make small talk. The familiarity was gone, in fact, he ignored her presence wholesomely, except for a curt, ‘good morning, Highness,’ as he passed, busying himself inside the mill afterwards. Shala did not know what to make of it. The Kaell she knew seemed as good as dead in the rampage of the assault.

  Unable to bear such a thought she stood up, excusing herself from Edran’s side and followed Kaell into the mill. She would see just how extensive the change over him had become.

  She found him hastily preparing a pot on a fire, for some meal or another and the sight of it alone was enough to hearten Shala. There must be something left of Kaell the cook in this man.

  ‘Will you prepare our meal then?’ asked Shala hopefully.

  Kaell turned in surprise, his face always reverting back to a serious mask. ‘Yes Highness, and I’ll wager I’ll do a shade better job at it than Edran, bless him. Without his kindness we would have spent the night in a cold camp.’

  ‘So you have lost nothing of your acuity?’

  �
�I’m still Kaell of old, Your Highness,’ he said.

  ‘But you have changed,’ insisted Shala before she could stop herself.

  ‘No Highness, it is like I’ve said, I am only back to what I was before. Anything in-between was a ways of protecting you.’

  Shala was despondent. She found little of what she was looking for. ‘What would have happened to the castle?’ she asked, as Kaell continued to light a fire on the stack of wood.

  ‘The guard will surely have won it Highness. With the intervention of myself, Bhask and Metrus, Attoras would not have sustained severe casualties. But then I must admit, the goblins never had a hope of defeating the entire guard and holding the castle.’

  ‘What was it all for then?’ asked Shala.

  Kaell stood up, leaving the tiny flame that seemed alright on its own by now. Shala had never felt overshadowed by Kaell, but as he stood before her she looked up at a hardened man in all ways, inspiring a subtle fear that Kaell the cook could never do.

  ‘It was all for you...’ he said. ‘The goblins were, in one way or another, a force arranged with purpose. Of that we have no doubt. When the killing began the Wraith-kind could surface - where death flows freely, there they are sure to emerge. There was no hope of conquering the castle, only killing its ruler.’

  ‘So that someone like Patrick may take over,’ said Shala, downcast.

  ‘Yes, failing that you died in the assault, and escaped as you did, they now would persecute you and make you an enemy of Your Highness's own kingdom, calling you a witch-queen for all the atrocities you engineered.’

  ‘Me having sealed my father in stasis, and finding me in that accursed room with all the ritual killings... What kind of mind could have turned everything against me?’

  ‘That of Swarztial and nothing less. He is a menacing schemer, and even your father-king feared him.

  ‘My father feared no one!’ said Shala.

  ‘No disrespect intended Highness. He did not fear for himself, but he feared for the kingdom and above all else he feared for you. It is why he wanted to make the Wolves resurgent, if only partially so, and why he assigned me to be Kaell the cook, and keep a close watch on you.’

  ‘It seemed my father had a small victory in the end, as I’m still alive at least.’

  ‘And we’ll keep you that way Highness. And what’s more, we’ll not be content to let the Kingdom slip into the hands of Swarztial so easily.’

  Shala nodded with a slight smile, showing she found some solace in that. ‘Do you have any notion of where Master Bhask might lead us?’

  ‘Not yet, and I’m not sure he is certain either. Our contingencies were aimed toward making a smooth escape, but the destination was to remain flexible, for reasons you can well imagine, Your Highness.’

  The Princess nodded. ‘We'll have a talk then I'm sure. I hate to sound weak, but I am tired again. Is it Metrus's doing?’

  ‘Maybe Highness, but know that back there in the Dragonwell, when you fought off the wraiths - that was the first time anyone of your lineage performed Stallich alone. You did it all on your own.’

  ‘I had almost forgotten about that. It was all I could do, there was no other way of defending an area that big,’ said Shala.

  ‘And it was all Master Bhask could talk about yesterday. He spoke with some reverence about your talent,’ encouraged Kaell, but a smile never touched his face.

  Somehow that did not console Shala much, even if it did explain her fatigue.

  Edran then knocked cautiously at the entrance as though scared of intruding, and entered the mill. He had a select few of the steelheads he had caught in the net. ‘Master Wolf, if it pleases you, something for the pot if you'd have them,’ offered Edran.

  ‘Better than anything Metrus will bring. I've had enough hare to last me a lifetime. This will do just fine. And you don't have to call me Master. Leave that title for Bhask.’

  Shala found that Kaell didn't enjoy the rapport Bhask and Edran seemed to share. The three of them stood silently for a moment.

  ‘You have a knife on you Miller? Clean and sharp if you can spare such. The meat needs to be cut precisely.’ Edran nodded and was away.

  Kaell turned to the Princess. ‘Highness, the food will take awhile, feel free to rest up if you wish. You will need all your strength when we leave here.’

  Shala was happy to oblige, returning to the little room with the straw bed, and yet she realized Kaell had dismissed both her and Edran from his company rather deftly.