“That may be so, but those are my express orders.”
In the absence of any other option, they decided it was best to agree and follow them, so that within a few minutes they found themselves travelling at a swift pace along the road.
The sun was already setting when they arrived in Darwan, situated beautifully in a wide valley surrounded by high snow-capped mountains. Carried on the cool evening breeze were refreshing smells of meadow flowers and fresh-mown hay, which were soon replaced, however, by the stench of sewage and garbage, as they passed through the city gates. They travelled along narrow cobblestoned streets, where the citizens they met seemed to be as silent and withdrawn as the surrounding barren landscape they had just left behind. Finally, they arrived at a high fortress, where they handed over their wagons and horses.
“How are we going to get out of this one, Fillifaj?” muttered Kark, as they followed a plumed officer, who led them past rows of soldiers in rows before them. “Your idea was perhaps not so smart, after all.”
“Maybe not,” she said, “but it’s always easier to know with hindsight what should have been done instead.”
They soon entered a great, golden hall, beautifully furnished, where they were asked to sit and wait, after which a livery-clad servant announced that the Duchess Kallaz was about to be ready to receive them. He had hardly uttered the words when a thin, copper-haired woman appeared, dressed in riding boots and a long red cloak, and in a hard tone asked what had brought them there.
“Nothing at all, we are merely passing through on our way to Oxylon,” answered Zania.
“I find that hard to believe,” she smiled, amused.
“Is that so? Why not?”
“It is I who ask the questions and visitors who answer. We have been observing you ever since you left Faro, where one of my emissaries noticed that you didn’t check in to any of the town’s inns, as Sahirian parties usually do, after having travelled the long stage across the mountains. When he later followed you and saw that the princess sat around the campfire talking with the soldiers as if it was the most natural thing in the world, he found it so remarkable that he immediately decided to ride at full gallop to report his observations to me. So, I am now asking you one more time what your errand is and now I want to know the truth.”
“We are here on a confidential mission that we are not allowed to talk about,” answered Fillifaj.
“Alright, but if you can’t prove it, then I am unfortunately forced to conclude that you are spies, or perhaps something even worse.”
As they stood there nervously, not knowing what to do, there was a knock on the door and, miraculously, a bowing servant asked to be allowed to deliver an envelope.
“Why didn’t you say immediately that it was Rismen you were planning to meet?” she asked, her face now white as a sheet, on reading its contents. “I shall bring you to him right away!”
CHAPTER 23
With uncertain steps they followed her and, when they entered the lobby, saw an elegantly dressed elderly man sitting comfortably, leaning back, in a stuffed armchair.
“Has your journey gone well?” he asked them, smiling.
“Yes,” replied Kark, as if in a fog.
“Is there any problem, Kallaz?” he then asked, curtly.
“No, not at all. I simply invited them in to ask them how things are going in the world.”
“Oh, wonderful, but now I’ll take over. Would you be so kind as to leave us alone?”
“Naturally,” she said, archly, and closed the door after herself.
“You must have the sceptre with you?” he asked in a low voice, after reassuring himself that no one could hear them.
“What are you talking about?” asked Zania, pretending.
“Now listen, my friends. It is certainly very good that you have been careful, but now you must trust me when I say I’m on your side and that I’ve been trying to help you ever since you arrived on the mainland.”
“But who are you, and why does everyone seem to have such respect for you?” asked Kark.
“I am master over the Great Vassals, a merchant guild that operates across the entire continent, and as its representative I have unrestricted opportunities to travel everywhere. The guild, which I represent, is a power that everyone fears and has the greatest respect for, namely money, and without our cooperation the fragile financial balance that has ruled for centuries would collapse.”
Since at just that moment none of them could think of any better alternative, they decided to capitulate and place their fates in his hands.
“So far, so good,” he said, after they had answered all their questions. “I will do everything I can to help you in your mission, but for security’s sake we should be seen together as little as possible from now on, for the less people see, the less there is to gossip about. Now, check in to an inn and get a good night’s sleep, then we’ll meet early in the morning, at the Tindermara Lake, which is beside the highway about five kilometres north of Darwan.”
Relieved, they left the fortress and were greeted by a gentle breeze blowing along the valley, beneath a dark star-filled sky. After passing several inns, none of which seemed particularly hospitable, they finally settled for an older establishment, of post-and-beam construction, from which they heard cheerful laughter emanating and could see a warm glow streaming through the windows. Once the horses had been looked after, and they had arranged their lodgings with the manager, they sat down at a long table and ordered a hearty meat and dumpling soup, along with bread and ale.
“So, what do you think about this Rismen?” Kark asked, when the innkeeper had set their food on the table and retreated to his station.
“I think he seems reliable and that he has honest intentions,” said Zania.
“Same here,” concurred Neiger, “and I also have a certain amount of experience judging people’s characters from my time as a guard.”
Fillifaj wasn’t impressed, though, but seemed both doubtful and bothered.
“That Rismen wasn’t part of my plan.”
“No, nor for any of us, either,” said Anderika, “but at least it was good that our meeting him got us of Kallaz’s clutches. Otherwise, we’d probably be sitting and shaking in some dark dungeon right now, instead of sitting here filling our bellies.”
“That might be, but how can we know whether he’s a con man or something?”
“Well, we of course cannot be 100% sure, but for the moment we don’t seem to have much else to choose than to trust him.”
“I don’t know,” said Fillifaj, “there’s something not quite right about it all.”
“Again, that might well be,” said Anderika, “but right now my brain has reached the end of the road and just can’t handle any more consultation on that issue. So, speaking for myself, I’m thinking that after I’ve had one more beer, I’m going to treat myself to a warm bath and then sleep like a log.”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” said Caver, nodding in agreement.
When they arose early the next morning, they felt rested in mind and body after a good night’s sleep, and enjoyed a filling breakfast. They left the city under a heavy, grey sky, which cleared later in the morning to leave them travelling in brilliant sunshine. Eventually they found themselves at the pre-agreed meeting place, which they had reached without mishap, where Rismen and several assistants were waiting for them. Since he had earlier said they shouldn’t be seen together, their position along a highway, where travellers might appear at any time, left them with little time to spare. Once they had exchanged their fine livery for rough peasant garments and familiarised themselves with their new travelling arrangement – two covered wagons, each pulled by two horses – they thanked him for his help and hurried off along their way. During the afternoon, after having travelled along a winding, narrow road with breath-taking views, they arrived at the barren Vindre Heath, where a mild west wind carried the fragrance of heather and wildflowers.
“
The only ones who stay here,” Fillifaj told them, “are livestock herders, villains and trolls out on food hunting tours. It is everything but a secure place, but since we still have no choice but to continue, we’ll just have to try to ignore any thoughts of impending danger.”
By dusk, they had travelled far out onto the windswept heath, and when they set up camp they could just see the lights of Darwan twinkling in the distance.
“We’re finally getting closer to the Blue Mountains,” said Gondar.
“Yes,” commented Fillifaj, “but that also means other dangers and trials than we’ve had to deal with so far.”
“Could be,” said Allur, “but why count your chickens before they hatch? Besides, nothing can be worse than the Blackwarj Forest?”
“Hmm, probably the bacteria sea was,” chuckled Gondar.
“Well, I for one could never imagine that,” uttered Enaiga, with a flat laugh, which she followed by asking if Pireza could play something for them on her flute.
Music never sounds more beautiful than when it is played outdoors, and they delighted in her playing. The vibrations of its tones in the dark of night seemed to touch all the spectra of life. It was both infectious and engaging, yet alternatingly sad and emotional. After listening quietly to one melody after another, fatigue finally won out, and they spread out to sleep around the warm fire.
It was raining softly when they awoke at dawn; the entire landscape was grey with its dampness. As it increased in strength, they were forced to take cover under the waxed canvas of the wagons.
“How long is this going to last?” muttered Kark, as she peered out of the front of the wagon, peering irritated up at the clouds.
“Who knows,” replied Allur, “but it’s usually just as well to try to accept what one can’t do anything about.”
“I guess that’s true,” Kark sighed, mistrusting.
“If you want, I can tell you a story,” said Enaiga, in an attempt to cheer her up.
The story was followed by several more, and eventually the sky cleared, making way for the sun, so they could continue onward. The plain was stony and lonely, with neither trees nor bushes to relieve the monotony. Sometimes, they could make out livestock in the distance, along with the occasional elk that disappeared with high leaps when they caught sight of them, but otherwise their passage was uneventful, which they were nevertheless endlessly thankful for. Towards evening, two more days of peaceful travel later, they found themselves at the outer edge of the mountains.
“Are we on the right way now, Fillifaj?” asked Kark, when they had stopped before a moss-covered stone bridge that stretched over a broad stream full of clear rushing water.
“Are we perhaps not surrounded by high mountains and isn’t the bridge right where I said it would be?” she responded, with a loud yawn.
“Yes, that’s true.”
“There, you see? You can be completely calm. Now we’ve reached the Blue Mountains, and in a few days, we’ll be in sight of Orior Lake.”
They continued, across the bridge, along a road surrounded by tall trees, whose shadows cast long black shadows across the road, stopping to make camp in a forest glen only when it had become so dark that they could no longer distinguish details.
The following day, after a quick and early breakfast, they drove on along a narrow road that was hardly more than two barely visible wheel ruts. It eventually began to climb, becoming difficult for the horses, so that they had to stop often to allow them to rest. The views were beautiful, except to the northwest, where high, dark mountains towered threateningly.
After a few hours, they stopped at a glistening tarn for a short break. The air was colder and rawer, and as they ate the cold humidity forced its way into their clothes, so that they began to shiver lightly. Kark, who sat and fumed about the circumstances, suddenly remembered the old saying that, with a little good will, almost anything could be turned into something positive. Through chattering teeth, she asked Pilgar whether he could massage her back, which he didn’t refuse. Soon his large hands had succeeded in bringing warmth back into her body. To her disappointment, only a few minutes later, Fillifaj clapped her hands and declared the rest over, and that it was time to set off again. Kark unwillingly stood up, but when she shyly met Pilgar’s glance, she thought she could see her inner fire reflected there, which filled her heart with unbounded joy.
They didn’t manage to get very far before the horses suddenly stopped and then refused to continue. Allur’s attempts to drive them further led to their taking a few more steps before it became impossible to budge them, since they only stood and stamped in their tracks.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into them,” muttered Allur, doggedly.
“They’ve picked up the smell of troll, so no matter what we do, they’re not going to move any further,” replied Fillifaj.
“Troll!” screeched Zania, terrified.
“Precisely. We’re beginning to enter their border area now, so we’ll have to leave the wagons behind, unless someone has a better idea.”
“But what do we do with the horses?” asked Kark. “We can’t just let them loose, can we?”
“Sure, we can. There are large herds of wild horses they can join, so there shouldn’t be any problem for them; to the contrary!”
There was nothing else for them to do than unload all their baggage and continue on foot on the winding road up the mountain. A fresh smell of resin and moss wafted on the breeze. Bird song in the distance and a clear blue sky contributed to leave them with a feeling that they were in an idyllic and pleasant landscape, in spite of their awareness that they were entering enemy territory, so that it was difficult to maintain a sense of danger. Late in the afternoon it was all suddenly replaced by a rolling plateau, barren but for clusters of scrub, as far as the eye could see.
Since evening was near, they decided to camp in the shelter of the edge of the last bit of forest and to do without a fire, to be on the safe side. They satisfied their appetites with some of their dried food, and sat chatting around the fire until sleep overtook them, the surrounding darkness so intensive that they could almost reach out and touch it.
After yet another morning with a hurried breakfast, some stars still visible in the approaching dawn, they set out to cross the open landscape.
“Doesn’t anybody live here?” asked Zania.
“No, not anymore,” answered Fillifaj. “The trolls on their daily rounds, plundering and searching for food, have made it impossible. You don’t have to worry, though, since my ring is magnetic and darkens whenever danger approaches, and can detect them when they’re still quite far away.”
They had only walked a few more minutes, when Fillifaj suddenly shouted that they should hide behind some bushes, immediately. Soon after, a line of ugly trolls came running along the trail.
“God, where did they come from?” asked Kark, after they had disappeared in a cloud of dust.
“No idea,” said Anderika, “but something tells me we might be seeing them again.”
Eventually, without seeing any more trolls, they arrived in a remote valley, hemmed in by steep cliffs shooting up on all sides, where a thickening, milk-white fog made it difficult to follow the trail. At one point, Zania thought she heard a distant shriek, but put it out of thoughts, as people usually do when confronted with unpleasant things. Finally, the valley led onto a dense, upland forest, after which the fog slowly dispersed.
“What a relief to finally be able to see the ground ahead,” said Caver.
“You can say that again,” said Allur. “It really felt creepy to walk in that soup, especially when someone screamed.”
“Did you hear it, too?” said Zania. “I thought I was just imagining things. What could it have been?”
“Just guess,” said Fillifaj, “live is full of mysteries and unsolved riddles. My ring isn’t indicating that any trolls are nearby, so before we arrive in another unsafe area, we should take advantage of this and see if we can replenish our
supplies. But we should hurry before it gets dark. Just remember to stay close by and not to wander off.”
“Maybe you and I can go together?” said Zania to Neiger, confidentially.
“As you wish,” he replied.
They had gone a little way into the dense, whispering woods when he told her to be careful of a thick root that stretched right across the trail.
“How lucky I am to have by my big teddy bear,” she said with a delighted laugh. “What would I do, otherwise?”
When he turned away self-consciously, she pretended to trip and cried out for help.
“Are you alright?” he asked, worried, while he placed his arm around her and helped her to sit on a fallen tree trunk.
“Not so well,” she complained, and held up a reddened knee. “Could you blow on it a little, please?”
“You’re pulling my leg, aren’t you?” he asked, embarrassed.
“Oh, no,” she answered, innocently, at which he immediately bent to blow on it.
“Does it feel any better now?” he asked, after a few moments.
“Yes, a little, now come here and sit beside me.”
“I’m not sure if that’s appropriate,” he said shyly, his eyes downcast.
“Isn’t it me who should be the one to judge that?”
“Yes, of course,” he answered.
“Do you feel happy, Neiger?” she asked him, once he’d sat down.
“What I feel doesn’t matter. Being able to serve you is enough.”
“That was what I was expecting you to say, but do you think I am happy, then?”
“Maybe not right now,” he said, “but you must have been so before, in any case.”
“My life on Loria was not as good as you think. Status and riches don’t mean so much if you’re not free. You can just imagine how often I dreamed of being able to stroll around the streets, like a normal person, and how I cried myself to sleep, out of loneliness. Those few times when I was allowed to be outside the castle grounds, I was always followed by guards and everywhere people stared at me shamelessly, as if I was just an object.”
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