by Rae Brooks
Leif moved his horse with a quicker speed, and Aela followed in his footsteps. They rode in companionable silence, or Aela thought it was. She enjoyed Leif’s company more than she ought to. Even though he didn’t have much to say most of the time, there was something about him that was reassuring. Well after the sun had reached its peak in the sky, they stopped for a brief lunch.
They found a stream to let the horses drink, and they shared one of the few loaves of bread and wheels of cheese that they had left. Aela would have to insist on hunting tomorrow if they were going to remain fit enough for this journey. Though, Leif never liked the idea of staying still in these lands long. “Do you think we will have much trouble getting into Telandus?” she asked as she took a long bite of the bread.
Leif, who was sitting, leaned back on his arms glanced at her without much emotion. “I’m not sure. I’ve never been there, but I doubt the guards will see much harm in us. I hope they don’t.” His eyes were clouded for just an instant, and Aela was able to get a glimpse of some of the thoughts that he didn’t speak.
They were both worried that they would be found out at the gates of Telandus, and they were both worried that they may never get there. After all, they had been traveling for many cycles, and they had yet to see the city itself. The thought was sobering. “When we do arrive, I wonder how we are going to fit into the city. You know we will have to find a way for ourselves, as we cannot simply investigate matters in a single sun,” he pointed out.
She had thought about this, but she had no solution to it. That seemed more of the type of thing that she would solve when it was placed at her feet. After all, at that juncture, they would have completed the most difficult part of their mission. “It can’t be that hard,” she said. “We have money enough to buy a room at the inn for several cycles before need will befall us.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Leif admitted. Though, his mind was obviously elsewhere. Aela wondered what he was worried about. The thought that they would be trapped in Telandus with no means to support themselves was disturbing. Another problem might be leaving Telandus, as well—were they strict about that sort of thing? Cathalar never had problems with traders coming and going, but Telandus was not Cathalar. “This will not be easy, though. I need you to be careful in everything that you do,” he said seriously. His eyes were shining with genuine concern.
Aela was touched a little by it, but she also wished that Leif would stand back and believe that she could handle herself. “I will be careful. I have no doubt that this will be no easier than the journey to Telandus. I don’t intend to make many friends.”
Leif laughed. “You never know, Aelic. You might find people to your liking in Telandus. After all, we will be in Dark District, and none of the nobles should be there. You always did love Lower Town,” he mused aloud.
She smiled. She doubted very much that the people in Dark District of Telandus were like those of Lower Town in Cathalar. “I would rather be safe and not find out.”
He stared at her for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders disinterestedly. “I am curious as to what we’ll find there.”
Aela flashed back to her dream. She thought of Taeru standing in that field, looking unsure of himself and frightened. Since then, she’d had so many dreams of him—and none of them good. Some had involved him hanging, some had involved him screaming in pain in some far off place, and all of them had involved her brother in some sort of trouble. Surely, Taeru would not have gone to Telandus, surely he would not have made such a target of himself.
All by himself, stuck in a world where he knew no one. Would any of the people in Telandus have helped him? Certainly not all of them were so heartless. No, she couldn’t think like this. She could not worry about Taeru. Her dreams were the product of worry and stress, and none of them meant anything.
As they finished their meal, Leif saddled the horses up once more. They would have a few more shifts before they had to rest for the moon. After gathering their belongings, they mounted the horses once more. Aela sighed in discomfort, every moment that she got to spend off this horse was a blessing. “Not enjoying the horse rides, princess?” Leif teased. “You were always so keen on them before.” Leif made sure never to say Cathalar aloud, and never to say Aela’s real name. Princess could easily be taken as a silly pet name that he called his companion—her name was another story.
“I hope you chafe so badly that your balls bleed, sir,” she snapped. He feigned hurt and then grinned at her.
They started forward again, down the hill of which they had stopped near the top. Aela tried to remember how high she had totaled on the sun that she had spent all sun counting upwards as they walked. Leif did not enjoy too much talking, and she had to find some way to entertain herself. But, for now, Leif seemed content to talk. “Stop thinking about my balls, you pervert,” he said.
A frown moved onto her face, and she worked to keep from blushing. That was not the direction that her thoughts had been going, but now it was. “I do not like you very much,” she told him pragmatically.
“That hurts,” he said. “I wish you wouldn’t take your inability to ride a horse out on me. It isn’t my fault.”
Her teeth snapped together at the insult, and by way of pride, challenge. “I have plenty of ability to ride a horse, thank you, sir!” she growled.
“Is that what you call it?” he asked.
Her eyes burned with irritation. Her hands tightened around the reins of the pinto horse she rode. She could feel the horse reacting to her increase in body temperature, and she narrowed her eyes. She would show him what it meant to ride a horse. With a flick of her wrists, she smacked the reins into her horse and dug her heels in with renewed vigor. The horse, letting out a quick sound, broke into an immediate trot, moving down the hill with incredible speed.
“Are you racing me?” he called. She heard the snap of his reins, and a childish grin came over her features. The wind blew through her still short hair as her horse moved with a steadily increasing gallop.
She leaned forward on her horse, and at once, the creature was moving faster. She could hear the beat of hooves behind her, though, and she realized that Leif was not going to lose this surprise race so easily. Her heels dug in a little harder, and the horse moved in accordance with her unspoken commands. Once she reached the bottom of the hill, she didn’t stop, she pulled the horse’s reins so it understood that it was now on an incline and started up the next hill.
She could still hear Leif behind her, and if she wasn’t mistaken, he was getting closer to her. The beat of the horses’ legs was like a drum, and her heart raced with it. The wind slammed into her face with a refreshing feeling that she had not felt in several suns. She’d never been allowed to drive a horse so quickly back in Cathalar—that would have been considered reckless and dangerous. But Leif lived to be reckless, and therefore he was simply rising to the challenge like she had anticipated.
Her horse climbed the hill quickly, far more quickly than she’d moved up any hill on this journey. Feeling the grass of the plain disappear beneath her horse was invigorating, and she pushed the horse a little harder. Her legs hurt from squeezing so tightly, but the freedom of moving like this was too much of a distraction for her to care.
At the top of the next hill, she saw Leif. He’d caught up to the back of her horse, but she kept the pinto horse moving so that he was unable to overtake her. They remained like that as they moved down the next hill. The speed increased with much less effort from the horse, and Aela eased up her feet a little bit. The poor mare must be tired, after such a hard run. She would have to keep going, as well.
Leif, though, was not having any of this. His horse moved so that it was directly beside Aela, and she could see the way he’d bent over and was very intent on surpassing the speed of her horse. With renewed frustration, she pushed her horse again and caught back up as they reached the bottom of the hill.
The next climb was a little steeper. Aela had to keep a
constant push on her horse to ensure that it didn’t slow down. Oddly enough, she found herself giggling and thought idly that this wasn’t very boyish of her. They moved the two horses almost in sync with one another, until the very last leg of the hill, Leif yanked his horse in front of Aela’s, causing her horse to stagger just enough so that he reached the top of the hill first, where he stopped.
She wasn’t going to let him win, and fully intended to keep going once she reached it—just like he had, but the sight at the top of the hill—the one Leif was staring at, gave her pause. A black castle exploded over an expanse of sparkling buildings surrounded by a moat of brown. Telandus. “There it is,” Leif exhaled through panting breaths.
“We made it!” she cried as a sort of ecstatic joy broke into her heart. All the worry she’d had about starving or dying out here faded away at the sight of the ominous city. Sure, it didn’t look very inviting—but they’d made it—she’d made it!
Leif laughed, still gasping for breaths, just as she was. The race had left them tired, but they both seemed in better spirits for it. “We did indeed,” he said, but then a clouded look came over his face, “but don’t think this means I didn’t beat you. Because we both know that I did, and I even gave you a head start!”
“You beat me because you didn’t stop! You have no concern for your horse,” she retorted without so much as a second’s pause.
Leif laughed, and they proceeded forward. They would be at the gates of Telandus by sunset, and that meant that they had to be prepared to sell their story. That meant that they would have to pass the next difficult obstacle in their way. Telandus, she thought. It didn’t look much better here than it had in her dreams.
They walked in silence, aside from Leif making a few jabs at her about the race that he’d cheated to win. “Remember, my name is Feil Riand,” he told her earnestly, as the sun sank and the gate came into view.
The walls of Telandus were black and frightening, and the gate sat between two watch towers. Letting her eyes move around the edges of the city, she could see a few places were one might be able to get into the city without having to pass by the guards. She thought about suggesting this, but upon closer inspection, the climber of the wall would have to be very aware of the guards’ watches and how to climb effectively.
“And mine is Aelic Eirgold,” she said, “what of it?”
“Don’t be a smart mouth, princess,” he said gently. “Just know that these men may not be kind.” He seemed protective, oddly enough. Protective didn’t really fit Leif, but she found that when he displayed the trait, her heart beat a couple of times faster.
They approached the gate, and Leif dismounted his horse, gesturing for her to stay on hers. She had the panicking sensation that they might kill him, and she might be supposed to run. How could she leave him? No, she wouldn’t.
She watched as he approached the gate, speaking up to the guards in the tower. A few moments later, the gate opened and two men walked out. Leif gestured for her to come forward with his head, and she did so, dismounting the horse.
The two men greeted them with little more than curt, uninviting nods. Aela elected not to speak, as her voice may have betrayed her here. The men took their bags and went to work disassembling both of them. Aela’s eye twitched, and Leif put a very gentle hand on her back. These men hadn’t even spoken to them, and they were tearing through Leif and Aela’s belongings like they owned them.
Her frown increased consistently as they continued to tear through food and other amenities. Finally, after what felt like an entire sun, they pulled back. They searched the horses briefly, and then one of them yanked Aela towards them. She saw the anger, the contortion of complete fury on Leif’s face, in that moment. “What are you doing?” he growled.
The man had begun moving his hands down her clothing, patting every part of her with far more familiarity than he should have. The other one suddenly began doing the same to Leif. “Another part of the search,” one of the men said gruffly.
Leif kept watching the one pat Aela down, and she had several bouts of panic that her breasts would be noticeable even beneath the wrap. As he watched, though, Leif let out a feral, sort of growl, and then he scoffed.
To her surprise, one of the men laughed, “We get that a lot.”
At last, both of them pulled back and looked mildly satisfied. Neither of them looked kind, but they didn’t look as unemotional as they had before. Leif let out a shaking breath as he glanced at their horses. “We’ll need your weapons, and then you’re clean,” the man said, and Aela felt as though the entire city of Telandus had been lifted from her shoulders. Though, as the men took their weapons for storage, Aela felt a pang of sadness. She had become very attached to the bow that she would not be seeing for some time, and without it, she felt a little vulnerable. Sparing a glance at Leif, she’d wager that he felt the same about his swords.
“You’ll find plenty of inns to suit your needs. We’ll take your horses to the stables over there,” the man gestured with his head to a brown building on the outside wall.
When Aela squinted, she could make out a few horses and men along the outside of it. Leif nodded his head brusquely. “Obliged,” he said, a little bitingly. The guards gave them all the bags that were on the horse and shooed them into the gates.
The moment they were on the other side, Aela saw it—Telandus. The real Telandus. The black wall had hidden what it really was—which was just a city. The houses were brown and low-slung. The place was a bit poorer looking than the Lower Town in Cathalar, but the people were much the same. Traders darted back and forth, and workers intermingled with them. Stalls were set up with all sorts of items, and she could even make out a few shops towards the back of the main street. “This is certainly not the blood-soaked city of my nightmares,” she said curiously.
“Don’t be so sure,” Leif said doubtfully. “We’ve only just arrived.”
“The first step will always be the longest stride.”
-A Hero’s Peace v.i
Chapter xxiv
Taeru Lassau
Thoughts were fairly easy to purge from his mind, but feelings, Taeru had discovered, were another matter entirely. No matter how much he tried to force his mind and heart to think of other things—the memory of that bloody kiss pounded through him like a pulse of thunder. His lips felt as though they were on fire, even a cycle after the kiss. Taeru knew that he ought to be fearful for his life, considering Tareth’s brother knew who he was—but he was not afraid of Calis. He couldn’t force himself to be afraid of Calis.
The fears that he kept having were much less sensible. Calis had returned on a few occasions since that kiss, and every time he had acted much the same as the times before. Yet, Taeru couldn’t shake the feeling that the prince would eventually tire of whatever was going on between them. If nothing else, surely Calis would tire of Taeru’s continued reluctance. Or worse—when Taeru finally stopped fighting—Calis would suddenly realize that he was, well, not so wonderful.
“You ought to give in, Kilik,” Alyx cooed at him, for what he was certain must have been the millionth time in the past two suns. Calis had yet to show up in the past few suns, and though Alyx was trying to convince Taeru that he ought to just have fun with Calis, Taeru was unsure that he would ever see Calis again. Every time the prince left, Taeru felt himself foundering in a world of uninitiated rejection. Why should Calis waste so much time with him? Unless Calis was out to obtain some relic of information from Taeru, which Taeru was finding more and more difficult to believe. “Just be with him. If I’m not going to be able to fulfill my dream of being swept off my feet by Prince Calis—then I will be hanged before I let you spurn it!”
The corner of Taeru’s mouth twitched into the slightest of frowns at the statement. Swept off his feet? Hardly. His jaw clenched, though, in a sort of defense against the heated inflammation of his lips at the memory of the kiss. Calis had yet to kiss him again, though to say that smoldering expression in his e
yes said that he’d considered it was an understatement. So what was he waiting on? Perhaps he hadn’t even liked the kiss, and Taeru was imagining his expression.
I sound like Alyx. What is the matter with me?
“Be with him?” Taeru snarled. “I cannot just be with the crown prince of Telandus, Alyx. Do you have any idea the number of reasons that I cannot just be with him?” She frowned, pursing her lips a little. The funny part was that she didn’t know half of the reasons that Taeru could never be with the crown prince of Telandus.
Alyx sighed warily. “Fair enough. I know that you don’t think it will last, and I’m sure he will eventually be betrothed to some silly noblewoman, but why not enjoy it while you have the chance?”
The thought was repulsive. With his own heart acting like a drum played by a madman, he did not trust himself enough to have a playful little fling with the crown prince of Telandus. For starters, the amount of trouble he could wind up in was obscene, and to add on to that, Taeru knew nothing about having meaningless romances. Then again, he didn’t know much about having meaningful relationships, either.
Not that he would ever have one of those with Calis Tsrali. “I do not want to just enjoy it while I have the chance,” he hissed. The pain in his voice worried him—he hadn’t even felt that much hurt, had he? He knew that he and Calis were nothing more than a wild flower, growing in some field that would soon be trimmed to make way for more appropriate, planned flowers.
For some reason, this seemed to cause Alyx a great amount of distress. Taeru had been working to be nice to her since the moon when she’d been stood up by her date, and subsequently wandered around just long enough to be cornered by the nobles. She had been shaken up for a few suns, but as always, Alyx had recovered. Taeru was currently a little concerned that Alyx may find a way to murder the man who had abandoned her. “Oh, Kilik,” she said softly, “you like him that much?”