King's Warrior (The Minstrel's Song Book 1)

by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

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  Darby had been worried, and she was ready to turn around and march all three of them home when Oraeyn and Kamarie explained what had happened with the hunter’s trap. But they eventually got her calmed down enough to realize that nobody had been hurt.

  “This trip is going to be the death of me, I declare,” she said, sitting down. “I don’t know what will become of us. I don’t know if I can take it much longer.”

  “I’m really quite all right,” Kamarie reassured her maid. “Oraeyn rescued me and I didn’t get hurt at all. And I’ll know to take a walking stick with me next time I go gathering wood alone.”

  “And that is supposed to make me feel better?” Darby asked in an exasperated tone. “If it was up to me, there wouldn’t be any chance of a next time. If it was up to me, I’d march you straight back home this instant. But it isn’t up to me, I suppose.”

  “No, Darby, it isn’t up to you,” Kamarie said. “We can’t give up and go home just because I had a fall. We couldn’t give up and go home even if something worse had happened because home isn’t any safer than these forests.”

  “I know,” Darby replied with a sigh. I just wanted to make sure you knew that, she thought to herself.

  At that moment Oraeyn turned from the fire and said, “Dinner’s ready.”

  They ate their meal and then bedded down for the evening, with Oraeyn taking the first watch. The night was cold and dark, and the fire had long since gone out because of the steady, pouring rain. He liked taking the first watch; it gave him time to think about the day’s events, and tonight he had a lot to mull over. The princess was also a squire-in-training. He could hardly believe it, even though he knew that it had to be true. Kamarie did make more sense now that he knew about the lessons that Garen had been giving her. She had a lot of courage, this princess; he thought, training to be a knight was not an easy feat, he knew from experience. There had been times when he had wanted to give up himself, but at least he had the other squires to rely on, and he didn’t really have any other options, while the princess certainly did. But Kamarie had to keep her training completely secret. She could not talk to anyone; she had to bear all the difficulties of the training and pretend that she was not in training whenever anyone was around. She also had to deal with knowing that certain aspects of her training would remain incomplete, such as learning directions and finding her way without the Dragon’s Eye to guide her. And at the end of it all, she would have to leave it behind: she would never be a knight, and she would never be acknowledged for her hard work. Oraeyn did not know if he could do that. The promise of knighthood, of honor and respect, was often all that kept him going. To train with no hope of that reward... He felt a touch on his shoulder and jerked out of his thoughts, all senses alert, his muscles tight and ready for a fight.

  “It’s my watch,” Kamarie’s voice was filled with silent laughter, she knew that she had startled him. “You didn’t wake me up.”

  He relaxed. “It’s not nice to sneak up on people.”

  She did laugh now, but quietly, so as not to disturb Darby. “Go get some sleep, I’ll keep the bandits at bay.”

  Glaring at her, but knowing that she could not see his glare in the darkness of the starless night, Oraeyn went to his bedroll. Suddenly his exhaustion caught up with him and he fell asleep almost before he had time to lie down.

  The next morning dawned bright and fresh, with no trace of the dark storm that had ruled the night. Oraeyn struggled to open his sleep-filled eyes and stretched his arms above his head with a noise that sounded like something between a yawn and a groan. The morning air was chilly, yet un-warmed by the Dragon’s Eye.

  “Good morning,” a too cheery voice sounded in his ears. “Get up! We have an absolutely perfect day before us, we shouldn’t waste any of it.”

  Oraeyn groaned again, nobody should be allowed to sound that chipper this early in the morning. In order to better show his disgust, he pointedly rolled over, away from the voice, and pulled his blanket up over his head. Someone started pulling at his blanket, but he held it down around him until they gave up.

  “I’ll get up when I’m good and ready,” he growled.

  The blanket pulling stopped, and he was left alone. With a regretful sigh that he had to get up and leave his warm blankets, Oraeyn sat up and looked around him to get his bearings. He had to admit it did show all the promising signs of being a beautiful day for traveling. Just then Kamarie came back, carrying a plate of fried ham and biscuits with pieces of fruit adorning the side. She handed him the plate and a glass of water, which he accepted gratefully.

  “You sure are a grouch in the morning,” she said cheerfully. “Especially for a squire. Aren’t knights supposed to spring out of bed, ready for their next battle?”

  “I’m not a knight yet,” Oraeyn growled.

  Oraeyn did not trust himself to say anything more. It would have been very easy for him to snap back and tell her that she was annoyingly cheerful in the morning, but he could not see the result being very beneficial, so he held his tongue and bit into a hard biscuit. At this, Kamarie breezed away, leaving the shelter of the bushes to go get the horses ready for another days’ journey, much to Oraeyn’s relief. He would grudgingly admit that he admired the girl, but she could also be the most frustrating person he had ever met.

  Within moments, he had eaten breakfast, washed his face in a basin of cold water that someone had left for him, and gotten his boots on. With that done, Oraeyn felt much more ready to face the day. He walked out of the cover of the bushes, carrying his folded bedroll, and went over to where Kamarie was saddling up the horses. After he had attached his bedroll to his chestnut horse, Oraeyn set about destroying the evidence of their camp. It was not likely that they were being followed, but in the unlikely event of that happening, their pursuers would get no help from him. He stepped back to study his handiwork, and then made a few adjustments until he was satisfied. A good tracker would give this place one glance and find no clues; a great tracker would see that there had been a camp here at one time, but would not be able to figure out when. Sir Garen would be able to decipher the clues, but Oraeyn seriously doubted that there was anyone else, anywhere else, with Sir Garen’s abilities.

  Finally, the three travelers set out once more towards the Mountains of Dusk. Their course had been fairly easy the past few days; the forest was mostly on flat ground, and there had been the occasional open fields that they had raced through. But now they were heading into the foothills of the mountains, and the journey became more difficult. As they rode along, over rolling hills, the mountains came more sharply into view. Kamarie grew excited: here, finally, the journey would really start. She had never been as far as the Mountains of Dusk before; the feeling of wandering into unfamiliar territory exhilarated her.

  Oraeyn noticed a change coming over Kamarie and studied her, puzzled. She leaned forward a little more in her saddle, her cheeks flushed and her blue eyes sparkled with excitement. There had been a lot of silence during the journey today, and Oraeyn was growing tired of it.

  “Are you all right, Kamarie?” he questioned.

  She looked at him with a bright smile. “Of course! We’re getting closer and closer to the Mountains of Dusk, and the journey is really beginning now.”

  Her tone was light, and yet there seemed to be a dark undercurrent to her words, almost as if… Oraeyn pushed the thought out of his mind, but still it lingered there in the back of his thoughts: almost as if she was afraid. He knew the thought was ludicrous; so far Kamarie had been the bravest of all of them, certainly the bravest girl he had ever met. She had no reason to fear the Mountains, but that tone was there: he had heard it, had seen a shadow pass through her eyes. He knew she had never been as far as the mountains before; but then, neither had he. He had never gotten that far, even when journeying with his mentor-knight.

  “Yes, the journey is really beginning now,” Oraeyn said. “We have come throu
gh the forest, we have refrained from killing one another, and now we are in the foothills of the Mountains of Dusk, we can no longer speak of turning back,” he finished and watched Kamarie’s reaction to his words.

  She nodded, as if to herself, and then her eyes got big as he finished. She turned to stare at him, her face a mix of emotions. Her eyes flashed with what looked like anger, but her mouth twitched in something resembling concealed laughter. He was not quite sure what he had said to merit this reaction, but he braced himself for an argument.

  “‘Refrained from killing one another’?” Kamarie burst out in mock outrage. “Perhaps I refrained from killing you, but I’m sure that throwing me in the river was a direct attempt on your part to do away with me!”

  Oraeyn sputtered in surprise and confusion. “I was not!” he said. “I knew how deep the river was and I knew that it wasn’t moving fast, otherwise I never would have…” He broke off as he caught a glimpse of Kamarie’s face. She was laughing now, again, at him. He tensed, then forced himself to relax, knowing that the comment had been a joke but still not liking it. He decided that he would never understand this girl. Or maybe he would just never understand her sense of humor.

  Oraeyn glanced over towards where Darby was riding. Her face was implacable, a mask that could not be read. But there was a look in her eye that told him she had heard the exchange and found it humorous as well. Hunching his shoulders, Oraeyn pulled up the hood of his cloak and glowered ahead of him. He was quickly getting tired of Kamarie’s jokes, and he was also tired of being surrounded and outnumbered by women… all two of them.

  As they rode along, Oraeyn came up with an idea that just might keep him from being laughed at. He decided that from now on, he was going to keep his mouth shut. Just as he decided upon this new course of action, he heard a sound. It was a musical sound but light, like the music from the pan pipes that he had heard upon occasion when traveling the countryside. This music was somehow lighter, though, and impossibly stronger for such an airy sound. It pulled at him, tugging at the very core of his being.

  “Do you hear that?” he asked, forgetting his resolution of the moment before.

  “Hear what?” Kamarie asked.

  “That… that!” Oraeyn could not believe she did not understand what he was talking about.

  Kamarie stared at him. “That what?”

  “That sound, that music, that beautiful, beautiful sound! How can you not hear it?” He gazed at her in disbelief.

  Shaking her head, Kamarie stopped her horse and cocked her head. A look of intense concentration washed over her face as she threw all her energy into listening. After a moment or two, she straightened and laughed. “You got me,” she said, grinning, “you really had me going there.”

  “I’m not joking!” Oraeyn cried in distress. “Are you telling me that you really cannot hear that music?”

  “That’s what I’m saying, I don’t hear a thing that sounds like music,” Kamarie said apologetically.

  “But…” Oraeyn turned to Darby. “Can you hear it?” he demanded.

  Darby shook her head, “I’m sorry Master Oraeyn, but I don’t hear anything that sounds like what you have described.”

  Oraeyn ground his teeth in frustration. Neither of them could hear it, and yet, there it was, whatever it was, growing louder and more full, more vibrant with every passing moment. It filled his ears, filled him with a longing to follow it until he felt that he would surely die if he did not answer the call. But he did not know how he could explain that to Kamarie and Darby. How could he explain a summons they could not hear?

  “I don’t know what it is,” he started, “but it is calling me. I feel like I am being ripped apart inside just because I am not moving towards the sound. Please…” he stopped, not knowing what he could possibly be saying ‘please’ for. Then it hit him. He wanted to answer the call; he had to go find what was making that music. He dropped his head in defeat, not knowing what to do.

  Kamarie watched Oraeyn closely as he uttered his last words; she could tell that he was not trying to fool her. His face was open, honest, with a faraway look of longing deep in his dark green eyes. She strained her ears, listening for something, anything that resembled the sound he had described. After a few long moments of silence, she relaxed and dropped her shoulders.

  Shaking her head, Kamarie stared at Oraeyn. “I don’t hear anything out of the ordinary. I hear birds, and the grass blowing in the wind, but I don’t hear anything that sounds like music. I think we should probably keep going Oraeyn… Oraeyn!”

  Kamarie said his name sharply, trying to get his attention, but it was no use. Oraeyn was staring straight ahead with an expectant, far-off look on his face. Kamarie could tell that he was no longer hearing the sounds of this world; he was solely aware of the enchanted music only he could hear. She rode up and tapped him on the shoulder but got no response. She waved her hands in front of his face but only received a blank stare. Finally, in desperation, she pulled him from his saddle and placed her hands over his ears. Oraeyn jumped, as if he had been burned, and his eyes became clear again.

  “What? Where?” He gazed at Kamarie in confusion and then asked, “How long?”

  “We have been trying to get your attention for three or four minutes,” Kamarie yelled, loud enough for him to be able to hear her while her hands were still covering his ears.

  He trembled. “It seemed like hours. But it was so beautiful.” He pushed her hands from his ears. “The music…” he stopped.

  “Is it still there?” Kamarie asked, hoping she would not have to cover his ears again. That would make the journey rather difficult.

  “Yes,” Oraeyn sighed, “but it is fainter now, softer, not so insistent.”

  “Well, that’s a relief,” Darby interjected.

  Darby felt a twinge of sadness that she could not hear the melody that was so apparent to the young man. She had seen enough of Oraeyn in the past few days together to know there was a depth and seriousness to him that indicated unusual paths may be in store for him. She said none of this, however, preferring to keep her own council.

  Aloud, she continued, “If you are willing, I believe we really need to keep going. Our mission to find Brant has to be the priority. I don’t think we have time to seek this haunted music, young man, especially when Kamarie and I are unable to help you in the search.”

  “Haunted,” Oraeyn muttered, “that is a good way to describe it. A haunting melody… an eerie, ghostlike tune that belongs in a deep, dark forest, or on a foggy moor. A music that…”

  “Darby is right,” Kamarie said quickly before Oraeyn could continue about the music that she could not hear. “It is getting late and we have not been making very good time lately.”

  Darby nodded in agreement, though with a heavy heart.

  Oraeyn glanced up at the Dragon’s Eye, at its highest point signaling the middle of the day, and then he nodded with a sigh. “The music seems to be coming from inside the mountains anyway, perhaps our path will cross some place where we can all hear the music.”

  Kamarie shot a suspicious glance at Oraeyn. She was not entirely certain that he had truly snapped out of his trance. She decided to keep very alert, to make sure he was not allowing this music, that only he could hear, to pull them off their path and away from their goal. She intended to reach her father’s friend in Peak’s Shadow, and nothing was going to distract her from that goal, unless it was something that would help her country. With a renewed determination and refreshed thoughts of their goals and purpose, the three travelers set off once more traveling ever deeper into the Mountains of Dusk.

  chapter

  FOUR

  Although they had made fantastic time in getting to the foothills and the journey had only taken approximately two weeks, so far the Mountains of Dusk were much larger and the journey across them was taking much longer than Kamarie had anticipated. Once in the heart of the mountain chain, they faced the difficult t
ask of keeping to the seldom-traveled path. The road became nearly invisible at times and far more difficult to navigate. Often they had to dismount and lead their horses around or over obstacles. The ground was rough and rocky, filled with dangerous stretches where slipping and falling was a constant threat.

  Oraeyn was leading the little group, picking his steps carefully, trying to follow the ill-marked road. Kamarie watched him closely and was quickly growing concerned. He claimed that the music had grown fainter, that it no longer tugged at him, but with every step they took the look in his eyes became more distant and the expression on his face became more eager, almost expectant. The further they went, the lighter Oraeyn’s step became: almost as if he were racing to answer a very insistent summons. They still seemed to be traveling in the correct direction so Kamarie had said nothing yet, but she was still concerned that they could easily be drawn from their goal. If their path was taking them closer to the source of Oraeyn’s haunted music, she feared that she would not be able to keep him from answering the call that only he could hear. Deep down, Kamarie also feared for Oraeyn; she did not know what the music meant, could not understand how it tugged at his heart, but she feared that it could mean danger for him.

  As they journeyed on through the seemingly endless mountains, the path that they were on turned very steep, much steeper than anything that they had come across in the mountains so far. The peaks and heights were all around them now, and this difficult path had been their only clue to finding their way through the mountains to Peak’s Shadow. So far the ill-marked road had kept them at a relatively low altitude and it had been easy to start taking it for granted, focusing on other things. But now, as the path sloped upwards at an alarming angle, Kamarie was forced to turn her full attention to what she was doing so as to keep Tor from panicking or slipping. As they continued upwards, the path eventually started to even out and seemed to be leading them towards a large, cavernous opening that looked like it could be the beginning of a tunnel through the mountain.