The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1)

by Nicole MacDonald

  'Of course, it will cost extra though?'

  'That’ll be no problem,' Sian assured her. 'As long as it’s enough to reach the next village.'

  'Yes, yes. Though I should warn you, it’ll take around a month of walking to reach the castle. You must make sure to stock up well at each village.'

  Loi gave me a look of concern at that. I pressed my lips flat and shrugged.

  One month of walking.

  Damn that's really going to suck. I hope there are plenty of villages in between here and the castle.

  Kassie listened hard while she pretended to focus on Lucky.

  One month to the castle, she thought in despair, with elgrids about and likely other creatures too. She pursed her lips, trying to think of another solution. Nothing presented itself. She lifted her head and stared at the man who had spoken to them before.

  'Yes?'

  'I was just wondering what other creatures we should watch out for, ah…' Kassie gestured at him.

  The man looked at her sharply, then after a moment gave a slight nod.

  'I’m Wrenwick.'

  'So, what other creatures can we expect on our journey, Wrenwick?'

  Wrenwick frowned as he thought it over.

  'When you reach the woods you may have to watch out for gragnolls, though I haven’t seen many lately, what with all this craziness going on in the South. It appears to be attracting them in hordes. We haven’t had many issues with uglies lately. Those elgrids that followed you are the first we’ve seen in weeks.'

  Henja interrupted, 'You’ll need to watch out for the leeni too.'

  She nudged Wrenwick in admonishment. 'And of course dragons.'

  Sian’s head snapped up at that.

  'Dragons?'

  'Ooooh yes,' Gran Nina looked amused at Sian's shocked expression. 'We do get a few around here, though they tend to go for the cattle not wee scrawny girls.'

  Curious, I asked, 'How big do the dragons get? And do they breathe fire?'

  Wrenwick spoke up, glaring at Henja and Gran Nina for butting in.

  'The biggest dragons can be the size of a large barn with a wing span four to five times the width, but they don’t breathe fire. At that size there isn’t really any need. It’s the little dragons, around your dog’s size, that breathe fire. They are usually rather civil and most castles employ one or two for keeping their fires going.'

  I could see Sian was fascinated, at home her favorite mythical creature was the dragon. Mine, I guess, would be the Pegasus or unicorn; an off shoot from my, My Little Pony days.

  The sudden thought of a My Little Pony doll prancing around in real life was somewhat unhinging.

  We wandered in the direction Henja had sent us and studied the village. There must be around one to two hundred people living here, many more than I first thought. Locals watched us curiously from their doorways and I made an effort to smile at them. Apparently we didn’t fit in that well.

  Loi noticed it too.

  'Center of attention much,' she muttered.

  'Look. We’re nearly at the Inn,' Kassie sounded relieved.

  'Girls,' Henja called out, delighted as we pushed through the front door. 'Come on in. Quick, quick, dinner will be ready soon and your baths are waiting out the back.'

  Loi’s eyebrows shot up when Henja said "out the back" what did that mean? Henja ushered them out the back of the Inn, past the tables and more staring people. Audi snuck along behind and scooted through the door before it caught her tail.

  There, in a concealed courtyard, were four iron baths lined with sheets and filled to the brim with hot, sweet smelling water. Tiny coal fires burned underneath to keep them warm. The girls grinned at each other and Loi felt some of the tension in her shoulders evaporate at the sight.

  We thanked Henja profusely and she flushed with pleasure.

  'No, not at all, Sian paid generously for your stay so I want you to enjoy it,' she paused. 'And if you could mention it at the castle when you get there…'

  'Of course we’ll give rave reviews about you, Henja, how could we not?' I gestured at the private little courtyard, it was gorgeous.

  She gave us another wide smile.

  'You can lock yourselves in, see? There is a key in this side, so no one will bother you. When you are done let me know and I will bring your supper to your rooms.'

  She stepped out the room and shut the door.

  I locked it behind her then turned to the others.

  'Peace at last!'

  'And a bath,' chimed in Loi.

  'And food!' cried Sian.

  We laughed and started to strip our clothes off.

  The boots were a little tricky being so high. I struggled to loosen the laces and ended up hopping around the room, with Audi bouncing along beside me. Kassie and Sian could barely stand for laughing at me as I wheeled my arms madly to keep from falling.

  Loi rushed over.

  'Here. Let me help before you hop through a wall.'

  She quickly worked the knot out of the laces and yanked the boot down to my ankle.

  'Thanks, Loi, you’re such a good friend,' I said while pointedly staring at Sian and Kassie.

  Reaching down, I pulled the boot slowly off, careful not to lose balance again. We slipped into our baths with sighs of relief and pleasure.

  The courtyard was silent.

  Resting my head, I let my mind drift and shooed away any persistent thoughts, allowing the heat from the water to penetrate my aching muscles. I groaned quietly in relief. I’d never run that hard before. Elgrids were a pretty good form of encouragement, not that I saw them becoming popular in gyms anytime soon. My thigh muscle twitched and I winced.

  I will be sore tomorrow.

  That word, tomorrow, started the swirls of nausea in my stomach. A panic attack threatened as my brain tried to process everything that’d happened today.

  Stop it. One step at a time Cat. Relax, ordered the rational voice in my mind. You can’t change anything at the moment; take one day at a time.

  Right, slow easy breaths and think of tomorrow.

  'So what’s the plan for tomorrow? Siany, any thoughts?'

  Sian contemplated Cat’s question.

  'We’ll have breakfast, pack well, and then have a chat with the men we met today as to which is the best way to set off. Then I guess we’ll camp in the forest they mentioned, then do the same the following day.'

  She twisted her head to look at Cat.

  'It’ll basically be like that until we reach the castle.'

  Cat frowned and quietly said, 'I wonder what our chances of crossing another lot of creatures are…?'

  There was silence as they thought of the horrific creatures they’d seen today. The idea of meeting more was not pleasant, but apparently quite possible.

  Kassie sighed inwardly then spoke up.

  'Perhaps when we’re clear of the town we should spend some time practicing with our weapons, I realize it means we won’t get as far as we’d like tomorrow, but I’m sure we’ll be able to reach the forest by nightfall and in the event we meet any unfriendlies at least we’d be prepared.'

  'I agree,' said Cat. 'I haven’t had as much experience with swords as you guys so it’d make me feel a little more secure.'

  'And I haven’t really used a bow like that before,' Sian said. 'Antiquities was more Cat’s thing so I’d like to get a feel for it.'

  Cat wrinkled her nose at Sian and the girls chuckled. It lifted the mood back to the relaxed state.

  Kassie lay back and felt her muscles relax in the heat of the water. She peeked over to see where Lucky was.

  On my clothing, of course, she thought with an internal groan. Lucky looked quite happy curled up on Kassie’s top.

  I bet that’ll be really itchy with cat fur now, but I’m too relaxed to care at the moment. The minutes ticked by fast and she had to fight the urge to fall asleep. There was a splash and Kassie glanced over.

  Cat had sat up, coughing and Loi laughed at her.

>   'Did you doze off?'

  'Yes and took a decent mouthful of water,' she grimaced then coughed some more.

  'Ewww.'

  Sian ignored the others as she listened to her heart beat, thrumming soft and steady in her ears. She’d have to ask Henja what herbs were in the water, she could feel the medicinal properties working their magic. The thudding of her heart seemed strangely loud now. Sian opened her eyes confused.

  Why doesn’t that sound right? She noticed Loi staring at her.

  'Can you hear that?'

  Sian gulped in surprise.

  'Wha—?' she started.

  Henja pounded on their door.

  'Girls! Look up, a dragon is flying over!'

  There was a moment as we stared at each other in disbelief. Then our heads snapped up. In the small square of visible sky, a huge reptilian body came into view with an enormous wingspan.

  OH MY GOD. I gaped at the sight. Gleaming emerald, the dragon vanished from view, its huge wings carrying it away swiftly. You could still hear the sound of its wings beating. Like a helicopter, but with a different rhythm. We sat there in a stunned silence.

  It was real. This isn’t a movie, I’m not asleep, that was real. Everything around me seemed more vivid. The water lapping against me, the smell of the herbs, the strange scent of a different land. It was real.

  It had to be the most bizarre and exciting moment of my life. Even compared to the elgrids. I let out a sigh and shook my head then turned to look at Sian. After all, this was her dream come true. Still staring upward, her mouth open a hint.

  'Sianus,' I called. She turned to stare at me, her eyes glistened, totally enthralled, I thought and I said, 'That was once heck of a spell, Siany.'

  Yes. Yes it was. Sian couldn’t get the image out of her head. It was so huge, so majestic. And… She couldn’t think of a word adequate to describe, that.

  The most beautiful thing she’d ever laid eyes on. The tacky line, from one of her mum’s romance novels, sprung to mind. It brought home the reality of them been on a foreign planet and she slumped back in the bath.

  A different planet. Oh Goddess, what happened? Why was this so different? It’d been the same format as all the other spells she’d cast. She’d used all the tools before in rituals and nothing like this had happened. Feeling a horrible wave of despair, Sian pulled her knees up, not wanting the others to see her cry.

  We’d all turned when Sian pulled her knees up and somehow the three of us were out of our baths, drying sheets wrapped tight around our figures and crouched by Sian’s bath before you could blink.

  'Siany,' I could feel my own tears lump at the back of my throat as I wrapped an arm around her wet back.

  'Don’t cry honey,' Kassie squeezed Sian’s knee gently as she reassured her. 'I didn’t mean it, what I said before. I know it’s not your fault. Really, hun, please don’t cry.'

  Loi was on the other side her head bent just touching Sian’s and Audrey stood beside Loi, peering anxiously at Sian.

  'I’m sorry,' Sian half sobbed. 'I don’t know why it happened. And I don’t know how to get us back.'

  She gulped then lifted her head; those red rimmed eyes stared at us.

  'What if we’re stuck here?'

  There was silence as we avoided each others gaze. It had certainly occurred to me already. Lifting my head, I looked at Kassie. She stared back with a determined "we’ll make the best of it" look.

  I nodded and looked at Loi with an arched eyebrow. She nodded too, then gave Sian’s head a gentle nudge with her own. Sian lifted her head to stare morosely at us.

  'We’ll live with it,' Loi gave Sian a firm look then glanced at the others. They nodded back to her.

  'We will, Sian.'

  Cat tossed her head and declared, 'We’ve survived so far. Let’s get to the castle and then figure out what’s next. One day at a time.'

  'Exactly,' chimed in Kassie. 'And just think, this is supposedly to meet our soul mates, this could get really exciting.'

  The three of us froze for a moment as we gaped at Kassie. Holy Cow. I’d forgotten about that.

  How do you forget something like that? Wondered the rational voice in my mind.

  The spell brought us to another planet to find our soul mates? Our soul mates are aliens?

  Stop! bellowed the rational voice, back up, let’s forget all that and go back to our one day at a time plan, breathe easy, Catherine.

  Breathe easy, breathe easy.

  Right.

  'Shall we forget about that at the moment and instead get some food?' Kassie suggested.

  Good idea, thought Loi as she banished the hysterical voice in her own mind.

  Food. She headed to her pile of clothes and pulled them on. The boots she left loose, bunched around her knees.

  The others fussed around getting ready and Cat gave Audi a good dunk and clean in a tub. The dog looked pretty miserable until she got to the drying. Then she had great fun, pushing through the towel as Cat worked on drying her and even sat back on her haunches to "yell" at them all about it.

  That was their term for one of the dog’s barks. Audrey had a rather decent vocabulary and it varied from whining, grumbling, talking and yelling when she was excited, like at the moment. The angry bark she’d had when they ran from the elgrids was the first time Loi had ever heard her make that noise. It’d been impressive.

  We made our way to the kitchen as instructed and then Henja led the way to our rooms.

  'Did you girls see the dragon? Such a big one too. What a good example for your first time.'

  She beamed at us as we made appropriate remarks.

  All I could think about was food. Henja opened the door with a key from a laden iron ring and ushered us in.

  'I have given you two rooms that have an adjoining door, so you don’t have to go out into the corridor. As you can see you will have to share two to a bed and please,' she pointed at Audi beside me then to Lucky in Kassie’s arms. 'No animals on the beds.'

  I nodded in agreement along with Kassie and Henja smiled, satisfied.

  'Well, I will go get your supper.'

  She disappeared back down the corridor.

  Sian and Laura took the other room and Kassie and I the first. I wandered around the small room. Nothing extravagant, that was for sure, but it had a couple of windows and a little stove. It was nice and cozy.

  Much better than a smoky open fire I thought, pleased.

  I dressed, not bothering with my boots and rubbed a towel over my damp hair.

  There was a sharp knock on the door, then Henja’s voice, 'Here is your supper girls’.'

  Kassie and I moved quickly to the door and I took the large tray from Henja’s hands.

  She thanked us then questioned, 'Now what would be best for your animals?'

  While Kassie placed our orders, I carefully maneuvered my way to the small table in Sian and Loi’s room and placed the tray on it.

  Best food ever.

  The meat stew was delicious and I wiped the bowl clean with a slice of bread. Sipping at a second cup of water, I banished the thoughts still swirling and slumped back in the seat, leaning against Sian and Loi’s bed.

  We didn’t talk, just relaxed. Feeling myself start to doze off, I stood, making Kass jolt.

  'Sorry, Kass,' I yawned. 'I’m off to bed now. Night all, sleep well.'

  Wandering back to the bed in the adjoining room, I crawled under the covers and fell promptly into a deep and dreamless sleep.

  *****

  The sunlight woke me, my eyes fluttering open as the rays of light began to descend down the bed. I yawned, then stretched and groaned as all my muscles objected. Carefully, so as not to disturb Kassie, I sat up and looked around the room.

  Waking in a strange place for a second time was almost as disturbing as the first, but at least we were safe. Climbing out of bed, I sat on a stool to pull my socks and boots on and winced when I turned my thigh out to lace the back of the boot. It seemed every single mu
scle hurt, even my eyes. They watered when I let out a mouth splitting yawn.

  Audi shook herself awake, staggering off my cloak where she’d been sleeping and bumbled over to give me a big lick. Giggling, I grabbed the dog's head and ruffled the fur round her neck and ears. She grumbled and thrust a paw in my face, so I obliged with the request and scratched the front of her chest. Lucky meowed softly at us and sauntered over.

  'Are you guys' hungry?' I whispered to them. 'Come on, let’s go see if we can get some breakfast.'

  Picking Lucky up, I draped the cat around my shoulders and eased the door open, ushering Audi out. We headed down the corridor and stairs to the kitchen.

  'Hello, Henja?' I called, listening to the rustle and banging of pots.

  A maid appeared in front of me.

  'Hello, you must be one of those four women the town’s talking about. Come on in I’ll get you some breakfast.'

  She whirled around. I followed closely, stomach growling in anticipation of food. The maid led the way to a plain table with slab seats. Removing Lucky, I placed her on the seat beside me and Audi sat under the table, waiting.

  A giant bowl of thick, creamy porridge was set in front of me along with a pot of honey and a pitcher of what appeared to be cream.

  I grinned in delight, no worries about calories here, what with walking everywhere. I was about to begin eating when the maid interrupted.

  'What would your animals like?'

  'Umm if you have any of that meat stew left, that would be ideal. And I guess Lucky could have a dish of milk if you can spare it.'

  The maid left to look and I pulled the spoon out of the honey, dribbling a thin layer over the porridge and then poured the thick cream over the top.

  Mmmm all creamy and sweet.

  I'm so glad they don't have calci-trim here.

  Kassie and Laura made their way down to the kitchen and stopped at the doorway, peering through.

  'Ah. There she is,' Loi pointed and Kassie could see Cat at a table, near the end of the room, enjoying her breakfast, her eyes closed in bliss.