Mordrim groaned and Patrina gasped. Alto had to fight down a laugh at the inappropriate joke and shook his head. "Enough. If memory serves, we should reach Merrim's Junction by midday."
"Memory serves? You've never been there," Kar said.
"No, I met Winter and rode him from Fairhaven to the north to Holgasford," Alto said, remembering his time spent in the enchanted forest when he'd met the unicorn that became Patrina's companion.
Patrina perked up at the news. "Will we be able to stop by Holgasford? I miss him."
Alto frowned. "I would, but I fear we would be delayed. We've been gone a long time now."
"Call to him." The often quiet priest spoke up from where he rode near his father.
Patrina's eyes narrowed as she turned on the priest. "I can't yell that loud!"
Karthor's mouth fell open and his father chuckled at the misunderstanding. "Much as I like seeing the boy gaping like a fish out of water, he meant with your bond."
"My bond?" Patrina asked.
"The thoughts you share with Winter," Kar clarified.
"Is that what it is? I thought we just sort of understood each other."
Alto grunted. "It's a bond. Winter and I understood each other. What you two can do is beyond that."
Patrina turned back to him and nudged her horse forward until she rode beside him. "Are you still upset about him choosing me instead of you?"
"No," Alto said. He offered her a reassuring smile and then looked back to the north. "Winter's a pure and noble beast. He deserves someone of equal virtue. I am not that person."
Patrina jerked her head back as though she'd been hit with his words. She frowned and shook her head. "Alto, stop that! You are the best man I know."
He smiled and shrugged. "Perhaps you should get to know more men."
Undeterred, she replied, "Or perhaps men such as you have difficult roles in life that require decisions lesser men can't begin to understand."
"Aye!" Garrick said loudly, interrupting them. He gave a knowing glance at Mordrim and continued, "Some men are half of what another is."
The dwarf sneered at the barbarian and reached around for something small and hard to throw. He found nothing save his hammer. It was a long and thoughtful moment before he took his hand off the thong that bound it to his belt.
"Half a moment," Carson said. "I'm putting it together now. This Fairhaven is the forest where you found a unicorn? And twisted creatures, living together? How was this possible again? I thought unicorns were goodly creatures that do not abide corruption?"
"The forest is split, with the northeastern part tainted by a swamp," Alto said. "I rode through it and then around it, but I don't know any more than that."
"The curse is lifted," Karthor said. "Aleena and Celos succeeded where we failed. They'd just returned before my father and I journeyed west to find you on the Isle of Britanly. Seems Aleena found a unicorn of her own named Moonshine."
Mordrim snorted. "There's another name for moonshine."
"A strong elven wine," Namitus guessed.
"Or an even stronger whiskey," Kar offered. "That'll put hair on your chest and make you feel certain you're soon to meet a saint of your choosing."
The companions fell into discussing drinks of different peoples and places, as well as tales told and embellished about their experiences with them. Alto rode ahead of the others and only half listened to them. After several minutes, he became aware of Patrina riding close to him. She was behind his horse and to the side, but still rode ahead of the others.
He turned and glanced back at her. She wore a simple tunic and pants beneath an open cloak. Underneath it all, she wore her armor still. He offered her a faint smile before turning back to watch the road ahead. Patrina took it as an invitation and rode up beside him.
"Are you warm enough?" Alto asked her when she slowed to match his mount's stride.
"This armor keeps me warm," she said. "I'm only wearing the clothing for the closed-minded fools in these lands."
Alto chuckled. "You were once a closed-minded fool."
She shrugged and a grin broke through. "I spent enough time in the deserts to appreciate a few well-placed silk scarves."
Alto chuckled. "I appreciated them, too."
She gasped. "You're a cur!"
The warrior shrugged. "Is it scurrilous for me to admire your beauty?"
Patrina's cheeks flushed and she glanced down to fidget with her saddle a moment. "For a farm boy, you've learned to use your words well. Thank you."
Alto chuckled at her unintentional reminder of his past. He had been a simple farm boy. Stupid, too, or at least ignorant. His father had once been a warrior but he'd run in shame from his past. Now Alto was striving to make sure his own past didn't catch up to him and fill his future with regrets. He'd made a deal with Banadis and seldom an hour went by when he didn't question his decision.
"You're troubled," Patrina stated. "What lays so heavy on your heart? We're rid of the Order and you have the love of good friends around you."
"Good friends?" Alto asked.
She glanced over her shoulder at the others and said with a wink, "Well, they're a bit wild and unruly, but they'll do in a pinch."
"And you?" he asked her.
She turned and nodded. "Oh yes, it goes without saying."
Alto grunted and turned back to the north.
With only his grunt as a response, Patrina waited a few moments before saying, "Alto, I love you beyond words."
"I know," he said. He shook his head and sighed. "I wonder if I'm worthy of such a thing. Of you."
"Of course you are! You love me, do you not?"
He nodded.
"Then that's enough. We have what matters. The affairs of court are being handled by my father. As soon as you take possession of the throne of Rockwood, there will be no question."
"The throne of a city that hasn't been built," he muttered. "Hardly a fitting title, nor one that I've earned."
Patrina stared at him with her lips parted for a long moment. When she realized the spectacle she was making, she clamped them shut.
"Take Celos and Aleena," Alto said, changing topics enough to distract her. "What better pair could there be? The two of them succeeded when several of us failed. Had they been the ones to help the villagers of Fairhaven, that farmer's daughter might not have been lost and their family wouldn't have been slain."
"You can't know that," Patrina said. "And you weren't at full strength. You didn't have me!"
He glanced at her and looked away. "It was a close thing," he said. "I'm glad you weren't there."
"Alto!" she breathed. "You promised me we would be together, regardless of danger."
He nodded. "I did, but it was the promise of a fool. There are things in this world that are more dangerous than we can imagine. Things beyond our understanding."
"Then we will face them together. We will understand them together, too, or die trying. Together."
He turned to look at her. "I won't let you do that," he stated.
Patrina sat back in her horse, stunned by the look on the young warrior's face. Her horse slowed and let Alto pull away from them. She sat still and then shook her head. He loved her, damn it. He'd told her as much. He wouldn't use that as an excuse to keep them from being together. She'd make certain of that!
* * * *
Two weeks later, a tired and bedraggled group of companions rode up to the gate to Highpeak. With Karthor and Kar's coaching, Patrina had reached out to Winter and urged the unicorn to join her. She'd gasped one night around a campfire when she felt the connection and the pure joy and love of the magnificent animal pour into her. It had refreshed her and cleared her mind of the troubling darkness that seemed to plague her relationship with Alto.
Patrina rode beside Alto as they approached the gate. The sun was high overhead but even the warmth of noon did little to fight back the chill wind that blew out of the Northern Divide. Alto turned to glance at her and then behind to
the rest of his companions.
"Let's see if our old friend remembers us," Alto said.
"Let's hope not," Kar called out. "I'd like a warm place to sleep and a hot meal tonight!"
A few chuckles met the wizard's joke. Patrina smiled and caught Alto's dark gaze. In spite of the shadows his hood cast, she could see the dark spots under his eyes. Sleeping on the trail in the cold was hard enough. Adding whatever demons plagued him only made the nights longer and worse.
"I think we should ride in with our heads high. Let them remember us! It will be good for their spirits. We saved this town, not once but twice! They can't have forgotten us so soon."
"I don't fear the people of Highpeak not remembering us," Alto explained. "I want to avoid anything that will slow us down."
"Then why didn't we take the roads? As soon as we passed into Kelgryn, you abandoned the roads to travel cross country."
He nodded. "Yes, I fear what our discovery will bring in terms of delay."
"Alto, you're not making any sense!" Patrina said. Winter snorted in agreement with his rider. "What could be so dire that we have to rush towards it? We've heard nothing but rumors of troubles and even now, seeing Highpeak, their gates are open and their guards at ease."
Alto moved to the side of the road and signaled a stop. He dismounted and the others joined him and gathered round. People coming into the city cast glances their way and a few pointed and whispered when their eyes fell on the beautiful white unicorn standing among the cloaked figures as though it was one of them.
"Garrick and I learned more about the Order than I shared," Alto said in a low voice that nevertheless carried to all of them. Everyone remained silent but eyes narrowed and widened in surprise. "Not the Order itself, but of troubles up here."
"What is it and why haven't you told us?" Kar demanded.
"Sarya," Alto explained in a single word.
His companions looked at one another but it was Patrina who responded. "Alto, you killed her. I saw it with my own eyes."
"I killed her body," Alto said. He shifted his gaze to Kar and saw the wizard's eyes lose focus for a moment.
"Bastard son of a troll!" the wizard cursed a moment later. "I suspected it but I wanted to believe it couldn't be. I knew I should have spent more time looking into that statue!"
"What are you talking about?" Mordrim growled.
Alto nodded. "Her soul, it's—"
"She's trapped in the statue," Kar overrode him. "The ritual had been started, you said, but not finished. So she's trapped. But how trapped? And is that who this mysterious Queen of the North is?"
"I don't know," Alto admitted. "But what Banadis told us is that Sarya is alive in the statue and she is trying to escape. He claims it would take months or years to break through the magic. When she does, he said she'll use whoever is there so she could be free."
"Use them?" Carson asked. "How?"
"She'll possess them," Kar explained. "Her body's gone, so she's all energy and spirit. Angry and powerful, to boot. She'll overwhelm anybody who gets in her way."
"So this queen is Sarya, or isn't she? I'm confused," Patrina said.
Alto shook his head. "I don't know. Nobody does. Banadis said she won't let anyone near the statue anymore save herself."
"She hasn't raised an army and tried to destroy the world yet," Kar said. "I expect that means she's not Sarya. Not yet, at least. I'd think when she does, she'll be coming after you two as well."
Alto nodded. "That's why we have to go there and do whatever it is we must in order to keep her locked away forever. Destroyed, if possible."
Patrina gasped. "I understand now. We've been away for nearly a year ourselves and it was a year before that she was defeated. You feel we're living on borrowed time."
"Yes."
Patrina nodded. "Then let's go, but we'll go with the speed we deserve, not have to sneak about to get where we want to go."
"What—"
Alto's words died on his lips as Patrina slipped her arms into her cloak and moved them about. A few seconds passed before her fingers emerged from the front and worked the clasp on it. As soon as she released it, she threw the cloak from her shoulder and let it drop to the ground. She pulled her tunic overhead and cast it aside, and then turned and leapt onto Winter's back. The unicorn reared up and cried out as it kicked into the air, and then it dropped down and trotted back to the road and stood glistening in the noon sun.
"She looked like one of the Huntresses of Preth!" Garrick whispered as he stared at Patrina.
Sunlight glistened off her armor and the blade of her axe. Travelers stopped, stared, and pointed at her. Even the guards at the gate were taken aback by the golden-haired Kelgryn princess.
"You're going to marry that?" Carson asked him.
Alto clamped his mouth shut and cleared his throat.
"Be careful," Garrick warned. "The Huntresses are maidens and it's said in order to win their hand, they must be defeated in battle. No one has ever succeeded and failure means a sacrifice of your manhood."
Alto turned to look at the reverent northerner. "What are you talking about?"
Garrick jerked and looked away from the dazzling woman. "That's what the shamans of my people say."
Alto shook his head and pulled his own hood back to reveal his face. "I'll keep that in mind," he said as he stepped to his horse and mounted it. "Come on, seems Lady Patrina wishes us to announce our presence."
They remounted their horses and rode up to the gate, only to meet guards who were nearly falling over themselves to earn their good graces. The need to stable their mounts was overlooked and they were given an escort of guards to lead them to Baron Highpeak's manor. Even Alto had to admit that the passage was swift, and in less time than he would have thought possible, they were entering the baron's court.
Guards stepped back in surprise as the doors were thrown open and Alto and Patrina led the others into the baron's court. Tristam looked up from where he was signing a paper and dropped the quill in his hand. He caught himself and picked it up before the document was ruined, and then he put it away and handed the document to his aide. The aide bowed and stepped back in time for Tristam to rise up from his chair and stare at them.
"My wayward sons return!" he cried out and stepped around the table before another servant could pull it away from him. He moved with ease and walked towards them, a grin splitting his face and his arms held high. He embraced Alto and clapped the man on the shoulders before releasing him and turning to the others.
"And daughter," Tristam said before pulling the princess into his embrace. He let her go and looked down at her armor before chuckling. "I leave the company and this is what happens?"
Patrina blushed and opened her mouth to reply but Tristam had moved on to set his eyes on Namitus and Karthor. He hugged both of them and left the rogue staggering from the pounding on his back he received. Then he turned to Kar and grinned.
"I think not," the wizard said. He held a blue glowing finger up in the air. "Touch me and I'll turn you into a rat."
Tristam laughed. "I've even missed you, Grandfather!"
Kar's lips parted. "Grand—why I'm no—"
Tristam turned away from him to Mordrim, Garrick, and Carson. "Mordrim, Garrick, it does my heart well to see you again. You are always welcome here. You I don't know, but you travel in the presence of champions, so I count you a friend without even knowing your name."
Carson stiffened and looked at the others before he returned his gaze to the baron. "I'm Carson Twoblade, uh, my lord."
Tristam waved the honorific away. "Baron Highpeak they call me, but I'd consider it a personal insult if you didn't call me Tristam."
"I've got a few names I can call you," Kar muttered.
Tristam wagged his finger at the wizard. "You missed me, too, Kar. I can tell!"
Kar muttered something else and shook his head. "Got anything to eat in the drafty hovel? We've been on the road for weeks."
Trist
am nodded. "Of course! Lunch will soon be ready. I'll have the cooks put on enough so that even your appetite can be met."
Alto looked the baron up and down and nodded. "You look well. You're moving better, too. Is your leg healed?"
Tristam laughed. "Miracles come from the strangest of places," he said. "Come, let's have that lunch and catch up. I'm anxious to hear what crazy adventures you've had. I've had my share up here, too. Seems even a retired warhorse can't get any rest."
Alto frowned and glanced at his friends. They looked back at him but more than one glanced at the logs crackling in the fireplace offering warmth a campfire on the trail couldn't compete with. He nodded. "All right, but we dare not stay long."
"Why not?" Tristam asked.
Alto glanced about the room and saw the guards and servants doing everything they could to pretend they weren't listening in. "We have pressing business in the mountains. Again."
"Again?" Tristam asked. He frowned. "Do you mean—"
"Not the Order," Alto said. "An old foe has returned."
Tristam's eyes widened. He backed away and motioned for them to come with him. "Come, let us sup and you can tell me more."
Chapter 22
Tristam leaned back and pushed his plate away. Only the rib bones of the roast elk he'd eaten remained on it. He took a drink of ale and paused to run his tongue over his teeth. "This could be dire news," he said at last.
Alto's brow furrowed. "Could be?" the older warrior's one-time protégée repeated.
"Yes, could be," Tristam said. "You admitted the source was none other than a high-ranking member of the very group of people sworn to destroy you, and you them."
Alto straightened in his chair and let his eyes go to Garrick and then Kar. "This is true," he admitted.
"But you had him dead to rights, so to speak? Alone in a room?"
Garrick nodded as Alto confirmed, "Yes. But he'd taken the guise of a serving maid and made himself available for capture in the castle. He led us through the entire building and helped us retrieve our weapons before trapping himself in a room with the two of us."
"Was that intentional? Tristam mused. Before Alto could respond to the rhetorical question, the baron continued. "I mean to say, did he let that happen so that you would trust him? Was it a gamble on his part?"
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