The Sleeping Curse: Homeward VIII

by Barb Hendee

  Homeward:

  The Sleeping Curse

  Barb Hendee

  T·N·D·S

  Tales from the world of

  the Noble Dead Saga

  Copyright

  Barb and J.C. Hendee / NobleDead.org

  Copyright 2013 by Barb and J.C. Hendee.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  eISBN: 1230000148920

  ASIN: B00DTJJSKC

  BNID: 2940148310310

  Design, layout, and cover art by J.C. Hendee.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior contractual or written permission of the copyright owner(s) of this work.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to persons, living or deceased, businesses establishments, events, or locales is entirely incidental.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Table of Contents

  Foreword

  The Sleeping Curse

  Other Works The Noble Dead Saga

  Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga

  The Mist-Torn Witches Series

  The Vampire Memories Series

  Foreword

  No knowledge of the Noble Dead Saga or other related works by us are necessary to read, comprehend, and enjoy any work in the project known as “T·N·D·S: Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga.” Readers new to this world can step right into it through any of these short works.

  Tales are organized into “collections” where all works therein share a theme and/or premise. Most works in a collection are not sequential and can be read in any order. When one or more works link together, subsequent works will mention “sequel to…” on their covers to guide you.

  Tales can be your first adventure into our world or something to tide you over in the wait for the next of our varied novels to be released.

  —Barb & J.C. Hendee

  The Sleeping Curse

  Julianna sat atop the roof of a small house built onto the bed of a rolling wagon, and she breathed in the damp, fresh afternoon air of mid-autumn. Having lived her entire life to date in the small, dark village of Chemestúk, this was her first journey—and she was still surprised by how much she enjoyed it.

  Two similar wagons rolled along behind them.

  “There’s Kéonsk up ahead,” Jan said excitedly, rising up onto his knees beside her.

  She glanced at his face. Her relationship to him was complicated and confusing at best. She’d been orphaned as a girl, and his parents had taken her in. He and she had spent years living in a situation as siblings, but they had certainly never, ever viewed one another as brother and sister.

  His uncle Rosario and his Aunt Doreena were down on the front bench of the wagon, and Rosario drove the team of horses.

  Indeed… the high walls of Kéonsk had come into view. Though she couldn’t see much on the other side of the wall, the top of the castle loomed above, seemingly positioned near the city’s center.

  In spite of Julianna’s enjoyment only a moment ago, she couldn’t help a wave of anxiety. Kéonsk was the largest city in Droevinka, and she’d never even visited a small city. Until recently, she’d never seen a town.

  “Don’t worry,” Jan said, looking at her. “You’ll love the fair. I promise.”

  She tried to smile, taking in the sight of his eager expression and not wishing to spoil his pleasure. She’d only come on this journey for his sake, to try and help him recover from an ugly experience he’d undergone… to try and help him regain his former light-hearted self. And he was recovering—though they never spoke of this.

  The two of them had a tendency to avoid speaking of things that truly mattered, and she sometimes wondered if this was because they were so different from each other.

  She was tall, nearly as tall as him, and gangly with long, light brown hair and a smattering of freckles across her narrow nose. She was hard working and liked to view herself as quite sensible.

  When standing next to him, she often felt invisible.

  Jan was probably the most handsome man she’d ever seen. At the age of twenty-five, five years older than herself, he was slender, with even features and coal-black hair that hung to his shoulders in a wild, unruly mass. His complexion was smooth and dusky. He wore russet pants with high boots and a new cerulean blue shirt with the cuffs rolled halfway up his arms—and he sported three silver hoops in one ear.

  He was charming and vain and skilled at only a few things, such as playing the violin or making women fall in love with him. As a result, Julianna was cautious… caring for him while not allowing herself to feel too much.

  However, they’d now been thrown into a journey together and were almost constantly side-by-side.

  Jan’s mother was of the Móndyalítko people, “the world’s little children,” though more often others called them tzigän—vagabond thieves. Since he was a boy, his mother, Nadja, had taken him to travel with her sister’s family for several moons in the early autumn. This year, Nadja had not felt well enough to leave home, and so Julianna had come instead.

  She’d fully expected to have a dreadful time, but that hadn’t proven the case—or at least not yet.

  “There’s the Vudrask River,” Jan said, pointing. “Can you see the mules and barges?”

  She got up on her knees too, but the river was still somewhat distant. Jan crawled forward to the front of the roof of the little house, and he looked down.

  “Uncle Rosario, could you take the side road by the river so Julianna can see the barges?”

  “Of course,” a deep male voice answered.

  Julianna crawled up beside Jan and looked down as well. Two middle-aged people sat on the wagon bench below.

  Jan’s Aunt Doreena was a large and full-bodied woman, dressed in a yellow skirt and a white low-cut blouse—with a half dozen bracelets on each wrist. She wore her thick black hair in a single braid, with an orange scarf tied around her head. Her nose was broad, her smile was wide, and her dark eyes expressed every emotion she felt. She often used phrases like “darling girl” when speaking to Julianna and had a tendency towards spontaneous hugs and kisses. At first, Julianna had found Doreena’s open manner somewhat off-putting, but now, she’d developed a deep affection for the woman.

  Doreena’s husband, Rosario, was so large that he dwarfed his respectably sized wife. His chest was wide as two normal men. He wore his black hair short—and sported a thick moustache. Today, he was dressed in loose trousers, a white shirt, and a russet vest. Julianna had grown fond of him as well.

  “There,” Jan said, still pointing. “Now you can see better.”

  He seemed to enjoy showing her new things.

  But she drew in a quick breath at the sight of the wide, flowing river, and several barges being pulled upstream by mules. Men on board used long poles to keep the vessels from bumping into the bank.

  Other barges were in dock, being loaded or unloaded. She had never seen anything like this.

  As Rosario drove the wagon, Julianna’s attention soon turned to an unbelievable sight out in front of the city’s west gate. Jan had explained to her that every autumn, large numbers of farmers, merchants, and Móndyalítko converged upon the city of Kéonsk for a fair, far too many to be allowed inside the already crowded city, so the fair took place outside the walls.

  Wagons, tents, and market stalls were now s
et up in a vast open area. People and animals milled around in an overwhelming mass.

  Just looking at it all… Julianna suddenly found it hard to breath. Where they really going to roll the wagons into the middle of that?

  However, Rosario pulled up at the edge of the mass of activity and set the brake. Both the other wagons—drawn by various members of the extended family—pulled up as well.

  “Why are we stopping?” Julianna asked.

  Jan crawled to the side of the wagon. “We need our assignment first.” He motioned her toward him. “Come on.”

  Assignment? What did that mean?

  But she followed. He dropped off the side and landed lightly on the ground. She preferred to climb down, as it was an easy climb for her. She wore an old dress that stretched and moved comfortably with her body. The skirt barely reached her ankles, so she never tripped.

  Before she could ask Jan further about their “assignment,” the back door of the wagon-house opened, and two other members of their traveling companions emerged from inside: Jan’s cousins, Rico and Belle.

  Six people shared this one wagon, but Jan and Rico both slept outside at nights in a small tent.

  Rico came out first. He was a taller, more muscular version of Jan, with an utterly serious expression. Julianna wasn’t certain whether he’d ever laughed in his life. She often thought he’d be handsome if his expression weren’t always so hard, but he was a strange man… a Móndyalítko “shifter.” At will, he could turn himself into a great black cat, and he was the family’s hunter and their main protection.

  His sister, Belle, came out next. She yawned and stretched as if she’d been sleeping in her bunk—which she probably had. At the age of seventeen, Belle had already learned how to walk in a manner where she seemed to both sway and glide at the same time. She was small and slender with an incredible mass of wavy dark hair. Her skin was pale as opposed to Jan’s more dusky shade, but her eyes were nearly black, looking even darker in contrast to her skin. She wore a deep blue skirt with a white blouse as low-cut as Aunt Doreena’s, but as opposed to Doreena’s large breasts, Belle’s were smaller and perfectly rounded… with the tops clearly exposed at her neckline.

  She was beautiful.

  Unfortunately, she was also conceited, lazy, and incapable of thinking about anyone except herself. While Julianna respected Rico, she found it very, very difficult not to actively dislike Belle.

  “Do we have our assignment yet?” Rico asked, walking over.

  “Not yet,” Jan answered.

  There was that comment about an assignment again. Julianna glanced at Jan in puzzlement.

  “Oh,” he said, perhaps having forgotten this was her first visit here. He motioned with his hand toward the vast array of wagons and stalls out front of Kéonsk. “This is all overseen by a city administrator named Master Deandre. He’s lord of the fair, and he assigns where we’ll be allowed to set up. Places are assigned based on the entertainment value of the Móndyalítko group or family.”

  “Entertainment value?”

  He nodded. “Our group has no Mist-Torn seers, but Aunt Doreena is a good palm reader, and Belle can draw a crowd with her dancing. The more people we draw to a show, the more of them stay to spend money at the stalls—and the city takes a portion of all sales. Any Móndyalítko groups who draw smaller crowds tend to end up all the way at the back.”

  “We’re normally given a good spot,” Belle put in, pulling her blouse down a little lower. “People love to come and see me dance.”

  Julianna nodded politely and tried not to roll her eyes.

  Just then, Doreena and Rosario climbed down from the wagon’s bench as a small man with a thin moustache and a quick step came trotting toward them. Even in a hurry, he had a business-like manner about him, and yet he held out both arms to embrace Doreena.

  “My dear,” he said. “So good to see you.”

  “Master Deandre,” she said, embracing him back. “You never age a day!”

  To Julianna’s surprise, the small man turned and embraced Rosario next as if they were all old friends—which they probably were.

  “And Rosario,” Master Deandre said, “You have your usual place in the north market sector. It’s empty and waiting for you. Roll right on in.”

  “Don’t let him fool you,” Jan whispered in Julianna’s ear. “If we stopped drawing an audience, he’d have us half a league away putting on shows for the chickens.”

  “Is our assigned spot a good one?” she whispered back.

  “It’s not among the three best, but it’s good enough to be envied by the other families. We’re in a sector where a lot of food and wine and ale are sold. People who enjoy our shows tend to be free with the coins they toss into Rosario’s hat.”

  With his task done, Master Deandre strode off as quickly as he’d arrived, and Rosario and Doreena climbed back onto the wagon bench. Julianna put her hands to her back and stifled a groan. The last thing she wanted to do was climb back onto that wagon.

  “Uncle, I think we’ll walk,” Jan called. “We need to stretch our legs.”

  Julianna sighed in relief, silently thanking him.

  “Well, I’m not going to walk,” Belle said, going through the door at the back of the wagon and closing it behind herself.

  The teams of horses started forward, heading into the fair, and Julianna, Jan, and Rico strolled behind.

  About sixty paces outside the gates, they passed another family of Móndyalítko. This group had four brightly painted wagons, and the people looked as if they’d been settled for a few days. A middle-aged sinewy man with a yellow scarf tied around his dark hair smiled as Jan’s family rolled by.

  “Rosario!” he called up. “Good to see you. Come and visit us once you’re settled. I bought some of that tobacco you like from the Yegor province. We’ll share a pipe.”

  “My thanks,” Rosario called back, though Julianna couldn’t see him from where she walked. “We’ll bring spiced tea from Enêmûsk.”

  “The families here all know each other,” Rico told Julianna as he strolled beside her. “It is good to have friends.”

  Julianna certainly agreed with that.

  However… upon passing the west gate, Julianna looked over and saw a number of armored men in red tabards guarding the city entrance: Väränj soldiers. She stopped and stiffened. So did Jan.

  Rico glanced over. “What is it?”

  “Are the Väränj still allowed to guard the city?” she asked in disbelief.

  “Of course… why would you ask?” He seemed confused by her question.

  Jan’s mouth was tight, but he didn’t speak.

  At present, the House of Äntes was in power over the nation, with their prince serving as elected grand prince of Droevinka. No matter which house was in power, the grand prince always came to Kéonsk and lived at the castle here. The unlanded house of Väränj was not allowed to have their own prince serve in this position; so instead, they had the honor of guarding the royal city.

  However… several moons ago, the house of Väränj had declared war upon the Äntes—due to what they considered a slight upon their honor—and the two houses had been embroiled in a violent dispute ever since… which had spilled over into great suffering for anyone unlucky enough to be in their path.

  Julianna and Jan’s home had fallen in their path.

  The Äntes had come through Chemestúk first, conscripting all the able-bodied men, including Jan, and taking them away. Then… the Väränj had come through and burned Chemestúk to the ground as if by way of retribution.

  And now, here were the Väränj, shamelessly guarding the gates of Kéonsk as if nothing had happened.

  There was something very wrong here, but clearly Rico had no answers, and Jan didn’t appear to want to discuss it.

  “Here we are,” Jan said quickly, still slightly shaken. “Over there beside those stacked casks of ale.”

  Looking ahead, Julianna saw a cleared spot, just large enough for the thre
e wagons.

  “We’ll be cozy,” she said, trying to lighten his mood even though she herself could not stop thinking on the memory of Chemestúk being burned.

  Within moments, all three wagons were in position, and it was time to get to work setting up. There would be horses to attend, a campfire to build, food to be cooked, and wagons to be readied for a stay of an entire moon.

  Other family members dropped down from the rooftops or emerged from doorways, and nearly everyone went to work right away.

  Julianna helped Doreena with the fire and the cooking, and soon, they had a large pot of lentil and onion stew bubbling over the flames. Jan helped Rico with the horses. Belle, however, did not emerge from the wagon.

  Just as Julianna was about to ask what she might do next, she saw Master Deandre coming toward them again at his brisk, steady trot.

  “All is well?” he asked. “You have enough space?”

  “More than enough,” Doreena answered with her broad smile. “We’ll be fine. Can we get you some tea?”

  “No. I just came to check on you. I have more farmers and merchants arriving, and at least a hundred duties to attend.”

  He turned to leave, but Jan appeared from the around the side of the wagon and stopped him.

  “Sir,” he asked, sounding unusually hesitant. “I couldn’t help noticing… are the Väränj guarding the city with the blessing of Prince Rodêk?”

  Master Deandre blinked. “Yes, of course.” He paused. “You haven’t heard then? The dispute between the Äntes and the Väränj is over.”

  “Over?”

  “Yes. The Väränj threatened to lay siege to Enêmûsk, and the other noble houses would never tolerate that. If the Väränj could lay siege to the home of one grand prince, they could lay siege to another. The other houses sent men to aid the Äntes, and the dispute was ended.”

  Julianna stepped closer. “How?”

  “It was a tricky business. The other houses need the Väränj to guard Kéonsk, regardless which grand prince is in power. Thank the gods Prince Rodêk was wise enough to see that. Instead of executing their leaders, he called for a council, and the Väränj were also wise to see how vastly they were outnumbered. Prince Rodêk apologized for any ‘misinterpreted’ slight upon their honor, and an uncomfortable peace was agreed upon.”