Embers at Galdrilene

by Audra Trosper

  Kellinar opened the bundle and pulled out the clothes, surprised to see they were his own. Even the boots were his. How did she manage it? Did Loki play a part? He thought about the child as he pulled his clothes on. Kellinar genuinely liked the boy and was going to miss him. He worried about him, but he would do Loki more harm than good now.

  He tied on his money pouch, glad it remained relatively unscathed from his trip through the alleys, and replaced all of the knives in their various holders. His hands shook as weakness washed through him and he sat heavily in one of the chairs. Folding his arms on the table, he laid his head on them and closed his eyes.

  Kellinar woke when Serena gently shook him. She smiled at him. “Eat. You need your strength”

  She set a pitcher of water and a plate on the table in front of him. His eyes focused on the food. Salted fish, a meager pile of peas and a small roll of crusty bread–a decent meal for the Mallay where most of the time thin stews were the standard. The water drew him first. He poured a cupful and gulped great swallows. He drank half the pitcher of water before he realized it. His stomach reminded him it wanted more than water and he set to shoveling the food eagerly into his mouth.

  While he ate, Serena made a pallet on the floor.

  “Thank you for the clothes,” he said. “How were you able to get them?”

  “I found Loki. He agreed to gather some of your things for you. I told him to get anything you would want if you weren’t coming back.”

  He reached over and rummaged through the bundle, pleased to see a change of clothes and his extra knives. He also found the large purse he kept hidden in the stone floor of his dwelling. Leave it to Loki to know where that purse had been hidden.

  He sighed and sat back in the chair. “I hope he doesn’t get into trouble.”

  Serena gave him a wry smile as she spread a blanket out. “He’s been your apprentice for two years. Do you really believe anyone saw him?”

  He laughed softly. “No, I don’t believe they did. I hope I’ve done enough for him, he’s going to be on his own now.”

  “He’s resourceful. He’ll be fine.”

  He watched her move around the room. She didn’t seem upset that he could use magic or that she herself could for that matter. “Aren’t you afraid the magic is going to consume you?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t healed a human since they took me, well except you, but I’ve healed several cats I’ve found injured. Though not much has changed since the first time I healed someone.”

  He looked at her for a moment, sensing she had left something unsaid. “Not much has changed, but something has, hasn’t it?”

  She sat down on her bed and tucked her feet under her. “I am not sure I can explain it,” she said. “Not long after I came here to the Mallay, I started feeling pulled to leave.”

  Kellinar chuckled. “Every outcast that ends up in the Mallay wants to leave. Only those of us born and bred here in this dragon-blasted place can settle for our lot in life.”

  Serena shook her head in denial. “It’s more than that. It’s a feeling so strong it pulls at me to follow it. Almost like a longing to go home except that doesn’t make any sense.” She pulled the pins out of the bun and shook her hair out, letting it fall about her shoulders. “Anyway, that’s the only difference other than I have more control now over the magic. It’s easier to make it do what I want it to.”

  Kellinar thought about it. He felt no such longing although he’d only started using magic that afternoon. He wondered if what Serena felt was really just a desire to get out of Trilene in any direction. What would happen to her after he left? “What are you going to do if the Keepers hold you under suspicion again?”

  “Oh they aren’t going to get the chance. I’m leaving with you,” she said.

  “You can’t. Not with me.” He stood and looked at her. She wouldn’t have any chance at all with him. “There’s no way I can get you out. Not without both of us getting caught.” He started pacing again. “Burn it all, even once I’m out they will be searching for me. When I don’t turn up at one of the healers or dead, they will start searching the roads. If you’re found with me, they will flaming put you to death just for helping me.”

  “I would rather take the chance of being caught than the certainty of their suspicions. There is less risk for me in leaving.”

  He stopped, a feeling of defeat washing through him. She was in danger because of him; she would be in more danger if she left with him. Still, he couldn’t refute her reasoning. “I don’t like it.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “Well, like it or not, that’s the way it is.”

  He knew from her tone, no amount of argument would change her mind. He sighed and nodded. What else could he do? Either he left her to the wolves or led her to the lions.

  She crossed the room and laid her hand on the side of his face, a gentle smile on her lips. “It will be better this way.”

  He only nodded again. His actions had trapped her into this decision. She’d been planning on leaving when she’d saved enough coin. Now, because of him, she wouldn’t be leaving for a little cottage in some village far enough away they wouldn’t know anything about her. She would be running from certain death.

  She turned away. “We’d better get some sleep; tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”

  He sighed and lay down on the pallet as she blew out the lamps. Only the dim glow of coals in the hearth remained to light the room. In the near darkness, he listened to her settle into her covers, the events of the day playing through his head. “I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to mess everything up for you.”

  “Just so long as you know it’s your fault,” she said, yawning.

  “I’m not sure how I’ll get us both out. It’s not like they’re just going to pass us through the gate.”

  Serena yawned again. “Yes they will, I’ve already got a plan for that.”

  “What plan?”

  “Don’t worry about it right now. Just go to sleep. I promise you, I can get us through the gate.”

  “Why not tell me now?”

  “Because I’m tired and so are you. What I did today when I healed you was no small feat and it drained me. You lost a lot of blood. You need to rest and regain it. Go to sleep.”

  Even though he felt exhausted, sleep was slow in coming. His mind turned over and rejected one escape plan after another. And then there was Serena. What did she have planned and why wouldn’t she tell him? Whatever it was, he had the feeling he wasn’t going to like it.

  You want me to do what?” Kellinar looked at Serena in horror as she held up a worn, pale red dress and a wide head scarf of the same color.

  “Kellinar, you know it’s a sure way out of the city,” Serena said, exasperation in her voice. “They’re looking for a young man, not a woman. You’re just lucky the mornings are still cool enough most women are still wearing head scarves.”

  He tried to push the dress away. “I am not wearing that flaming thing. They would never believe it anyway. I don’t look anything like a blasted woman. What about the Thieves’ Exit?” he asked in desperation.

  She planted her hands on her hips, her face set in the same stubborn expression she wore the night before when she insisted she accompany him. “We would still have to walk through the city streets to reach the Thieves’ Cave. You spend so much of your time sneaking about; you forget that sometimes the best way to hide something is to pretend you have nothing to hide at all.” She held the dress up once again, her head cocked and her eyes narrowed as if she evaluated it. “This dress is going to work great. It should be loose enough that your shoulders won’t look so broad, but not so loose it hangs on you. The guards will see what we want them to. There are plenty of tall women It will never cross their minds that you aren’t one of them. And what would make them think otherwise? Most men would die before wearing a dress.”

  Kellinar stared at the dress. Dying might be a better idea. “They will never take
me for a flaming woman. I’m missing a couple of defining parts in case you hadn’t noticed.”

  She waved away his objection. “Don’t worry; I can take care of that.”

  “Take care of that how?” he croaked. What else could she do with her magic?

  She laughed and began rummaging in the small trunk at the end of her bed. She pulled an undergarment and several rags from it. “Trust me. Besides, it’s your fault I have to escape from the city like this. If you’re truly sorry for dragging me into this, you’ll do what’s necessary to get us out of here. You can change back into your normal clothing later.”

  His thoughts scrambled for any ideas that would get him out of her plan. His mind betrayed him by coming up with nothing. She had deliberately used his guilt against him. He grabbed the dress. “You don’t play fair.”

  She smiled at him sweetly. “You will thank me when we’re out of the city. Now take off your shirt.” He glared at her, but obeyed. As soon as he had it off she slipped the undergarment around his torso and tied it tight. The thing was incredibly uncomfortable and binding.

  Serena turned her back on him as he stripped off the rest of his clothes and struggled to get the yards of material over his head and situated. How in the name of the Fates did women get in and out of these things every day? At least they wouldn’t draw any attention when they left her room. Of course, on a normal day, a man seen leaving the boarding house wouldn’t cause comment. Not all the women who lived there made their money as serving girls at a tavern.

  Once Kellinar settled the dress, Serena set about stuffing the top of the undergarment to give the appearance of the defining parts he’d talked about. He looked at her face as she worked and wondered if she was upset. Her lips were pressed together until they made a thin line in her face. It took him a minute to realize she was trying to keep from laughing.

  “It’s not funny,” he growled.

  That sent her into peals of laughter. “You should see your face. You look like a five year old made to stand in the corner. Honestly Kellinar, I had no idea you could pout so well.” When she finished, Serena wound the scarf around his head so that it partially covered his face. Still laughing, she slung her pack over her shoulder, opened the door and stepped into the hall.

  Kellinar followed. He carried his own pack, a large bag designed to be worn over one shoulder. It was the style of bag women often carried out of the city in search of wild berries and tubers. They frequently packed food for the mid-day meal and other necessaries in them. Men who worked outside the walls carried a smaller version.

  No one noticed them as they left the boarding house and he tried to ignore the fact he wore a dress. Stupid thing seemed to flap around his legs at every step. It would be his luck to get tangled in the dragon-blasted skirt and fall on his face right in front of a Keeper. Fates be damned. Bad enough to be caught by the Keepers, but to be caught in a dress as well… His face heated up at the thought.

  The sun was just rising and the streets were still cloaked in shadows. The smell of baking pita bread filled the air. Several women baked pitas in small outdoor ovens. They would stuff them with eggs, cheese, cabbage and goat meat, and sell them to the men headed out to work in the vineyards or the fisheries. Kellinar normally bought several each morning. The smell reminded him that they hadn’t taken time to eat, though Serena had made several of the stuffed breads and packed them away in her bag.

  Women moved around, watering tiny gardens where spinach and cabbages grew and feeding chickens housed in pens crammed up against the sides of buildings. The cries of waking babies and the strident challenges of roosters filled the air. They mixed with the impatient bleating of goats, waiting to be milked before being let out of their cramped holding pens and herded out to pasture for the day. Together it created a noisy yet familiar atmosphere in the narrow streets. Kellinar felt a pang of regret. This was all he’d ever known.

  They passed the house of a healer and saw several horses with the red and yellow saddle-cloths of the Keepers tied outside. Soldiers and Keepers prowled through the district looking with narrowed eyes at all of the young men. Sweat broke out on Kellinar’s forehead. There was no way this was going to work. He glanced at Serena. She walked along next to him as if this was an everyday thing.

  “I wish I had my quarterstaff,” he whispered. His throwing knives wouldn’t be much help if more than a few tried to capture them.

  Serena rolled her eyes. “Why? So you can give yourself away? Do you really want them stopping you and asking why you’re in possession of a weapon? You’re supposed to be a woman. You can’t go running around with a quarterstaff. Might as well wave a sword around while you’re at it.”

  She was right, of course. A woman with a quarterstaff would draw as much attention as a man of the Mallay with a sword. At least he had his knives. If the Keepers tried to arrest them, maybe he could at least make sure Serena got away.

  They approached the gate where two large knots of horses and their riders stood on either side, one group bearing the red on blue of the city guard, the other bearing the red on yellow of the Keepers. Kellinar kept his head down respectfully, like all of the others passing through.

  Watching from beneath the edge of the scarf, he tensed when their eyes came to rest on him, and then swept away to those behind him. It was slow moving; the guards stopped wagons to search them and knocked the hats off the young men as they passed by. Kellinar’s shoulders and neck started to ache from the tension that built with each step closer to the gate.

  They passed by the guards and under the massive arch in the stone wall. They had almost cleared the arch when a voice shouted out, “You, halt!” Kellinar froze, along with everyone else. The sound of boots, pounding across the paving stones, echoed in the sudden silence. Kellinar’s chest tightened, his heart pounded. Sweat ran down the sides of his face, he turned to look. The crowd backed away as the Keepers ran toward him. Kellinar was on the verge of running, when a young man tripped and fell at his feet. His hair was pale blond and cut short like Kellinar’s.

  The Keepers grabbed the man’s arms and hauled him to his feet. They dragged him away as he fought them. “It wasn’t me! I’m innocent! It wasn’t me!” Kellinar tried to shut out the man’s terrified screams.

  He felt a shove and noticed the crowd had started to move again, this time at a quicker pace. Everyone wanted to get away from the gate as quickly as they could. Kellinar moved with the crowd as it passed out from under the arch and into the light of the early morning sun. Another set of guards and Keepers sat on horses outside the gates, but none seemed to notice him. Serena was right. They were looking for a young man, not a scarf-wrapped woman.

  A breeze sprang up, cool and refreshing against Kellinar‘s face. Behind the city wall and at the base of a cliff, the Mallay District rarely felt the breeze like this. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a relieved sigh. Now that they were on the road, the crowd spread out. Many of them were headed to the smaller villages clustered around the city. Some of those on the road were headed toward the city with wagons full of goods. Some wagons carried early vegetables, others carried sacks of last year’s grain and still others, stone or lumber or wood for cook fires. The road was a hazardous place for those of the Mallay. Their clothes clearly defined them and they were pushed roughly out of the way by those from higher districts.

  They moved at a steady pace all morning, their way becoming easier the farther they got from Trilene. The road became less crowded. Fewer wagons pressed close together, and best of all in Kellinar’s eyes, few Trilene residents came this far out. Most went no further than the small villages that dotted the countryside around the city, to the vast vineyards to the east, or the sizable lake dotted with small fishing vessels to the northwest.

  By mid-day, they left most of the crowd behind. Hunger gnawed at Kellinar. He glanced at Serena, trudging along next to him. “We need to stop and eat.”

  Serena nodded. “I’m starving.” She stepped into the
thick trees that lined the west side of the road. They continued to walk for a small distance before coming to a small clearing where they were sure they wouldn’t be bothered by anyone.

  Serena turned her back while Kellinar worked off the dress and undergarment. He was more than ready to be out of it. He gratefully pulled his own clothes on then looked at Serena. “Please tell me you don’t need this Fate-forsaken dress.”

  The sound of her soft laughter floated to him. “No, I don’t need the dress. It would be much too big for me and this is neither the time nor the place to begin alterations.”

  “Good, I don’t ever want to see it again.” He tossed the garment on the ground.

  “Are you ready to eat?” she asked.

  Kellinar tucked the last of his knives away in their hiding places. “I was ready to eat hours ago.”

  She turned and began unpacking the pitas she’d made that morning. “We don’t have much.”

  He shrugged. “It will be better than nothing.” He ate the food with relish. He loved the morning pitas and didn’t know how long it would be before he got to eat them again.

  When they were finished, Serena handed him the lined leather water bag. “I have a little more pita bread and cheese, but it won’t last long. I have a small amount of coin. We might be able to buy some food from a farm or something, once we’re far enough away.”

  Kellinar patted his coin purse. “I have my money pouch as well, so we won’t be beggars for quite some time. I wish I’d had time to gather all of my coin together, we would’ve lived comfortably until we found a place to settle.”

  “Well since you couldn’t, we’ll just make do with what we have.”

  They walked back through the trees to the road and once again headed north.

  They settled down that night in a clump of tall bushes near the road. After eating another small meal, they wrapped up in the thin blankets Serena had packed and tried to fall asleep. In the deep black of the moonless night, she found the countryside rather unnerving. Even in the Mallay, the city guard lit the street lamps at dusk.