by Langland, J.
It was decidedly getting dark by now, they wouldn't be able to go too much further, not without using light spells, and considering Jehenna's objection to glamours and hiding spells, Jenn doubted she'd want to use any light spells that would make them detectable to magic sensing beings, not to mention anyone or thing with eyes. A soldier pulled his horse alongside Jehenna's side of the wagon.
"Ma'am, are you about ready to set up camp for the night? Pretty soon it will be too dark to see to collect fire wood or set things up properly."
"Sergeant," Jehenna replied, "I realize that, but this party is under my command. We will stop when and where I give the word and not until then. Is that understood?"
Appearing slightly annoyed, but not at all surprised, the man acquiesced, "Very well, ma'am." He then fell back to join his men, who appeared as annoyed as he. Jenn couldn't blame them at all. They really needed to stop soon to set up camp, and she desperately wanted to stretch her legs and end this riding. It was, however, completely expected of Jehenna to act this way. Give the bitch a finger's length of power and she'd stretch it to a day's journey. Well, at least, thought Jenn, they'd eventually have to stop when the horses, who wouldn’t be seeing that well in the dark, pulled a wagon off a cliff. That would serve her right.
Finally, after about another quarter of an hour, when the western sky was only a lighter shade of black than the rest of the sky, Jehenna called a halt to the procession. As she called the halt, there was almost a collective sigh of relief and suddenly people began speaking, where they had been silent for about the last hour or so of the journey. The thought of stopping and resting was a relief for everyone.
As she halted the horses, Jenn gratefully stretched out her legs while still sitting on the seat. She swore she'd begun to think the madwoman would never halt the party. As she slowly climbed down from her wagon seat, she heard Sydney and Chass groaning to Master Trisfelt about his pronouncement that they should search around for kindling and fire wood to build a campfire or two with. She simply smiled to herself, wishing she could get away so easily. Slowly, working out her stiff joints, she began to unharness the horses and rub them down.
~
Jehenna stepped off the wagon and began looking around for a good spot for her tent. She had no intention of sleeping outdoors under the stars when she could at least have the comfort of her plush tent. Thinking quickly, she confiscated two of the soldiers, before they could think of something else to do instead of setting up her tent, and relegated them to the task.
~
"Rupert," Master Trisfelt called to the boy, before he got too far away gathering fire wood, "let the others search for wood, you shall help me take care of our horses."
It was hard to tell in the dark, but Trisfelt could have sworn a look of fear crossed the boy’s face at this. Nonsense of course, all young boys were fascinated by horses, and any lad Rupert's age would be delighted to be assigned such an important adult task, rather than having to gather wood.
"Uhm, sir...if you ah, don't mind, I'll just help Sydney and Chass, I'm really not very good with horses. I...I've never done that before."
"Exactly!" proclaimed Master Trisfelt, "That's why I want you to help; you were so helpful on the day's journey, I thought you deserved a better task then just gathering kindling. It will be an excellent opportunity to learn. Everyone should know how, and this is your best opportunity to learn. Come along boy, over here now."
Rupert seemed to have the look of a trapped rabbit on his face, it was fairly obvious he didn't want to do it, but Master Trisfelt couldn't see why that should be. "Please sir, Master Trisfelt...I, uhm," mumbled Rupert as he slowly inched forward toward Trisfelt and the horses.
"Now enough of this, boy." Trisfelt proclaimed, beginning to get a little annoyed at the boy's reticence. "Get over here."
Rupert reluctantly came forward, staring at the horses. "Now lad, there is nothing at all to be afraid of," said Trisfelt as the boy came next to him. "Here's a good lad, just give ole Chestnut a pat here on the neck, for a start. Let him get to know you." Rupert grudgingly raised his hand toward the horses neck, all the while gazing fearfully at the horse's face. Chestnut, sensing the activity at his side, turned his head around to face Trisfelt and Rupert, just as Rupert's hand began to touch the horse's neck.
Without any warning, as the horse's head swung around, and the boy gently touched its neck, the horse reared up neighing and screaming . The beast's eyes rolled in its head in fright as it reared on its hind legs and tried to dance away from Trisfelt and Rupert. Unfortunately it was still harnessed to the wagon and the other horse.
Rupert, scared, fell back on the ground; Trisfelt stepped back in surprise. The rearing horse, tangled itself in the harness and rammed into its partner. The other horse, suitably annoyed began trying to bite at Chestnut. Chestnut didn't seem to mind though, all it seemed to want was to get away; it just kept shoving into the other horse. The wagon bounced around, knocking some of the items carried within out onto the ground. Rupert, scurried away, with his back to the ground and all four hands and feet scrambling to make him move and avoid Chestnut's flying hooves.
Eventually, the wagon which had been bouncing up and down, was overturned as the second horse gave ground, allowing Chestnut to move over. Thus the wagon was pulled sideways, and levered over on its left wheels. The wagon hit the ground with a loud bang, its momentum, and the twisting of the harness and guide poles, caused the second horse to stumble to the ground, where the fleeing Chestnut tried to get over it. By this point the screaming of the two horses and the commotion was beginning to get to the other horses as well, making them nervous.
Quickly Jenn came running from her wagon. "Astriol sed makos, Centaurio sid falcom, destrius nericum. Lo riestum sedion falcomon," she chanted as she stroked a lock of horse hair that she carried in her hands, "Creatoris nos feltom, sin sarconum." The two horses rapidly began to calm, Chestnut moved enough that Bitterwhite, the second horse, was able to get up. Jenn came slowly and quietly up between the two nervous horses and tucking the horse hair she carried into her belt, she quickly began to stroke and calm the horses, muttering more words of peace into their ears. The horses stood still, simply shaking in their fright, sweating and rocking slightly, but calming down nonetheless.
Shortly, the two horses were calm enough for Jenn to leave them to Master Trisfelt. "And what did you do that for, you stupid girl?" Jehenna almost shouted behind her as she finished.
"Do what?" Jenn asked in annoyance as she turned to face Jehenna.
"Use magic, now everyone in the multiverse probably knows where we are! What an idiot! Didn't I tell everyone not to use magic, lest we be detected?" Jehenna ranted.
Calm, from her own magic, but coldly, Jenn replied, "You said not to use glamours or hiding spells, or any major detectable magic. What I did was nothing but a minor enchantment, simply a relaxation and calming spell. Hardly detectable for its output of power, it won't call anyone's attention. Not that screaming horses don't cause all sorts of more mundane individuals to take notice.
“I simply felt that between the damage that the horses were doing, the danger to the people nearby and the risk of having the horses cry out our position to everyone in a one mile radius, that it would be most expedient to do the spell."
"Well you felt wrong...I gave an order and I expect my orders to be obeyed. Regardless of what you feel. I know what is best for this group, and I will decide what is expedient and what isn't." Jehenna retorted, but this time a little less vehemently, since she really couldn't argue Jenn's reasoning, except that it violated her own order. "If you do anything like this again, girl, there will be severe consequences for you." With that, Jehenna stormed off to where her tent was being set up. Jenn simply stared after her.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I agree with your decision," said Master Trisfelt behind her. "Actually, if I'd been thinking," he went on, as he laid a hand on her shoulder, "I would have done the same. Unfortunately, I
was so taken aback by the horses reaction, that..."
"I know..." Jenn said as she turned to face Master Trisfelt. "What caused it?"
"Abyssal Appoxia if I know, I was simply trying to show the lad," he pointed over toward Rupert, who was huddled on the ground about twenty feet away, "how to care for a horse. When the horse suddenly spooked. Never seen a thing like it. The lad just went to touch it, and it went wild."
"Well, maybe tomorrow we'd better put Chestnut on another wagon, so he won't be so close to Rupert and spook again."
"Good idea," agreed Master Trisfelt. As Jenn went back to her own horses, Master Trisfelt looked over to where to boy huddled, and shook his head slightly. Well at least the kid had a good reason to fear horses, the question was why? Whatever the reason, Trisfelt wouldn't pressure the boy into helping with the horses again, for a while, at least.
~
On the ground, Rupert just sat and shook as he watched Master Trisfelt take care of the now horses. His tear stained eyes just looked on in humiliation and shame. He had known what was going to happen as soon as Master Trisfelt had ordered him to help, it had happened before, several times. Why hadn't Master Trisfelt listened? Now everyone in the caravan had seen what happened; not even horses liked him, soon they'd all know or suspect. Why? Why me, goddess? Why always me? thought Rupert, It's just not fair.
Chapter 28
The golden rays of the morning sun had not yet struck the scrub land on which they camped, when Jehenna stepped from her tent. She looked around her in grim satisfaction to see her people almost loaded. All that remained was for the soldiers to pack her tent and for everyone to get the cooking gear cleaned up and stowed. She saw one of the two soldiers who had set up her magnificent red satin and gold trimmed tent, and motioned him to come and begin taking it down. He came reluctantly, motioning for another of his friends to come help him.
As they passed her on the way toward her tent, Jehenna looked towards the school. She could still sense the powerful wards, even at this distance; after all, she had been their center focus. They were still going, which meant that Lenamare still had Exador's men fooled. Good, with luck, by the end of the week, she and Lenamare would be in Freehold with the book, and ready to pursue vengeance against Exador.
~
Jenn finished hooking Chestnut and Drecilla to her and Jehenna's wagon. As she'd suggested last night, she and Trisfelt had switched horses, she'd given him Timber Leaf and taken Chestnut. Actually, she knew Chestnut, had even ridden him a couple of times when she'd first arrived at the school. She'd always loved horses, and riding had been one of her few pleasures at an otherwise unpleasant school, at least until she'd come to know Rex and Alvea. She'd eventually gotten so busy with her studies and doing things with Rex and Alvea that she'd only rode sporadically, but still she enjoyed it.
All of which made it seem even more strange, Chestnut was one of the gentlest horses she'd ever met, and he was certainly no fiery young stallion anymore, which was why he was reduced to pulling this wagon on the trip. Not that he wasn't still a fine horse, but only the fastest horses were ridden, all the others were drafted for pulling the wagons. In fact, the whole incident had so shook her that she'd even forgot to take her diary out to record the day's events, not that there had been any light to write by, but she did have a small candle she could have used. Jehenna would have had a heart attack if she'd used Mage Light. Anyway, whatever the reason for the horse’s behavior, further inquiry would best wait until they got to Freehold.
~
Rupert finished scouring the kettle with the cleaning sand, and stood up. He walked to the back of the wagon and morosely hung it on its peg. The other kids were already in, so he just put his foot on wooden end rail and climbed in. None of the others said anything to him, they had heard from the adults’ conversations what had happened, and they apparently couldn't think of anything to say. Which was fine with Rupert, he really didn't feel like talking about it to anyone, he didn't want to have to answer any questions. Thankfully, the only things anyone had said to him since the event were all work related. No one said anything, but he knew they were puzzled.
At this point Master Trisfelt climbed aboard the driver's seat. Grabbing the reins, he looked back and said, "Are we all in?" Sydney and Chass simply nodded, Gloria murmured "yes sir," and Rupert just stared ahead, unwilling to meet Master Trisfelt's gaze. His eyes were still red, he couldn't help it, he'd cried some more last night before falling asleep; he really just didn't want anyone to notice. Taking the quiet responses affirmatively, the hefty wizard turned around on his seat and made a clicking noise and gave the horses the signal to begin following the wagon ahead.
The wagon train rolled out in the same order as the day before. They had camped just below the entrance to the first pass, so it only took about fifteen minutes before they hit the trail that would take them through the mountains. As they went on, the trail climbed higher and higher along the side of the first mountain. The trail was on the south side of a mountain, and to the left the ground quickly dropped away to a narrow valley between mountains.
Rupert and the other children sat very still in the wagon. They had looked over the edge of the wagon once, and seen how narrow of a trail they were following. They quickly decided not to move lest they throw the wagon off balance; even though Master Trisfelt had assured them that the trail was perfectly safe, and that there was no danger as long as they didn't start a wrestling match going. The trail continued onward occasionally crossing small streams, or descending long grades to the bottom of a valley, only to climb again, up and around the next mountain.
At lunch time, they stopped along a slightly wider area to eat. The trail was still narrow enough that the wagons had to remain single file, but wide enough that people could walk alongside the wagons. Master Trisfelt climbed in the back of the wagon and began rummaging to find some meat and cheese for their lunch.
"Mind if I join you," came a voice from the rear of the wagon. Rupert looked up to see Jenn's smiling face peering at them from around the corner.
"Oh, I don't know if we'll have enough..." said Master Trisfelt, who had just produced a giant haunch of roasted beef from a sack along with a five pound wheel of cheese. "After all, we do have these growing boys to think of!"
"Don't you mean your growing belly, to think of?" inquired Jenn with a sweet smile.
"Ahem," Master Trisfelt said with mock dignity, "surely you jest, ma'am, certainly you can see that we have children here, who are on the brink of starvation."
"Uh huh, oh yeah, I can see that clearly." Jenn climbed up into the back of the wagon, "however, I do bring fair recompense for your hospitality."
"Oh truly?" inquired Master Trisfelt, his curiosity peaked.
"Yes, this." Jenn produce a bottle of wine from behind her back and handed it to the wizard.
"Hmmm, Scorzio wine, and a remarkable year at that. How did you get it?"
"Why, I'm sure it is simply payment from my lady for driving her wagon."
"You stole it? My dear," he said with a broad smile, "you're finely coming around."
"Hardly--actually, I brought it myself, the night before we left, I tried practicing with Fermi's Fermentation Spell. I fear, it simply happens that the bottle was an empty one I found while helping pack my lady's belongings."
"Hmmm," replied Master Trisfelt, crestfallen. "Fermentation spell eh? Well, maybe...have you tried it? I mean those things more often make vinegar than wine. Especially, when not performed by a Master such as myself..." he said while waving his nose haughtily in the air. All the children laughed at his imitation of Lenamare, even Rupert smiled.
"I leave that honor to you, as my glorious instructor...it is your duty to test my work."
"As most assuredly I shall," and with that Trisfelt pulled off the cork, snapped his fingers to conjure a wine goblet, actually it had been up his sleeve, and poured. Sniffing the wine, as a true connoisseur, he rolled his eyes slightly, and with a slight grin took a si
p. Rolling it around in his mouth he appeared to think for a moment, "Aaah," was all he said as he swallowed. He took another, larger drink, smiled and looked towards the sky. Once again he sighed after swallowing, and then pretended to notice Jenn sitting there watching him.
Quickly, he shook his head, and gave her a formal look, "Ahem, I suppose it is passable...you'll have to do better next time though. Naturally, of course, I shall judge that one also." The children giggled.
"Oh really. I think you liked it." Jenn accused the wizard.
"Actually, Jenn, damn good. It tastes like the real thing." Admitted Master Trisfelt with a pleased look, "you really are remarkable when it comes to these spells...I must admit, this wine is as good or possibly--and I remind you only, possibly--better than I could have done myself."
Jenn smiled, "thank you, you're too sweet."
"Aaah, I know. However, now on to lunch, shall we?"
Lunch was finished in short order, and all parties managed to take care of personal business, so they were soon on their way again. The sky overhead was a brilliant purplish blue, not a cloud in the sky. Truly a lovely day, rejoiced Jenn as they rode along.
About an hour after lunch they road down to the bottom of a slightly wider valley than they had yet seen in the mountains. This one actually had moderately gentle sloping sides and even grass at the bottom. The hill sides were strewn with large boulders, everywhere. The basin, however, was easily wide enough for three wagons abreast. As the wagon train spread slightly out into the valley, Jenn suddenly felt a fluctuation in the air that signaled strong magic.
As she whipped her head up in the air, automatically thinking up counter spells in her mind, Jehenna stood up and raised her arms. From her lips spilled hasty words of warding, the air around their wagon shimmered, and just in time. For not six seconds after she felt the first twinges, their wagon was engulfed in a roaring ball of fire. Jenn could see nothing but flames all around her. Fortunately, nothing in their wagon was damaged because Jehenna had got the fire shield up fast enough. It didn't take long; the flames were quickly gone. Without taking time to think, Jenn did what she'd been instructed early on to do in a battle of wizardry. She reached out her mind, seeking the source of the magic.