Farseer

by Griffin Asher

  I nodded. “You’ll hear when everyone else starts to wake. We can start getting ready to go then.”

  Silence fell again, broken only by the crackle of the fire. When she drained her cup of tea I refilled it and she nodded a thank you. As the quiet settled around us comfortably something inside me relaxed as well. Valin didn’t try to fill the quiet, nor look to me to do so. We just sat and watched out the window as the black turned to gray and color slowly bloomed from the twilight. It was only when she saw the first servants moving about on the street that she started to fidget.

  I smiled a little as I drank the last of my tea. She had lasted longer than I thought.

  “Perhaps I should go see to the horses?” she asked a beat later. I didn’t miss the hopeful note in her voice.

  I nodded. “Wait at the stables, I’ll find you there. It shouldn’t take long.”

  It didn’t. Defender Arill, though still a little bleary eyed, was happy to let me sign the report and take my leave. It was rare that anyone was sad to see me go.

  Valin was waiting with her horse, a tall slender chestnut gelding, saddled and ready. When she saw me coming she turned and signaled to one of the stable hands who disappeared and reappeared a moment later leading my horse, Cali, a brown and white paint with one eerie blue eye. I had gotten her cheap in an eastern market where blue eyed animals were considered bad luck. She nickered softly when she saw me and I smiled as I rubbed the white streak that cut up her nose before swirling to a stop in the middle of her forehead.

  “I went ahead and resupplied my pack and took the liberty of doing the same for yours,” Valin said, coming up behind me.

  I glanced over at my saddle bags and saw that they were indeed fuller than they had been.

  “Good. Thank you.”

  Her horse perked up its ears and tried to reach around his owner to greet Cali, but she was too buys sniffing at my pockets. I had her total attention as I reached into my trouser pocket and retrieved the sugar cube she knew was there. As she munched that down I turned to Valin’s horse.

  “May I?” I asked gesturing to the gelding.

  She nodded and stepped out of my way. “What’s his name?”

  “Del,” she answered.

  I held out my hand and Del reached out to sniff it cautiously, then more boldly when he discovered a second sugar cube there. I stepped closer and ran a hand lightly over his shoulder. With the amazing flexibility that horses possess he swung his head around and sniffed at me, nibbling lightly on my shirt. I batted his nose and he stopped nibbling, but didn’t move away.

  “You’ll get more later,” I said with a quick rub to his forehead before heading back to Cali. Del took a step to follow me before coming to the end of his reins that Valin still held.

  “I think you’ve made a friend,” she said giving her horse an amused pat on the neck.

  I shrugged. “Horses are much easier to make friends with than people.” I turned to give her a smile, but she was looking at me with a strange thoughtful stare.

  Uncomfortable, I turned back to Cali and mounted. When I collected the reins from the stable boy, who quickly disappeared as soon as his duty was done, and looked back to Valin she had already mounted.

  I turned my horse and took the lead.

  ~*~

  The first day passed without incident. I was relieved to find that Valin’s acceptance of my silent company continued through the day, only exchanging a hand full of words. We were settled down for our first night before she started a real conversation.

  “So where did you grow up? I can’t pin down any accent in your voice, but your shirts look like they’re from the Eastlands and you’re saddle looks like the kind they use in the Southlands.”

  I looked up from my pack where I was unwrapping my tea pot and herbs. She was observant.

  “I was raised in the south. That’s where I learned to ride. Eastland style shirts are looser in the arms than North or West.” I shrugged. “More comfortable.”

  “So you’ve been to all four lands?” She asked leaning forward, eager. “What are they like?”

  I shrugged again, searching for the right words. “South is hot. Some places dry, others wet all the time. West and east are more moderate. You already know what the north is like.”

  She frowned. “There must be more than that. What are the people like? Are the cities as big as they say? Are the animals different? I heard that in the south desert they don’t even ride horses, but they have theses creatures with humps on their backs that never need to drink.” She stopped, eyes still on me.

  I blinked. Which question did she want me to answer first?

  Valin sighed. “How about we start with something easy: In all the places you’ve been what spot is your favorite?”

  I didn’t see how that question was easy. I’d been many places, but they were just that, places. If I had a home, that would be my favorite spot, but I didn’t have anything I could call that. I searched for the best answer I could.

  “There’s a set of low mountains in the west, Glael Nyr. Not many people live there, but the valleys are wide and the mountains gentle. It’s beautiful, with old forests, trees so wide it would take ten men holding hands to wrap around them and mist that rises every morning.” I paused, searching for more words. “It’s peaceful there.” I finally said, then fell silent again.

  Valin nodded, probably realizing I was finished. “It sounds beautiful.” She heisted, then continued. “What about family? Brothers? Sisters?”

  I shook my head.

  “What about your parents?”

  We were venturing into a painful area, but I forced myself to answer her anyway. “My father died a couple months before I was born. He was a fisherman on the inner sea. His ship went down in a storm.”

  Valin’s eyes turned sad. “I’m so sorry. What about your mother? Is she-“ Valin’s mouth snapped shut, eyes widening.

  I had been wondering if she would remember, or if she even knew the lore of Farseers.

  “My mother died when I was born,” I said quietly.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…” her voice trailed off. I could still see the question in her eyes, but knew she wouldn’t voice it.

  “Yes, I killed her,” I answered her unspoken question. It was very rare for a mother of a Farseer to live.

  Several emotions flitted across her face, most so fast I couldn’t decipher them. A knot twisted in my gut. I didn’t want to see her turn away in fear or disgust. I forced the words out anyway.

  “I didn’t mean to. You have to understand. Most Souleaters don’t develop their powers until late childhood, but Farseers, we are born with our ability fully awake.” My eyes turned to the small fire we had burning. The heat and the light stung my eyes, but I didn’t turn away. “Being born is a hard proses, and with no control…” The words dried up and I swallowed hard, still not looking up from the fire.

  I heard the soft sound of Valin shifting and I closed my eyes taking away all chance of seeing her flinch away.

  It didn’t matter. It didn’t. She wasn’t the first, nor that last. I concentrated on my breathing, but warm fingers touched my hand. My eyes snapped open as Valin’s fingers slipped across my palm and took a firm steady grip.

  My heart thudded hard. She was touching me. And not just a fleeting pat either. I couldn’t take my eyes from her hand still gripping mine. Our skins were both the same tanned shade of those who spend much of their time outside. I could feel small calluses along her palm. That fit, she was not the kind of person to shy away from work.

  I forced my eyes up to her face. She stared back at me, her eyes as steady as her hand. “It’s not your fault. You were just a baby. Only a fool would blame you for that.”

  The world was full of fools then, but I didn’t say that.

  The knot in my stomach eased. Slowly I let my fingers curl around hers, holding her hand as she held mine.

  Silence eased over us for a long moment before Valin spoke again. She
asked more questions of the places I’d been. Trivial things, like what kind of food they ate and what kind of flowers had I seen growing there. The words came easier and I told her as best I could. She still held my hand.

  ~*~

  The next day was spent much the same as the first with the exception of Dyol. It was a town I had passed through on my way to Akon Nyren. It was larger than Akon Nyren and boasted a thriving market. Unfortunately that thriving market lay directly in our path and the road was packed. Valin was in the lead, trying to make our way through the crowd. Progress was slow and I could tell Valin’s temper was growing short as well.

  Finally I dismounted and tugged open the buttons on my overcoat until my collar and eye pin showed. “Let me take the lead,” I said touching Valin’s knee as I came up beside her. She didn’t flinch away, that almost made me smile.

  “Fine,” she said with a huff. “You’d think they would be more courteous to travelers.” She said this rather loudly, but no one paid her mind. I slid past, Cali following in my wake. As soon as we were ahead I simply pressed forward. A big man, broader than me, but not much taller, came barreling towards us. He would do.

  I held to my path, though any sensible person would have moved out of the other man’s way. The big man expecting as much slammed into my shoulder. I knew what had been coming and was braced for it, so I only grunted and slid a little to the side.

  The man cursed and swung around towards me. “Idiot! Watch where-“

  I saw the moment he recognized the pin on my collar. The moment his eyes widened in fear.

  “Farseer, my apologies. I didn’t- I mean- I-“ he stuttered and swallowed a few more times before pushing back into the crowd and disappearing. His words had been heard though.

  “Farseer?” I heard someone to my right whisper. More eyes saw my pin and suddenly there was a bubble of space around us. I almost smiled as I moved forward slowly, waiting for word to travel ahead of us. This was one of the few times peoples reaction was useful.

  Some people bowed to us as we passed, others simply pressed themselves against buildings as if they could disappear into the brick or wood. I kept my eyes forward on the road. No need to panic people by looking around like I was searching for someone.

  Ten more minutes of walking and the streets started to clear, either because word of my presence had reached them or because we were finally passing out of the market I didn’t know and it didn’t matter. There was enough space now that I remounted, but stayed in the lead until we passed the last building and were approaching the tree line again.

  I turned to Valin, but she was glaring fiercely back towards the town. A small cluster of people were standing in the road watching us. They scattered at my glance.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked. Had someone done something I hadn’t seen?

  “Is it always like that?” she asked turning back to me. Her look was so fierce I blinked at her in surprise.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” I said slowly. Was she mad that I had frightened those people? I was just trying to get us through faster. No one got hurt.

  “I mean, are people always that frightened of you for no reason?”

  I frowned. “Yes. But it’s not for no reason. I could kill any number of them.”

  “But you wouldn’t,” she shot back. I still didn’t understand. Was she angry for me?

  “No. I wouldn’t.”

  “How can you be so calm? Aren’t you angry that people treat you like you’re some kind of wild animal? I knew you for less than five minutes and I knew you weren’t a monster or some kind of crazed killer.”

  The fact she didn’t think I was a monster warmed me. I glanced back again at the town, the last sight disappearing between the trees as we passed.

  “At first, years ago, I was angry. Angry that they judged me without knowing me. Angry that they wouldn’t listen.” I lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “People fear what they don’t understand. But the more angry I was, the more I became the thing they feared.” I gave her a weak humorless smile. “I’d rather be undeserving of their fear than become that creature.”

  Valin stared at me for a long time before shaking her head. “You’re a better man than I am.”

  Heat rose to my cheeks at her words, but it warmed my heart as well.

  ~*~

  One quiet day later found us in familiar country for Valin. I liked uneventful journeys as a rule, but I found having Valin there made them even better. I had asked her a handful of questions about herself, her life, her interests, and she had filled in the rest. Content, it seemed, to ramble as I listened about her father’s wish to move to the wilder lands of the north and become a trapper far from the hassle of the city. How she had gone with him, helping him like her mother would have wished, may her soul be at rest.

  We turned off the main road and onto a narrower lane. Still wide enough for a wagon or even one of those automobiles I’d seen in the city, though I doubted such technology had spread all the way out into the Northlands.

  We turned down another lane and Valin slowed to a stop under a tall willow tree. There was a haunted look in her eyes as she looked into the deep shadows of the tree.

  “Where?” I asked. There was no need to make her say the words, but I did need to see where the body had been.

  Valin pointed. “He lay right next to the trunk on the left there.” Her voice was tight, controlled. I wish I knew how to comfort her.

  I swung down and tied Cali loosely to a branch a little ways down the road on the other side. She was happy enough here with grass in easy reach, even if it was turning a little brown.

  I went back to the spot Valin had pointed out. There was little to tell. A dark stain still marked the earth in a wide, misshapen circle. A few leaves had fallen over the spot and the ground was scuffed here and there, from the people who collected the body or wild animals I couldn’t tell. In a week or two even theses few signs would be gone.

  I turned back and saw that Valin had tied her horse up as well and followed me. She stood straight and tall, but there was a brittle edge to her stiffness.

  “I found the body late in the afternoon. I had gone to town for some supplies and was coming back. I don’t know when it-it happened. He was sprawled out on his face. If it weren’t for all the blood I would have said he was just passed out drunk, but Papa never drank like that-“ her voice cracked and tears shone in her eyes.

  She didn’t need to look at that spot any more. I took two quick strides to her side and put an arm around her shoulder and gently turned her away. She sucked in a deep breath that was close to a sob. I could feel the tremors running through her. She turned beneath my arm and looped her own arms around my waist before burying her face in my shoulder. I froze, surprised, but only for a moment. She needed to be held. I could understand that. I held her as tight as I dared and she wept quietly into my shirt.

  ~*~

  It wasn’t much further to the house. Valin was recovered, but quiet as we road into the clearing around the low squat log cabin. She lead the way to the barn and we put our horses into two of the three small stalls there. A few scattered chickens pecked around in the straw and I heard the bleat of a goat around back.

  Valin lead me back towards the house. I was watching her, still concerned, when I saw her stiffen.

  “Doven Nyrren! What are you doing snooping around here? You are not welcome!” She rushed ahead of me towards the porch. That’s when I saw a man straighten from where he had been crouched in front of the door. I kept my pace slow, watching to see how he would react.

  “Valin.” He tried to act calm, but there was a note of surprise in his voice. “I thought you had gone off to the city.”

  “I’m sure you wished that,” she snapped. “Are you trying to break into fath- into my house?”

  The man took a shuffling step away from the door. “No! I was just coming round to keep watch over things until you came back.”

  Valin’s eyes narrowed. “Get off
my property.” She flung a finger out, pointing towards the road.

  Doven’s eyes narrowed as well, mirroring her anger. “That’s not very courteous, miss. In the Northlands we treat our neighbors better than that.” He took a step towards her with an air of menace I didn’t like. So far he hadn’t noticed me coming up slowly behind them. Time to change that.

  “You should do as the lady says.” I didn’t hide the coldness in my tone. He was trying to bully Valin. She had been through enough without a backwoods northlander harassing her.

  His eyes turned to me, but they passed over my eye pin without recognition. “And who are you, eh? If you were trying to bring back a body guard, Valin, you should have found one who wasn’t built like a stick.” He took several long legged strides until he was right in front of me. He was half a hand shorter than I, but he still seemed to be looking down his nose at me.

  “You smell like a city boy to me,” he said with a sneer.

  “I would take that over smelling like you.” The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. I always avoided conflict. Not that I couldn’t handle myself, but my main defense was to kill. My powers didn’t allow for warning shots.

  Valin opened her mouth to speak, but the rhythmic thud of hooves on the road made us all pause and turn.

  A rider came out of the trees at a canter, then slowed to a trot as he approached the house. A glint of silver shone at his collar. A silver pin shaped in the likeness a of scales. The local Defender. Relief fluttered through me. He would be able to help.

  “Valin,” he greeted, slightly breathless from his ride. “I got word that you passed through Dyol.”

  She nodded stiffly. “I did.” Her coolness put me back on guard again and I stepped around Doven and came to her side.

  The Defender was more observant than the other man, he also recognized my pin immediately.

  “Farseer.” He dismounted and gave me a low bow. “It is an honor to have you here, sir. I’m Defender Rosn Myrr.”

  “Farseer?” Doven frowned, then his eyes got big and he took a couple steps back. “I-I mean no offense!” His voice had turned squeaky and thin. “I mean, I didn’t- You see the Lady Valin and I, we have prior dealings and I just-“