The Obsidian Palace (Through the Fire Book 3)

by Benjamin Medrano

  But most of all… she wept because she missed them, and they needed to be wept for.

  It took a long time for Ruethwyn to cry herself out. It took even longer before she could convince herself to move, and when she did, she hesitated, unsure of what to do. It seemed almost disrespectful to leave her father’s last project behind, so she restored it and carefully cut the cloth free of the loom. It was only a quarter of a bolt, but that was still enough for her to make something from.

  Retrieving the family lockbox from its hiding place was easier, even if Ruethwyn didn’t have the key. Holding it and the cloth, Ruethwyn left her home, and paused as she saw Sella waiting, concern on her face.

  “Rue, are you okay?” Sella asked. “I heard you crying.”

  “As… as well as can be expected,” Ruethwyn said softly, reaching up to brush a tear from her cheek. “That was… it hit hard. I didn’t remember everything, and my father… I found his last project.”

  Ruethwyn’s hand stroked the linen cloth, which had been dyed a rich green, and due to her magic looked almost like new. It wasn’t perfect, but it still was almost as nice as what she’d seen in nicer shops in the capital.

  “Oh Gods… Rue, that’s terrible,” Sella replied, her eyes widening. “I knew he was gone, but…”

  Ruethwyn shook her head, feeling tears well up in her eyes again, then took a couple of steps closer to the other woman. Sella fell silent, looking surprised as Ruethwyn leaned forward and kissed her lightly, her lips barely brushing the brunette’s.

  As she pulled away, Ruethwyn said simply, “Thank you, Sella. I… appreciate your company. I shouldn’t have asked to be alone.”

  “Any of us would have done it, Rue. Especially Korima,” Sella said, flushing slightly as she raised her fingers to touch her lips. “I just was… stubborn.”

  “I know. It’s appreciated, too,” Ruethwyn replied, smiling gently, then took a breath and paused, debating what to do.

  “Now what?” Sella asked, still looking concerned, but not as much as she had been.

  “Now I go find the grave and pray for everyone I lost, then I’m going to see if I can’t find one of Anara’s outfits. I’d try to get them for everyone else who was taken, but my pack isn’t that big,” Ruethwyn replied, shrugging slightly. Looking around, she smiled sadly and shook her head, sorrow welling up again. “This… is probably the last time I’ll come here. Too many memories.”

  “If you say so. Come on, Rue, it’s getting dark,” Sella urged, glancing up at the sky pointedly.

  Ruethwyn nodded and started in the direction of the church, bracing herself. She’d probably cry again there, but she’d expected that.

  So, as memories swirled around her, Ruethwyn continued down the path through her hometown. At least the memories only strengthened her resolve.

  Chapter 34

  The town wasn’t like anything Ruethwyn had seen before, and if it hadn’t been for Alaran continuing at a brisk pace, Ruethwyn would’ve stopped entirely in place, stunned. She saw some of the others slow a little as well, but none of them quite came to a complete stop.

  Ruethwyn was wearing one of the outfits her father had made for her, which she quickly realized was wise, since the others, aside from Sella, stood out a bit. Korima had changed to look like an elven version of herself, which was startlingly pretty, and the redhead preened under the attention she drew. Still, Alaran, Korima, and Tadrick all had clothing that was simply nicer than most of the other people on the road possessed.

  Not that there were many people around. More than Ruethwyn had expected, nearly half they’d seen on farms around the town were humans, but they’d seen a couple dozen on the road at most. The town ahead, though… that was different.

  Ruethwyn only saw one park in the town, and there were perhaps a handful of trees in sight. A few buildings had the wider spaces around them that she was used to, but most… most were harsh square buildings formed of logs that looked ill-fitted to her eyes and were far too close together. There were also some nicer buildings, but what startled her was what looked like five or six individual homes all built to share walls along one street. The streets were narrow, the buildings taller than she’d expected, and it just looked… cramped.

  “Is that what a human city looks like?” Ruethwyn asked, slightly hesitantly.

  “Hm? Oh, of course not. This is more like a growing town, if anything,” Alaran replied easily, glancing back at her. “A lot of the buildings are a bit too simple for a human city, at least outside the slums. It’s a little of a fusion of human and elven styles, too.”

  “Yeah,” Tadrick agreed. “I’ve seen a few of them as well, and this isn’t nearly as dirty as most human cities I’ve seen.”

  “I’ll have to take your word for it,” Ruethwyn said, then paused for a moment before asking, “I suppose I should have suggested this before, but I’m going to assume that Sella and I are going to pose as servants, while you’re a merchant, Alaran?”

  “That… well, it seems reasonable. I do have nicer clothing than you two, don’t I?” Alaran said, then glanced at Tadrick and Korima. “Hm, as for you two… Tadrick and I could be related, so he could be my son, while Korima doesn’t look enough like me.”

  “I guess we’ll just have to pretend to be engaged,” Korima said promptly, grinning. “Not that I’m sharing a room, mind you. My virtue shall remain without question.”

  Sella laughed softly, smiling as she nodded. “I suppose that would work. I didn’t think of it before, though I really should’ve.”

  “Yeah,” Tadrick agreed, looking at Korima in amusement. “If you’re a merchant, what’re we here to do, though? I assume we’d have a goal.”

  “We’re heading to Dragonreach to look into the requirements for trade and to figure out what sort of goods are available,” Alaran said, his voice confident. “We don’t specialize in any one thing but are more into transshipment and trading with other merchants. We really should’ve addressed this earlier, but I didn’t think we’d have much trouble.”

  “Right, I can work with that. I’ve got enough experience from talking with Father about things that I can manage that much,” Tadrick agreed.

  “Enough, we’re coming up on town,” Korima scolded, then put a friendly smile on her face as they approached the town’s palisade, and the handful of relatively lax-looking guards.

  Ruethwyn followed, forcing down her nervousness.

  Fortunately, the guard waved them through after only a cursory inspection, not even bothering to move away from where he was leaning against a post, and they entered the town.

  The experience was startling. The nearby buildings caused sound to echo loudly, making even a few people sound like many more than that, and Ruethwyn winced as the people in town talked, humans and elves living alongside one another. She saw a handful of dwarves and several half-elves as well, and the town certainly seemed to be a lot busier than any town of this size she’d seen before.

  Alaran and Tadrick seemed entirely unfazed, while Korima looked positively relaxed as she walked down the street, drawing attention with her presence. Ruethwyn glanced at Sella and hurried to keep up, not wanting to get separated.

  While following, Ruethwyn caught a glimpse of a handful of soldiers in armor she recognized, blackened breastplates and chain covering their bodies, and with swords at their sides. The sight of the Shadowguard made her breath catch, but they didn’t seem to take notice of her or the rest of their group, though a couple looked at Korima with interest. Alaran continued down the street, seeming unconcerned.

  “We’ll stay at the inn tonight, and ask which road is best to get to Dragonreach tomorrow,” the knight explained, seeming to be talking mostly to Korima and Tadrick. “I’ve heard that some of them get particularly muddy in the spring, and we don’t want to get bogged down.”

  “Ah, of course!” Korima said, laughing as she smiled. “I wouldn’t have thought to check that.”

  “It’s why he chose to lead us th
is time,” Tadrick said, smiling at her, though Ruethwyn thought his smile was slightly stiff compared to how naturally the other two were acting.

  “No arguing on this trip, please?” Alaran asked, looking back at them. “We don’t need you two unable to talk for a week. Again.”

  “I’ll try, promise,” Tadrick replied, his smile a little more natural this time, and Korima laughed again.

  They were out of sight of the Shadowguard after that, to Ruethwyn’s relief, and they quickly reached the inn.

  The inn was a lot like the town as a whole. Cramped, cruder than Ruethwyn was used to, and with nowhere near as nice of rooms as she’d like. Still, the food was pretty good, and after she adapted to the noise, Ruethwyn found that the conversation and laughter was actually a bit more comforting than she expected, though the drunks flirting with her, Sella, and Korima weren’t the best of company.

  Alaran played up being a potential merchant, going so far as to ask about different trade goods, like the wood this particular town was known for, and making notes. He also asked questions about the road, particularly about known bandits. The response to that had surprised Ruethwyn, when she found out that bandits were almost unheard of in the Dominion, at least from the laughter that coursed through the room in response.

  “The Dragon Lord really doesn’t like bandits and thieves. He cracks down hard on them, so not many settle down here, instead leaving for greener pastures,” the man Alaran was talking to explained, grinning broadly. “The guard keep an eye out for them, too, so no bands that spring up last for more than a couple of weeks at best. So no matter which way you choose to go, you’ve got about the same chances of running into banditry. Personally, I’d be more worried about some noble in Dragonreach seducing your lad’s lass.”

  “Huh, well that’s good to know. I wasn’t sure about everything I’d be running into here, but I’m pretty good with a sword. Otherwise I’d have brought a few guards,” Alaran replied, smiling. “Now then, your mug is looking empty, and I’ve a few more questions…”

  Ruethwyn quickly turned to help Korima as she cleared her throat, signaling that she was done with her meal. It was odd trying to act as a servant, but she was doing her best.

  The night passed quickly enough, at least.

  “Alright, looks like things are going well. I was a little nervous when I saw the Shadowguard in town yesterday, but they didn’t seem to pay us too much attention,” Alaran said the next day as they headed down the road toward the next town. It’d be a slightly long hike for a single day, from what the people had said, but it was doable.

  “I hope so. I have bad memories of them,” Ruethwyn said, shivering slightly. “It doesn’t help that I bet there’ll be more in the castle.”

  “Almost certainly,” Alaran agreed, but he smiled and added, “There’s one thing to look forward to there, though.”

  “Oh?” Sella asked, tilting her head. “What might that be?”

  “Amusingly, the commander of the Shadowguard uses the palace as the training ground for their new recruits. I think the logic is that Resvarygrath himself is the greatest defense the palace has, and they don’t need elite troops there,” Alaran explained. “That means that out here the Shadowguard are far more seasoned, while those in the palace should be relatively easy to face.”

  “Oh. That sounds promising,” Tadrick said, his expression brightening.

  “Yeah, but you’re wrong about them not paying much attention to us,” Korima said, sounding thoughtful. “They were paying all of us some attention, not just me. I’m not sure why, since they didn’t seem to be doing anything about us. They just… looked, noted us, and then went back to what they were doing.”

  “Really? That’s concerning,” Alaran said, frowning. “Are you sure?”

  “I grew up among performers. Believe me, they aren’t that good at pretending, and I was paying attention,” Korima confirmed, sniffing slightly.

  “I wonder why they were paying attention to us?” Ruethwyn murmured, growing a little worried.

  “We are foreigners. I could see that being enough of a reason,” Sella suggested, her tone hopeful.

  “Be as that may, I don’t want us to grow overconfident. It’s possible that they’re expecting us, especially if Essryl said anything,” Alaran said, frowning. A moment later, he looked at Korima and Ruethwyn, and asked. “Are either of you able to change the appearance of others?”

  “Nope. I can shapeshift, but I’ve never done more than dabbling with illusions,” Korima said, shaking her head firmly. “I have a little knowledge of mind magic, but only a bit.”

  “Um, I don’t, but I’m pretty sure Eretha does,” Ruethwyn said hesitantly. “I’ve been figuring out a few basics of the light sphere from her so far.”

  “I could. It would just be an illusion, though, and it’ll take a fair amount of mana to manage for the full group,” Eretha warned. “It’d be far easier to put together a disguise or such for them, which would be easy enough for me and Korima if someone could get the necessary supplies.”

  “Could you ask her?” Alaran asked, unaware of Eretha’s reply.

  “She answered, and said that, while possible, it’d take a lot of mana to do. She suggested it might be easier to create disguises, if someone went into town for the supplies,” Ruethwyn relayed, and looked at Korima as she added, “She said between her and you, it shouldn’t be too hard. I can change easily, and so can you.”

  “Ooh, that’s true! Maybe we can go into the next town and get the stuff, and we can adjust our appearances?” Korima said enthusiastically, standing up straighter.

  “Hm, it won’t change our numbers, but that seems like it’d work,” Alaran murmured, rubbing his chin. Then he nodded. “It’s settled, we’ll go with that. I’d rather be safe than to have the Shadowguard descend on us at the worst moment.”

  “Hear, hear,” Tadrick agreed fervently, as did Ruethwyn.

  Smiling, she spoke mentally. “Thank you, Eretha. Your suggestion was excellent, and I appreciate all your help.”

  “It’s no problem, Rue,” the spirit fox replied warmly, giggling in Ruethwyn’s mind as she added, “This is a new, interesting experience. Helping you succeed is a pleasure, and most of what you’ve asked me for is relatively easy. It’s too bad we can’t use magic for the others, but keeping your mana reserves high is important.”

  “Agreed,” Ruethwyn said, following the others down the road as calmly as she could. “Now we just have to hope that we’re overthinking things where the guards are concerned.”

  Chapter 35

  Essryl paused in the hallway as she saw Captain Gardner enter, her eyebrows rising at his expression. It was a surprise to see him in the hall at the current hour, since he tended to try to get to sleep early.

  “This is unusual. You’re usually in bed by this time, Captain,” Essryl said, tilting her head curiously.

  “Yes, well, usually I don’t get important messages just before I’m about to retire for the evening,” the man all but snapped, scowling in return. “As it is, I had little choice but to come report.”

  “Indeed? In that case… let me see. Either a raiding party from either Ovara or Selwyn has crossed the border, or your soldiers have caught sight of Ruethwyn, and possibly her companions,” Essryl murmured, tapping her lips as she smiled. “I sincerely doubt Selwyn would do so, and the timing makes me think that Ruethwyn is more likely, but the possibility that Ovara would do so shouldn’t be discounted. They haven’t retaliated against My Lord in some time, and human knights tend to forget what happened to their predecessors quickly.”

  Captain Gardner glowered at Essryl, obviously annoyed at the backhanded insult. After a few moments, he spoke grudgingly. “It’s the girl, at least I believe so. She had the appearance with black hair, according to my soldiers, and was accompanied by two men and two women. They left Timberbrook a bit over a day ago, but no other reports of them have come in.”

  “Excellent. I was wondering if we’
d have news of her coming beforehand… though I do wonder who their other companion is. Barthel? Unlikely, based on what I heard of him… nor Delvin. One of the teachers is possible… Mara was halfway decent…” Essryl murmured, then shrugged. “Either way, they’ll get here or they won’t. I wouldn’t be surprised if they choose to take a cross-country route to try to avoid notice.”

  “Possible, though that would slow them down. Now, I need to report to His Excellency, so good eve,” Captain Gardner said, and he turned to leave.

  Essryl watched him go, then turned to head down the hallway back to the west wing. As she walked, she surprised herself when she realized there was an unusual bounce to her step, and she was humming a soft tune.

  “Mistress Essryl?” Lissa’s voice was filled with surprise, and Essryl glanced at the young woman in the stairwell. Lissa must have visited the baths, considering her bathing robe and damp hair, as well as the basket of clothing she was carrying. “Is something wrong?”

  “Wrong?” Essryl asked, suddenly amused. After a moment, she smiled and continued. “Why in the world would something be wrong? Oh no… I’m quite happy with how things are going. Off to bed with you, Lissa, you’re going to need your rest.”

  “Um, yes, Mistress Essryl,” Lissa said, and quickly turned to scurry off to her room.

  Essryl watched her go, then headed back for her own room. In moments, the bounce to her step had returned, though she suppressed the urge to hum.

  She was looking forward to seeing what surprises Ruethwyn had in store for her. It probably wouldn’t change the end result, which was a pity, but that was just how things went when trying to sneak past something more powerful than you were.

  The disguises had worked well, and seeing Korima and Eretha work, the latter using Ruethwyn’s body, had been fascinating.

  Ruethwyn hadn’t known how much a little makeup and hair dye could change a person, especially when combined with a different hair style. Sella had suddenly looked quite a bit different, with skin that looked more heavily tanned from the outdoors, and combined with a different outfit and Tadrick’s bow, she looked a lot like a forester or hunter, not a common traveler. Tadrick had been given a large fake scar on one cheek and down his neck, looking like he’d been savaged by a wolf or the like, and his sandy brown hair had been given a reddish hue to adjust things. Combining that with some adjustments to the color of his armor, and he looked more like a seasoned warrior than he had. Sir Alaran’s hair was too dark to easily color, so instead they’d cut it a little shorter and adjusted his skin tone, using some of their tricks to make his face look fuller.