Chapter 9
The sharp knock on the door woke Rose and Jirah with a start. Rose got up sleepily and let in Forelle who had a bundle of their clean and mended clothes.
“I hope you ladies had a good sleep, even if it was a short one. The holy man is up and wanting to go already, so you must be quick.” The smiling woman moved over to help them pack up the clothes she had brought, but she stopped to pull out the white dress that Joshua had bought Rose on the first day they met. “I hope you don’t mind dearie, but I fixed up your white dress a bit.” She held the dress up in front of Rose.
“Put it on Rose,” Jirah encouraged with a smile.
Rose stripped off her traveling clothes and pulled the soft white fabric over her head. As she moved over to get a look at herself in the mirror, her breath was taken away.
“It is lovely!” Rose exclaimed with a beaming smile. Forelle had not only tailored the dress to fit her perfectly, but she had embroidered rows of golden rose thorns around the hem and neckline.
“Ya be praised.” the little woman’s voice cracked and tears pooled in her eyes. “You look every bit like the chosen one now.”
“You are a vision of beauty Rose,” affirmed Jirah. “No man should even take notice of me and Joshua while you wear that gown.”
Rose smiled and finally tore herself away from the mirror. “We better get going then. Thank you dear sister for all you have done for us. I hope we can come back here some day when we are not in such a hurry.”
“No worries my dear,” Forelle reassured with her ever present smile. “It is a great day for me when I can care for the holy healer of Ya, may he protect you in the days ahead.” They gathered up the rest of their things and quietly moved down the stairs to find Josh.
As they got to the common room below they were met by Barnas who said, “Joshua is out back with the horses already. Better get out there using the back door. When the stocky man caught sight of Rose in her new white dress he stopped in his tracks. He quickly dropped to one knee in front of Rose and kissed her hand. “Bless me dear mother.” he whispered with a quaver in his voice.
Not really knowing what to do, Rose blushed and bent down to gently kiss his bald head.
“Bless you good man for all you and your wife have done.”
Barnas got up with a rather large grin on his face and then led them out the back door. No more words were spoken while they packed and mounted the horses. Joshua led them out of town through the alleys and back roads, and once they hit the road heading north east to Jeru he finally broke the silence.
“We will have to travel in silence for the most part ladies. The enemy is sure to be watching the road for us so keep watch for an ambush.”
“Is there another road or back trail that we can take?” Rose asked.
“Unfortunately, there is not Rose.” Jirah answered.
“We will soon have to follow a narrow passage through the fens.” Joshua nodded and said, “There is no other path to take, but at least there is no place to hide an ambush in a flat swamp that goes on for miles.”
“The real problem will be the mountain path on the other side of the fens that leads to Jeru.” Jirah informed them. “Again there is only one path to follow, but there will be many places to hide in the rocks.”
The horses continued on in the dark at a steady gallop and no one seemed to be pursuing them after the first hour, so Jirah slowed them down to a steady walk. After a few quiet hours of riding, the sun broke over the mountains and Rose could see the expansive marshland stretching out before them. The sight left her awestruck. Having grown up in the port city of Sharron, Rose had never seen such a massive stretch of mountains before.
“This place is beautiful.” She whispered quietly to herself. For the first time in her life, Rose started to really believe that there must be a divine being out there that made the world of Terros.
“I think it is safe to stop for a bite to eat now.” Joshua said.
“It would be good to give the horses a little rest too.” responded Jirah. They stopped in a flat grassy area and got off the horses to stretch their sore muscles.
“What is Jeru like?” Rose asked between mouthfuls of cheese and fruit.
Joshua responded, “Being the capital city, it is quite large but not much larger than Sharon. It was built high in the mountains in order to offer protection from the armies of Belial.”
“I met my husband Justus in Jeru.” said Jirah. “He was working there at the time as a carpenter. We were married by Joshua in the cathedral of Ya, when it was still in decent shape.”
“Why did you move away?” Rose asked.
“Shortly after we were wed, the whole priesthood of Ya was killed by a Triad. It was a very dark time in the city. Being a devout follower, Justus moved us far away for our protection.”
“The cathedral is now pretty much abandoned just like all the other temples of Ya in the land.” Joshua said. “It is a sad thing to see such a magnificent building sitting nearly empty when it was once a central place for the people to worship the creator.”
Curious, Rose asked, “Was there no protection in place for the priests? How could three black robed strangers just walk in and start killing?”
“The town guard had long ago stopped caring about protecting anything other than the Magistrate and the businesses in the city.” Joshua responded. “Money is the god that most worship now.”
“Not much different than anywhere else.”
“That is so true.” Jirah answered back. “Is there still a temple knighthood in place though Josh? There was at one time I know.”
Joshua dusted the bread crumbs off his robe and got up as he answered the question. “There is but one knight left and it is the man we seek to take with us. Logan.”
They were all finished eating the small brunch now and mounted the horses. Joshua continued with the story. “Logan was not on watch the night that the Triad came to kill everyone. He was not even in the cathedral. He blames himself for the tragedy, though I have told him many times it was not his fault.”
Rose knew exactly how that felt. She had lived her whole life till now in a cloud of guilt and shame. As they rode of down the road and into the fens, she wondered to herself if this man Logan would understand how she felt too.
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The Staff of Ramah Page 12