Heirs of Vanity- The Complete First Trilogy Box Set

by R J Hanson

  Eldryn opened his mouth to reply and her sweet tone cut him off.

  “Come with me to Fordir,” Marnie said. “Your mother must hate that you’ve run off with this trouble maker. She would be so happy to see you, and you could then properly introduce me. We could be so happy there.”

  “My place is at Roland’s side for now,” Eldryn said. “We have names to make for ourselves.”

  “Who needs a name?” Marnie said. “No doubt there would be a place for you in the service of the lord of Fordir. You have coin and fine weapons and armor. And you have me.”

  That last statement rocked Eldryn and, of all places, he looked to Roland for help.

  “You still have much growing to do and much to learn,” Roland said in a soft, fatherly voice. “My father is there as is Shaylee. They would make fine teachers and caretakers for you.”

  Eldryn now realized his mistake at inviting Roland’s input.

  “Caretakers!?!” Marnie was furious now. “I am no little child that needs diapering and my nose wiped. I am a woman!”

  Eldryn waved at Roland to move off as Roland opened his mouth to reply. Roland nodded and stepped back. He then nodded to Kodii and the two of them worked to load their supplies in a rented cart, leaving Eldryn to deal with Marnie on his own.

  Roland and Kodii moved the crates of supplies to a nearby livery where they purchased their own cart and a mule to pull it.

  “Why small stupid horse?” Kodii asked.

  “It’s a mule,” Roland said. “It is smaller than our war horses, no doubt, but it will eat less as well. Furthermore, a mule is known to possess a greater endurance than a horse. They travel farther, work harder, and with less food.”

  “Why not ride mule then?”

  “Ride a mule?” Roland said more than asked. “That’s ridiculous. It’s not…it’s just not…well, it’s just not done.”

  Kodii’s only response was a shrug.

  “It would be too short for me, for one thing,” Roland said. “And, well, it’s just not done.”

  Kodii had already made himself busy loading the cart. Roland moved around and worked to hitch the mule to their new cart.

  “It’s just not done,” Roland whispered to the mule.

  “She is on her way?” Roland asked as Eldryn caught up to them almost an hour later.

  They had fed and watered the horses and mule well, and were checking over their provisions. They had also purchased a fresh meal for each of them from an inn near the docks and had wrapped El’s in a cloth.

  “She is,” Eldryn said. “It wasn’t easy but she finally saw reason.”

  “Are we talking about the same girl?” Roland asked.

  “She saw reason,” Eldryn said again. Then, turning to Kodii, “thank you for giving her one of your throwing spears. She is very proud of it.”

  Kodii shrugged and said only two words. “Tribe, share.”

  “Do you still have some coin, or did you give her what you had remaining?” Roland asked.

  “I still have a bit,” Eldryn said. “It may be an expensive trip from Modins all the way to Fordir. I wanted her to be able to hire a coach rather than risk packing along with some merchant caravan.”

  “How thoughtful,” Roland said, smiling.

  “Are you going to eat two meals or is one of those for me?” Eldryn said, changing the subject quickly.

  Roland handed him his sack of a meal and the three rode for the river north of Vanthor. Well, two of them rode. Kodii walked, leading the mule and cart.

  “You can ride in the cart,” Roland said. “If you’re not sure how to drive it then I can teach you.”

  “Feet smart,” Kodii said. “Mule and cart dumb.”

  Roland saw eight men clad in battle ready armor and carrying the banner of the Huntsman, the banner of Silvor, on their spears. He surmised they were likely templars as he had never heard of a paladin traveling on foot.

  To Roland’s knowledge, the templars of most churches did not have the ability to heal or strengthen themselves with the powers of their gods as most paladins and priests did. They were almost always orphans that had been raised by the church and training since youth for one thing, to fight the battles of their faith. Or, rather, to fight the battles they were told by paladins and priests to fight. These numbered only eight, but Roland would wager that each of them was worth any four or five regular soldiers in a fight.

  “Does the church send you to Prince Ralston’s aid?” Roland called to them.

  “Paladin Sanderland’s,” the older of the men, perhaps in his thirties and senior to the others by at least ten years, said.

  This man had seen war. The mark of it was on his face and on his soul. His tunic and armor were much like the others bearing the sigil of Silvor and his colors, however, his showed much more wear. There was another difference perhaps even more telling. The other templars wore the more common hand axe at their waist as issued by the church. The hand axe was easy to make and easy to mass produce. If all their templars were trained in their use, then the axes could be reissued when collected from the fallen or the retired. This fellow, however, wore a heavy falchion at his side of the style found in Tarborat.

  “He arrived some time ahead of us,” the older of the templars continued. “We were sent to find him and serve him. I do understand that he is here to assist your Prince Ralston though. Word we have is that he’s in Skult.”

  “We are bound for Skult,” Roland said. “I have heard that’s where the Prince is. It is likely that Sand…Sir Sanderland is also there or headed there. Will you take the road with us?”

  “I think not,” the templar replied. “No offense, but you and your fellows don’t carry banners or wear any sort of heraldry. Understand, I offer no judgement. Judgement is for the priests and paladins. However, we can’t be seen traveling with any that might be mistaken for mercenaries. If you take my meaning.”

  As Roland opened his mouth to reply Eldryn spurred his mount between them and spoke instead.

  “We certainly would not want to put your reputation in jeopardy,” Eldryn said. “May Silvor guide your feet.”

  “And yours as well,” the templar said with a nod.

  With that the templars moved to the side of the road to make way for those mounted and their cart. Eldryn made sure that he rode between Roland and the templars as they passed.

  “We are here to fight Daeriv,” Eldryn said over his shoulder quietly to Roland. “Not the whole Church of Silvor.”

  “I was just going to say…” Roland began but was cut short by Eldryn.

  “I have a very good idea of what you were going to say and where it would take the conversation,” Eldryn said. “In case you missed the clues, that templar is likely a veteran of the war in Tarborat. The others look fresh, like us, but he’s seen war. There’s likely a very good reason he was sent here.”

  “I was just going to wish them well,” Roland lied.

  “Aye, and I saw a pig sprout wings and take flight,” was Eldryn’s retort.

  They continued down the broad road, the only road, that connected Vanthor and Skult heading north. They traveled past many curious eyes and injured men. They traveled a road upon which many soldiers had marched, many of whom would never march again.

  “How far out is Skult?” Eldryn asked.

  They had been on the road for four days. It had been four days passing the wounded headed for Vanthor. Four days of learning the smells and landscape of this new land, and four days of quiet rides and silent camps. The silence appeared to be even as much of Kodii’s nature as it was Roland’s, if not, more so. However, it was not Eldryn’s nature.

  Now they sat around their small camp fire several yards off from the roadway with the full heat of summer upon them, even in the dark of night.

  “You know as well as I,” Roland said. “About two thousand and four hundred leagues from Vanthor to Skult. We travel a good road and have good horses under us. Six weeks maybe. Probably closer to two months. I
wish there was a faster way, but this will give us time to think.”

  “No food,” Kodii said.

  “There’s plenty of dried meat and fruits in the cart,” Roland said. “Along with grain and ale.”

  Kodii looked at Roland as though he looked on the dunce of the class. Kodii then pointed out to the fields around them.

  “Too much hunt,” Kodii said. “No food.”

  “It’s mainly farming land,” Eldryn said. “Although, by the looks of things in Vanthor and along the road, I don’t think there will be much of a harvest this year.”

  “Cows, goats,” Kodii said. “No bear, no fork snake, no choke snake.”

  “Our road parallels the river,” Roland said. “If fresh meat becomes a problem, we can move there to camp a day or two and fish. And I would think we could easy enough find a farmer willing to sell a goat or two along the way.”

  Kodii looked at Roland to reply and then stopped. He tested the air with his nose and looked down at his feet. Without a word or signal he took up his spears and axe and trotted off into the dark.

  “You think he smelled ‘food?’” Eldryn asked Roland.

  “Hard to say,” Roland said standing to look out into the night. “It wouldn’t hurt to string your bow just in case.”

  Eldryn did string his bow, then gathered his quiver, sword, and shield and walked out to where the horses and mule had been picketed.

  Roland took up Swift Blood and pulled his magical helm on as well.

  “It’s a single rider,” Roland said. “Too far out to really see yet, but certainly riding straight for our camp.”

  “A traveler looking for company on the road?” Eldryn asked.

  “Maybe,” Roland said looking around. “If they have conspirators moving in on us, I certainly don’t see them. Whoever it is, they are well mounted. I can see the size of the horse and the shine of plate barding on its chest.”

  Then, just as silently as he left, Kodii returned to the camp.

  “Well,” Eldryn said.

  “Tribe,” Kodii said.

  “Tribe?” Eldryn asked.

  “Tribe,” was Kodii simple response.

  Kodii didn’t bother to acknowledge Eldryn’s incredulous stare. As the moments passed Roland came to understand what Kodii had meant.

  “It’s that girl,” Roland said. “That… she followed us. She must have stolen a horse from Vanthor and followed us.”

  “What do we do?” Eldryn said.

  “We?” Roland asked, turning to face Eldryn. “We? I thought you were putting her on a boat. What’s she doing here, in the middle of Lawrec?”

  “I did put her on a boat,” Eldryn said. “If, perhaps, my handling of the situation isn’t to your satisfaction then I assume you would be happy to deal with her.”

  Roland stared at the ground for a moment, gathering his thoughts and getting his anger under control.

  “Well,” Eldryn said. “What do we do?”

  “We turn her around,” Roland said.

  “Turn who around,” came from Marnie out in the dark.

  “You,” Roland said.

  “I only just got here,” Marnie said in the lighthearted tone that she knew so aggravated Roland.

  “On a stolen horse,” Roland said.

  “The horse isn’t stolen,” Marnie said. Then, more sweetly, “Eldryn bought him for me.”

  Roland shot Eldryn a hard look and Eldryn held up his hands in reply.

  “Hold on,” Eldryn said. “I did no such thing.”

  “Well, you didn’t actually buy him, I guess. But you told me all about horses. And you gave me all that money. Clearly, it’s what you wanted me to do. I understand, you don’t have to explain. It’s ok.”

  “Explain?” Eldryn asked. “I didn’t give you money for a horse. I gave you money for the trip to Fordir.”

  “It’s ok,” Marnie said again. “I know what you were saying with your heart.”

  “It’s not ok,” Roland said. “We can’t take a girl into the field of battle with us.”

  “You won’t be,” Marnie said. “For I am no ‘girl.’ I am training to become a cavalier and Knight of the Code.”

  “You are not going with us,” Roland said.

  Three days later Roland walked next to Kodii as Roland led Road Pounder and Kodii led the mule north along the road. Eldryn rode Lance Chaser and Marnie rode her mount, newly dubbed Spear Chaser, off to the side of the road several yards away.

  Eldryn did admire Marnie’s choice in mounts. Spear Chaser was a strong horse, but more lithe than Road Pounder or Lance Chaser and a bit shorter. He was quick, bridle wise, and had shown great endurance. Although Eldryn tended to be practical about mounts, he also admired Spear Chaser’s mouse gray coat that sheened in dark silver when wet with sweat.

  Eldryn was teaching Marnie to ride. She could ride, of course, but certainly did not possess the skill of a trained cavalier. Eldryn was teaching her about the barding, the armor for the horse. He also taught her not only how to ride a horse in battle, but how to use one.

  “So, your father, Ellidik, was a cavalier, right?” Marnie asked.

  “Yes, he rode with the Sheld Fleet,” Eldryn said. “He was in the King’s service with them when he met Roland’s father, Velryk.”

  “If they’re cavalry, why are they called a ‘Fleet?’” she asked. “Isn’t ‘Fleet’ for ships?”

  “Not that meaning of ‘Fleet,’” Eldryn said. “The Sheld Fleet are the most elite of the King’s cavalry. Sheld being the old word for protector or guardian, and fleet as in swift or quick. The old Code was abandoned by most. It was seen as a contributing cause for the troubles between the churches and the crown. There are many who stand against the King’s decision to keep a regiment of the Sheld Fleet, but I think he sees it as a way of honoring the commitment and service of those who rode under that banner.”

  “According to the Code you have to formally swear to uphold it, though. Right?”

  “Yes,” Eldryn said, knowing where this conversation was heading.

  “Who did you swear to?”

  “I haven’t yet,” Eldryn said. “I have never said that I am a cavalier, only that I strive to follow their example. Roland and I hope to make a name for ourselves by helping those that we can. I must travel a road of great trial before I could be called before the King or ever be considered to ride with the Sheld Fleet.”

  “So, there’s a chance that if we both do well, we could swear into the King’s service in the Sheld Fleet together,” Marnie said in a far too happy voice.

  Eldryn only thought he knew where this conversation was heading.

  “Perhaps,” Eldryn said. “All things are possible through Fate, I suppose. You must understand it is a hard road, Marnie. I’m teaching you because you’re willing to learn and all should know how to defend themselves and their loved ones.”

  “Loved ones?” Marnie said with hope bubbling in her voice.

  “Well… their family, their countrymen and the like,” Eldryn tried feebly to parry her question. “Roland is right,” Eldryn continued. “We will be traveling a dangerous path. He and I have trained since birth for this sort of life. Hours, days, and years of training and preparation.”

  “I’m learning quickly,” Marnie said.

  “Roland wouldn’t admit it, but neither he nor I are adequately prepared for what’s likely ahead of us,” Eldryn said. “We’ve been blessed by Bolvii and guided by Fate to have gotten this far.”

  “But I want to be close to you,” Marnie said.

  “You are still very young,” Eldryn said. “By all I see you are going to grow into a strong and beautiful woman someday, but that day is still a few years away. What is the first edict of the Code?”

  Marnie gave Eldryn a curious look. She knew that she was being guided toward a trap of words but couldn’t see the trap yet. Eldryn reigned in his horse and dismounted. Marnie did likewise and they led their mounts back toward the road and their cart.

&nb
sp; “The first Edict, ‘On my honor, I will never betray my integrity, my brothers and sisters of the Code, or their trust,’” she said.

  As she spoke, she thought over those words carefully. Initially, Eldryn being the teacher and her the student was just a way for her to be close to him and engage him. However, what he had taught her, and how strongly he believed in it, came to affect her. She saw the value of the Code of the Cavalier and how it could protect people. She saw how it could have protected her family. She saw how it could protect the families of others.

  “’I will never betray my integrity,’” Eldryn said, quoting the Code. “I would be doing just that if I knowingly put you in danger. I would also be betraying your trust. You would be betraying your own integrity as well. Having been given sound advice, you would choose to ignore it. You would choose to ignore it because of what you want, not because of a higher duty.”

  “What would you have me do?” Marnie asked.

  Marnie hadn’t thought this far ahead. She believed in her heart, as the young usually do, if she took the risk then everything would work out in her favor. If she just took that brave step into the unknown Fate would guide her feet. She believed Eldryn would see her as the young woman she was becoming and would love her.

  Mandurelle was still reeling from the first real consequence she had ever faced. The loss of her family. Somewhere deep inside she still believed that Fate would see her mistake and change everything, fix everything. She believed Eldryn coming into her life was the beginning of repair, or reparation, owed to her by Fate.

  “We will arrive in Skult a few weeks from now,” Eldryn said. “I will teach you what I can along the road, but you must stay in Skult. We’ll make arrangements for you there. Roland and I will range farther into Lawrec, into lands contested by Daeriv and his minions. It would be good to have eyes in Skult. Eyes, and ears, that we can trust. Would you do that for us?”

  “I would do it for you, El’,” Marnie said, a bit resigned.

  Several hundred leagues away a restless Gallis Argenti watched unmoving as his comrades were slain all around him. He tried to free his arms from the invisible sludge that clung to them. He tried to call his muscles to action. However, there was no response from his deadly hands or swift feet. He tried to focus his mind on a defensive spell, but the words wouldn’t surface to clarity, they floated and wavered away from his mental grasp in the murky waters of his mind.