by RG Long
Ealrin looked from Barton’s expression of rage to Blume’s defiant stare. He had seen her with that face before. She wasn’t trying to be brave. She was trying to hide something.
“You...” Barton started, apparently forgetting his struggle against Silverwolf for a moment and focusing all of his attention on Blume. “You can, right?”
There was a moment that passed between them. Gorplin still had his fists balled up. Silverwolf did not release her grip on Barton. Ealrin moved a hand toward Blume, but she turned away. Her back to them all, Ealrin saw her back rise once, then fall again.
Silverwolf let Barton go roughly.
“Don’t bother the girl,” she said. “I’m going to see if I can spy what that caravan is up to.”
An uneasy peace settled over them. Barton began to pace around in a circle as Silverwolf went off out of their range of view. The suns began their slow descent into the horizon as Gorplin and Ealrin exchanged a look, before Ealrin turned his attention to Blume.
Barton had walked just far enough away to not hear his whisper.
“You can’t control where you take us, can you?” he said.
He walked around her until he saw her face. Tear streaks were running down her face. She was looking distraught.
“Let’s say that the part of my education where I figure out what to do to take us somewhere is lacking.”
She took a deep breath.
“Sometimes I can feel a pull somewhere. Like a place is calling to me. But I don’t know how or what to do to go there. When Yada was turning on Holve, I thought she was going to do us all in. So, I panicked and...”
She tried to steady her breathing, which had become a little erratic.
“I brought us here,” she managed.
Ealrin wrapped her up in his arms. She let go a few quiet sobs and he felt her back shaking. He held her tight and shushed.
“It’s okay,” he said. “We’ll figure it out.”
He took her by the shoulders and held her at arm’s length so he could look her in the eyes.
“Hey,” he said. “You’re strong. You’re brave. And you’ve got your Speaking back. What can we not handle?”
“Aye,” said Gorplin, clapping his hands together. “Let’s figure out where we are.”
“I’d say forward of the main position,” Barton interjected, a broad smile on his face.
It was then that Ealrin heard the trumpets.
The army of Yada was right behind them.
26: Just Punishment
“You mean to tell me,” Yada said as they were kneeling in front of her once again, as the army of the islands marched passed them. She was standing with her cane, but the elegant piece was the only thing not shaking with rage. “That not only did you allow the traitorous general to escape, but you saw Prince Farnus headed north and failed to stop him!?”
Barton, battle hardy and weathered as he appeared, was beyond coherent speech in the face of Her Holiness’ rage.
“We... We were outnumbered, Your Holiness. And prince! The prince, he was on horseback.”
Yada extended her hand and Barton flew back several paces, as if struck by a battering ram. Then she brought her hand back to her side and he slid on the dirt back towards her.
“My most trusted scout and advisor,” she said, looking down at him. “An imbecile.”
Ealrin saw Yada look around at the guards who stood by them. They all looked warily at either Blume, or Yada. Neither, Ealrin was sure, wanted to get in the way of the Speakers.
“Can someone take this miserable excuse for a Scoutmaster away from me!” Yada shouted, raising her hands out to show what Ealrin assumed was exasperation.
Three guards rushed forward and dragged Barton away. He didn’t put up much of a fight, but that was probably due to his magical beating.
While they were still in the process of taking him out of their sight, Yada turned her attention back on them. Blume was now the source of her fury.
“I underestimated you, little Speaker,” she said. “But you’ve made our secret invasion quite public. I pray my riders are able to intercept Prince Farnus. Because if they cannot and word of our landing reaches the capital, I will be furious. And, unfortunately for you, that means I’ll need a skilled opponent to test my fury on.”
Ealrin made to stand in between the two but found that he couldn’t move. He couldn’t flex his fingers or wiggle his toes. There was energy in the air that forced him to stand like a statue. It was then that he found that his eyes could move, though his head could not. He saw both Blume and Yada’s outstretched hands. Their mouths moved in silent words that he couldn’t hear, whether by some force of the magic working around them or that his ears had also stopped working. Blume’s necklace glowed a brilliant green, while Yada’s hair seemed to radiate blue energy.
Then it all erupted in movement and light and chaos around them.
Ealrin was thrown back away from the two Speakers. He was up as quickly as he could manage but found himself pounced on by several island soldiers. His companions were being collected in a similar manner, while the other guards were being helped to their feet. Several attendants were assisting Yada. She, to Ealrin’s horror, was holding Blume’s pendant in her outstretched hand.
“Take them all!” she was yelling as they helped her to her couch. The palanquin had been brought out from its tent for the purpose of Yada confronting this group. “Throw them in the same tent as that fool Barton and let them stew together!”
Ealrin was shoved in the same direction they had dragged the scout. The dark sky above them and the moons that lit the sky were no comfort to him, though it was the first time he had seen them in weeks.
They were prisoners yet again.
THE TENT THAT THEY were stationed in was nothing more than fabric held up by several poles. To each of these poles, long ropes were tied. Ealrin and Barton were bound to one, Blume and Gorplin to another.
Silverwolf, as none of them saw as strange, went missing as soon as Blume and Yada’s magical explosion occurred.
“Bah,” Gorplin said, working at his ropes with his teeth. “The blasted assassin is always able to get out of any situation without a scratch.”
“Not true,” Ealrin said, having given up on trying to untie himself an hour ago. These ropes had been sealed by a Speaker. “Besides, maybe she’ll figure out a way to get us out of here.”
He looked over to Blume, who curled up next to their pole as soon as they had been tied to it and went to sleep. Ealrin still guarded his own cup of water and odd, flat cracker that they had all been given after they were securely fastened. He knew she would be famished when she woke up.
“Holve running with an assassin?” Barton said, shaking his head. “What other wild revelations will you be sharing with me about the traitor? That he’s a necromancer and a thief?”
Ealrin stopped himself from chuckling at the statement.
They had certainly seen their fair share of both of those.
“Silverwolf is a...” Ealrin began, trying to explain the elusive and secretive woman to Barton. He shook his head, unsure of where to go from there. “She’s a wild card.”
Gorplin spat some fibers from his teeth and nodded his assent.
“Bloody skilled and annoying,” he said.
Ealrin couldn’t help but agree.
“Bah. What’s with that Farnus character, anyhow?” Gorplin asked, sitting down and apparently giving up his ropes for a bad job.
It was Barton’s turn to laugh.
“Foreigners,” he mused, shaking his head. “Prince Farnus? The heir to the Ladis Empire’s throne and the High Prince of Arranus? Have you been living under a rock?”
“We’ve met Farnus,” Blume said as she righted herself and sat up. Ealrin went over to her, showing her the bread and the water. She nodded her thanks and gobbled them both up greedily.
“We were in Arranus,” Ealrin explained. “And he interviewed us.”
“Bah,” Gorplin
added. “Interrogated more like.”
Ealrin nodded.
“But we got away,” he said. “Thanks to Blume, mostly.”
In between bites, she shrugged and put a hand to her neck. Then she started to cough and choke.
“My necklace!” she exclaimed, feeling around her neck and the area where she was laying frantically.
“I’m sorry, Blume,” Ealrin said. “Yada took it.”
“No, no, no, no,” she said over and over again, still searching the ground as if it might show up within her grasp. “I need it! We have to get out of here! You’ve seen what they do to Speakers!”
Barton laughed.
“You’ve seen what Ladis does to Speakers,” He said. “You’ve nothing to fear from us.”
“Says the man tied to a pole,” Gorplin said, showing Barton his own roped hands, as if to remind him.
Barton shook his head.
“Yada will calm down,” he said, as if he really believed his own words. “Plus she’ll need me to lead the scouts for our plan to work.”
“And what is the plan?” Ealrin said. “You’re invading Ladis? Attacking? Why?”
“Why!?” Barton shouted.
“Quiet in there!” the voice of a guard said. “Don’t make me come in. You won’t like it.”
Barton looked livid.
“Just try it, Dervon,” he said, threateningly. “I won’t let you leave the same way you came in!”
The guard had no response to this.
“Young recruits,” Barton said through gritted teeth. “Think they’re gonna take over the place.”
He kicked at the dirt and then looked around at the rest of them with menacing eyes.
“We’re on the verge of greatness and you all just had to come and ruin it! Now Prince Farnus knows we’re here! We had the perfect location to land our vessels and begin our invasion and now it’s all ruined. No wonder Her Holiness is so upset with you.”
“Bah,” Gorplin said, leaning against his pole. “Seems Her Holiness isn’t too pleased with you either.”
Barton grunted.
“I’ll be out soon enough,” he said. Ealrin could almost hear the fact that he was trying to reassure himself rather than just state the obvious. “But you all will be in a load of trouble.”
“But you all brought us here,” Blume countered through a mouthful of bread. “If you had just let us go...”
“Let Holve Bravestead go!?” Barton exclaimed. The guard outside the tent grunted and Barton shot the entrance flap a glaring look. “He’s the reason we failed to take over Ladis from the princes and their horrible prophets. He’s the reason we’re having to launch an invasion thirty years later. He’s the reason Her Holiness isn’t the most revered and worshiped person in all of Ladis. If he’d stayed the course and not abandoned us, we’d be in charge. Not this decrepit Priest and his vile religion.”
Blume didn’t say anything in retaliation, which Ealrin decided was because she was too hungry and exhausted to fight back. This he understood. His own thoughts were swimming rather than coming to him in an orderly fashion.
“What religion does Yada...” he began.
“Her Holiness!” Barton corrected angrily.
“Fine,” Ealrin shrugged. “What religion does she advocate, being a Speaker and all.”
Barton sighed, looking exasperated.
“Have her teachings really not spread like we had hoped?” he said to himself. Then, turning to them, he continued.
“Her Holiness teaches that there are five things that hold the world together and that we should hold in reverence.”
As he said this, he held up his hand and began ticking them off one by one on his fingers.
“Magic and the gift of Rimstone,” he said, putting down his thumb. “The just treatment of everyone, the denial of one’s own personal agenda for the greater good of others, the satisfaction of working hard at the role you’ve been given, and the acceptance of Fate, that some things are beyond your control.”
Ealrin looked from Blume, to Gorplin, to Barton. The older man seemed satisfied with himself as he sat back against the tent awning.
“These form the core of the teachings of Yada and they are what we Isolians follow.”
“Isolians? The teachings of... Yada?” Ealrin said gingerly. Barton didn’t reply. Rather he put his hands in his lap and faced the flap of the tent. Perhaps he felt like he had explained everything that needed to be explained. Ealrin felt more confused than anything else.
“Just treatment,” Blume said under her breath, feeling again for the locket that was taken from her. Ealrin sighed and scooted back to the tent pole so he could lean against it. Blume put her head on his shoulder and was sleeping before he had time to ask her how she was.
He tried to think through what in the world they were going to do. It had been accidents and unanticipated circumstances that brought them here. Even worse ones that split them up. Jurrin, Holve, and Serinde were now with Farnus. That didn’t bode well. And their own circumstances didn’t exactly add up to great tidings.
Accidents.
Or perhaps it was fate?
What in the world had drawn them into the rumblings of war yet again?
And how in the world would they get out of it this time?
Ealrin spent time thinking on this as time went on. The more he thought about it, the more he knew their fate depended on the talents and mercy of an assassin who he didn’t always agree with.
The more he thought about this one sole fact, the more he dreaded the morning.
27: Circumstances Required
Olma looked at the scenery as it faded quickly behind them. She had thought she would have time to observe the sky above and the lack of overhead canopy. A small part of her had hoped to take the transition slowly.
That was certainly not the case.
Instead, the cart she was riding on was speeding over the road. Every bump and jolt sent a shock through her body. Her uncle sat beside her, gripping one of the fine wooden columns that supported the small porch on the back of the cart with one hand while wrapping the other firmly around Olma.
If her uncle wasn’t good at conversation with her, he was at least trying to keep her from bodily harm. She found great comfort in that.
The horses pulling the cart ran as fast as they could, urged on by both Ander’s drivers and the whips of the prince.
The prince!
Olma could hardly believe it. They had set out to Arranus to find the prince and warn him of the lizards that were attacking his villages. Now the prince had found them and was taking them, rather forcefully Olma conceded, to Grellis, the fortress city of the southern part of Ladis.
Whether or not it would shield them from the dangers that were approaching, Olma didn’t know.
What she gathered from the shouts of the men and the prince as they had commandeered their carts and horses, was that an army was amassing just to the east of them and that they had to warn the rest of the empire of the return of the Isolians.
The Isolians? Who were they? And why was their army invading Ladis?
Olma had no idea what it was all about. She only knew she was in the path of a lot of soldiers with spears and that this caravan that had saved them from the lizards may also soon save them from a greater threat.
A great bump shook Olma and she slipped from her perch. She shrieked as she saw the grass coming closer to her and a horse, who was chasing their cart, come trampling for them.
Before she hit the ground and was trampled by hooves, however, she felt a strong hand pulling her up and back onto the porch.
Her uncle was breathing hard, panting from what she guessed was the exertion of pulling her up at such a speed. He laid back against the wooden panels, holding her with both arms in a tight embrace. She didn’t even realize tears were rolling down her face until she tasted them in her mouth. Wiping her eyes, she looked up at her uncle. He had a solemn face.
“I don’t know if we wouldn’t
have had better luck with Arranus and the Veiled Ones,” he said.
Olma wasn’t sure she disagreed.
THEY RODE HARD AND long. Olma didn’t know much about horses, but she knew they couldn’t survive at this rate for long. Just by looking at them, she knew they were tired and almost to their breaking point.
At least, from what Olma could see, the powerful animals looked tired and ragged. They foamed at the mouth and were sweating all over. But still the drivers whipped them and forced them forward. Olma felt terrible for them. But she also saw the growing dark horizon. There was something there that was chasing them.
And it was coming fast.
“Grellis!” someone shouted from the front of the line. Olma, holding tightly onto the side of the cart, put her head around the frame in order to look ahead of them for the first time since they started this wild journey.
A towering structure lay ahead of them. Walls that stretched higher than the trees she had grown up around surrounded tall towers and turrets. She had never seen so much stone in one place. It towered in her mind as though it stretched all the way to the clouds.
The wind whipped Olma’s face as they barreled towards the castle. A prophet was screaming as they approached, but his words were lost to Olma. His guardswomen were beside him, pointing backwards to the mass that was gathering on the horizon. Olma tried to keep her face forward to see where they were racing towards.
The road they had been on this whole time led right to the entrance of the castle. They wouldn’t turn to the right and keep going north at the fork in the road. Olma knew they were headed straight for that fortress.
They weren’t the only ones either. Many people were fleeing the plains and running for the castle bridge. Olma saw the fires of what she guessed were other small villages, maybe even ones like hers, as they dotted the landscape. People flooded from these and ran in droves for the castle. They looked like they carried everything they owned with them as they clamored for the gates. Haggard old men, spirited young women carrying babies. All of them ran for the castle and away from the great approaching army.
