“Maribel saw something and I did too, but it’s gone.”
“Hopefully it’s not another monster.”
At that moment a strong flowery scent filled the area, as if someone had spilled an entire bottle of perfume. It smelled exactly the same as Maribel. Lex turned to Dusk with a confused look on his face.
Dusk shook his head. “I don’t know what it is… but we should keep watch tonight.”
Twenty-Three
The night passed by comfortably in the bubble as the steady rain trickled down over its edges in gathering droplets. Dusk stayed awake until the rain finally stopped. He hadn't noticed it before, but the bubble was slowly draining away his energy. It didn't take much to maintain, but as he tried to sleep he found he could almost feel every droplet striking the dome. At long last the rain stopped and he severed the connection, feeling a wave of relief wash over him like tension melting from his muscles. Pulling the half-dried cloak over himself he huddled up with Lex, falling asleep almost instantly.
Morning came too soon and the light was much too bright. Drowsy and annoyed, Dusk got to his feet once again, making a meager meal of stale bread and jerky. Groggily he walked beside Maribel, using her as his guide. Ever since the strange white shape in the forest had passed by, she had made a habit of looking over her shoulder every few minutes. Dusk checked as well, wondering if something or someone was following them. His thoughts wandered back to the monster he'd killed in the cave. He hoped there were no more such creatures lurking out in the wilds of Inahan.
Around midday they crested a small hill to see a deep blue river snaking through the valley far ahead. Tara quickly pulled them behind a couple of high lonely trees without a word. Silently she pointed off to the south where the river met the ocean. There, a large camp full of tents and smoking fires sat on the western bank of the river. The tents were all Inahandrian blue and Dusk could just make out men in armor moving amongst them.
"Soldiers…" Tara whispered. She glared down at them. "And they're camped on the only bridge across the river."
"Why does this keep happening to us?" Lex sighed, shaking his head. "Why can't crossing a river just be easy?"
Dusk strained his eyes until he saw the small wooden bridge spanning the river. "Could we swim across somewhere up stream?"
"That river is all snowmelt," Tara replied. "We'd freeze before we got across. And I don't want to risk another Grimfish incident either. We barely survived the last one."
"Can we take the bridge?" Dusk suggested. "It's not like they know who we are or where we're from."
"That's… not a terrible idea." Tara put her finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Soldiers will require us to pay to cross."
"We've got money enough."
"That's the problem. If they find out we're well off or spies and they'll detain us for no reason other than suspicion. Believe me, I'd do the same." The other two looked at her in confusion. "Think about it. Nothing is more dubious than a rag-tag group of strangers with too much money in the middle of a war travelling in the middle of nowhere. Especially since we're coming from the only settlement in this part of Inahan. We look extremely suspicious."
“Not to mention our horse smells like a field of wildflowers,” Lex added with a nod.
Maribel gave him a disapproving look before going back to munching the grass underfoot.
“So what do we do then?” Dusk asked, glancing at the pair of them.
Tara thought it over for a moment. “Let’s see if we can get across and hope they aren’t too bright.”
An hour later the group found themselves near the bottom of the valley. They’d taken care to look as nonchalant as possible. Their spare money had been stowed away in the bottom of Maribel’s saddlebags and wrapped in whatever they could find to stop it from jingling. They dirtied themselves up a bit to look more travel worn, but it didn’t take much effort. As they neared the bridge the two soldiers standing guard stepped forward, one of them holding a hand out.
“Stop right there,” he called out after clearing his throat. “What is your business here?”
“Please sir,” Tara began in a voice that was as far from her own as Dusk could imagine. “We are but humble travelers making our way to Greencoast Port to visit my daughter.” Tara pointed to Dusk. “I’ve found her a fine husband and they plan to be married on the equinox.”
The guard turned to Dusk. “Is this true, boy?”
“Uh… yes sir.” Dusk fumbled over his thoughts, trying to find something convincing to say. “I’m so happy… to uh… meet my woman. Because, you know, getting married is a great thing to do and I want to do great things… with my wife.”
Dusk could feel the daggers shooting out of Tara’s eyes at him. Lex, on the other hand, looked like he was about to burst out laughing.
Tara turned back to the soldier who was staring at Dusk with an odd look on his face. “Forgive him, he grew up in Watersedge. He’s not the most intelligent lad, but he’s gentle as a mouse.”
“Right,” the soldier sighed. He pointed to Lex. “And this one?”
“Oh, that’s my manservant.”
“A woman with a male servant? That’s a bit unorthodox.”
“A woman has needs,” Tara murmured, letting the last word slide off her tongue like honey. Lex looked as if he was about to be sick. “Alas my husband, although a good man, had his manhood kicked off by a horse, so he can no longer please me.”
Dusk watched as both of the soldiers visibly winced at this, the silent one reaching down to make sure his own was still there.
“In fact,” Tara continued. “It was this horse.” She patted Maribel gently on the side of the neck. “If she didn’t have such a wonderful pedigree, I would have sent her to the butcher.”
The soldier took a step back, in the opposite direction of Maribel as if she could attack his penis at any moment. “I see. That is… unfortunate.” He cleared his throat again. “Well you’ll have to pay the toll either way. It’s one gold per person to cross the bridge and a silver piece for the horse.”
“One gold per person?” Lex spat out, shocked at the amount of money the guards were requiring.
Without so much as a flinch, Tara wheeled around and slapped Lex so hard he almost fell to the ground. “Keep your mouth shut, servant!” she yelled. Turning back to the soldiers she softened once more. “Forgive me, I’m still breaking him in. We’ll happily pay the toll to cross the bridge.” Her voice began to melt back into honeyed tones once more. “After all, such handsome young men protecting our country deserve to be rewarded for their service. Without you the scum from the east could be upon us already.”
Tara fished the coins from her purse which was almost empty. She placed them in the soldier’s hand with a deep bow before the pair of them stepped aside with wide smirks on their faces. Tara gestured for the group to follow her and together they crossed the rickety wooden bridge. On the other side they found themselves passing through the center of the soldiers’ camp. All around them were large blue tents, flags waving in the breeze, and soldiers gathered around small campfires or making their rounds. They all turned their heads to stare as the strange group of people passed through with their horse in tow.
They made it all the way to the edge of the camp before Dusk finally allowed himself to breathe. But before he could even fill his lungs he heard a commanding voice call out behind him.
“Stop!”
The three turned to see a muscular man in full leather armor standing in the middle of the path. He wore a dark blue tunic under his leathers and had a large sword hanging at his side. It nearly scraped on the ground even though he was well over six feet tall. His head was shaved clean and in the center of his forehead was a solid black diamond tattoo.
“Who are you to pass through my camp without being questioned?” he asked, staring at them with his steely blue eyes.
Tara stepped forward with her shoulders hunched to make herself seem small although she was every bit as tall as he
was. “We paid the toll at the bridge, but we weren’t informed there was another step in order to pass through.”
“I’m Captain Zubiar of the Queen’s Royal Defenders and I demand to know what you’re doing out here,” he stated in a strong baritone.
“I’m taking a new husband to my daughter,” Tara said pointing at Dusk. Then she pointed to Lex, “And this is my servant who is travelling with me.”
“Where does your allegiance lie?”
“With Inahan, of course, sir.”
“And with the queen?”
“As always.”
“Where are you coming from and where are you bound?”
“We’re travelling from Watersedge and we’re headed for Greencoast Port.”
“Watersedge, eh?” He eyed Tara suspiciously. “We got a report a month back that some Ditanian spies had landed in Watersedge from the captain of a rather well known military ship that has been destroyed.” He looked between the three of them. “You wouldn’t know anything about them would you?”
“No, sir,” Tara said without missing a beat. “I was only in the village for two days to collect this fellow before heading back. We’ve come across no one else on the road.”
“Are you armed?”
“Only as much as we need to be to stay safe on the road.”
“Are you implying that her majesty’s men aren’t keeping the roads safe?”
“Of course not, just that there are beasts on the loose.” Tara’s voice was starting to lose its saccharine edge.
“What kind of beasts?”
“Well, it seems there was a monster prowling near Watersedge and killing the villagers. But someone managed to slay the creature before I came to be there.” Tara paused for a moment and Dusk could almost see the thoughts forming in her head. “In fact, we saw something strange only just last night during the storm.”
“Yes? Go on. Spit it out,” Zubiar spat impatiently.
“We didn’t get a good look at it, but it seemed to be some large white creature stalking around in the rain. We kept an eye out for it, but it didn’t come back.”
Zubiar’s eyes narrowed. “Did this creature have a smell?”
“Yes it did,” Tara said with genuine shock in her voice. “Like wildflowers.”
“Where did you see it?”
She pointed back to where they’d come from. “In a copse about half a day’s travel east.”
Zubiar looked to each one of them in turn before snapping at a nearby soldier. “You! Bring all the officers to my tent.” He turned back to the rest of them. “You lot can get out of here. And don’t you dare mention that creature you saw to anyone, do you understand me?”
“As you wish,” Tara replied, bowing once more.
The captain spun on his heel, taking up a fast pace towards a large tent nearby. The trio exchanged quick glances, but immediately pointed themselves west and began to walk. They kept their steps quick and light as they put distance between themselves and the camp. Behind them all was silent for a few moments until shouts echoed across the valley. Looking back, Dusk could see the soldiers gathering up their things and taking down tents. They looked as if they were packing up camp to march. He waited until they came to the top of the next hill to speak.
“What was that all about?” Dusk asked, gazing back towards the river.
“I’m not sure,” Tara replied. “But obviously they’re looking for something. There’s no war to be fought out in these parts. Something has brought them out here nonetheless.”
“Do you think it was that monster at Watersedge?” Lex asked, stepping up beside Dusk.
“No. They wouldn’t have stopped here if that was their target. Plus they didn’t seem to know about it,” Tara muttered, her hand back on her chin. “They also mentioned the sailors that Captain Duillearga decided to set free. I’m surprised we made it through there without a fight.”
“The sailors must not have gotten a good look at us,” Lex explained. “There’s no way we would have made it through that camp if they knew what we looked like. Every soldier in Inahan would be after us.”
“I don't think we have to worry about them,” Tara assured. “Queen Lobelia has a lot more to worry about than losing a single ship in battle. That’s the price of war anyhow. She knows she’s going to lose a lot more than that if Ditania wins.”
“This war is stupid,” Dusk mumbled, staring out over the grass waving in the wind. “One dead king shouldn’t mean thousands more have to die.”
“Tell that to Prince Arius.” Lex sighed, crossing his arms. “He’s always loved to start fights since he was a kid. He grew up to be more bloodthirsty than anyone I’ve ever met.”
Tara and Dusk both turned to stare at Lex.
“You know Arius?” Tara asked with no small amount of surprise.
Lex’s face dropped. “Oh. Well, we uh… had the same dueling teacher for a while. It was during a trip to Eblesal. I really only met him for a moment.”
“You only met him for a moment and you got all that?” Tara took a step forward, her gaze boring into him. “I guarded the princess for two years and I never knew him well enough to know what he was like as a child.”
“I guess it just seemed obvious to me,” Lex said, turning around. “Well, we don’t want to be wasting daylight! Let’s put some distance between us and these soldiers before they change their minds!”
With that, he began to march back towards the west. Tara glared after him for a moment before she too started that direction. Dusk followed a few feet behind, leading Maribel by the halter. He knew Lex had been to the palace and that he’d had a wealthy upbringing, but knowing the prince on a personal level was a higher class than Dusk had ever expected. He wondered what else Lex knew and why he seemed so keen to hide it. Every time they asked questions, he changed the subject. For a moment he began to worry, but then he pushed it away. He knew Lex wouldn’t keep anything from him that was important. It made sense that he was still upset about his past and didn’t want to talk about it. He was running from it just as much as Dusk was running from the mines. Lex would come around in time and Dusk would be there to help him through it when the time came.
Twenty-four
The days remained fair as they continued on west, following the ocean towards Greencoast Port. Five days after the crossing, the coastline bent back southward creating a large cove of rocky cliffs far above the sea. The wind whipped up the cliffs, bringing with it salty spray from the waves that crashed into the stone. Dusk found himself standing near the edge with his eyes closed and arms outspread, feeling like would fly if the wind blew just a little harder. Lex however, was a little concerned Dusk might go over the edge and so he stood only a few inches behind, ready to pull him back to safety should the wind die down suddenly.
It wasn’t until after they rounded the coastline and began their trek into the peninsula that they finally started coming across other settlements. Each village they came across seemed worse than the last. The people were running out of food and spring wasn’t coming fast enough. Most of their reserves had been taken by the army to feed the soldiers marching to war, and it left the remaining villagers in bad shape. Most of them were either too old or too young to do much fending for themselves. Even the stray taverns they took a night in could hardly provide them with a meal of more than bread and fish. In some cases, the fish was all they had. Tara was upset at the lack of alcohol, but it seemed the army had snatched that up too as they passed by.
Less than a day outside of Greencoast Port they found themselves at another such tavern. The sun had fallen beyond the horizon and the three of them were tired of sleeping on the side of the road. The weather was still fair, but the nights were colder than they wanted to deal with unless they had no other choice. Thanks to their bounty from Watersedge, they still had plenty of money to find a place to rest for the night. The tavern could hardly qualify as much better than sleeping in the grass, but it was dry and the fires provided some heat before i
t leaked out of the cracks in the walls.
With their gear dropped in their rooms upstairs and Maribel stabled for the night, they waited at a small wooden table for their meager meal to be served. They were surprised however to find a steaming loaf of bread and a small jar of fruit preserves to go with their roasted fish.
“I haven’t seen a loaf of bread in almost a week,” Dusk exclaimed, leaning down to sniff at the golden brown delight.
“You can thank the Legion for that,” the mistress of the house whispered, leaning down so that they could hear her speak. “They’ve been right good to us folks around these parts.”
“The Legion of the Twilight?” Dusk asked, turning to face her.
“Hush!” she said, pulling at her curly black hair nervously. She glanced around, but there were only a few customers in the tavern that night. “Don’t say their name above a whisper and even then, be wary!” She leaned down again, resting her palms on the table. “The false queen has many ears.”
“False queen?” Tara replied, a look of confusion on her face. “Queen Lobelia?”
“Yes. But keep quiet about it. You never know who could be one of her spies.”
“We could be,” Lex stated flatly, crossing his arms.
The woman stood up, her face full of fear before she turned away and dashed back to the kitchens.
“Why did you do that?” Tara snapped. “She could have told us more about what’s going on around here.”
“Yeah, I bet she could have. And someone could be listening. If our faces are connected with some sort of slander against the crown we could be the next ones on the chopping block.” Lex reached out for the bread and began to slice a piece off of it. “I don't want to end up in prison because of idle gossip against the queen. We’ve come too far for that.”
Tara leaned forward, poking Lex in the shoulder. “You know, I’d be mad at you for contradicting me if that didn’t make so much sense.”
“Thank you?”
“We should keep out of this business as much as we can. There’s already a war between the two countries, I don’t want to get mixed up in a local rebellion. We’ve got enough on our plates.”
The Crystal Key: An LGBTQ+ Fantasy Series (The Crystalline Chronicles Book 3) Page 19
