“Pretty how?”
“With those stars in your eyes.” He kissed her again.
Grudgingly, they released each other. Before the horses lost patience, she helped with their feed bags.
“Remember your feed bag?” he asked.
“It’s in the Umbra fortress somewhere along with Donkey. I need to return her and some coin to Abigail, your brother’s lady friend. She’s lost enough because of me.”
A flash of red warned them that they weren’t alone. “It wasn’t your fault if a farmer resisted orders from local authorities and died as a result,” Danior said. He pretended not to notice when Bym jerked in fear at the sound of his voice. He eased around one of the canopy’s poles and stood with them.
Hopcyn and Guto watched the commander from where they arranged pallets in the tent.
Danior asked, “Will you walk with me through the camp? It will be good for the men to see you.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
Gethim and several other men had gone out into the woods to hunt. The apprehension which the Solis made her feel didn’t lessen even knowing Drem and his magic was near. What if Danior had his soldiers surround her and ride away with her to another dungeon?
Iago said, “I should accompany you in case you have need of me if it’s alright. I don’t wish to impose.” With obvious relief, Bym took his arm. Danior took up a position at her other side.
Solis soldiers were busy putting the finishing touches on their red tents. There were eleven small red tents and a couple of fires around which they had started cooking their dinners. Unlike the Solis camp, five large, identical Umbra tents had been erected. They were solid black and melted into the night. She preferred the Umbra way of doing things.
They’d walked a relatively short distance when Danior said, “The goblins will keep coming for you and putting those around you in danger. Why do you think Aurora presided far to the west in the Golden City? It’s the safest place for you to be and the safest thing for you to do for your people.”
“My place is with the Umbra.”
“The Umbra have their own purpose, defending against the goblins. Our purpose is to keep you safe. It has been so for all recorded time. The Solis protect the Goddess in the Golden City. It’s our duty. The temple in which Aurora once presided is now yours. Her Priestesses live to serve you. You’ll be happy there, happy and safe.”
“You sound like you’ve been there.” She patted Iago’s arm to reassure him. Danior’s words had turned his previously pliant arm into a block of wood.
Pale-blue eyes met hers. “I have. I grew up there.”
“Oh, so I suppose that makes you an expert on the Goddess and how she should live? Why should I believe you?”
“Because she sent me to rescue you before she faded. The burden became too heavy for her after carrying it for so long.” He reached out but hesitated for a moment before letting his fingertips rest against the center of her chest. A deep sadness had turned his eyes a darker shade of blue.
“How do you know where it joined with me?”
With a naked sadness in his eyes, he removed his hand from her and looked into her eyes. “Because she was my mother.”
Mentally, she grabbed her ankle and yanked her foot out of her mouth. She stared at him like a surprised fish.
“Don’t tell me how sorry you are. I heard enough of it in the city before they’d even passed on into their next lives. Then, when the day finally did come, I immediately set out with my men to search for you. I heard you telling Eurig how alone and afraid you were. I never meant for it to happen.”
“No, instead, to find me women were murdered.”
Angrily, he asked, “What if the goblins were to find the goddess incarnate, sleeping in her bed in a village like the one we just left? What then, Bym? The people of this world know. A few of the oldest of us have experienced it. She can come through a gate or from one of our own females. You left the village where you were somewhat safe in order to protect them. We saw what you did when you thought no one was looking.” He grabbed her hand and showed Bym her own pricked fingers. “Do you think those girls loved their own families any less than you love strangers, little kids you’ve only just met?”
Feeling hot with anger and shame, she snatched her hand away from him and returned with Iago to their tent with what dignity she could muster.
“What’s wrong?” Hopcyn asked. He was seated beside Gethim at the brazier. After a look at her face, he held out his arms.
Bym went to him, sat on his lap, and hid her face to his chest. He held her and didn’t make any comments of any sort. She hadn’t taken into consideration the possibility of any of those women being brave. Thinking along those lines now made her question if she’d been disrespectful to their memories.
Gently, Iago said, “Not everyone can be led through meditation by temple-trained priestesses, but anyone can walk through one of the temporal gates.”
They shared a quiet meal. The night had grown late, but from where she slept on her side holding Guto’s arm, she could see he was still awake. “So, should I try to hate them less?” Her words had been so softly spoken as to barely constitute a whisper.
Soft snores surrounded them. Occasionally, one of the horses would blow air through its nostrils, or blankets would rustle as someone turned over in his sleep.
Guto kissed the top of her head. “This is your home, and it’s all very new to you. I agree with you. There must be a better way to locate the next goddess, although I hope that day is centuries hence. Her coming shouldn’t be heralded by goblins and female deaths, even if the women are risking their lives to save their loved ones.”
“They were being brave. They wanted to know so they wouldn’t put their loved ones in danger. They knew the goblins would come for the goddess. I didn’t see it. I thought….”
“Yes, I can imagine how it looked to you. We’ll study the ancient texts. We’ll see if there is another way.”
She adjusted her head on his arm to keep her ear from bending weird. “What do we do now? What do we do about the goblins?”
Drem said, “We find the Stones of Luna Ignis, the Moon Fire Stones, and put the goblins into hibernation.”
Bym whispered, “I thought you were asleep.”
Guto said, “The stones are a myth. No one has ever seen them.”
“They aren’t a myth. I’ve read of them in the ancient texts.”
“Then, where are they? Why haven’t they been used?” Guto asked.
Drem stared at the roof of the tent and remained silent.
Bym felt sick to her stomach. “My question is what do we do now?” Would she ever be safe anywhere?
A slow, sleepy voice answered, “We do the only thing we can do. We go to the Golden City.” Gethim turned over onto his side. “We have to keep her safe. If she’s there, the goblins will have a hard time getting to her, and they won’t be forming hordes and descending on villagers. Without becoming frenzied over her blood, they’ll go back to hunting as they typically do. For now, it’s the only logical choice.”
Iago said, “He’s right.”
“Agreed,” Hopcyn said.
Bym said, “As much as I want to disagree, I guess you’re all right. I just wish we could go home. I miss the ladies, my bath, my beautiful rooms, Donkey, our pool, and everything.”
“So sayeth we all,” Drem whispered.
To her other side, Eurig gently squeezed her thigh. “It’s going to be fine. This is the way of things.”
Knowing his words were true added to her worries. She closed her eyes and tried to rest. Eventually, she dreamed of bows, laughing children, and baked treats. Unfortunately, in due course, she woke.
There were no pastries or cookies. She felt duped by her dreams and attempted to feel content with the strong cup of tea in her hands while considering the squirrel meat kabob with which Guto presented her. Not wanting to be an ungrateful twat, she ate it. Drem had gone off to speak to the Umbra warriors.
When he returned, his nod was all any of them needed to know that the men had agreed going to the Golden City was the most prudent course of action.
Later, as they rode toward the west, she remembered to flip over her hourglass. The world was all dark shadows, grey landscape, and white mist in those minutes before dawn. Bym took a deep breath and watched white puffs of air form as she exhaled. The twin puffs of white from the horses amused her even more. As she watched a horse’s nose, she noticed something from the corner of her eye. To the left, peeking around a tree trunk were the glowing eyes of her nightmares.
“Goblins!” she shouted as she drew her sword.
Dozens of them slid from the forest and ran toward her with their teeth bared and saliva dripping from their chins. Her horse, sensing her fear, reared. Bym grasped the pommel with her left hand. Sausage and Potatoes ran, tossing up the earth behind them as their claws tore at the ground. One hound went for a goblin’s throat while the other went for its hind legs. Red cloaks flew out behind riders, and their swords and spears cleaved the air before finding purchase in flesh. Umbra and Solis shot arrows while guiding their charging mounts with their knees.
Her butt started sliding off the back of the saddle. A black-gloved hand seized her reins. Then, Umbra on horseback had her surrounded. She could hear the sounds of fighting and death, but all she could see were black cloaks and horses.
“Sheath your sword,” Guto ordered.
Hurrying to do so, she then scooted back into her saddle. Iago was positioned in front of her. His warhorse touched its nose to her palfrey’s nose to calm it.
Hopcyn said, “It’s almost over. Don’t be afraid.”
“Seriously? I’ve killed them with a whittling knife. I fought them at the village. Ask Sedwidge or Lyle if you don’t believe me. If you hadn’t all surrounded me, I’d have shown you what I can do!”
Defensively, Hopcyn said, “My apologies.”
Guto snorted. “Don’t give him shit. You looked ready to piss yourself. Admit it. You were scared.”
The sounds of fighting were fading. A few Solis soldiers were using ropes to lasso dead goblins and drag them into piles.
“Yes, I was scared. Weren’t you?”
Deciding not to tease her, he remained silent.
“Why do they want me dead?” She was so tired of the constant attacks.
“They want chaos and death. You are order and life,” Iago stated.
“Move,” Guto ordered the Umbra around her.
They kept their mounts close. Bym was at the center of twenty Umbra warriors. Looking back, she saw Drem raise his hand and send a ball of black, sparkling mist at the mound of the dead. Gethim called to his hounds who trotted along after them. Drem, Gethim, and Eurig held back and rode with Danior and his officer. Bym didn’t know the man’s name and wasn’t exactly ready to be on such friendly terms with him or any of the Solis for that matter. She still worried if it was foolish to trust them.
Guessing her thoughts from the stiffness of her spine, Guto said, “If you start thinking about it now,” he turned around in his saddle and looked at the sun rising on the horizon, “maybe you can have something nice to say to them by this evening.”
Realizing he was right, she immediately started. It kept her thoughts occupied throughout the long day of traveling.
When they finally stopped for the day, she walked over to where Danior and his men were unsaddling their horses. Having silently practiced for hours she said, “Thank you for your bravery today. You’re very good at killing goblins.” It wasn’t much, but then her experiences with the Solis didn’t lend much to her loquaciousness.
Danior gave her the first genuine smile she’d ever seen on him. “Thank you. I’ve had a lot of practice.”
She thought about the reasons for it and clutched her throat. Her train of thought led her to the unprotected sex she’d been having with Guto. “Did they come after you and your mother when you were little?”
His smile faded. “Bym, you don’t have to fear being attacked ever again. Yes, they will keep coming, but you aren’t facing them alone in some forest. Warriors will always stand between you and whatever danger you face. You don’t need this, but if it makes you feel better, keep it.” He tapped her sword’s pommel.
Blushing, she took a step back. “I just wanted to thank you.” Turning, she hurried to Guto who stood watching her from under their canopy.
Sleep came quickly to her. Healer Iago had much to do with it since he’d kept refilling her cup with chamomile tea. During the night, their camp had grown. Red tents surrounded them. There had to be hundreds, and the Umbra were at their center. They were like the black eye of a poppy spread out across the cold ground.
“Here.” Guto held out a cup of strong black tea to her.
After taking a few grateful sips, she looked up. From across the camp full of tents and soldiers, Danior was riding carefully toward them in the company of two other commanders. As they came closer, details came into view. Each of the men had eagles perched on their shoulders. Grinning at her, he said, “See? I told you. You have no more reason to fear. Goddess Bym, the Temporal Locum incarnate, may I introduce your commanders?” The three of them dismounted and walked in front of their perfectly matched brown warhorses. Danior knelt and gazed into her eyes. Then, the men with him knelt as he introduced them, “Eskil, Commander of the Golden City and Commander Fane of the Barrens.” Their leather armor didn’t make a sound as they moved, and each of them had the same pale-blue eyes.
“I pledge to protect you and give you my loyalty and life,” the three of them said in synchronization.
She whispered to Guto, “What am I supposed to say.”
Drem supplied an answer for him. “You could say thank you.”
She rolled her eyes at him. She couldn’t help it. “I’m grateful for your protection and loyalty, but your lives are your own. I don’t want anyone dying for me.”
Eurig says, “That part means they will serve as your commanders for life.”
“Oh,” she said, still unfamiliar with well, everything about the Solis. “The three of you bear strong resemblances to each other.” Their eyes and hair were the same coloring, but there were differences.
Fane grinned. It was the grin a man gave a woman when he wanted something more. “The three of us are brothers.”
His admission meant that the three of them had just lost their mother. “Oh…. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Don’t be,” Eskil said. “They were tired. They have left this world and gone to the next.”
“They? Who are they? Was Aurora more than one person?”
“Bym, give them permission to rise,” Guto said while poking her hip with his finger.
Awkwardly, she said, “Rise, brave knights.”
“What’s a night?” Eurig asked.
“A knight was a warrior in service to a king on my world.” There wasn’t any comprehension in any of the faces around her. They knew nothing of kings and knights. Perhaps, it was better for her memories of what once was to fade. “Please, stand,” she said. Her tone sounded like defeat to their ears.
With his voice filled with compassion, Eskil explained, “Our mother and fathers left this existence together, passed the Temporal Locum to you, and moved onto their next life. They have earned their peace. Now, we are entrusted with the protection of our world.”
Outside, a few warriors approached Gethim and gave him two plucked birds which looked like pheasants of some sort. Speaking of birds, the eagle perched on Eskil’s shoulder was staring at her. She wondered if it was pissed about the pheasants and took a step back. Eagles were huge when they were only a few feet away.
A man said, “I feel as though I should offer my condolences to you.”
She turned her eyes to Fane.
“You were ripped from your life and brought here. Were you given a choice?”
She gestured toward the brazier, silently inviting them to sit with her near its warmth. The
bite of winter in the air continued to strengthen. “I remember standing on a busy corner, waiting for the cross signal to change. An old man and woman were near me. Maybe, she was Aurora.” Lifting her hands rather helplessly, she shrugged. “I was in a hurry to meet someone and get some supplies for a costume. You know the one,” she said to Drem, Hopcyn, and Gethim. “I think the man dropped something in my bag right before I stepped from the curb. Then, there was an accident. He pulled me back, or so I thought. I think I died, and he pulled my spirit back. Could I have played out my next moments in some alternate reality, one where I was able to interact with what had been? I remember finding a necklace in my bag. It was gold with snakes biting their tails. I put it on, and it… we…. It’s here now.” She placed her hand over her chest. “It’s part of me and no longer something which can be held or touched, but it’s here.” It was painful to remember and to try to explain, but everyone who heard nodded as though it made complete sense.
“So it is written,” Drem said.
Eskil nodded. “Our mother described similar events to us from her own life. Like you, she met with an untimely death but was born into our world. Those who have gone before you have described the merging in similar ways. A day will come when you will feel at peace within yourself.” He was the oldest of the three brothers. Bym thought he looked like he was close to sixty, but she wasn’t going to ask.
After exchanging a few more polite words, the three brothers excused themselves. Once they were out of earshot, Bym asked, “How are they brothers? I thought Danior was around thirty or forty years of age, but Eskil looks closer to sixty. Did Aurora have her children thirty years apart?”
Eurig handed her a bowl of dried apples, making her eyes light up. He sat beside her.
Drem said, “The Goddess’ lifespan along with those who are bound to her can stretch across centuries. It is tied to her will to serve. When the burden grows too heavy, her spirit and those bound to hers begin to fade. You may very well look as you do today for the next hundred years.”
Horrified, Bym asked, “Bald?”
Everyone but Guto laughed. He hung his head. Trying not to giggle, Iago rubbed her head. “It’s growing back. You have some stubble.”
Temporal Locum Page 21
