Mulberry dropped down and touched Kestrel’s shoulder. "You should move this along, Kestrel-confused," the imp murmured.
"I'll vouch that I'll be happy to have Mer," he paused, and looked at her, uncertain what name to call her.
"Moorin, my name is Moorin," she said.
“Moorin is here now, and there’s nothing more to worry about,” Kestrel said abruptly. “We’ve got bigger things to worry about, now that Cedar Gully is safe. We need to get back to Oaktown and decide what our next steps will be.” Following the village’s celebratory meal, Kestrel and his companions bid farewell to the liberated residents of the small, isolated hamlet, and ran back to the manor in Oaktown.
That evening, upon his return to his home, Kestrel immediately began the next phase. “We’ll leave a militia guard here in the Marches, to protect against a new invasion by Center Trunk,” Kestrel told the small, impromptu general staff that had developed among the elves who had taken up arms to defeat the Center Trunk invaders. “I know folks will be on short rations until the fall harvest comes in, but that can’t be helped unfortunately,” he admitted. “If we still had our treasury, I’d buy enough supplies to see us through, but those leaves have fallen and there’s nothing to do.”
“Begging your pardon sir,” Pierodot, the defector from Uniontown spoke up.
Kestrel looked at him.
“Captain Norquist, he was in charge of the forces that came from Center Trunk, and it was his duty to send any treasure he confiscated back to the palace,” the young officer said. “And as soon as he beat your steward and found your gold, he took it all,” the guard related, making Kestrel’s face turn red, an angry red.
“But he only sent half the gold to Center Trunk because he said they’d never expect you to have as much as you did, so they wouldn’t miss what they didn’t know about. So I expect there’s a great deal of gold sitting down in your cellar, behind some crates, right where he left it,” the man explained. “Though knowing how much food and goods were taken out of the region, I don’t know that there’s that much available for you to buy.”
“I imagine that you’re right about supplies here,” Kestrel agreed, as a grin creased his face, “but Hydrotaz may be a different story. We’ll make our way over to Hydrotaz to buy supplies, and then we can just go up to Firheng from there and no one in the Eastern Forest will even see us until we reach our friends up there,” he said. “It’ll be a long journey and a rough one when we pass through the fringe of the Water Mountains, but I know our folks can do it.”
“Will the humans allow you to take an elven army through their territory?” Pierodot asked. “Because I did not think the humans liked us enough to let us do that. I know that we would not allow a human army to pass through the Eastern Forest going from one place to another, would we?”
“No, I’m sure we wouldn’t let them through the Eastern Forest,” Kestrel agreed. “But I hope the princess of Hydrotaz will have a more open mind than Center Trunk. It won’t be the first time we’ve sent a friendly force onto their soil,” he added, remembering the elven archers that had come to the aid of Yulia when she had fought off the last invasion of Uniontown-controlled Graylee.
“Are you sure that this Firheng needs our help?” one of the local people asked.
“If Captain Lim went there, and Hampus went there, and Remy and Putienne went there, I’m sure Center Trunk has it under siege,” Kestrel answered. “And I’m sure the folks in Firheng are strong enough to fight to resist a siege,” he added. “But they might need some help,” he added. He did not mention his desire to be reunited with Putienne, which was a burden on his attention, as the link between the two of them seemed to have strengthened since his return to his own world.
“We know how many residents of the Marches are ready to fight,” Kestrel explained. “I’ll take just a few of the volunteers with me when I go to Hydrotaz.”
“You’ll take me with you, of course,” Medeina asserted.
There was a soft murmur.
“Of course,” Kestrel agreed. He had known that it was a given that the visiting deity would be with him. “You and the imps and a host of elves – Hydrotaz won’t know what to think,” he smiled, knowing that his words were precisely true.
The next day saw the departure of the fifty-plus elves who had accepted a role in Kestrel’s raiding force. The mostly younger male and female elves were more nervous and excited about traveling onto the lands of the humans in Hydrotaz than they were about the next likely set of battles they expected to engage in around Firheng.
“So this body can travel in this fashion, this easily?” Medeina asked as she loped alongside Kestrel in her role as Moorin during the first morning of their journey.
“It is a body that is in good shape,” Kestrel said carefully. “And all elven bodies are expected to run like this,” he explained. “Our running is one of the characteristics that set us apart from the humans,” he said.
“This is all so marvelous, this idea of having multiple races all living together,” Medeina mentioned. “I wish we would have thought of it in our own world. It seems to create so much opportunity for vitality! The mixing and jostling must be tremendous.”
“They are,” Kestrel concurred, “but fighting and distrust happen too.”
“Wouldn’t those happen even if all the beings here were from just one race?” Medeina asked. “Those problems certainly happened among Decimindion’s people, where there is only one race.”
“Yes,” Kestrel conceded,” that’s true. Maybe the difference in our races is just an excuse for doing the bad things we’d do anyway.”
“And beyond that, you can enjoy the mutual pleasures of getting to know something similar, yet different. You should see it as a marvelous opportunity, and in those meetings between races, perhaps there is more to be gained for having gone beyond your usual boundaries, such as with this young human you have worked yourself into an infatuation with,” she said smoothly as they ran along the road.
“I have not worked myself into an infatuation!” Kestrel protested. “Lark has asked me to come to her land, and I mean to go there, when my battle in my own land is finished.”
“There’s more to it than that, isn’t there?” Medeina asked, and then she dropped back, leaving him running alone in the lead of the column as they advanced through the Eastern Forest, heading towards the Hydrotaz border.
They slept in trees at the end of their first day’s journey, eating their limited supplies they had brought as provisions. Kestrel had insisted that they not take much in the way of provender, reasoning that his followers would be able to resupply in Hydrotaz, as well as order supplies to be sent to Oaktown. He was anxious to reach the city, to see Lucretia and Giardell so that he could hear their thoughts about what was happening in the Eastern Forest.
“Is this really how you expect me to sleep?” Medeina startled Kestrel as she silently dropped down onto the branch where he had laid for the night. “Don’t you think that a goddess deserves more than this? Don’t you think the most beautiful elven woman deserves more than this? Don’t you think the woman who you’re obsessed with deserves more than this?” she asked.
“All elves are used to sleeping this way,” Kestrel observed mildly. “You’ll want to be able to recollect this as one of the many unusual adventures you’ve experienced, I’m sure,” he grinned at his own cleverness.
“I’ll come up with my own list of unusual adventures, thank you,” the goddess told him, then sprang up off his branch and disappeared in the dark foliage.
The next day they resumed their journey, the column of elves stretching back along the trail behind Kestrel’s lead, as the flock of imps flew overhead. Kestrel had decided to take his recruits from the Center Trunk force with him, not wanting to leave them subject to hostility from untrusting residents of the Marches. Lieutenant Pierodot brought up the rear of the column that followed Kestrel, and so the lieutenant was the last to break out of the forest and emerge into
the scattered trees of southern Hydrotaz.
The trees gave way to open pastures and cultivated fields, with ripening crops standing in the mid-afternoon sun of an early autumn day. The column tightened up considerably, as the elves grew uneasy at running through such exposed territory, without trees to instantly climb and escape through. Kestrel, running in the front of the column, saw a few scattered humans, toiling in their fields, catch sight of the elven column and go sprinting away to seek shelter, mistakenly afraid of a hostile invasion.
Kestrel kept his troops moving, knowing that the speed of the elves would outrun any alarm the humans might raise. He intended to reach the first village in Hydrotaz, a place he was known and recognized in, and to spend the night there with his troops encamped outside of the village. The following day would provide enough time for them to reach the capital city of Hydrotaz, where he could engage in the other activities he planned.
He halted his column outside of the village as the sun set in the western sky. “I’ll take Lady Moorin into the village and secure a room at the inn for her, then I’ll be back here within an hour,” he assured the others. “Mulberry, would you set your people up for a watch duty, and please send someone with me,” he addressed the imps.
“Pierodot, you’re in charge of setting up the camp,” he directed the young elf officer, then took Medeina by the hand and started walking in towards the village, with Mulberry floating overhead.
“You’ll not have to sleep in a tree or on the ground, my lady,” he told the Moorin look-alike as they entered the village. “I’ll arrange for a comfortable room for you to spend the night in. You’ll have a bed instead of a tree limb or the ground,” he told her.
“And you’ll sleep with me?” she asked.
Kestrel stumbled in the road, then windmilled his arms to regain his balance.
“No, I’d, no,” he answered as hastily as he could manage.
“I’ll wait out here for you, friend Kestrel, unless you think there is danger inside,” Mulberry said.
“No, there’s no danger in here,” Kestrel said as they arrived at the entrance to the inn. “It’s a safe place.”
“But I’ll be all alone in this strange place, among all these strangers,” Medeina challenged him as he opened the door and invited her to enter ahead of him.
“Hello Glaess,” he said to the innkeeper, a man he recognized and had spoken to on the many occasions he had visited the inn, becoming highly recognizable as the only elf that traveled through the village on the way from the Eastern Forest to the capital city. “I’d like a room for my lady friend to spend the night.
“I know you and what you can do. You’ll have no troubles here,” Kestrel turned and said in a low voice to Medeina. “And it will be much more comfortable than sleeping on the ground with us,” he added in a normal tone as he turned back to the innkeeper.
“You’ll not be staying here yourself?” the human asked Kestrel.
“No, I’ve got a large party staying outside the village tonight, and I need to get back to them. We’re on our way to the capital,” Kestrel answered.
“We’re pretty empty tonight,” Glaess replied. “I could let you have several beds for next to nothing. I don’t mind having a house full of elves,” he smiled.
“I’ve got close to fifty,” Kestrel told him, making the man’s smile turn to a blank stare.
“Fifty? Great goddess! Fifty? I couldn’t find room for that many in the whole village. No wonder you’re staying out of town,” he told Kestrel. “Why so many?”
“We’re passing through Hydrotaz on our way north,” Kestrel said. “It’s quicker to travel through your kingdom to get to where we’re going.
“Will you show us the best room for the lady?” Kestrel asked.
“You’re a great beauty, my lady. Not completely elven, are you?” he asked. “Does she speak our language?” he turned and asked Kestrel before even giving Medeina a chance to answer.
“I do speak your language, and thank you for the compliment. Perhaps I will enjoy spending the night here if there are such gallant men around,” she gave a sly smile over her shoulder to Kestrel as she prepared to follow the host up to a room.
The room she was offered was nicer than the rooms that Kestrel had used in the past, larger and with better furnishing.
“You’ll be satisfied to stay here?” Kestrel asked.
“Kestrel dear, if you want me to stay here tonight, I shall. You’ll come back to visit me very first thing in the morning?” she asked.
“I certainly will,” Kestrel pledged.
“You’ll kiss me goodnight now, won’t you?” Medeina asked, causing the innkeeper to step back out of the room.
“I don’t really think I should,” Kestrel said in a low voice as he bowed his head low towards Medeina.
“Oh, don’t make the innkeeper think you don’t like me,” Medeina challenged him. “You do like me, don’t you?”
In response, Kestrel poked his head forward and pecked her cheek lightly.
“That’ll do for now,” she said archly, “but a goddess deserves more.” Then she laughed. “Thank you for this lovely place to stay tonight Kestrel. You go back to your elves and imps, and come get me in the morning. I’ll see you then.”
Kestrel gladly backed out of the room, and joined the innkeeper in the hallway. “Here,” he pulled a small gold coin out of the purse on his belt. “Will this pay for the room?” he asked.
“This will pay for a month in the room, my lord,” the man said with bulging eyes as they returned to the front desk. “I don’t have enough in my purse to give you the change you’re due.”
“Keep it, and I’ll stay here again sometime,” Kestrel said complacently, hoping to keep the innkeeper as an ally for any future trips Kestrel would take through the village. “I’ll be back in the morning to fetch the lady for our trip to the palace tomorrow,” he said, and then he exited the inn, and saw the dark shadow of Mulberry swoop down next to him in the empty village street.
“Did the innkeeper agree to keep the lady? Did the lady agree to stay here?” Mulberry asked immediately.
“Everything seems to be settled,” Kestrel gladly informed the imp as he began to run back to the campsite on the edge of town. “She is going to be a handful,” he blurted out.
“I think you are correct, Kestrel-wrangler,” Mulberry concurred. “Good luck. Not many mortals are able to handle gods for very long, I suspect. But perhaps you can be the first.”
“Thank you,” Kestrel said wryly.
They soon arrived back at the camp site, where the elves had a group on patrol around the perimeter of the campsite, while within the camp, elves sat quietly talking to one another, or were milling aimlessly around their space. Something seemed out-of-the-ordinary about the camp, and Kestrel stood surveying the scene, feeling a strange sense that something was not proper about the camp. It struck him after ten seconds, as his elven vision picked Pierodot approaching him.
Kestrel could see the newly-recruited officer in the dark, and he had a momentary flash of recollection of other camps, traveling with armies of humans. Those campsites had always been populated with fires, providing illumination, cooking resources, and sometimes heat. But the campsite of the elves and imps had no fires. The elves had packed food that required no cooking, and their vision was so good that they needed no fires to provide light. He grinned and shook his head at the realization of the simple difference between the two races that made such a striking difference.
“Is her ladyship staying in the village among the humans?” the lieutenant asked. “Will she be safe there?”
“I know that she’ll be very safe,” Kestrel said reassuringly. He almost wished that some human ruffian would provoke her into displaying her power, and he momentarily guffawed aloud as he imagined the shock any assailant would suffer.
“What is it sir?” Pierodot asked.
“Nothing, nothing at all. So how are we settling in?” he asked.
> “Everyone wants to serve on watch duty. It’s hard to turn so many of them down, but we don’t need that many guards,” Pierodot explained.
“We don’t need that many guards,” Kestrel agreed. “We’re not in any danger here. Are they all that worried about the humans?”
“No, no, it’s not that. They aren’t worried; it’s just that they don’t have any trees to sleep in, or beds, and it seems so unnatural to sleep on the ground,” the lieutenant explained. “No one’s going to get any sleep, and they’re all going to be tired tomorrow when we start running again.”
“They’ll only have to sleep on the ground for a few days, and then we’ll be back in the forest up north,” Kestrel said to reassure the young guard.
“We’re going all the way up to the Northern Forest?” Pierodot asked.
“No, just north, to a forest, the northern part of the Eastern Forest,” Kestrel corrected. The majority of elves in the Eastern Forest had no real idea about the geography of the lands around them just as he had known nothing prior to being plucked from obscurity and made into a spy and more.
“We’ll get off to an early start tomorrow,” Kestrel decided. “We can start before sunrise and reach the city in the early afternoon.”
And so they followed his plan. None of the elves were displeased with the early departure. Their first night in the open, on the ground, was unsettling, making them eager to be on their way. Kestrel led the way into the quiet village, where the troop of elves and imps waited outside the inn while Kestrel quietly entered and stole up to Medeina’s room.
When he opened the door, the bed was empty, and he stood in the darkness looking around the room. He looked left, then right, then heard a voice on the left.
“Are we ready to leave?” the goddess asked. She was standing in the middle of the room, dressed and apparently ready to depart. And she was older, noticeably older in appearance.
“Where were you?” he asked. “Are you okay?”
“Here and there,” she answered mysteriously. “These humans are so interesting to observe. And yes, I’m fine, just a little tired from being away from the wilderness.”
A Marriage of Friends (The Inner Seas Kingdoms Book 8) Page 5
