The Unexpected Heir: A Tale of Alus

by Wigboldy,Donald

Toman's hand dropped from holding his captive's shoulder and pulled the sword free before pushing the man ahead of him a few steps. He made him drop his belted scabbard before sending him after the other men.

  Swimming back to where she could walk again, Xerese hurried out of the water. She looked at Toman who watched the men disappear behind the rise of the hill. "Now what do we do?"

  Toman glanced at the woman before remembering that she was still naked and wet. "First, you put your clothes on. You'll have to wash them some other time. We'll cross over the dam and use the woods to move as far from here as we can."

  Pulling on the cleanest skirt and blouse, Xerese watched him pull the swords together.

  "What are you doing with those?" the girl asked before sitting to dry her legs enough to pull the short boots onto her feet. Left wet, they would likely bind and blister her flesh, even if Edric had made them well. Water and leather didn't work together well; even if it had time to be fully cured.

  "We'll take them with us."

  "Why?"

  Rolling his eyes in an obvious way, Toman replied, "If we take them, they can't come back to get them and use them against us. Also once we make it to the next town or city; we can try to sell them. If we get enough money, maybe we can even pay for passage on a ship to take us home or at least closer without the danger we're finding here."

  Quickly belting one of the swords around his waist, Toman disappeared for a few minutes before returning with his bag. A sandwich was passed to the girl before they filled the two water flasks. She had stowed her clothing and picked up two of the swords to carry. The extra weight wasn't significant, but Xerese feared that they would feel like a lot more during a long march. The lady could only hope that her body had strengthened enough with all their walking to deal with it until they could sell the weapons.

  While the dam wasn't the best of footing, the two quickly crossed without having to try swimming with the extra weight of the swords. Disappearing into the woods, they ate the sandwiches quickly without stopping.

  Xerese noted Toman's regular glances back the way they had come. He adjusted their way south for a time and then back to the north.

  "If they have trackers, won't we be wasting time?" the girl finally asked. They had remained silent as they walked listening as best they could for pursuers.

  "There is more plant material to break, so we need to do our best to walk through the forest without disturbing the area. Even a weak tracker might be able to follow us, but if none of them are real trackers we might lose them in here.

  "We're also more hidden in the trees than out in the fields to the north. If they don't know which way we planned to go, they might split up their forces. Smaller numbers will be easier for me as well."

  "What if they go find more men?" Xerese questioned just wanting to remind him that she wasn't stupid. She understood enough of his logic, but also knew the risk. Going in a straight line might be faster, but even a novice tracker might get lucky. The biggest problem was that they didn't know how many more of the soldiers there were near them.

  "We can only hope that isn't true. Since we can't control those kinds of things, we do what we can and use the forest against them should they decide to follow."

  If the Tseulty soldiers decided to come for their weapons or revenge, Xerese feared what would become of the two of them. Like the big man had said, however, they could only control what they did and hope that it was enough.

  Chapter 23- Friendly Business

  Xerese was pretty certain that Toman had become lost as night overtook them. Moving through the forest with daylight remaining helped keep them on point, even when the guard made her change direction to put off any possible pursuers. Carrying the extra weight of the new swords didn't help her as they moved either.

  Bushes tore at exposed skin and protective clothing equally. Two swords lashed to her opposing hips made the weight less noticeable than trying to carry them in her arms, but they dragged through the brush slowing her movement. Toman appeared to notice the weight of three times as many swords less than the girl trying to keep up with him. They both carried packs, but hers was mostly clothing and weighed less than his.

  As the night prolonged, Xerese was tiring. They had already walked most of the day before finding the lake, then she had been forced to swim long enough for the man to rescue her once again. Now they pushed on beyond their normal day and darkness made it nearly impossible to continue.

  Tripping on a root or bush in the shadows, the true culprit remaining unknown in the darkness; Xerese brought their flight to a stop once more. She couldn't see a foot in front of her thanks to the thick canopy above blotting out the stars and moon. Toman heard her go down and stopped. The girl wondered if he could even see her at all until she picked herself up again to stand.

  "Are you alright, my lady?"

  "Xerie," she reminded him breathlessly. "I didn't break anything, but I can't see anything to know if I have any cuts or scratches."

  The girl wanted to pout and whine, but she had seen the evil in the eyes of those men. Putting distance between them was worth some discomfort and exhaustion so long as they could never find her again. She would go on as long as Toman believed it necessary.

  A deep breath was released in the darkness letting her know that the man was considering pushing her further.

  "We'll look for a little break in the canopy and rest," he decided aloud to include her in his thoughts. It wasn't much of a plan. Toman was also worried that they would start going in circles in the forest without light to steer. Putting distance between the possible pursuers would come to bite them if they in fact turned back on their path in the dark.

  Reaching ahead of her, Xerese's right hand found his shirt almost blindly. The man took her hand and turned drawing her after him. Holding his hand like a child needing her father to guide her through a frightening crowd, Xerese let him pull her after him. He was gentle and despite the calluses from using a sword, she thought his hand warm and surprisingly soft.

  They found a small clearing and Xerese dropped her bag before extricating herself from the sword belts.

  Red light filtered through the branches overhead. The canopy had gaps here, but they were only enough to help find a spot to sit down. Toman moved around the small space checking for danger and appeared to want to try to stay awake as her guard all night.

  Only loosening the laces of her boots for fear that they would need to move again before dawn, Xerese watched him a few minutes before saying, "You need to sleep too."

  The light revealed the shake of his head. "We need to keep watch. If they can track by night, then they might catch us in our sleep."

  "They won't be able to do anything in here in the dark. We couldn't even walk without having to stop."

  "The enemy could use lanterns to alleviate that. We don't have lanterns and they would likely alert a pursuer even if we did," Toman warned as he continued to pace.

  Refusing to deal with his complaints, Xerese laid her head on the bag filled with clothing. Her water flask was placed beside it after a last drink. Keeping everything close, the girl told the guard one last warning to reconsider, "If you don't get any sleep, you will be useless as a guard. You can't afford to exhaust yourself. We are too far from Malaiy, let alone home."

  "We could start heading southwest and avoid the coast all together, I suppose," the guardsman mused on a rather bold idea for a journey.

  Appalled at the idea, Xerese sat up again wagging a finger at him in the shadows. "There is no way that I am going to walk all the way to Teyas! We need to find a ship or this will take forever, if I could even survive that long of a journey anyway."

  She heard a small laugh and knew that Toman was joking with her. Not known for a sense of humor, the girl had been caught by surprise.

  "Well, then we will have to risk the northern towns," the man decided as she watched him sit with his back to a tree near her feet. "Get some rest, my... Xerie. Don't worry about me. I know my
limits and can keep you safe."

  Replacing her head on the bag, the girl thought that it felt as soft as a pillow from her bed at home when she was this tired. Her eyes closed and Xerese was lost to sleep quickly despite her worries.

  Morning did little to help Xerese feel any less worried, and her legs ached in new places thanks to the unexpected swim. The girl opened her eyes to see gray light in their clearing. She could see blue sky through the holes in the green canopy and the highest leaves seemed to glow with the early morning sun.

  Guessing that it was still close to dawn, she stood feeling pressure on her bladder. Her eyes rested on her protector a moment. Toman slept where he had sat. The bark of the tree was his pillow and backrest all in one, she thought thinking that it appeared uncomfortable.

  The grass and bag were a sad replacement for a bed she so desperately missed, but looked better than sitting against a tree. Even that discomfort hadn't been enough to keep the guardsman awake, she thought with a small smile.

  Xerese moved into the brush beyond where Toman could see and raised the skirt high enough to avoid getting wet as she squatted to relieve her bladder. She had gone to sleep without her normal routine. Though they had tried to avoid drinking too much from the limited resource of their travel flasks, it had been a long time since she had taken a moment to let anything out as well.

  Glancing back over her shoulder, the girl could feel a breeze on her exposed skin and watched the rustle of the leaves even below the canopy. It felt cooler than normal and Xerese had a feeling that rain was coming. The gentle rustling of the leaves above her nearly masked the noise headed towards her from the clearing.

  Toman suddenly appeared like a new shadow rising between the bushes between them.

  "You should have let me know that you were... leaving," the man accused without blinking or turning from the sight of the half naked girl squatting in front of him.

  The patter on the grass from her water halted in her surprise only a moment. It was too late to hide now anyway. Her pride had suffered too many blows of late and Toman had seen nearly everything she had to offer now. It no longer mattered to her, the girl thought with a sigh.

  "Gods, Toman, pardon me if I was hoping to go in peace! It's bad enough that you have seen me bare. I thought I could at least maintain some dignity."

  Realizing her condition, Toman turned his back to her and said loud enough to be heard without having to shout. "I am sorry, my lady. I didn't mean to accost you in any way. I just woke up and you were gone. I was worried."

  Standing straight and fixing her skirt once more, Xerese ignored the worst of the situation as she moved towards him. "I didn't mean to make you panic, Toman, but I was trying to let you sleep. If you are too tired, you won't be any good in a fight if those men find us again or another situation arises."

  Moving past him, the girl found the clearing and the packs where they had left them. "Since we are both awake, does that mean you are ready to move on again?" Xerese asked without looking at him.

  "We can take the time to eat first. If you wish to change again, I can scout a little further to give you privacy," the guardsman replied moving to his pack. Most of the food had been carried by Toman, but their supplies were getting very low. If they couldn't scavenge more from the land or find someone willing to give them some food, they would be out with only one or two small meals.

  "My clothes are all dirty and I think trying to keep anything private from you has just become a thing of the past. Even strangers have seen me bereft of my clothes," the girl stated in frustration. Her mother had often taught her to maintain the mystery between her and men. Leaving them wanting more, she called it. That meant not just being covered, but keeping a bit of mystery to what was within her mind.

  Toman appeared to want to console her, but didn't have the words.

  "You have been my bodyguard for years, but it was never intended for you to see so much of the body you were guarding," she sighed. A small smile flit across her lips at her word play.

  "True, my lady," Toman replied with a nod as he echoed her smile in relief. Since the girl didn't appear angry with his intrusion beyond the initial moment, he could see the humor in it now.

  "How far do you think we will need to travel to find another town? I don't relish carrying these swords for long, but I agree with the idea that we might be able to sell them for enough money to pay a fare for a ship. They aren't fancy, but do you think that we can get enough from selling the lot?"

  "We have to be careful how we approach someone to sell them. They are essentially stolen and a respectable vendor will likely demand a story."

  "We took them from bandits," the girl stated with a shrug. "It isn't really a lie, is it? They were uncouth louts and one even implied that I was wrong in calling them Tseulty soldiers."

  Toman frowned. Traveling mostly in silence, the previous day's encounter hadn't been talked about in any detail. "You called them Tseulty soldiers and they said that they weren't?"

  "Not in so many words," Xerese answered curious as to where his mind was going with the information.

  "Attacking a temple and burning down parts of a town's market doesn't seem like something that would make sense for a king's soldiers to do. Maybe they acted like brigands, because they were only pretending to be soldiers?"

  "You think that these men were part of those who attacked Delem? Why would men dress up as Tseulty soldiers and burn down a temple?" she questioned equally confused.

  "The only reasons I can think of would be that they either wanted people to be afraid of attacking them believing that King Tylus would have his armies to back them or they wanted the people to think the king wanted them to do it."

  "Isn't that the same thing?" the lady shook her head trying to understand.

  "If they wanted to cause mischief and get away with it, dressing as the king's soldiers would help. If they want the people to blame the king..."

  "Then the uniforms point the finger at King Tylus. Who would benefit from causing a rift between the king and his people? By the same token, what do they hope to achieve by attacking the temple if they aren't trying to discredit the king?"

  Shrugging at her summation of the situation, the guardsman said, "If someone is doing this to get a rise out of the people, we had better hope that it is localized on Delem. If more towns become angry with the king, he could send real troops to put down any form of insurrection starting to occur.

  "We don't want to get caught in a civil war."

  They ate quickly and moved out wondering if their fears were correct. While they had no real proof of such a trick, the more they thought about it, the strange words of the soldiers began to make sense.

  All morning the two walked until they made it to the northwest part of the forest. They could see the road from the cover of the woods and walked for a time near the edge. A branch occurred near mid afternoon, so Toman decided to venture out in the hopes that they were near a new town or city.

  Xerese wondered if they were headed to more troubles or if they could finally find a way home.

  The first farm they spotted appeared idyllic. There were no fires and they could see people working in the fields. A new crop of wheat grew tall close to the road where it hadn't been cut yet, but large sections had felled stalks being gathered to take to the threshing floor.

  Toman dared to investigate and discovered the troubles in Delem hadn't appeared to follow them. The farmer directed them to his house where his wife and servants took their hard work in the fields and translated it into bags of wheat for market.

  The women were friendly and once more they were given a meal for lunch. A little more was given for their travels. After the incident at the lake and the disturbing events in Delem, it was nice to feel safer once more.

  It was too soon in their work to earn a ride north, but Toman didn't wish to delay any further. They moved on and found other farms with varying crops working without the worry of war.

  A night spe
nt in another barn was an upgrade from their time in the forest or lying on the ground in some field or prairie. Xerese was treated to a bath in the house. While her true nature wasn't revealed, the farmer's wife saw the young beauty and felt bad for the dirt on her clothes.

  Toman helped gather the water that they heated before putting it in a large wooden tub. There was no separate bathroom, but the wife and her elder daughter kicked the men out of the house while they helped her bathe.

  The guardsman was told to use her bath water after the girl was clean. Xerese borrowed a dress while they cleaned her clothes. Unfortunately Toman was much too big for any of the farmer's clothes, but the women forced him to wrap up in blankets while they did their best to clean his road worn gear.

  For once Xerese was able to tease the man. He appeared less embarrassed than she would have thought, but in the end Xerese was just glad that he was finally clean. It had been too long since he had been able to wash properly and here they even found soap and shampoo for their hair.

  A scissors was brought out to trim his hair and beard as well making her guard look less like a hairy monster and more like a man again.

  It always amazed her at the generosity to be found, especially away from the cities. Not every farmer had been willing to give as much, but few turned away a stranger. It was an unwritten code among the people to help each other. There would be times when they would need help as well, so giving it to others so it would in turn come back to them made sense.

  They wrapped up the extra swords in a bundle making it hard to distinguish. When Xerese offered to give one to the family that she still wore in exchange for all the good will, the wife laughed and shook her head.

  "That is alright, my dear. What would we do with something like that? We're farmers and would be more likely to cut our own arms off than use it to protect ourselves, besides there is little worry of that here."

  "But in Delem..." she began. They had passed on the warning of what had happened in the town earlier, but the woman waved off her worry.