01 - The Price of Talent

by Peter Whittlesey

  “And when we saw all the melted holes in the ice, the missing candles, etc…” Said Bevan. “We were able to put things together.”

  “It also helped explain why you were locked up in the back of a cart being escorted by three members of the Inquisition,” said Tiernan.

  “Oh, uh… I guess that makes sense…” I replied.

  The rest of the evening was surprisingly relaxed. No one seemed to question what I thought was a giant revelation about myself. I guess when you are a group of outlaws, everyone has secrets. In some small way I was kind of disappointed. I was expecting condemnation, accusations of witchcraft and the like. Instead, everyone was matter of fact about it. I was a little dumbfounded. Still, with the loot stowed in the lean-to, and dinner cooking on the fire (more salt pork), there was not much else to do but relax. In the end, we all turned in fairly early, agreeing that it had been an exhausting day.

  The next day we all slept in. We had agreed the previous night before going to bed that we were not going to hit the road until Sapphire got back with the wagon. Then we were going to relocate to a new ambush site on the road, one far away from the one we had just used. Fortunately, Sapphire did not make us wait. She moseyed on into the campsite a little after lunch and was disappointed to find that there were no leftovers.

  “So after spending all morning in the carriage I get here to find you four lazing around the camp, and you didn’t even leave me any lunch?” She asked.

  “Well, to be fair, we didn’t know when you would get here,” said Tiernan.

  With the greeting, such as it was, out of the way, Devlin explained the situation to Sapphire. As he was doing this, the rest of us started loading up the cart to travel off to the new campsite. Unfortunately, it was going to take more than a day to get there, since we were going to be traveling on trails through the woods and not by the road. And while there was some complaining about having to sleep in the woods, everyone saw the necessity of avoiding the road. Who knew what sort of patrols were on the road now that the escaped guard had enough time to report the incident?

  Things were pretty quiet in the woods. It was a beautiful spring day, and the birds were singing in the branches. The path itself was a little narrow for us and the cart. With the cart being full of loot, everyone but the driver had to walk. Everyone but me took turns driving the cart, as I did not know how to drive it. Bevan was all for teaching me right then, but both Devlin and Sapphire thought teaching me to drive the cart in a narrow woodland path would only lead to trouble. I saw their point.

  Come evening we started looking for a glade or clearing to camp in. It took some looking, but we finally found a little opening that was big enough for us all to spread out in and let the horse graze. That night was more salt pork, eaten with more gusto than normal because we had spent all day walking and had worked up substantial appetites. Still, the general mood was quietly jovial. I fell asleep listening to the good natured bickering while staring up at the stars.

  The next morning we pulled ourselves together and started our hike to the next campsite at a few hours after sunrise. It took us till almost lunch to get to there. The blue sky of the day before had given way to some patchy clouds. It did not look like rain, but it was also not as nice as the previous day. When we got to the campsite, it looked a little the worse for wear. The lean-to smelled of wet fur and the fire pit walls had been knocked over.

  “It looks like an animal may have wintered in our lean-to,” said Sapphire.

  “Certainly smells like one did,” said Bevan.

  “There are some fairly large bear prints around the cabin and some claw marks on the walls of the lean-to,” said Tiernan

  “Jarvis would not be too terribly pleased with that,” said Devlin. “Still, there doesn’t seem to be too much lasting damage. We just need to clean out the worst of the fur and detritus from the lean-to and fix the fire pit.”

  “Well, I better get started on the fire pit,” said Tiernan.

  “Good idea,” said Devlin. “Tyr, why don’t you go look for some firewood while Sapphire and I clean up and fix the lean-to.”

  So that’s what I did. While out, I found the stream where we were going to be getting our water. I also managed to get a few arm loads of sticks and kindling materials for the fire. By the time I was working on my third load, Devlin and Sapphire had stopped cleaning out the lean-to and started unpacking the supplies. They left the money and the extra weapons in the cart as they were going to be heading back to the longhouse the next day.

  We all finished up our chores around the campsite a little before dinner time. By the time everyone had settled in, a discussion had begun about who was going back with the extra loot.

  “I’ve been out here since before the snows all thawed,” said Bevan. “I would like some time relaxing at the longhouse.”

  “Hah! You want time relaxing next to one of my mead barrels while I’m not there to supervise,” said Sapphire.

  “No, I’m sure there’s lots of stuff around the house that needs a blacksmith’s attention,” said Bevan.

  “We already mentioned the mead Bevan,” said Tiernan.

  “Besides, Jarvis said he could use Tiernan’s help with some repairs,” said Sapphire. “It turns out the snow melt is seeping through a couple of storeroom walls.”

  “Damn, you know I just shored them up this winter too,” said Tiernan. “I guess those mead barrels are just going to have to pine away for you Bevan.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure they already miss him dearly,” said Devlin. “But if Jarvis says the walls need Tiernan’s attention, then he is the one who should go.”

  With that settled, everyone got things ready for dinner. Devlin built the wood into a log cabin arrangement in the newly repaired fireplace, but instead of grabbing some tinder and the flint, he turned to me and smiled.

  “Tyr, why don’t you get this started,” he said.

  “Um, ok, sure,” I said, not knowing what else to do.

  So I walked over to the fire pit and the wood and concentrated on the wood. After a minute or so, I had gotten the bottom logs going enough that the rest would catch soon enough.

  “He didn’t use the flint,” said Sapphire, more than a little surprised. “There’s a story here isn’t there?”

  “There is indeed!” Said Devlin with a mischievous smile. “Tyr may have revealed why it was the inquisitors had him trussed away in the back of that cart when we first found him.”

  “Oh?” Said Sapphire.

  Devlin proceeded to tell the whole story in grand fashion. He left out the bits where I was in a blind panic about Bevan being in harm’s way, or my throwing up the minute I smelled the burnt corpses. Instead he made it sound almost heroic. Like the first high priest blasting away the armies of the mages. The basic facts were the same as what actually happened, but it made me seem far more impressive than I actually was. Bravely throwing fireballs at our enemies sounds a lot better than what I actually did, which was to panic, drop my arrows, and lose control of my powers. Still, Sapphire seemed impressed, and as a teenage boy, impressing women, even those a decade older than me, seemed like something I should not interrupt.

  Dinner was eaten with lots of discussion. Sapphire seemed more impressed with Bevan defending himself from two mounted men and two crossbow men than my lighting people on fire. Bevan re-enacted running the guard through and using him as a human shield a number of times. Once using Tiernan as the human shield, much to his annoyance. Food was as it usually was, more salt pork. After all, it was that or the older supplies. What had seemed like a luxury when we got it, had by this point lost its luster. Which just shows you that you can get sick of anything if you eat it often enough.

  Still, the evening passed in a jovial fashion, and when I turned in, I was able to ignore the smell of wet fur in the newly cleaned up lean-to and fall fast asleep. I awoke the next morning to the sound of breakfast being made. Unfortunately, yesterday’s clouds had stuck around and new ones had joined the
fun. It looked like we were in for a little rain in the near future. Breakfast was just oatmeal, nothing fancy. No one mentioned bacon or other cured meats, even Bevan having finally gotten sick of them.

  When breakfast had concluded, we all helped Tiernan get his gear into the cart for the journey back to the longhouse.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to smash your face in, Bevan,” said Tiernan with a smile.

  “Not that you would have accomplished any more than those guards did attacking me,” said Bevan in reply.

  “They were incompetent and you had support from us archers in the woods,” said Tiernan. “If we had sparred, you wouldn’t be able to rely on our little pyromancer here lighting me on fire when things went badly for you.”

  “Bah, one on one is far easier than five on one,” said Bevan. “I would have given you a few extra lumps on your head for sure.”

  “Yes, be that as it may,” said Devlin, “I think it’s best if Tiernan got a move on. Those storeroom walls won’t get any better for waiting. And if our meat and grain stores spoil we will have to stretch the salt pork out for quite a while.”

  “True enough,” said Tiernan. “Well, I wish you all better luck in the days to come. Tyr, you try not to light anyone on fire. Well, don’t light Sapphire or Devlin on fire anyway.”

  And with that, Tiernan snapped the reins and the horse and cart began trundling along the path back toward the longhouse.

  “Now that we have that settled,” said Devlin. “Why don’t we head out to the road and see if anyone drops by and volunteers to give us their goods.”

  With nothing else to do, we all gathered up our weapons and armor, and headed out to the road. The spot this time was on a long straight section of road with two rises about 300 yards apart and a depression in the middle. The two rises gave us good views of the road north and south and the depression provided a decent spot for an ambush. The idea was that the hills would give us enough cover to push out a barricade of fallen logs without being seen. And with trees on both sides of the road in this spot, fallen logs for the barricade were plentiful.

  We again split up with Bevan and myself on the north branch with Devlin and Sapphire overlooking the southern branch. It was at least mid-morning by the time everything and everyone was in place. Lashing together a barricade takes some time, and this spot did not have one already prepared in the woods for us. Apparently, this was one of the less frequently used ambush sites.

  Fortunately or unfortunately, the late morning and afternoon passed uneventfully. No one came by in either direction. And while nothing was going on, the clouds just kept getting darker. When the sun dropped below the tree line, Devlin called it a day and we all headed back to the camp. Personally, I was fine with nothing happening. After last ambush, I was not comfortable with going through all that again. Having almost lost Bevan in that trap, my anxieties had resurfaced. Bevan, on the other hand, was less than thrilled with nothing going on.

  “See, this is why we don’t use this spot as much,” he said. “It’s off in the middle of nowhere and this portion of the road is only used by the church authorities and large trade caravans.”

  “It does cut down on the number of uninteresting travelers,” said Sapphire. “A much higher percentage of the people on this road will be worth stopping because tinkers and small farmers don’t use it.”

  “True, and it has the added bonus of being two days travel away from our previous site,” said Devlin. “We are far less likely to attract unwanted attention here.”

  As we settled into camp and started getting ready for dinner, it started raining. This was annoying for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was it made starting a fire difficult. Fortunately, with my secret revealed, Devlin decided not to waste and flint and just had me start the fire again. With that out of the way, he and Sapphire made a stew with some of the salt pork, some old deer jerky and some local vegetables Sapphire was able to find in the woods.

  We all ate in virtual silence in the lean-to listening to the rain drum on the roof and hiss in the now guttering fire. When the meal was over, we drew straws to see who would have to make the long hike to the stream to clean the cook wear and bowls we had used to eat with. I was relieved when Bevan drew the short straw, sure I was going to spend a cold wet evening washing plates. I fell asleep to the sound of the rain before he came back.

  The rain had stopped by the time we got up the next morning. The sky was still covered with thick grey clouds, but no longer looked angry enough to rain on us. So we had a warm meal of oatmeal, heated over a fire again started be me. And when we were done, and the cookware clean, we headed off to the overlooks.

  The day passed slowly. The air was still and you could hear last night’s rain dripping off the leaves of the trees all around us. It was enough to almost lull me to sleep when it wasn’t my turn overlooking the road. Bevan was in a bit of a surly mood; he was convinced that Devlin rigged the straw drawing the night before.

  “You will note that Devlin never draws the short straw when the weather is bad,” he said. “Oh no, he always manages to have his turn cleaning the dishes on the warm sunny days.”

  While he was complaining, I was checking over my gear. My new bow was doing well; both the wood and the string were in good repair. My sword was, as ever, sitting in its sheath next to the bow. In the past few months, my sword seemed less insulted by the bow’s presence. He no longer complained quite so much when it was nearby.

  You haven’t had much to say recently. You enjoying being out of the longhouse?

  The view of the road may be boring, but it is nothing in comparison to the view of the wall in your room. Boredom comes in many varieties, but none are as grating as staring at a wall.

  You rate your level of boredom?

  Considering how infrequently you pay attention to me, I must content myself with something.

  You don’t enjoy the fresh air and sunshine?

  As a sword, I don’t care much one way or another about the weather. As long as you don’t let me get rusty or allow my sheath to get rotten, I’m fine.

  I’m surprised you didn’t complain more at not being used in the last ambush.

  I got to watch you light a bunch of guards on fire. It was the most entertainment I’ve had in months. Honestly, short of seeing actual use, watching you light things on fire may well be one of the most entertaining things I have ever seen.

  It was late afternoon when we heard footsteps running fast up the pathway to our overlook. When both Bevan and I turned to look, Sapphire was just coming to a stop in front of us.

  “Ok, you two, there is a large caravan with a couple of guards coming up from the south,” she said. “Devlin wants all three of us in the woods with bows. He’s about to push out the barricade.”

  Not needing to hear anymore, both Bevan and I grabbed our weapons and hurried down to the ambush site. When we got there Devlin was just getting the log barricade into place. So we each took spots behind trees in the woods, strung our bows and set some arrows out in front of us for easy reach. Once in place, Sapphire waved at Devlin to let him know, and then we waited.

  About 15 minutes later, two men on horseback crested the road and paused when they saw the barricade. They continued down into the depression between the hills once the carriage caught up with them. Together they rode down and stopped in front of the barricade and Devlin appeared from behind it.

  “Good afternoon to you all,” he said. “Would you mind unloading your goods from your carriage for inspection?”

  “Inspection?” Asked one of the guards. “What authority do you have to demand inspection of the contents of our carriage?”

  I thought things were going to go badly again, but then from in the carriage, there came a man’s voice saying something I could not hear. Fortunately, upon hearing what he had to say, the guards backed off and the driver stepped down to open the doors to the carriage. Inside was a couple of chests and an older gentleman in priestly vestm
ents. The driver took his hand and helped him out of the carriage. When the older man stood, he was quite a bit taller than I had expected. He looked to be around the age of 60, was dressed in all white robes and he carried a staff that looked ornamental. He also had a golden medallion around his neck.

  “As you can see, we have very little in the way of goods,” he said to Devlin. “The chests contain coins, which are the pensions and widow benefits to be paid to the families of guards who were recently waylaid by highwaymen such as yourself. You wouldn’t steal money destined to feed widows and orphans would you?”

  “Come now father, we both know the church has plenty more where that came from,” responded Devlin. “If we took this money, it would, at the very worst, delay payment to these people, nothing more. We would hardly be starving anyone.”

  “Now, now, young man,” responded the priest. “It could take days to report the loss of this shipment. Days more before we could ship out more. Worse, if tax receipts have been low they might have to wait a month or more for us to accumulate enough money to pay them. Are you really willing to risk the futures of these poor unfortunate souls for mere currency?”