by Holly Law
“Thank you,” Elara said, feeling very surprised at the unexpected compliment. She didn't particularly care for the lady, but it was a compliment nonetheless that Lady Elisa thought her competent to remain as her maid.
“I must be returning to the castle. I told father I was just going out for a ride. He'll worry if I'm gone too long.”
“Is he going to be trying to send you to the capital again?” Elara asked as the lady stood from the rough chair she had been sitting in.
“No, after what happened the roads are definitely not safe. He wants me to stay near the castle until this war is finished,” Lady Elisa made a face. “I must look for a husband closer to home. The choices are far fewer.”
“I'm sorry we couldn't get you to the capital.”
Lady Elisa shrugged. “I think perhaps it is the best. I strongly suspect there will be a change of government soon. Things would have been more dangerous in the capital in the long run. I must be going, father will miss me. I told him I was going out for a ride.”
“Thank you for bringing word to us,” Lairk told Lady Elisa politely. “It's appreciated.”
Unexpected Guest
A little over a month later, Elara was presented with a rare opportunity she leapt at. Lairk walked into their home, still sweating from his work in the fields. Elara was carefully trying to cut up carrots for their dinner and doing a poor job of it. Lairk stretched and sat down in his usual chair looking exhausted and dirty.
“Long day, Lairk?” Elara asked him.
“Should be the last of the long days in the field at least,” Lairk said with a yawn.
“Harvest is done then?” Elara asked him.
“Isn't that what your brother just said?” her mother said in a scolding tone. Elara winced and said nothing in response.
“Yes, the harvest is done,” Lairk said, ignoring their mother. “Now all that's left to do is bring the harvest in to Velshire to be sold for our lord.”
“Velshire?” Elara asked startled.
“Aren't your ears working today, Elara?” her mother said coldly. Elara flushed in embarrassment and anger.
“That's the town where the harvest has always been sold,” her brother said. “Father went there every year.”
“Yes, but the Corscans control it now. They wouldn't let us trade there would they?”
“Rumor says they will. I've been hearing the roads are actually safer to trade on. The Corscan soldiers have been doing a good job of getting rid of any bandits.”
“Anyone in their right mind would avoid Corscans,” her mother declared.
“They're not that bad,” Elara disagreed, despite herself. Lairk looked at her oddly for her comment and briefly Elara flushed in embarrassment. She had been thinking more of Corden of late and wondering how he was doing.
“They killed your, father,” her mother reminded her shortly. “I'll have nothing good of them said in my house. Or do I need to remind you that you almost end up as a wife to one of those monsters.”
Elara bit her tongue and finished the carrots.
“I was wondering if you'd want to come to Velshire,” her brother offered. “We're a bit short on help and could use another set of hands.”
“I'd love to go,” Elara said at once before her mother could object.
The trip to Velshire was pleasant if only because Elara didn't have to be near her mother. The cool autumn days were sunny and it didn't even rain on them. The trees were brilliantly colored and Elara smiled at some of the beautiful views. It was only the second time in her life she had been so far from her village. And she would enjoy every second of it.
They saw two patrols of Corscan soldiers. That made all of them nervous but the soldiers didn't bother them. They were stopped only once and then to ask if they had any trouble on the road.
“You're Corden's girl, aren't you?” one of the lower ranking soldiers asked her casually as the higher ranking officers talked to the men from the village. “I mean, you're the girl who knocked him off the cliff.”
Elara flushed in embarrassment. “Yes, I am,” Elara told him.
The soldier raised his visor and grinned. He had a good natured face. “You've been the talk of the town,” the soldier informed her. “You don't expect to hear of Lord Daliscas losing a girl he's interested in. You got away from probably the most desirable bachelor in Corsca.”
“I don't regret my decision,” Elara said firmly.
“I didn't think you did,” the soldier said quickly. “I'm just glad to have met such a famous local legend.” The rest of the soldiers started regrouping to head. “Glad to have had the chance to meet you.” The soldier lowered his visor and rejoined the rest of the Corscans.
When they were an hour from the town Lairk climbed onto the wagon beside her. He said nothing for a few minute and Elara thought he was just going to relax there with her. But then he spoke. “Are you going to look for Corden when you get to the town?” Lairk asked her.
“I wouldn't think he would still be there,” Elara said, not wanting to admit she hoped to at least catch a glimpse of the soldier.
“He might be. His leg might have kept him closer to town.”
“It didn't prevent him from seeing us home,” Elara reminded him.
“If you went looking for him, I wouldn't think less of you.”
“You think I should,” Elara accused him.
“Yes, I do think you should. I think you should take him up on his offer of marriage actually.”
“Lairk!” Elara gasped, feeling scandalized. “He's a Corscan!”
“Who took good care of you,” her brother pointed out. “He'd be good to you. You have no prospects of marriage in the village, Elara. You know that. Corden was very interested and would take good care of you.”
“How can you wish a Corscan on me?”
“You're not a child any more, Lara. And the dreams you had as a child mean nothing. The worst has already happened. You lived through being taken by a Corscan and managed to free yourself. There would be no shame in admitting to him you would think him a good husband.”
“I refuse to marry a Corscan.”
“I don't think they're what the stories claim. He treated you respectfully and I know he didn't have to let you go. He told me that much himself. It hurt his honor far more to let you go than to keep you. I…”
“I'm not going to marry him, Lairk, and that's that.”
“What will you do if you see him in the town?”
“I'm not going to.”
“You might. There is a good chance of it.”
“The town is so big he won't notice me if he's there.”
They arrived at the gates of the town a short time later. There was a stream of other wagons from other farms and they had to wait some time before they were at the gate. The guards at the gate were in full armor just as they had been the day Corden had led them easily through. The passage that day was not as easy.
“Where do you come from?” a Corscan asked. His tone was unreadable and his face was invisible behind his elaborate helmet.
“A serf village three days or so to the west of here. No place of consequence,” Jorgan, an older man with solid white hair and leathery skin. He had been to the city many times before.
“That would be up to us to judge. The name of your village?”
“Florstaf.”
“Part of Lord Westor's domain?”
“Yes.”
“How did you find the road between here and there?”
“About the same as every year.”
“What do you bring?”
“Just the harvest. Same as we bring every year.”
“We have to examine your wagons.”
“I rather suspected you might.”
The soldiers went through and thoroughly examined their wagons. They weren't rough or gentle, but everyone felt uneasy. Elara felt increasingly uneasy when one of the soldiers kept looking at her and there was something quizzical in his dark eyes. Finall
y, he walked up to where she sat and looked at her for a long moment.
“I've seen you before,” the soldier informed her. Elara, who had been afraid it was Corden, was relieved when the voice was not his.
“I've been to the town only one other time,” Elara told him honestly.
“Were there any special circumstances the last time you came through that would cause you to stand out in my mind? I wouldn't remember you wihtout reason.”
“I was with a Corscan soldier. My lady and my brother,” Elara gestured with her head to where Lairk stood “were also with me.”
“What soldier?”
“Corden?” Elara said uncertain if he would know the name.
The soldier looked at her for a long moment. “I remember you. We made the mistake of trying to stop him on his way through. I got the worst shifts for a week for that mistake. You're his released bride. The other officers have given him a great deal of grief over that. You've been the talk of most of the army since then. Knocked him off a cliff it’s told and saved him from drowning.”
“Yes,” Elara confessed, feeling embarrassed.
“It's an interesting pairing of events. If it had happened in Corsca the first would have had you executed had he decided it should be so and the second would have given you many honors. You have my thanks for saving his life.” The soldier looked at the others then. “They're free to go in.”
Elara was relieved when they were allowed to pass into the town. They went straight to an older and more rundown section of town. It was busy with other serfs who had come to sell goods. Elara and her brother were sent to secure rooms at the inn. The inn was not the pleasant building she expected.
Inside it was dirty looking and crowded. The floor creaked unsteadily under her feet and the loud ruckus sounds from the common area was not pleasant. It smelled vaguely of something rotten and the people inside did not look much better. “Is this really an inn?” Elara asked her brother warily.
“No fancy rooms for us, Elara. This is all we can afford,” Lairk whispered to her as they approached the desk. The man behind it looked as unpleasant as the building. “I would like beds for me and six others.”
“That will be three pennies a piece,” the man told them in a gruff voice and Elara didn't particularly like the way he looked at her. Lairk silently parted with the coins. “Your beds will be in the main room. Private rooms would cost you a silver a piece.”
“The main room is fine,” Lairk said shortly.
“There are some clients who would be willing to share their bed with the girl there. Might pay a couple pennies as well.”
“My sister will have her own bed,” Lairk said firmly and looked angry at the suggestion.
“Up to you.”
They both walked out of the inn. Elara felt a bit confused by what the man suggested and she had never seen Lairk look as angry. “Father would have flattened him for that,” Lairk growled under his breath. “And I had half a mind to myself.”
“I didn't understand what he meant,” Elara confessed.
“It's just as well,” Lairk said shortly. “Nothing good and nothing honest. Nothing a good girl like you would accept. Let's go to the market place. The others will be all day selling the harvest, and I don't like this part of town.”
“Sounds fine to me,” Elara agreed.
They quickly left that part of town and entered the richer half. The market place there was far larger and more interesting. There were stalls and shops selling everything. There were small trinkets that absolutely amazed her and other things that were priceless to see. Elara had never seen a stall selling lace before. When Elara over heard the price she inched away from the stall.
It was in the moment she inched away from the stall that she realized Lairk was nowhere nearby. She looked around at once to find him and didn't see him. She quickly began walking through the market hoping to find him. Each minute that passed made her more desperate. She looked and looked and could not find him.
Not knowing what else to do Elara wandered to the fountain at the very center of the market. If she stood on the rim she would be able to see over the crowd and maybe see her brother or at very least he might notice her.
The fountain was a pretty thing. She had only caught a quick glimpse of it before. It was made of three tiers of rough gray stone, worn smooth after years of water flowing over the edges. Even as she moved to stand on the edge she saw a familiar looking horse near the far edge.
The horse was lazily lapping up water from the fountain. His master was nowhere nearby and Elara knew a Corscan war horse would not have been an easy thing to leave the city with. They were bigger and more solidly built than any Brogden horse. Elara suspected the horse would be able to defend himself easily enough.
Curious to see if her suspicions were correct, Elara walked around the edge of the fountain to the horse. Up close, she could see she was correct and that he was Scratch, Corden's horse. The horse looked a bit sweaty and tired, but over all seemed content. It noticed her after a moment and as she drew closer, it stepped up to her and nudged her with its large head. Elara laughed and scratched him behind the ears. Scratch nudged her all the more for the attention. Elara knew he must have remembered the apple.
“Approaching war horses you are not familiar with is ill advised,” a familiar voice cautioned her from behind. There was something reproving in the tone she was unfamiliar with, but she definitely knew the owner of that voice. “You're lucky he didn't bite or kick you.”
Elara looked over her shoulder and saw a Corscan soldier dressed in full armor behind her. The elaborate helmet was familiar to her, but she found it less frightening knowing the face underneath it. The dark eyes behind the helmet looked surprised and it was promptly removed, revealing that her suspicions were correct.
“I think Scratch remembered me,” Elara told him simply. She felt very awkward seeing Corden again. She had hoped to not run into him again, but at the same time she felt strangely glad to see him.
“He has a very good memory in that way. You did give him an apple after all,” Corden told her with a welcoming smile and tossed an apple in the air between his gloved hands. Scratch noticed instantly and lifted his head away from Elara. “Here, I'll let you give him his treat today.” He tossed her the apple. Elara caught it and soon found it snatched out of her hands by the greedy horse. Elara laughed as the horse licked her hand to get any residue from the apple.
“What are you doing here, Elara?” Corden asked her, leaning against the horse. “I thought you never came to town.”
“An extra set of hands was needed to get the harvest here,” Elara told him.
“When did you arrive?”
“A little more than an hour ago.”
“You shouldn't be wandering alone if you're unfamiliar with the town. There are some rougher sections you wouldn't want to be alone in.”
“I…uh, noticed that. I was with my brother, but I lost him,” Elara told him. She didn't have it in her to tell him she was staying in that rougher section.
“Let's see if we can find him then. Scratch should give us a good view. He's a bit tired and moving slow, but he has enough left in him today to find your brother.” Corden put his helmet back on and mounted the horse. He held a hand down to her. Elara let him pull her into the saddle and found that being on Scratch did give her a better view. Corden urged Scratch away from the fountain. Scratch only grudgingly agreed. “You'll get to be in a nice stable soon enough, old boy.”
They looked for a few minutes without seeing her brother. “This may be more of a challenge than I thought,” Corden confessed.
“I didn't think the market was this big.”
“This is a small market. You should see the one in Silcor. It's bigger than this whole town.”
“I can't imagine there is that much in the world to buy.”
“You might be surprised what can be sold. There are many things that a serf would have no use for but others would want a great
deal.”
“I will have to take your word for it.”
“Are you fully recovered, Elara?” Corden asked her after a few more minute of looking. “You seem better, but have you fully healed?”
“Yes, I have. And how is your leg?”
“Mostly better. I can walk on it again and it is healing straight. It will be a week or two yet before it is back to full strength.”
“You haven't been out of the city much then?”
“No, not except to exercise Scratch. I've been on light duty. It's been driving me crazy. I like to be more active. And what have you been up to, Elara?”
“Nothing worth mentioning.”
“Where is that brother of yours? I can't see Lairk anywhere. Where are you staying? Perhaps he returned there.” Elara told him where they were staying. “You shouldn't be anywhere near that place, Elara, even with your brother with you it wouldn't be safe.”
“But…” Elara began.
“You would be safer sleeping in an alley than in that inn. I refuse to let you go anywhere near it.”
“There are other men from my village with us. I'll be safe,” Elara assured him.
“I can't in good conscience let you stay in a place like that. You will stay with me.”
“I think my brother is capable of taking care of me, Corden.”
“Oh really? After he lost you in the city so easily? What would you have done if you hadn't found me? What would you have done next?”
“I…” Elara began, but realized she didn't have a good response. She didn't know what she would have done without Corden. Finding him had been good luck and he was trying very hard to be useful. “I am grateful for your help and I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found you.”
“Here is what I am thinking. I am going to drop you off at the inn. You can get yourself cleaned up and I will have a fresh dress provided for you. I will go to your inn and leave a message for your brother.”
“But what if my brother can't find your inn?” Elara objected.
