by J. K. Barber
To their credit, Sasha and Katya had made a few attempts to pull Jared into their conversations and discussions, which mainly revolved around home and the things that one sister did that annoyed the other, but Jared had only replied with the barest of words, similar to his journey south with Sasha. Sasha now had Katya to discuss matters with, and Jared was even less a part of the conversations than before. Even Katya’s pet bird seemed to be more of a part of the group than Jared was. Katya took the bird into the tent with her every night, as she went to sleep, either with Sasha or alone when it was Sasha’s turn on watch. Jared had slept on the ground, not wanting to intrude on either of the women’s propriety. Ironically, it was Jared’s tent.
Thankfully, Jared only had to endure matters for a couple days before they returned to Bridgetown. Expecting a town full of a garrison of the King’s Army, the small settlement was deserted, as they approached from the river. Jared had had the sisters wait downstream, while he slipped into town to make sure nothing untoward had happened in their absence. Jared had noticed a small plume of smoke, as they had approached Bridgetown, and had hoped that the town had not been sacked and burnt to the ground while they were gone. Voicing his theory, Katya had countered his words with logic. She had pointed out that a force large enough to overcome a garrison of the King’s Army would have left a path that was visible, even at a distance, and that there would have been at the very least debris, if not bodies in the water, downstream as they were. The small town was most likely still intact she concluded. Sasha had simply sighed and called him a pessimist.
Jared circled the small hamlet, looking for signs of struggle or inhabitants. Seeing neither, he approached the barracks, the source of the single plume of smoke, with caution. The smoke arose from one of the fireplaces at the end of the barrack building. Moving quietly up to the door, Jared found it unlocked, and he slightly opened it, peering inside. Lounging near the small fire was a familiar shaven-headed figure. Jared stepped lightly across the wooden floor of the barracks, slipping up behind Talas. Not trusting his sword to stay silent, as he slipped it from its sheath, Jared pulled his hunting knife from his belt, reversing his grip on the wide foot-long blade, so that its point faced the ground.
Stopping several feet away, Jared watched the steady rise and fall of the old veteran’s chest, making sure that he was still breathing. After several moments, Jared relaxed and sheathed his knife. Talas was unharmed and simply asleep.
“Halt in the name of the King!” Jared yelled, snickering afterwards.
Talas started and fell back in his chair, landing gracelessly on the wooden floor. Jared laughed heartily, but stayed out of reach of the veteran; old man or no, any solider was dangerous when they first woke up.
Startled at first, Talas quickly relaxed, seeing that only Jared stood in the room. The woodsman was grinning from ear to ear. Talas’ shock was rapidly replaced by irritation. “Why you little…” he blustered. “I ought to…”
Jared took the few remaining strides between them and extended his hand to the prostrate priest-turned-warrior. Talas glared at him for a moment and then took the offered help up. Once on his feet, Talas continued his grip on Jared’s forearm turning it into a hearty greeting. “How are you boy?” Talas inquired. Looking around and behind the woodsman, Talas continued, “Where’s that woman of yours?”
“She is not my woman… but let’s not start that conversation over again,” Jared grimaced. “She’s a little downstream with her sister.”
“Good,” Talas replied, genuinely appeased. “So you found her?”
“More like she found us,” Jared subconsciously rubbed his chest, remembering the wound that had so recently been there. He continued, anticipating the veteran’s next question. “They’re both fine and ready to head home.”
Talas’ eyes darkened a bit, as his brow furrowed. “That may prove a bit difficult.” Jared looked puzzled and gestured for the old soldier to continue. “Just after you left, word came from Aeirsga.” Jared’s eyes widened. Any order that came from the capital had to be of great importance. “Snowhaven’s been overrun. The garrison got called up north, ‘to proceed with all available haste.’” Talas seemed to be recalling words that he had heard or read.
Jared looked around the barracks, studying the interior of the building, and he noticed signs that its occupants had left in a hurry: the beds were unmade and footlockers left open, both of which Jared knew would be unacceptable conditions in the King’s Army.
“Any survivors?” Jared asked, not knowing if he wanted the answer.
Talas put a hand on Jared’s shoulder and the younger man did his best not to flinch. “I don’t know. The news was third hand, at best, but the Ice Queen was mentioned, and it didn’t sound good.” Jared sat down on the edge of the table, on which Talas had just been resting his feet, and ran his gloved hand over his face. “Sasha and Katya won’t like this at all. They’ll probably want to head north ‘with all available haste’ themselves,” Jared said, echoing the words he had heard Talas repeat before.
“I figured as much.” Talas nodded over to the bed closest to the fire, beside which sat a large pack, well-stuffed with an unadorned heater shield, his hardened leather shirt, and a mace with a well-worn grip, all packed and arranged for travel. “I’m ready to go whenever you are.”
Jared stared at Talas, the surprise evident on his face.
“Did you think I was just going to sit here and do nothing while that ice-bitch runs rampant?” Anger flared up in the older man’s eyes, but Jared could not guess its source. “The only reason I stayed here as long as I did, was so that I could tell you what had happened. Truth be told, I was getting a bit antsy just sitting here with a whole barracks to myself,” Talas indicated with a sweep of his arm the building in which they stood.
The old veteran lashed his shield to his pack, slung it over his shoulder and then picked up his mace. Tilting his head towards the door, he said, “Shall we?” Not bothering to wait for Jared’s answer, the former priest stalked towards the door, his every stride ripe with determination and a strength that belied his advancing years. With no other course of action left open to him, Jared followed.
As expected, the twins had peppered Talas with questions as soon as they heard the news of Snowhaven. As soon as Jared had signaled to the girls that it was safe, they had approached town, carrying the canoe between them. Talas met them near the road, leading three horses, including Hoarfrost. Katya recognized the horse as Mistress Mala’s and immediately worried after her sister’s teacher. Sasha quickly quieted her twin’s concerns with the explanation that Mala had simply lent the mare to her. Sasha’s explanation, Jared noted, was tinged with the unease, surrounding Mala’s current condition though.
Readying the other two horses for travel, Talas explained the situation. “Now I don’t want you two girls getting all upset over nothing because the information I have is sketchy at best. However, the report did say that Snowhaven was probably going to be overrun. Apparently, Snowhaven had sent word that they have held off one attack but were not likely to fare so well against a second.” Sasha’s hands balled into fists, and her eyes narrowed at the news. Katya brought her hands together, interlacing all her fingers but her thumbs and forefingers, which she kept outstretched. She raised her thumbs to her forehead and then traced a half circle around her cheek to her chin mumbling something softly under her breath. To Jared’s surprise, Talas echoed the young sorceress’ gesture, nodding his head slightly towards her and said, “Mother willing.”
Then, it was Sasha’s turn to look surprised. Talas simply looked at the young swordswoman saying, “Not everything is what you first think it to be, young lady.” He then shot a significant glance towards Jared, reminding him to keep his mouth shut. The woodsman immediately busied himself with getting one of the horses ready for travel, hoping his discomfort did not show.
Luckily, Talas continued with his explanation of the events in Snowhaven, as far as he knew them. “Knowing
that a second attack was coming, they probably evacuated who they could.” The twins looked briefly at each other before returning their attention to Talas’ words. “So survivors are not only possible, they’re likely.” The older man heaved himself up into the saddle of a chestnut mare that looked a little late in years, like Talas himself. “We won’t know until we get there, so let’s get moving. Sasha and Katya, you’ll have to ride double,” Talas said and nodded towards Hoarfrost, by far the largest and healthiest of the three horses they had. “…at least, until we get to Binford’s Bluff and see if we can get a fourth horse. Unfortunately, it was all I could do to get the garrison to part with these other two,” Talas indicated his own horse and Jared’s smaller bay. “They may not be as strong or as fast as Hoarfrost there, but they’ll get us where we need to go.” Talas patted the side of his mount’s neck and nudged her forward. Mounting quickly, Jared and the twins followed suit.
Chapter 23
The next few days passed quickly and uneventfully. Talas had them up at dawn each day and on the road shortly after, staying on the trail until after dark. Pushing the horses, as hard as they felt comfortable, often meant resting for several hours around midday. This suited their riders just fine. During this time the, twins would get an hour or more of needed sleep, while Talas kept watch. The older man claimed that he didn’t need as much sleep in his autumn years, as his younger companions did. Jared took advantage of these periods to hunt, usually coming back to camp with a few rabbits or other small animals, which would end up being that evening’s dinner.
Jared was glad of the addition of Talas to their journey. It wasn't that he didn’t enjoy the company of the twins, but his feelings of being an outsider were lessened considerably with the veteran around. While Sasha and Katya spoke of Snowhaven, family and friends and what may have become of them, Talas would pull Jared into more esoteric conversations, often involving philosophy and religion. Reticent to talk about things of which Jared had no knowledge, Talas did most of the talking, pausing at certain points to ask the woodsman a short question and then continuing on.
“So in this particular situation,” Talas asked, “would the soldier be doing good to let the prisoner go, knowing that his commander intended to execute all the captured prisoners of war?” Talas looked over at Jared, who rode beside him as they continued traveling north along the Tradeway. “Keep in mind that the prisoner is a conscript and, therefore, was fighting against his will. Secondly, the execution of prisoners of war is expressly against the Code of Combat.” Jared could almost hear the capital letters, when Talas referred to the guidelines that were supposed to bring an air of civility to war.
Jared looked at the veteran with what the tracker was sure was a fairly blank expression. “I… that is…if he…” Jared stumbled over his words. “I guess it would depend on what the prisoner planned on doing if released, and whether the soldier thought the prisoner’s word could be trusted?” Jared’s uncertainty turned his answer into a question.
“Precisely!” Talas exclaimed. “How can we claim to make truly moral judgments, especially when a life hangs in the balance, without all the information? And then we must determine if that information is reliable.” Talas continued on with his discussion of morality in times of war. Jared’s attention drifted.
He looked over his shoulder to where Katya and Sasha rode behind and shot them a plaintive look. Sasha shrugged, as if to say he was on his own, and then smiled mischievously. Jared’s breath hitched momentarily at Sasha’s expression; there was so much hinted at in that one little smile… Jared quickly averted his eyes, afraid of betraying himself. Unfortunately, his eyes were immediately drawn to where Katya rode behind her sister. Jared was again amazed at how two sisters, twins even, could be so similar and so different at the same time.
As they traveled farther north, Jared had become more acquainted with Katya’s personality. She was often soft-spoken, but there was a strength of will behind her words that rivaled her sister’s. Whereas Sasha was bold and outspoken, sometimes even brash, Katya was more contemplative, listening for long periods of time and then saying a few well thought out words, which held all the impact of Sasha’s boldly spoken phrases. There was also gentleness in Katya’s manner that Jared had rarely seen in Sasha.
Of course, all of Katya’s soft-spoken contemplation was lost when she argued with her sister. Then, both she and her warrior twin fought like young girls, who had not yet seen their thirteenth year. Snipping and bickering back and forth at times, Jared was sometimes appalled as one called the other a hag or worse. And yet, Jared could sense a playfulness and deep love beneath it all.
Jared had noticed other differences in the twins that went beyond their behavior. Katya’s body, shaped less by the sword and more by the scholarly pursuits of a sorcerer, had grown into a more womanly form. Although mostly concealed beneath her robes, the rare glimpses that Jared had had of Katya, when she washed her robes and had to borrow a less concealing pair of pants and a shirt from Sasha, bespoke of a definitively feminine shape. If fully displayed, Jared doubted that any male could have resisted Katya’s charms, had she the inclination to put them to such a use. Nothing that Jared had seen so far, however, had indicated to him that she was so inclined or even aware of her obvious physical beauty.
Jared blinked and became aware of three things immediately. Firstly, he was staring at Katya in a way that colored his cheeks. Secondly, Sasha was staring at him in a way that made some of the color drain from his face. Lastly, Talas was again trying to engage him in conversation.
“So, in that case,” Talas continued, apparently from a thread of conversation that Jared had not followed. “The soldier would have to confront his commander, at least verbally, and not release the prisoner. Wouldn’t you think?”
Jared looked at Talas. Clearly caught paying too much attention to Katya and not enough to Talas, Jared’s frustration at these boring and decidedly one-sided conversations and fueled by tiredness from their hard travel, bubbled to the surface. “Why does it matter?” Jared snapped. “War is war. It doesn’t matter which side is the more moral. It matters which side wins, and then the winner gets to decide what is right and wrong.”
Talas continued, unperturbed by Jared’s outburst. “But does it not matter how one fights as much as whom or why? Otherwise, men are no better than animals fighting over territory, and all our civilization, our education and morality mean nothing.”
Talas had struck too close to home for Jared’s comfort, and he felt his anger rising in his chest. “Not to the people who are dead,” the hunter growled. “They’re dead and no amount of morality or civilization will change that.”
Either oblivious or undisturbed by Jared mounting ire, Talas persisted. “Ahh, but that is only supposing that life ends at death. Truly, the argument could be made that it is one’s morality, which sometimes springs from civilization, which determines their reward, or punishment, after they have died and been reborn. As the Mother teaches us, one’s place in his next life is determined by his actions in this life.”
Jared noticed Sasha nudge her horse forward closer to the space between his horse and Talas’. Not yet interposing herself between the two men, Sasha was clearly preparing to intervene should the discussion, now ranging closer to argument, turn ugly. Feeling crowded, Jared glared at the swordswoman, feeling his upper lip curl slightly away from his teeth. Sasha’s eyes narrowed as she assessed the situation. Katya’s eyes on the other hand, widened in surprise and something else. Fear, Jared thought. The woodsman sensed fear from Katya. She was afraid of him. Unlike the fear that he had smelled on Sasha days ago in the Bloodwood, this was not the fear of intimacy, it was the base fear that prey had of a predator.
Now for a second time, in as many minutes, Jared snapped his awareness back away from where his instincts were leading him. He relaxed his shoulders, breathed deeply through his nose and out his mouth, as though he were calming his mind to enter that of an animal. Reigning in his anger
, Jared turned his attention back towards Talas and said as calmly as he could. “Yes, from a more philosophical point of view, one could say that a more practical man like me would probably not think of that in the heat of battle.”
Jared looked at Sasha once again. She had slowed her horse, falling back a bit, but her body language said she was still at the ready should a physical confrontation come about.
Turning back to the older man beside him, Jared saw Talas smiling at him. Completely surprised by the reaction, Jared felt the remaining anger flow from his body. Why, in the Mother’s name is this old fool smiling at me? Jared thought. Then it hit him. The Mother’s name was exactly why the priest-turned-warrior was smiling at him.
“You knew I would react like that, didn’t you?” Jared asked
“Well, knew is a strong word, my son,” Talas replied. “I thought you might, and I wanted to determine two things. Firstly, would you react as your instincts directed you to a purely philosophical debate? Secondly, would you be able to exert your mind, and to some extent your morality, over them?” The older man looked at Jared with an odd expression on his face. It was one of pride, not at his own abilities, but at Jared’s. It struck the tracker as strangely paternal. “Oddly enough, both turned out to be true.”
Jared thought this over for a moment before replying himself. “Well, I am glad that I could prove your theories correct. Now perhaps you could help prove one of my own.” When Talas nodded Jared continued. “You’re thinking of entering the priesthood again, aren’t you?” Jared couldn’t help but notice the surprise in twin’s expressions and, to a lesser extent, on the old man’s face as well.
“And what made you arrive at this conclusion, Jared?” Talas asked. The veteran seemed both curious and amused at the same time.
“One, you’ve spoken more of philosophy and morality in the past two days than you did on our entire trip south with the Tradesmen’s caravan. Two, you’ve spoken openly of it in front of them,” Jared indicated the twins, “…when before you spoke only covertly to me. Lastly, why would you, a self-admitted mercenary, go out of your way to travel with us towards a conflict in which the King’s Army is already involved, unless you thought there was something bigger at stake? Something that you felt called to do?”
