The Vitalis Chronicles: White Shores

by Jay Swanson

  Ardin just sat there for a moment, his chin barely resting above the water as he closed his eyes and breathed in the steam. He hadn't spent more than a few minutes like that before the innkeeper burst back in the room with a fresh set of clothes in her arms. She threw them on the bed and fussed about his old clothes. 'Rubbish' and 'filth' choice among her selection of adjectives.

  She took them away, muttering something about having to burn them before she shut the door with a call to be sure he soaked his head. He couldn't be sure if she meant it figuratively or not.

  Ardin sighed and slid down further into the tub, making room with his legs so that he could obey her either way. When he sat back up and wiped the water from his eyes he was greeted by the presence of another visitor, the doctor he presumed.

  “The old lady won't let me into your girlfriend's room until she's clothed,” he said as he pulled up the room's solitary chair and glanced at Ardin over his spectacles. “Which is ridiculous, of course, considering I'll just have to ask her to take her clothes off again.”

  “She's not my girlfriend,” Ardin said, only realizing as he did so that he wished that weren't the case.

  “Right.” The doctor didn't believe it for a minute. “You took a pretty girl like that up hiking in the Rent and risked life and limb to save her and she's not your girl? You're either the most honorable man alive or the least.” He reached into his large black bag and rummaged around for a moment. “But seeing as we're both from Elandir I'm sure you're most honorable.”

  The doctor smiled knowingly at Ardin as he pulled a stool up next to the tub. He was slender, and slightly bent over though he didn't seem very old to Ardin.

  “Would you sit up so I can look at your back? I can see the bruises working their way up your shoulders and neck already.”

  Ardin obliged, drawing a pained gasp from the doctor who furrowed his brow and dug some more in his bag.

  “Looks almost like someone shot you in the back and then hit you with a plank of wood.”

  “Rocks,” Ardin replied. “They'll get you.”

  “That's true enough.” The doctor pulled a long rubber tube from his bag. It had a metal disc on one end and branched out on the other. He unfurled it and proceeded to put the ends of the branches in his ears. “I've had some nasty falls in the Rent myself, dangerous paths along the cliffs up there. Last time I nearly broke my leg, haven't gone back. It's been nearly twenty years in fact.”

  Ardin tensed as the cold listening device was placed on his back.

  “What the heck is that?”

  “It's a stethoscope,” the doctor paused, surprised by the question.

  “What does it do?”

  Ardin had only been to a real doctor twice, and only when he was a little kid. He didn't remember having cold pieces of metal put on his back.

  “It helps me listen to your breathing, which means you need to stop your jabbering. Don't stop breathing! There, that's better. Just breathe nice and deep for me.”

  Again, Ardin obliged, although he felt silly sitting bent forward and breathing so deeply. The doctor just made 'mm-hmm' noises as he moved the stethoscope around Ardin's back. After a minute or so, he put the device back in his bag and then proceeded to poke and jab Ardin in ways that made him cringe.

  “So you're from somewhere north then?”

  “Yeah,” Ardin said. “How'd you know?”

  “Well, the whole not knowing what a stethoscope is thing was a bit of a giveaway. But you've got that subtle country twang going on too.”

  The doctor prodded a bit more with his fingers before digging around in his bag. He found a small bottle of pills and put them on the stand next to the tub.

  “I think you've got a cracked rib or two, can't be sure but nothing's really wrong with you. Whatever happened, you took a nasty spill, looks like the wound is nearly healed over though.” He gestured to the pills. “Take one of these every couple of hours. It'll keep the swelling down and keep the bruises from causing any trouble.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Ardin began to object. “But I can't pay you for these.”

  “Don't worry about it.” The doctor collected his bag with a wink. “I get the feeling you earned some kindness today.”

  And with that he stood and walked out of the room. For the first time in the last few weeks, Ardin felt thankful for something. He smiled at the thought of the doctor's smile as he got out of the tub and dried off. He guessed he really had earned some kindness.

  He took one of the small white pills and threw himself onto the bed, which he instantly regretted as his ribs screamed their protest. The pain subsided slowly, draining into his bed along with what energy he had left. The warmth of the sheets was inviting to say the least. He didn't even bother covering himself with them as he drifted off into a deep and happy sleep.

  NINETEEN

  “GOOD HEAVENS LAD!” the innkeeper shielded her eyes as she backed out of the room. “Cover your shame!”

  Ardin woke up and realized he was naked as the door slammed. He scrambled for the clothes the doctor had left lying at the other end of the bed. He was surprised to find that they were of good quality, even more surprised to discover that they fit. They were nice, a light gray shirt and thick white pants.

  The doctor had even brought him new boots, brown and shining dully in the light that broke through the small window over the bed. They went over half-way to his knees and felt a little odd. He'd never actually owned anything this nice, he thought.

  He felt like he'd slept for ages though. It was a wonderful sensation that felt almost foreign to him now. It made him think of home. Waking to the sounds of his sisters in the yard, the sun reaching through the curtains covering his window to caress his face. The way the light would flicker through the trees as the leaves swam in the morning breeze. He sighed at the thought and sat up. He stretched as much as his aches and cuts would allow, but they protested much more softly now.

  A knock came at the door. “Breakfast is on in the pub, so it is, lad.”

  The innkeeper didn't seem so ready to attempt a second incursion into his quarters.

  Ardin wandered downstairs after smoothing his hair. Navigating the stairs was a bit tricky in his new boots. He grimaced more than once as the high leather worked against the bruises on his calves and shins. He walked through the open lobby into the dimly lit pub.

  The dingy windows let in enough light to glisten off the log walls and reveal two fishermen sitting in the far corner. Hunched over their meals under droopy, wide brimmed canvas hats they looked perfectly content to ignore and be ignored.

  “What would you likin’ to eat, lad?”

  The innkeeper stood behind the bar to his left, donning an old stained apron that looked like a well worn gift from decades past. Its original color and pattern had long since been lost, maimed beyond recognition by the grease and grime of a dingy seaside kitchen.

  “What do you have?” he asked.

  “Eggs and fried cod should do you right, so they should.” She grinned. “With a healthy side of boiled potatoes to fill in the edges, so they will.”

  She jabbed towards his stomach over the bar with a plump finger as she turned to fix his meal. So much for options, he thought to himself as he sat on an old bar stool and yawned. It was then, out of the corner of his eye, that he caught a hint of movement.

  He turned to see Alisia walk across the lobby. She had cleaned up and was wearing a new colorful skirt and sweater. They were almost as nice and preposterous as his own, but she looked dazzling. In fact, Ardin hardly noticed the new clothes at all. He was enraptured by her long, flowing, and freshly cleaned auburn hair. The light was captured in the subtle red tones as it cascaded down her shoulders. It came alive as it trailed gently behind her.

  He felt a knot form in his stomach as it tried to sink to the bar stool. She was utterly gorgeous.

  “Well,” she said with a small smile as she spun in place in front of him. “What do you think?”

 
; The spin was really an unfair maneuver, as it wiped Ardin's mind completely blank to see her turn.

  “I... we... I mean you look good,” he stammered, wanting to smack himself on the forehead the instant it came out.

  She just laughed, an honest and unguarded laugh.

  “Fair enough,” she examined him in turn. “You almost look presentable.” She could barely contain the chuckle that welled up at the sight of his new attire. “You certainly could join a riding team if you felt the compulsion.”

  He blushed as she laughed outright. She looked and acted as though the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. And in a way, he supposed, it had.

  “That doctor's awful generous, he is,” the innkeeper said as she placed two steaming plates on the bar. “He didn't charge a penny for the visit, nor the clothes.”

  “Thank him for us, would you please?” Alisia said as she slid her plate off of the bar.

  She turned and walked to the nearest table. It took Ardin a moment before he realized he was staring. He shook his head free of the enchantment and grabbed his own plate, hurrying to join the transformed woman who now sat facing him. She laughed again as he rushed, unaware of himself.

  “You're in a good mood,” he said as he sat down.

  He suddenly felt uncertain of what to say to her. He felt stupid for saying anything.

  For her part she just smiled at him as she stabbed a sausage with her fork and took a bite.

  “You didn't clean up so bad yourself,” she said through a mouthful; little bits escaping her grin with each syllable.

  He smiled as she burst out laughing, but the smile faded as he surveyed their plates.

  “Wait a second,” he said, a line drawing itself between his brows. “How on earth did you get sausage?”

  “I told her I wanted sausage this morning.”

  “You told her?”

  “Yeah,” she said as she took a bite of potato. “This morning, when she woke me up.”

  “She didn't even bother to hear what I wanted.”

  “It probably had something to do with what you were wearing.” Alisia smiled again as Ardin blushed. Apparently his wake-up call hadn't been nearly so private as he had imagined.

  They continued to eat in sporadic conversation, restless for rest and dying to live. Ardin found her compellingly attractive as she laughed and related stories of sailing on the ocean and traveling across the continents. He had no idea where she'd garnered such experience, but he was gathering that she was much older than her appearance gave on.

  Either way, she had changed in the night. Sleep had worked its magic and left her restored to the woman he imagined she had once been. At least for this morning he would enjoy it.

  “You know what I dream of sometimes?” Alisia asked as she dabbed the corner of her mouth with a threadbare napkin. “My very own castle.”

  “Castle?” Ardin almost laughed, causing her to blush a little.

  “Yes!” she said with an incredulous grin. “All of the Magi used to have their own castles. Big ones! Most of them up in the mountains. I used to dream of having a castle of my own one day. I’d spend hours thinking up what I’d put in it: paintings, rugs, furniture, fountains. I thought of everything!”

  She grinned and took a bite of her eggs. “How each room would lead you to the next… it would be like an experience of its own, just walking through my castle. And it would be so… so…”

  “I doubt ‘agrarian’ is the word you’re looking for.” He smiled.

  “Cozy. It would be cozy.”

  “Ok, I expected that word less.”

  “Ardin.” She smirked and stuck her fork in another sausage, twisting it in the gravy that was threatening to congeal. “It would be magnificent. There would be flowers everywhere, and the sun would pour in through a million windows. It would be bright, and beautiful, and perfect.”

  Ardin smiled at the thought. He hoped she really would have it someday. They finished their meal in silence as the innkeeper began to light the lamps in the pub.

  “Can't believe they're offering so much though,” Ardin overheard one of the fishermen saying to his comrade. “For one measly kid? Daft.”

  “That's Elandir for ya,” said the other, dragging the name out in a thick twist. His gruff voice was maimed by a life lived in the salty spray of the sea. “Jus’ throw money at yer problem and watch it disappear.”

  Ardin froze, Alisia seemed content to drain her coffee and meditate happily on her meal, oblivious to the quiet conversation. It was as though she couldn't hear it.

  “You mean the problem or the money?” the one laughed.

  “I reckon it will work,” said the other. “How many men would pass up that much money jus’ to find somebody?”

  “Have you seen the picture?” said the other.

  “Nah, didn't bother lookin'. A witch is a witch is a witch.”

  “Well you get one look at that girl ‘n you'll double think turnin' her in, sure as spray.”

  “Rubbish.”

  “I means it, she's a beaut, 'n I've seen my fair share.”

  “Among the crook-eyed beasts you find round here? Reckon' I'd trust a blind rat to lead me to a better beaut than you, Cid.”

  The two men laughed. Alisia glanced over in response and smiled.

  “Looks like it's a good day for everyone,” she said as she turned back to Ardin, but Ardin wasn't smiling.

  “We need to go,” he said.

  “Why? Wha–”

  “How are we going to pay the bill?” he interrupted as he stood, looking between the small windows as if prying eyes might appear at any moment.

  “I've already paid this morning,” she said. “What's wrong?” Worry mixed with the perturbed tension in her voice.

  “They've posted you, Alisia,” he said. “They've posted a price on your head and word is getting around already.”

  “How do you know this?” she asked, but he didn't hear her.

  He was already walking towards the stairs to get his gear from his room. She stood and put her napkin on the table, confusion and concern mingling and mounting. Where had this come from?

  “Leaving us so soon, are ya darlin'?” The innkeeper walked back out from the kitchen, drying her hands on a small rag that had suffered the same fate as her apron.

  “I don't think so,” she said, smiling at the innkeeper. “He's just a little tense today, that's all.”

  “I'm glad to hear it then.” The old woman smiled back, revealing gaps in her teeth long since vacated. “I had hoped you would finish resting, just one more night before you moved on. God knows you both need it, so He does.”

  “Thank you,” Alisia smiled again. In spite of her calm words, her nerves continued to escalate. Something was wrong. “I'll be sure to talk some sense into him.”

  “My,” came a gruff voice from the far corner with a whistle. “Ain't you a beaut?”

  Alisia turned, her conversation with the innkeeper appeared to have gathered some attention of its own. She didn't know how to respond to that besides a smile and a wave. Her heart rate was spiking. She moved towards the stairs to get Ardin. She hadn't made it any farther than the front desk when the door swung open, causing the rusty bell to clamor dully in its wake. The morning's bright light flooded through the breach as Alisia stopped and guarded her eyes.

  “Well that were quick,” the silhouette in the door said as it rushed forward to grab her.

  Two men followed the first to wrestle her to the ground. Their clothes were shabby, their breath reeking of cheap beer and bile.

  Alisia found herself pinned in a flash, caught completely off guard. She didn't have time to think before she was being twisted onto her face. Rough hands reached for hers as her captors attempted to tie them behind her back. She tried to focus, to call up the magic that would protect her. But she wasn't thinking straight and her reflexes were slowed by the night's sleep and heavy breakfast.

  No sooner had she been forced to the
ground than she heard a loud yell followed by a heavy impact as all three of her assailants were thrown from her. She rolled onto her back in time to see one of the fishermen pick himself up and kick the nearest man in the head.

  “That's no way to treat a lady, lads,” he said as his big frame hung over his first victim.

  The youngest looking of the bunch scrambled to his feet, producing a short, rusty boning knife in the process. He lunged, but his attempts were confounded by the strength of the significantly larger man. The fisherman twisted away from the blade, grabbing the young man's forearm and wrenching it sharply. The assailant yelped as the knife dropped to the floor, but his cries were cut short as the fisherman's giant right fist plowed its way into his skull.

  The innkeeper screamed as the young man dropped unconscious to the floor, blood streaming from his face. The third assailant simply put his hands up and scurried towards the door on his back. The fisherman let him go, not concerned with cowards. He turned as the door closed, and smiled at Alisia. It had all happened in a matter of seconds.

  “I take it you're the lass they all be lookin' for?” He grinned, his tanned face framed by his faded yellow hat and long white beard.

  “I suppose I am,” she said, voice shaking as she stood to her feet.

  “Well you can't be a Magess,” he said as if to reassure himself more than state a fact. “No Magess would have let herself be jumped by a rag tag bunch like that. And I'll be the first to guess at how your new friends discovered your whereabouts.”

  He gestured towards the innkeeper who scurried back to the kitchen.

  “What happened down here?” Ardin shouted as he reappeared on the stairs.

  “Almost lost your lass, lad,” the fisherman laughed at Ardin. “You gotta keep a close eye on a woman like this. Always men lookin' to steal a man's woman. Especially one so fine as this!”

  Ardin didn't say anything. Stepping over the first man on the ground he grabbed Alisia's arm and pulled her towards the door.

  “Ho now.” The fisherman stepped in their path. “Just a second there, lad.”