Sheila glared at her. “I mean the coins. You should take them back. The pie was made by Missy.” She pointed at a nice looking girl about fourteen years of age.
“Ahh, that makes sense. The pie is sweet and pleasant like Missy. If you had made it, it would probably taste cranky.” Anilyia took another bite. Some of the family reacted with wide-eyed shock and open mouths, others barked out short laughs before stifling them at the look of anger on the matron’s face.
“Take the money back,” Sheila demanded.
Anilyia set the fork on the plate and folded her hands in front of her. With all the sweetness in the world, she said, “It’s not my money, it’s Tathan’s. Therefore, it’s not mine to take. As far as the bandits on the road are concerned, tell them that the gold was given to you by Tathan of the Shadows and that he’ll know if they take it from your husband and boys.” She helped herself to a second piece of pie, took her plate in hand and stood. “I’m going to take my pie to my bed, eat it, and then go to sleep. Missy, will you please show me my bed?” she asked the pretty girl.
Missy got up, looking fearfully at Sheila the entire time. The matron was too busy glaring at Anilyia in fury to notice. A few moments later, Anilyia was sitting cross-legged in bed, savoring each bite of the pie. When done, she handed the plate and fork to Missy. Anilyia covered herself with the blankets and fell asleep.
***
Tathan kissed her cheek. Anilyia woke with a start, but remained quiet when he held a finger in front of her lips. A flickering candle was the only light in the room. Two other girls were still fast asleep in their beds. Tathan took her hand and led her silently out of the room and down the stairs.
He grabbed a lantern by the back door and they went outside. The rain had stopped and a few stars were showing through the clouds as they walked to the farthest barn.
Once inside, she did her best to ignore all the odors associated with livestock and followed him to a ladder. He gestured for her to climb. “You want me to go up there?” she asked skeptically. He nodded and grinned. Intrigued, she climbed the steps, using the first few to scrape the mud off her feet.
Hay was in piles on the wooden walkway. Tathan scrambled up behind her and put the lantern on a hook. Then he kissed her passionately.
When he began pulling the peasant dress up her thighs, she pushed him away. “Is this what peasants do?” she asked in alarm. “Sneak off to the barn and frolic in the hay?” Tathan grinned impudently and nodded. Anilyia put a hand to her neck. “Oh my! I’m certainly not that kind of girl, you peasant cad!” she said playfully.
Tathan laughed for the first time in a while. It was wonderful to hear. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck while she made half-hearted protests. “Oh, no. I can’t do such a thing. Whatever will father say?” Then the dress was off and she was lying in hay. “Oh!” It wasn’t as comfortable as a bed, but she didn’t mind as he showed her the ways of peasants.
***
Mikael woke them the next morning. “I think you two had best leave. Mother’s not at all happy,” he said loudly from the top of the ladder before sliding down and landing with a thud. Anilyia looked at Tathan in shock and embarrassment. He laughed and grabbed the peasant dress he had so expertly removed. They dressed and climbed down the ladder.
Mikael was waiting at the bottom. “What you did isn’t proper. Mother said it’s a crime with a death penalty if you really are a princess,” he accused.
Instead of blushing, Anilyia took a step forward and jabbed him in the chest with a finger. “I don’t care what your peasant mother says. I don’t care what any peasant thinks is proper. I’m better than all of you and I do what I want. Tell your mother we’re leaving. Where are our horses?”
“I have your things here.” Mikael pointed at their bags and clean clothes. “Your horses are waiting outside. They’ve been cared for and saddled. There’s some food too. Mother said you don’t need to go back into the house.” He turned to leave.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” Anilyia told him. He turned around in surprise. She reiterated the statement. “I mean it. You’ve all been very gracious to us and I thank you for it regardless of how I feel about peasants, especially self-righteous ones.”
He stared at her for a moment, unsure of whether she had insulted or complimented them. Then he left the barn without a further word. Anilyia went to put on her traveling clothes. She looked at Tathan who was standing with his arms folded, staring at her in disappointment. That made her even angrier.
“I’m not the same as you. I can’t bring myself to like them,” she said between clenched teeth. “You can be the peasant’s best friend all you want, but I’m a princess and if that means you don’t love me, so be it.” She turned and began changing, hiding the tears in her eyes.
When she felt his arms slide around her from behind, Anilyia turned and buried her face in his chest. She squeezed him and they just held each other awhile.
Robert and Mikael were the only ones to see them off. Robert held out a pouch to Tathan who shook his head in denial. Anilyia spoke for him. “If you can’t take the money, give it to the poor. They’ll take it.” Tathan nodded in agreement and they both mounted.
Robert looked up at them. “Will you be alright?” he asked. Anilyia looked him in the eye and answered, “Mabibble honk to the wibble.” Tathan and Anilyia laughed as they rode away from the confused men.
***
The rain had finally stopped and they rode in cool sunshine for the next three days. Twice, individual cows attacked them and a herd one other time. Bovines weren’t great hunters though, so it was easy to escape. Only one other pair of bounty hunters showed up, but they raced away in a different direction when Tathan drew Lifedrinker. Anilyia was worried about him though. More and more frequently, he would experience long periods where his eyes were glassy and his shoulders slumped.
In moments of clarity, he would have them change roads, always traveling south and east. Anilyia wasn’t sure about the direction, but trusted his judgment in the matter. Near noon on the fourth day after leaving the farm, they rounded a wide hill to see a small village below. It was a warmer day, reminiscent of summer, but the trees retained the colors of fall.
From their height, they could see the main southern road. There were a couple of wagon trains traveling west and a small group of people traveling east. Tathan pointed at the group and kicked his horse into a run. Anilyia studied them for a moment. Sure enough, Sir Danth was noticeable in his black armor and red cloak even at that distance. She kicked her horse and followed as fast as possible.
Chapter 21
Vevin pointed to their left. “Tathan and the princess are coming.” Liselle saw two riders running fast toward them from a hill along a northbound road.
“Are you certain it’s them?” Sir Danth asked.
“Of course. My sense of smell isn’t as good as most dragons, but even I can tell when a princess is near.”
“Aren’t they supposed to be back in the castle?” the duchess asked, frowning.
Liselle didn’t care. She kicked her horse into a run toward her cousin. She missed him terribly and decided that instant that she would do everything in her power to keep him from going back to jail. The others followed.
Both cousins dismounted at the last minute and hugged each other tightly. Tears flowed down their faces as well as the faces of those that observed. They were startled a moment later when silver dragonflies flitted about their heads. Vevin was doing a happy reunion dance and two tears had fallen to the ground. One touched Tathan’s hair and turned black. The other touched Anilyia’s and turned platinum. The companions watched as the two dragonflies twirled around each other in the air and flew off to the west.
She held her cousin by the arms and looked him up and down. “How did you escape?!” Instantly, she could tell something was off. “Tathan, what’s wrong?”
He didn’t reply right away. Anilyia pushed him on the shoulder. “Go on. Tell her wh
at’s wrong.”
“What is it, Tathan?” Liselle asked, worry filling her voice.
Tathan sighed. “Ouli bab huff.” When Liselle stared at him blankly, Tathan elaborated. “Grum pollamagonobber wabble dir goo.” He gestured while he explained the events. “Oble tink fra yew grish miff. Laber chun ooga blah.”
Liselle couldn’t tell if they were playing a joke on her or not, but got the impression something was seriously wrong. Vevin stepped up to her and said, “I understand lots of languages, but that’s a new one to me.” Then he stepped back.
She reached up and ran fingers along both sides of Tathan’s head. “Did something happen to your mind, cousin?”
Holding still so she could do her thing, he answered, “Mabibble honk to the wibble.”
“That means yes,” Anilyia said helpfully. “Felina the bounty hunter hit him in the back of the head with a spell that scrambled his mind.” Restrained tears welled in her eyes and she fought to remain in control. “He keeps getting glassy eyed and stares blankly ahead. It’s getting worse.”
Liselle moved her fingers all over the sides of his head, pushing hard. She had her eyes locked on his and he couldn’t escape. It was difficult to figure out what was wrong while they were standing, so she pushed him to the grassy ground and sat on his chest, never letting go of his head.
The companions backed up, realizing that she was gathering magic by the breeze ruffling her hair. It was odd to be standing in the middle of a field near a village but Liselle didn’t notice things like that.
She stared through his eyes, changing her vision to look inside his head. There was a lot wrong and she could see it getting worse. Liselle took a little while to identify where the problem was. The good news was that it wasn’t in his mind. The bad news was that it was in his physical brain, which was extremely complicated.
Holding the power where it was, she sat up. “Water please.” Vevin handed some to her. She took a couple of drinks and sank back into his eyes.
It took a long time to sort out all the problems. Hundreds of dark spots with miniscule strands between them mixed everything up in his brain. To make matters worse, she sensed the injury to the leg that had been healed, but not well enough. Something extra was in there that she’d have to fix.
First was the brain. The dark spots were insidious and she could tell that if she fixed one, the others would converge to corrupt the fix, so she had to fix them all at once. The best way would be to use fire and healing at the same time. She created the healing fire in her mind and then hit all the dark spots with it at once. Tathan jerked in response as the fire ate the strands as well.
Liselle didn’t see the looks of panic in her companion’s eyes as she lit Tathan’s head on fire. Luckily, they didn’t do anything to stop her, realizing it could kill them both.
Liselle got off his chest and moved to the leg. She could see the partially healed wound beneath his pants. It was too old not to still leave a scar unless she cut out the wound and just remade everything, but that would take a lot of magic and she was already tired. Holding the magic once again, she looked up at Vevin. “More water please.”
After a few more gulps, she turned back to the wound. A different type of dark strand was there, but it wasn’t hurting anything. She debated leaving it, but decided to burn it off as she finished the healing job. It screamed in her mind as she killed it, which reassured her that she had done the right thing.
After she was done, Liselle rubbed her face and stood up. The world tilted and knocked her over, causing her to fall to the ground. Vevin was at her side with cool water. As she lost consciousness, her only thought was that she was going to have to sleep and wake up starving again and that there wouldn’t be any of her favorite drumsticks around.
***
The smell of drumsticks tickled and teased. She wiggled, rubbed her nose and opened her eyes. Liselle groaned while Vevin helped her sit up. “Ungh. Wha?”
“I flew to Puujan as fast as I could and got you some drumsticks,” Vevin whispered to her. It was very nice of him to be considerate of her headache. “It was the last thing you said before losing consciousness. The cooks here heated them up for you, so I don’t think they’re as good, but hopefully you like them.”
Liselle wasted no time finding out. It had been ages since having one and they tasted divine. Bread, cheese, meats and other food were there in addition to water and fruit juices. After eating, she fell back asleep.
***
Vevin had more food waiting the next time she woke up, but none of the nummy drumsticks. She looked around while eating. They were in a nicely decorated room with pink curtains on the window, a colorful rug on the floor and scenic paintings on the wall. There was only the one bed, a chair and the table Vevin had set all the food on. “Where are we?” she asked.
“In the village of Biffra at the Pink Cloud Inn. It’s a pretty name for an inn.”
“Very pretty. Where’s everyone else?”
“They’re downstairs in the common room. The innkeeper is a nice man,” Vevin said. “Would you like to join everyone or go back to sleep? It’s evening so you can do whatever you like.”
“Let’s go downstairs for a bit.” She swung her legs out of the bed and stood with Vevin’s help. She held onto his arm, but more because she liked to be next to him than from any weakness. The recovery times were getting faster every time she used magic.
Everyone was sitting at a large round table and stood to greet her when she came down the stairs. Liselle gave each of them a hug before sitting. The innkeeper was dressed in bright blue pants and a pink shirt that was almost blinding. His black hair was combed back and he had a perfectly trimmed beard and mustache. “Hello there. It’s so nice to see you pretty lady,” he said to Liselle in a thick accent that came from somewhere other than Kethril. “I was afraid you were going to sleep forever. Anyway, there are so many things to do. I can’t stay and chat.” He walked away.
“Thank you for healing me, Cousin,” Tathan said right away.
“Of course,” she said putting her hand on his. “What happened to you? How did you get out of jail?”
“King Cranwer released me with a pardon for anything I had done in Kethril,” Tathan answered.
“After you escaped the prison,” Anilyia clarified dryly. “And rescued me from kidnappers.” Tathan went on to explain the details of their journey. If Anilyia hadn’t filled in all the exciting details he left out, it would have been a boring story.
While the princess was telling about the escape from Tillg, she asked Tathan, “Do you have any idea what that temple was? Who were the people in black?”
“Um . . . it’s not important,” he replied. When they stared at him waiting for more, he shrugged. “They worship a goddess that dabbles in death and other things like that. It’s best not to say the name.”
“I see. They seemed quite impressed by you,” Anilyia told him.
“It’s just my reputation.” He was obviously uncomfortable with the subject.
“The church we stayed at, was that the same goddess?”
“No . . . that was her sister. Nobody knows much about her other than she likes crows and she’s sad. It’s her thing.” Tathan still wasn’t comfortable with the subject. He took up the story again to change the subject.
Then Liselle and the others told their part of the story. Emmaoen filled in the details about the flowers when Liselle would have passed it over. In many ways, the cousins were alike.
Tathan looked at his cousin with even more respect, if that was possible. She remembered that the single flower in the field had impressed him. It seemed like ages ago. Princess Anilyia also looked impressed. Liselle was getting tired of everyone treating her with amazement every time she did the slightest thing like create new life.
“After Yema, we rode to the next village and found out nothing new,” Liselle said. “We’ve gone through two more villages and no one has seen anything of the ship. Tomorrow morning, I think we
should keep going.” She put her hand on Tathan’s. “I know we don’t need to get you out of jail anymore, but I think we should keep our agreement with the king.”
“Definitely. We told the king we would finish the task,” Tathan agreed. “In all honesty, I’m curious about this ship. There are a lot of unusual things in the world and I like to learn about them.”
Then Emmaoen zapped a spider crawling on the ceiling. It scared the other patrons, causing a few to leave. The companions went to bed for the night so as not to drive any others away.
***
“Liselle,” Vevin said quietly in her ear. “The ship attacked another village.”
“Ungh?” When the words sank in, she sat up. “The ship? What village did it attack?”
“A village called Larfa. We can get there by nightfall if we leave now.”
Liselle dressed in her traveling clothes and gathered her things. She and Vevin headed down the stairs. When she saw the common room was empty, Liselle asked, “Where are the others?”
“Oh, they’re still in bed.” He stood next to her doing his wake up dance. It was slow and included lots of stretches and yawns. Liselle yawned reflexively when he did.
“What do you mean they’re in bed? You said the ship attacked another village and we could get there if we left right away. I thought everyone would be down here ready to go.” She waved around the room.
Vevin looked as confused as she felt. “No. I thought I should let you know first and that you would get everyone else together.”
She set her pack down and rubbed more of the sleep out of her eyes. “Where’s Sir Danth . . . and the innkeeper?”
Kethril Page 23
