Tathan offered a hand to help the knight. Sir Danth took it, but stood as though he still had the weight of a body within the armor. Anilyia smiled and put her hand on a steel arm in comfort and support.
He nodded in thanks. “I need some moments to clear my mind.” His voice was more hollow than usual. They let him past as he walked to the railing and looked out.
Anilyia led Tathan to the bow again. It had become their favorite spot on the ship. They liked to watch the land go by underneath. Tathan gasped when he realized where they were.
“What is it?” Anilyia asked.
He pointed to the east. “Valley . . . home . . . valley,” he stammered in excitement, slapping his palm on the railing.
“Valley?” she asked in confusion. “Oh. You mean that’s the valley where your home is?”
“Yes!” He ran to the aft of the ship. “Liselle! Liselle!” Everyone turned to see what Tathan was yelling about. “This is our valley,” he told her after leaping up the stairs in two bounds.
They went to the railing. “It is,” Liselle remarked in wonder. “Can we . . .” She thought for a moment, not sure whether to finish the sentence.
“I want to know,” Tathan said.
She nodded. “So do I. I’ll tell Aermoirre to fly east over our house. If there are any warriors from Iynath, maybe she’ll blast them with fire for me,” Liselle suggested with a roguish grin that made Tathan proud.
“If not, I’ll blast them with lightning, dearest,” Vevin offered.
A short while later they were nearly over the house. All of them stood at the bow and looked for signs of life. Liselle pointed. “The flowers are there!” The flowers weren’t just there, they covered most of the ground around the house and for hundreds of yards in every direction. It looked like there were even more than when Tathan had visited, although he hadn’t seen it from the sky. There was no sign that warriors had ever been there.
“Aermoirre, we need to go down there for a short while. It’s very important.” The ship hesitated for a moment. It didn’t want to take any longer to finish its journey, but most people tended to do what Liselle asked of them, including ships, flowers, animals, rocks, worlds . . . Tathan was in awe of the ability.
They floated down to a clear spot in front of the house. Liselle jumped over the railing, landing with knees bent and hands on the ground even before Aermoirre could extend the gangplank. Vevin joined her, landing with a dance that Tathan labeled the ‘landing dance’. Tathan wasn’t about to be left behind when it came to leaping over a railing and tumbled upon hitting the ground.
Anilyia held her arms out to the side in bewilderment. “I will walk down with you, Your Highness,” Sir Danth said, putting his arm out for her to hold. She took it and they walked down the gangplank with heads held high. The effect was lost on the others who were busy looking around.
It had been months since the cousins left. Afternoon thunderstorms were a daily threat the last time Tathan had arrived at the house. Now the trees were brilliant colors and beginning to drop their leaves. The smell of dry grass and air tickled his nose instead of fresh rain and leaves. The one thing that was the same was the flowers, still bright and fragrant.
Tathan had his sword out and was cautiously stalking the front door, which refused to show any fear. Liselle went to the nearest patch of flowers and began touching them. “There’s no one here, Tathan. It’s safe. The flowers have protected it.”
He put away his sword. Tathan didn’t want to go inside, but had a need to. One of his favorite things about home was that there was no lock on it. The door opened easily and he stepped inside.
A part of him had hoped the bloodstains wouldn’t be there. That part was disappointed. They were dark and dry, but he saw them. The worst was on the floor in front of the stairs where his mother had died protecting Liselle. There was dried spray on the walls in a few places too. He walked into the living room and remembered sitting on the couch, telling his mother and the rest of the family of his journeys the morning before the attack.
The sound of a sob bursting forth from his chest surprised him. Anilyia quickly had her arms around him and pulled his head into her shoulder where he proceeded to let the grief flow. Sir Danth’s gauntleted hand pressed comfortingly against his back until the outburst was spent. “Let’s go back outside,” Tathan suggested, wiping his eyes. He had seen what he had to and there was no further desire within him to stay.
Outside, Liselle was walking through the flowers toward the graveyard. Tathan met her at the entrance and they gave each other a long hug. Then they walked together to their parents’ headstones.
“This is a place of peace,” Sir Danth said in quiet surprise.
“It’s a holy place,” Vevin agreed. “It’s a very powerful holy place. I have lizard bumps.”
Anilyia frowned at him. “You mean goosebumps?”
“No, I’m not human,” Vevin responded snootily. “I’m a dragon. We get lizard bumps.” He held his arms out and they all looked. Not only were the bumps shaped like lizards, they crawled around on his skin.
Anilyia jerked back. “Eww. That’s just weird!”
“It makes perfect sense. I don’t understand why humans get goose bumps. There’s no logic behind it, so I think you’re weird.”
Tathan had moved to his mother’s grave. Anilyia let it go and joined her lover. Vevin stuck his tongue out at her and joined Liselle. Sir Danth stood behind in silence.
After paying their respects, they walked back to the ship. Liselle relayed what she had learned from the flowers. “The warrior that rode away didn’t make it far. He made the mistake of riding into a field of the flowers. His horse fell and then he was soon dead,” she told them with a glint in her eyes.
“I never knew flowers could be so vicious, Milady,” Sir Danth said in amusement.
Liselle glanced over her shoulder. “Now you know. I recommend you remember it.” Tathan got a chill when she said it and decided he would remember it as well.
Sir Danth’s reaction was more pronounced. He leaned over and touched the nearest blossom. “Pretty flower. I like you very much.” The rest of them laughed at him and continued to laugh as he touched flowers the rest of the way to the ship. “Sweet flower, nice flower, beautiful flower, you are all so very wonderful. I want to be your friend.”
If flowers had eyes to roll, Tathan was certain they would have.
As Aermoirre rose into the air, they stood at the railing and waved goodbye to the flowers. Tathan felt a little silly, but at least he didn’t have tears in his eyes like his cousin and Anilyia did. “It’s just so beautiful,” the princess declared as she leaned against his side and continued waving.
When the homestead faded out of sight and the ship was rising above the mountains in the east, Liselle gestured for them to come to the bow with her. “The flowers told me they created an avalanche in the pass to prevent anyone else from coming up.”
“Flowers created an avalanche?” Anilyia asked in disbelief.
“Fear the flowers,” Sir Danth said with a nod. Tathan chuckled as he looked for the pass. His parents had only taken him to Rothton twice, but he was able to find it. The small road passed through a canyon between the two highest mountains in the area.
Liselle pointed. “There, do you see it?” They looked at a point where the road entered the canyon. A rockslide had blocked it from the south edge. Tathan noticed an unusually large patch of flowers above it.
“Fear the flowers,” Anilyia whispered in awe. The rest of them nodded while Liselle grinned smugly.
Aermoirre sailed over the pass and into the southern part of the Caaldith Mountain Range. “I want to thank all of you,” Sir Danth told them. It caught them by surprise and they turned. “You are the most wonderful friends I have ever had in my life . . . my existence. You could have left me in that cave, but you took me with you. I thank you for that. You could have destroyed me or left me to insanity in the northern reaches of the Willden, but you t
ook me with, even though you had lost trust in me. I thank you for that.”
Vevin put a hand on his other shoulder in a gesture of forgiveness, which the knight acknowledged with a nod. “Vevin’s father got the best of me. It fought fiercely and without honor. Had Lady Liselle not healed me, I would have spent the rest of eternity screaming in pain. I thank you for that,” he said directly to Liselle who smiled in confirmation.
“I thank you all for your friendship and for allowing me to travel with you.”
“Of course my friend.” Tathan gave Sir Danth a man hug with strong pats on the back. He didn’t even mind the numbing pats that the gauntleted hand delivered in return.
Each of them hugged the knight except for Vevin who smiled toothily and patted him on the shoulder again. Sir Danth put a hand on the dragon’s shoulder and let it go at that. It was clear Vevin still hadn’t completely forgiven him for attacking Liselle.
Sir Danth took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I would know what your plans are and if I fit into any of them. If not, I have a task I would see to.”
“You wanted to use our libraries to learn about the disappearance of your people, yes?” Anilyia asked. Sir Danth nodded. “I will personally see to it that you are granted full access to them in addition to whatever scholars may know the most about your civilization.”
“I’ve been thinking about that incident off and on,” Liselle told the knight. “The entity that controls them is not of this world.”
“How do you mean, Milady?” Sir Danth asked.
“It is not a god although I don’t know how I understand that,” Liselle said with a thoughtful frown. “It isn’t natural to this world. It’s from somewhere in the stars, but I don’t know where or how.” She shook her head in frustration. “The spirits of your people have trapped it just as much as it has trapped them and it was trying to use my power to escape.” Liselle rubbed her temples. “I don’t know how that information will help you, but perhaps knowing will aid you in interpreting whatever information you find.”
“That helps a great deal, Milady,” he said. “And what of you, friend?” the knight asked, turning to Tathan. “It seems that I am going to be alive for an eternity. I would stand by your side in your travels until your death. That should leave me plenty of time to get back and finish the task,” he finished with a grin.
Tathan glared at him. “Ha, ha, very funny. Anyway, I’m going to be staying in Mayncal with the princess.”
“Tathan . . .” Liselle began disapprovingly.
“It makes complete sense, Cousin. I’m going to get a position in the castle and be her secret lover. It’s going to be very dangerous and I might lose my head.” He grinned. “Just how I like to live my life.”
Liselle opened her mouth to protest, but Anilyia interrupted. “We’ve already made the decision and we’ll live with it. What will you do?”
She didn’t answer right away, looking back and forth between her cousin and the princess. When it was clear that their minds were set, she answered the question. “We’re going to do whatever Vevin wants.”
“We are?” Vevin asked in surprise.
“Yes. You’ve followed me and done everything I wanted. It’s about time for me to do what you want to do,” Liselle told him emphatically. “Do you want to stay in Mayncal? We could go back to Aaltdiin, we could go to the Lost Road Inn if you like that better, or . . . anywhere else you want to go. You mentioned wanting to explore.”
Vevin thought about it for a minute. He began pacing back and forth. “I can’t get my treasure back for ten years. I like the Lost Road Inn better than Aaltdiin. Maybe we can buy stuff for it and open it up. The only customers we’ll have right away are ghosts, but maybe we’ll get others.” His pacing had become half dance.
“Those ghosts are dangerous,” Sir Danth said. “They even made Lady Liselle sick and the entity wants her power.”
Vevin pointed at the knight. “Very true. In my treasure I have something that can protect the inn, but that won’t be available now.”
“So what does that leave?” Tathan asked, curious to know what the decision would be.
“I want to spend our lives together running naked through green fields while slapping the sky and giggling wildly,” Vevin said firmly, repeating a suggestion Liselle had made at the White Tree Inn back in Puujan.
Liselle burst into laughter while the rest of them stared, dumbfounded. The two embraced each other and spun around the deck of the ship for a few minutes. Tathan sat on the railing and watched them with a lopsided smile. He enjoyed seeing them so happy.
Vevin turned face to face with Liselle. “I think I want to explore the world and meet interesting people. Maybe after Mayncal we can go visit some of the places Tathan visited and find out what he did.”
“Hey!” Tathan protested. “I don’t like that idea.”
“I do!” Anilyia said excitedly. “I want to go!”
“I must admit, I’m rather interested as well,” Sir Danth agreed with a hand on his chin.
“Listen,” Tathan continued more seriously. “I’ve been in some bad places. If you want to explore the world, find your own adventures to experience.” He pointed a warning finger at Vevin. “This world eats up people as wonderful as Liselle. You keep her safe, is that clear?”
Vevin agreed. “I’ll keep her safe, Tathan.”
“Alright then.” Tathan summed things up, as he liked to do. “I’ll go live at the castle with Princess Anilyia where we’ll have a secret affair and hope I don’t get my head cut off. Sir Danth will go to the library and read books. Vevin and Liselle will go explore the world and . . . hope they don’t get their heads cut off.”
“Hear, hear!” Sir Danth shouted, raising his fist in the air. They joined him in the cheer.
Chapter 29
Aermoirre set them down at the outskirts of a small town just before dawn, seven days after leaving the valley. The buildings were different than anything Liselle had ever seen before, made from mud and stone with thatched roofs. It was much warmer than Kethril even at the early hour. The instant the companions were off the boat with their packs, Aermoirre pulled in her gangplank and sailed away, leaving them to stare at her in bemusement.
They began walking toward the town, but were interrupted by a rumbling sound. To their surprise, a herd of cattle was moving toward them. They began mooing and then broke into a run. “Stampede!” Tathan yelled and began running. He only got a short distance before realizing everyone else was staring at the charging cows incredulously. “Stampede! They’re going to run us over and kill us! Hurry, they’re almost here!” he yelled over the din.
Anilyia took a few steps toward him before going to stand behind Sir Danth instead. The stampede was almost there when Vevin waved his arms, spoke words of power and cast lights into the air. The multicolored lights glittered and danced just above the cows, causing them to stop and watch raptly. The dragon clapped. “I like pretty lights. So do cows. That’ll keep them busy until sunrise.” He began dancing toward the town again.
As Liselle passed Tathan, who was still staring at the lights with a slack jaw, she patted him on the arm. “Hopefully, there are no attack cows at the palace. Otherwise you’re in trouble.”
***
By the time the sun rose, they were on horses Tathan had purchased for the ride. It would take them about a day to reach the capital city of Oimryi. Anilyia wore a silk hood purchased at a clothing store. They had decided to keep her hidden until getting to the palace in order to lower the risk of agents from the Iynath Empire trying to kidnap her.
The companions could probably handle anyone that attacked, but they were tired of fighting, especially Liselle. Ideally, she would be able to rest for a month or so before using any more major magic. Even Sir Danth seemed to have lost his taste for bloodshed. Apparently, being stepped on by a dragon was bad for morale.
Farms and ranches lined the road for the first half of the day. Peasants were busy with their harves
ts and ignored the travelers for the most part. Every once in a while, children would come near a fence and wave. Liselle, Vevin and Sir Danth always waved back. Vevin had altered his illusion just a little bit so that people would notice there was a person there, but wouldn’t look closely at him.
“Your people seem happier than a lot I’ve seen in my travels,” Tathan remarked to the princess.
“Daddy treats them well. He says peasants have a right to happiness and health. Daddy’s a very good king.” Anilyia smiled proudly.
Orchards seemed to be popular. Children sold sweetened lemon drinks at a small stand outside the fence of one lemon orchard. With the exception of Sir Danth, the companions each bought a cup at Anilyia’s recommendation. There were five kids of varying ages and they were stunned when they all got silver pieces instead of the individual coppers they were asking for the drinks.
In the late afternoon, the farms gave way to ramshackle houses made of mud bricks. People were dressed in ragged clothes while half-naked children played on muddy streets “The poorest peasants of Oimryi live here. There is also a fair amount of crime,” Anilyia told them.
“Is it possible that these are downtrodden people?” Vevin asked hopefully. Anilyia nodded at him in confusion. “Oh good! Downtrodden people for you to help, Sir Danth. You’ve been wanting to find some of those!”
A smile flashed across Sir Danth’s face. “I shall help them and crush any who try to oppress them. It will provide an occasional pleasant break from doing research.”
“Sir Knight, it might be best if you rode in the front,” Anilyia suggested, looking worriedly at a group of tough looking men hanging outside a run down restaurant along the road. Sir Danth took point while Tathan and Anilyia rode side by side behind him, followed by Vevin and Liselle. Once again, they could handle just about any danger, but wanted to avoid it.
***
They reached the northern gate of the city near sunset. The wall was made of stone and extended further than they could see in either direction. The ground outside of the wall was clear for seven hundred feet, with stakes to prevent against attack. Guards walked the upper wall.
Kethril Page 32
