Ravs Are Rarely Wrong: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol III

by Rachel Ronning

  Maya ducked and rolled to the side sweeping her attacker’s legs out from under him as she did so. She drew the dagger she always kept hidden in the folds of her dress. Screaming as loud as she could, she stomped down on the wrist holding his dagger and picked it up when he let go. She stepped back and stood over him with both daggers, hoping help would come. Surely someone would respond to a screaming woman. The large man at her feet growled and lunged at her. She dodged.

  “Bitch!” he snarled, his face filled with anger as he lunged again.

  She didn’t waste any time thinking about her actions; she simply reacted. She stabbed the man in the stomach as hard as she could with both daggers. His eyes opened wide in surprise. Obviously, he thought she would be an easy target. Blood dribbled out of the corner of his mouth and gushed from his stomach wounds down the daggers and onto Maya’s hands as she twisted them. Slowly, the light died from his eyes and his body slumped to the floor.

  Two soldiers wearing the Lerramorre livery of the wolf rampant crest came around the corner and halted at the sight in front of them. It was not the kind of thing they were used to encountering in the castle. The younger one turned a shade of green.

  “Go get Joss,” she demanded of the green one.

  He ran off quickly, thankful for a valid reason to leave the bloody scene. The other soldier stood there uncertain of what to do awkwardly shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He recognized Maya as the King’s friend. Luckily he didn’t have to make any decisions. Joss came running with the now less green soldier and Neville.

  “What happened here? Are you all right?” Joss asked.

  “He attacked me and I killed him. I’m fine, but my dress is ruined,” complained Maya.

  Joss laughed. “I’ll pay to have the seamstress make you a new one. Let’s go get you cleaned up. You can tell me about it as we walk.” Joss addressed the soldiers, “Get this body out of the hallway. Take it to the armory. We need to see if anyone can identify it. Then, send Carr and a bath to Maya’s quarters as well as someone with a strong stomach to clean up the blood here.”

  “Carr?” questioned Maya.

  “I’m sorry. We should have been prepared for something like this earlier. With all the conspiracies going on around here, I should have appointed a guard to accompany you everywhere days ago,” explained Joss.

  “Me? What about you?”

  “I appointed Neville as my permanent shadow this morning,” said Joss nodding at Neville who smiled at Maya. “I want men I’ve known for a long time and trust implicitly. I wasn’t sure how you would feel about having a guard. I was going to talk to you about it this afternoon. It seemed like the polite thing to do. Now, I’m out of time to consider it and forced to command it. You should not be in danger in my castle.”

  “I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m okay.”

  “Well, you shouldn’t be forced to kill anyone in my castle either,” Joss added.

  “I can’t disagree with that,” said Maya looking at the sticky blood covering her dress and rubbing at the blood drying on her hands. “Imagine the paper work. I like Carr. I hope he won’t be too bored being my shadow,” said Maya.

  “He’ll be fine,” Joss assured her.

  They reached Maya’s door and entered. A tub in the center of her room was being filled with steaming water by running maids. Joss searched the room before leaving Maya to her bath. He waited outside her door until she was done. Carr arrived immediately. Joss explained the situation to him and he happily accepted the job.

  Maya soaked in the tub for a long time. The warm water felt good. She scrubbed at her hands. It was harder to get the blood off than she thought it would be. This was the first time she had killed a man up close. In a skirmish, she usually held her own, although, depending on how fast Gavin was moving there often wasn’t much for her to do. Stabbing someone with a sword and moving on to block the next hit was different than stabbing a man in the stomach, and smelling the blood on his breath, while watching the light drain from his eyes. She wasn’t as bothered by it as she thought she might be. Perhaps watching Lucy go through what she had had made her do a lot of thinking already. Perhaps watching men die in the infirmary had desensitized her. Whatever the reasons, she felt much better after her bath and ready to continue her day. By the time she opened the door to her rooms, she was beautifully dressed in green, every hair and ribbon in place, and perfectly composed.

  “Are you okay?” asked Joss, concerned.

  “Perfectly,” replied Maya. “Lovely to see you again, Carr. I hope you won’t be too bored with me.”

  “I’m not worried about that, my lady. My boredom is less important than your safety.”

  “Thank you,” said Maya smiling with her dimples.

  “I wonder who attacked, why, and if they’ll try again,” said Carr.

  “It could be any number of people with any number of reasons. We’ve been making some changes around here. We know half my family died accidentally. We know the Bathrallma family looks suspicious. Some people don’t like my close relationship to a female that is not from Lerramorre. They don’t like her possible influence over me or some of my decisions. Some people don’t like women archers and blame her for the change in policy. I’m sure some people don’t want me to be king at all. We can guess Fredamonn probably still has spies here somewhere. Obviously, I’m friends with magic users, as is Maya. People have already tried poisoning me. There is an almost palpable sense of menace in the air. I’d be tempted to say, yes, whoever it is will most likely try again.”

  “Then, we will be ready,” replied Neville, his face hard as iron. Beside him, Carr nodded, equally serious.

  Maya found their serious assurance heartening. They had enough to worry about without wondering when someone was going to try to kill them. Not that they couldn’t be killed after their guard was killed, but it at least made the task somewhat more difficult.

  Maya joined Joss for a meeting with the finance minister. His voice droned just like Joss described. He was a tall, middle-aged man, with a slight build, finely trimmed brown hair, mustache, goatee, and soft brown eyes behind thick glasses. The finance minister did his best to put them to sleep reading aloud a treatise on trade, but they persevered. Maya asked questions about taxes, roads, guards, who paid for what, and what came from where. He seemed slightly bothered by a women with so many questions about trade, but he answered them all anyway. Maya suggested offering groups of soldiers as road guards for a fee. It would keep the soldiers sharp and let them act as unofficial spies. She suggested sending the soldiers that get bored easily and at least one observant one. The finance minister and Joss both thought that was a good idea.

  When the meeting was over, Carr escorted Maya back to her room for lunch. She would meet with the healers-in-training after lunch. When they reached her room, there were two men standing guard.

  “No one has been in or out, sir,” said one of the guards.

  “Thank you, Sam” said Carr.

  “Who are you?” asked Maya while Carr checked her room, just in case.

  “Sam, my lady,” said one guard, with a bow. “We are here to secure your room while you are away.”

  “That way no one can set a trap,” added the other guard.

  “That makes sense,” said Maya. “Who are you?” Maya asked the other guard.

  “Sam, my lady,” he replied with a bow.

  “Wait, I thought you were Sam,” said Maya to the other guard.

  “I am, my lady,” replied Sam.

  “Is this supposed to be confusing?” wondered Maya.

  “Not at all, my lady,” said Sam.

  “How do I tell you apart?”

  “You don’t have to, my lady. We are essentially interchangeable. We hold the same rank, do the same jobs, and will serve you equally.”

  “So, if I want someone to deliver a message for me?”

  “One of us goes,” replied Sam.

  “How do you decide who?”

/>   “We take turns,” said Sam.

  “Is Sam a common name?” asked Maya. She still hadn’t decided if the Sams had just made her life easier or more difficult.

  “There are many men named Sam, my lady. He is a hero in some of our older legends,” said Sam.

  “Actually he is more of a sidekick to the main hero, but gained hero status by being honest, steadfast, brave, and loyal,” added Sam.

  “I would like you to tell me about those legends someday,” replied Maya with great interest.

  Both Sams nodded in agreement. The discussion would have continued, but the maid arrived with Maya’s lunch. Carr pronounced her room safe. She scanned the food for poison, decided it was safe, and ate hungrily. She had had a very active morning.

  Chapter 10

  Lucy enjoyed Ora joining their group. She hadn’t minded being the only female, but Ora was a welcome addition. She seemed shy but had a lovely smile. She was comfortable to be around, even though they did not talk much. Lucy’s initial instinct was to trust Ora. She hoped her instincts were trustworthy.

  Other than their new companion, travel had not improved. The mist was thick with moisture, and impaired visibility. It gave Lucy a headache to try to look farther than a couple of feet in front of her. She always felt cold and never completely dry. She used drying spells on her clothing every day and her cloak was waterproof, but the mist was sneaky and determined. It was a master at finding ways into fastened clothing and down the back of her neck. Mostly, she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Normally she liked traveling, but not here. She wanted to find what they were looking for quickly and get out. She wanted to see the sun again.

  “Stop him,” whispered Ora, suddenly, grabbing Lucy’s sleeve.

  “What?” asked Lucy, shaking herself alert.

  “Your big man. Stop him,” repeated Ora with intensity.

  Lucy looked behind her. Gavin and Taran traded off guarding the rear. Gavin had stopped following them and looked like he was listening to something.

  “He is stopped,” Lucy whispered back to Ora.

  “Not for long,” she responded.

  “Do you hear that?” asked Gavin, suddenly.

  “What?” asked Taran.

  “Singing,” said Gavin starting to walk off.

  “No, stop,” said Lucy. “Where are you going?”

  “That way,” said Gavin, taking another step.

  “Why?” asked Justin, looking at Lucy. If she was insistent that Gavin stop, he was going to find out what Gavin thought he was doing.

  “The singing. I must follow,” said Gavin, simply. He started to walk.

  “No,” said Lucy.

  Justin and Taran both planted themselves in front of Gavin. He ignored them and kept walking. They each grabbed an arm, but it didn’t deter him. Gavin dragged them both along one step at a time. Despite their time with Gavin and awareness of his strength, the brothers’ faces looked surprised by his ability to continue moving. Lucy thought it was kind of funny, but sensed Ora was right. She froze Gavin mid-step.

  “Thanks,” said Justin letting go. “What is going on here?”

  “It’s a Lorelei,” explained Ora.

  “A what?” asked Lucy.

  “Beware the cry of the Lorelei,

  For to your doom it will lead.

  Beware the cry of the Lorelei,

  Or suffer, suffer and bleed” chanted Ora.

  “That’s very pretty, but what does it mean?” asked Lucy.

  Justin ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “A Lorelei is a water sprite. They are very beautiful; their songs are irresistible and lure men to their doom. They enchant a man with song, use him for as long as they wish, and eat him in the end.”

  Lucy unfroze Gavin.

  “Did you hear that?” she asked him.

  Gavin nodded his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lead us astray. It was like I wasn’t really in charge of myself anymore. I couldn’t resist.”

  “We understand,” said Taran patting Gavin on the shoulder.

  “Why didn’t it affect the rest of you?” Gavin asked.

  “Lucy is a girl. Taran and Justin aren’t fully human,” explained Ora. “I can sense it, but its call does not affect me,” Ora waved off Justin’s inquisitive look.

  “Tell us if you hear the singing again,” requested Justin.

  “Of course,” replied Gavin. “If I can,” he added as an afterthought.

  They trudged on. It made sense that Ora knew what a Lorelei was if she lived in the mists. What Lucy wanted to know was how did Ora know Gavin heard one. Added to that, Ora seemed to know before Gavin even heard it. Who was Ora? What was Ora? She said she was a sprite. What could she do?

  They traveled on in the mists. At one point Justin stopped, motioning them to hide. They did their best to blend into the rocks they were hiking through while something large that they couldn’t see lumbered by. Lucy didn’t know what it was. The mist was too thick, concealing it. She hoped that meant it couldn’t see them. The unidentified being smelled like wet moss. If they were close enough to smell it, could it smell them? Lucy worried until it was far enough away that they could neither hear nor smell it. They were finding plenty of things in the mists. Too bad none of them were what they were searching for.

  Ora hadn’t said anything since explaining what a Lorelei was, until they stopped for lunch. Usually they didn’t bother to light a fire at lunch and ate bread and cheese, but Taran decided they could use a fire and hot stew. Everyone agreed. Justin found firewood. Luckily, they chose to stop near the only avila tree Lucy has seen since leaving Corealanna. Lucy took the opportunity to eat as much of the fruit as she wanted for lunch and replenished her packs. Gavin was about to make himself comfortable in some soft moss when, once again, Ora whispered to Lucy.

  “Stop him.”

  “Gavin stop,” said Lucy.

  Gavin stopped. He trusted Lucy and was not under the enchantment of the Lorelei. He did look at her questionably. He was waiting for an explanation. Lucy, meanwhile, looked intently at the moss, searching for an explanation that made sense and did not implicate Ora. Something tugged at her memory. Ted. When she was at the school, Lucy worked in the pharmacy with a very caring and extremely eccentric man named Ted. She associated the moss with him. She thought for a moment, trying to remember. What had he said about it?

  “The moss,” Lucy said urgently, almost babbling in her haste to get the explanation out. “Stay away from it. It’s not normal moss. It’s flowering moss finetta. Ted had me repot some of it one day in the apothecary. It’s poisonous. It has spines. It will prick you, then grow over you, and eat you.”

  Lucy looked at Ora for confirmation. She nodded. Gavin edged away from the moss. He looked angry.

  “Is everything here carnivorous?” Gavin asked, clearly upset. “How many things are out there waiting to eat us?”

  “Pretty much everything,” said Ora, calmly. “Very little sun filters through the mists. Photosynthesis is not much of an option. Some plants that need low light, survive. Otherwise, everything here eats flesh.”

  “That’s terrible,” declared Gavin. No one disagreed. “I don’t mean to complain, but how much longer are we going to be here?”

  “I think we have traveled north at least half the distance we meant to, perhaps more. If we don’t find anything in the next couple of weeks, we can cross back over the Karrenna mountains and go back to Lerramorre. We wouldn’t have much information to give Joss, but even no information is more than we had to begin with,” elaborated Justin.

  “You’d be okay with that?” asked Lucy. “Leaving with no information?”

  “I don’t know. I have a couple of weeks to figure that out. Besides, I’m not sure how many other options we have. Corealanna told us not to go much farther in. I think we should trust her,” replied Justin.

  Again, everyone nodded in agreement. No one knew what else to say or do so they enjoyed Taran’s hot stew.<
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  “I think Ora knows things” Lucy said in Justin’s head.

  “What kinds of things?” Justin asked.

  “I’m not sure. I feel like she knows things are going to happen before they do,” replied Lucy.

  “Perhaps she can. I wouldn’t be surprised. She is a sprite after all. They can do all kinds of things.”

  “I wonder what she’s doing with us.”

  “So do I. Do you think we can trust her?”

  “Yes,” said Lucy definitively.

  “I trust you. So for now, we trust her.”

  “That doesn’t keep me from being curious.”

  Lucy could feel Justin’s amusement at her response. It made her smile, too.

  Chapter 11

  Lucy was awakened from a sound sleep by Ora shaking her roughly.

  “Get up!” she whispered urgently. “You must get the others up!”

  “Why?” asked Lucy groggily.

  Ora didn’t have time to answer. A bell sound went off in Lucy’s head and Justin sat straight up in alarm. Lucy checked to make sure her shields were still up and strong. She had gotten good at maintaining them even in her sleep. The ring from Corealanna wasn’t burning. Was that because they didn’t need the warning? Or, was the threat not magical?

  “That was one of my wards!” Justin exclaimed kicking Gavin roughly.

  “Ouch,” moaned Gavin.

  “Wake up!” Justin whispered as loudly as he dared, as Lucy reached over to shake Taran. Justin continued, “Something crossed my wards. It knows we are here!”

  “What is it?” asked Gavin, springing up, pulling on pants, throwing a leather tunic over his head, and grabbing a dangerous looking pair of double axes from his weapons pile.

  Justin closed his eyes and concentrated. Taran and Lucy quickly dressed and grabbed their staffs. Gavin was already outside the tent, alert and ready. Ora huddled in her blankets, but Lucy did notice a knife in her hands. Ora did not intend to fight, but she was ready to defend herself if whatever it was made it past them.