Chapter twenty

The day finally arrived that the injured were healthy enough to either ride their own mounts or be loaded into the one remaining wagon they had found in the town. Eothen helped Arik get Alek positioned properly on Kasara and then tied him to her saddle; Alek never stopped staring blankly ahead. Eothen wondered again whether his technical survival was a blessing or a curse. She knew that both Taia and Aladrian had said he would recover, at least partly; but how much, no one knew. Caryli had divided some of her Guard; she set her second in command to lead half of them along the path they had originally been on, and the rest – including the wounded and Caryli herself – would accompany Eothen and Alek back to Haven. Caryli had debated this; on the one hand, she didn't want to divide her forces and leave them more vulnerable to defeat should either half of them be attacked. But while the Heralds could not be left undefended – and Alek was hardly in any condition to defend himself – and Caryli had reason to want to go herself to Haven to help implore upon the Crown to find a solution, the official Guard duty of roaming the country and keeping the peace could not be neglected either, particularly with rebellion looming. So she split the forces.

They set off just before dawn, when the sky was just grey enough to see where they were going but nothing else was awake yet. Rika was still injured enough that she rode in the wagon most of the time with the injured soldiers; she'd heal just fine, but she needed to rest. This meant that the party was required to hunt for their own fresh meat, much to Eothen's dismay; she had gotten very used to having Rika do her hunting for her, and was chagrined to realize just how lazy she had gotten by depending on it.

:Sorry, heartmate.: Rika said. :I'll be back in action in about a sennight. Meanwhile, get your skills back up!:

:I definitely will.: answered Eothen. :As much as I appreciate your help, I'm angry at myself for getting complacent.:

They rode hard during the day and camped at night, stopping only to water their horses. They ate trail rations on horseback as they rode; they needed to make as much progress as possible. Every day that Haven went without knowing about the coming rebellion was a day they couldn't spend any time trying to come to a solution. On that first evening, Eothen gathered up her hunting bow, a short sword for defense should such a thing prove necessary, and her hunting knife and went looking for a deer. Or a wild pig, at least. She was determined to return with something more satisfying than a rabbit. It was peaceful in the woods; the sun had only just disappeared behind the trees, so it was dim but not so dark that she couldn't see. She practiced walking through the leaves without making any noise as she'd been taught as a child. She even climbed a few trees; her family was the only one amongst the Shin'a'in that did so, but they all learned to climb trees and walk from one branch to another at the top. She didn't enjoy being that high off the ground, but she did find it useful to see where she was going, where she'd been and if there was prey nearby she couldn't see from her normal vantage point.

Despite her best efforts, however, Eothen was not rewarded. She found no deer to hunt, nor wild pig and was obliged to settle for pheasants and rabbits. At least there were the pheasants, she supposed. By the time she returned to camp it was dark, and she cleaned her animals by firelight, with Caryli's welcome assistance. She found she truly enjoyed the Captain's company; it was nice to sit and talk with another woman who understood her mercenary past and didn't judge her for having chosen a life of fighting and battle, rather than baking and child-rearing. She also thought, very privately, that if she hadn't found Hexen and Caryli hadn't found Samra, it might have been easy to develop a more romantic interest in Caryli; this thought surprised her, as she had never had feelings for other women before. She wondered if that thought was just due to Caryli's incredible charisma or if maybe she was just lonely. It had been a long time since she had actually seen Hexen, after all, let alone…..

She stopped her mind from wandering down that path, however; it was not helpful in the least. They were, in fact, both in relationships with other people; she and Hexen were not handfasted, that was sure, and they had made no overt promises of fidelity, but she was not the type to just go to bed with whomever she found attractive at the moment. And Caryli and Samra were, in fact, handfasted, so the point was moot. But the thoughts really confused her, nonetheless.

:Women do have their…..charms.: Taia said in the back of her mind. :You wouldn't be the first to experiment, so far from home and the comforts of your own partner.:

:Hush, you.: said Eothen. :I don't particularly appreciate you rummaging around in my private thoughts. You were not invited there.:

:Quite right.: said Taia. :Quite right. I apologize. I did not intend to 'hear' those thoughts; you merely happened to be thinking them when I was trying to get your attention for other matters.:
:Hmph.: said Eothen. :What other matters?:

:The fact that the village you were planning on stopping in tomorrow night is on the verge of rebellion.: Taia said.

Oh. Well that threw a wrench into things. Eothen had rather looked forward to a real bed and an inn….well, it couldn't be helped, and anyway she had to know what Caryli thought about it.

"Captain," she began, "Aladrian has been scouting."

"Well," Caryli answered, "I know that when you use my title and not my name, that's a a bad sign. Out with it."

"He said the village we'd planned on staying in tomorrow night is on the verge of rebellion." Once again Aladrian got credit for being an overachiever. "He says Heralds and the Guard showing up might just be the provocation they need to start a fight."

"And so are likely all the villages between here and Haven," said Caryli. "Sheka. So either we counter the rebellion, take too much time and maybe not even survive to warn them, or we arrive in Haven but the rebellion has already begun."

"Exactly," said Eothen. "What do you think we should do?"

"You're the Herald," said Caryli. "you give me orders, not the other way around."

"I was on my training circuit." Replied Eothen. "I'm not an actual Herald."

"Still," answered Caryli, "I'd appreciate ideas."

The problem was, Eothen could think of only one. And she didn't like it.

"Companions can outpace any horse and their stamina is unmatched." Eothen began. "The only solution I see is for Aladrian and Kasara to carry Alek and myself and make all possible haste to Haven, stopping only when absolutely necessary and not in towns. You lead the Guard back as quickly as you can but quelling any rebellion you can."

"Agreed," said Caryli. "And not that I wish any harm to your Companions, but anyone who can hit a Companion in full gallop deserves credit. What about Rika?"

"She's not able to travel yet, and she's fast but can't keep up anyway," said Eothen. "She will stay with you and allow me to keep track of you progress."

:While I don't relish the idea of being separated, you're right, heartsister.: said Rika. :Even fully recovered I could not keep up with Aladrian and would have to ride pillion. This way I won't slow you down and I can actually serve a purpose besides."

:Kinda what I was thinking.: Eothen replied. :I will miss you terribly, but I need you to recover and keep me informed of what's going on. Do not, under any circumstances, get yourself killed.:

:I shall do my best to comply.: said Rika. :You, as well.:

:I have no intention of slowing down long enough to be killed,: Eothen replied.

The next morning just before dawn, Eothen strapped everything she would need to Aladrian and Kasara's backs. Weapons, canteens of water and liquefied food for Alek, as many rations as the army could spare – they would have to last the entire journey; Eothen would not have time to hunt, and they couldn't stop to buy anything in towns. One cloak each to serve as both bedding and warmth; everything else – cooking supplies, bedrolls, everything not absolutely essential – she loaded onto the wagon carrying the wounded. The Companions had excellent speed and stamina, but it was not limitless; they would need every last bit for this ride. Any extra weight at all made their success that much more difficult.

Finally she strapped in Alek himself. He didn't react; just kept staring straight ahead at nothing in particular. Eothen wondered for the hundredth time if he would recover, and whether or not his survival was a blessing or a curse.

:He will recover.: and unfamiliar mindvoice said to Eothen. It occurred to her belatedly, and much to her surprise, that it was Kasara. :He's starting to be aware of his surroundings, but no one else can sense him. He's not strong enough yet to communicate on anything but a soul-level band.:

:Good.: Eothen said. :Tell him to hurry up, I miss my friend.:

Kasara seemed amused by that, and turn to wink an enormous sapphire eye at her. Then just for show, she reared and started off at a gallop; Aladrian followed suit a mere second later and they were off to Haven.

They rode hard. They stayed off the roads in order to reduce the risk of ambush, running on old hunting trails and on the far end of fields when necessary. At time they even raced through the wood; the Companions were obliged at those points to stop briefly for Eothen to reposition Alek's head and shoulders so they wouldn't get so banged up by stray branches. Kasara could avoid the ones big enough to knock Alek off – tied to the saddle, he wouldn't actually be knocked off, but he didn't need a head injury – but the smaller ones, she would have to take too much time. It would take most of a fortnight to make it to Haven like this; if they could have used the roads, they would be able to cut that time in half, maybe less, but that entailed too much risk. Eothen slept and ate in the saddle; they stopped only at rivers to let the Companions graze a bit, drink a bit, and refill there water canteens. Eothen poured as much food as she could into Alek during these breaks too, but she knew it wasn't enough. She just hoped the lack of calories wasn't severe enough to starve him to death before they arrived in Haven.

:Ambush ahead.: said Taia one afternoon about a sennight after they had set out. :You will hit in a candlemark at this pace. Four enemies, well armed and armored.:

:Too dangerous for me to try and defeat.: Eothen replied. :I could try, and maybe succeed, but the consequences of my failure are to high. Sheka.:

Aladrian and Kasara were obliged to stop while Taia scouted for an alternative route, far enough from the would-be ambushers that they could be avoided. Eothen took the opportunity to stretch her legs quickly, reposition Alek and pour as much soup down his throat as he would take.

:Bad news.: said Taia. :Only way around them is to pick our way through the forest with me guiding Aladrian.:

:Figures.: said Eothen. :Well, there's no help for it. We'll just have to go as fast as we can and hope we get to Haven in time. Good news is, hopefully I can get a rabbit or two while we're slowing down, at least.:

The delay would add at least a full day, maybe two, but Eothen was right: there was no help for it. They had no idea whether or not they would make it to Haven on time; perhaps they were already too late. There was no real way of knowing.

Caryli and her troupe rode towards the town quickly, but warily. They knew an attack was coming due to Taia's scouting (although Caryli, of course, thought Aladrian was to be credited for it) but they didn't know exactly when or from which direction. Each soldier was ready, but had to appear as if they weren't expecting an attack; Caryli would have preferred to ride into town, sword in hand, but that was not practical. Despite the fact that she knew a fight was coming, in this town as well as likely all the rest, to ride into town sword in hand would result in an expectation amongst all the towns that the Guard was attacking, and they would lose this impending war before it even began. The citizens that were not rogue, anyway, had to remain on the side of Valdemar were they to have any hope at all of renewing the peace. So they rode in, prepared but pretending not to be, and waiting.

Suddenly an arrow shot past her, and if she had not shifted her weight at precisely the moment she did that arrow would have shot straight through her neck and killed her. As it was it hit her helmet, bounced off and left her with a horrid ringing in head that nearly deafened her to her troupe's order to draw swords and bows in response. But response to what? She still wasn't sure where that arrow had come from, and the longer it took her to figure it out the more likely her would-be assassin was to try again and succeed. She peered half in hope, half in fear at the trajectory that arrow must have taken, but in vain; the troupe, lacking a visible target, rode on. Another arrow from another unseen attacker was loosed and she heard one of her soldiers behind her cry out and fall from his horse. So their attackers intended to pick off her troupe one by one like cowards. This could not stand. She had too assume the soldier that fell was dead; in any case, stopping to load him onto the wagon would only result in more of her troupe getting killed, so she gave the command to run at all speed back out of town d out of range. This would either goad the town into fighting face to face as she preferred, or leave her to her other option. One she didn't like, but as no town militia appeared, she was left with little choice. Sheka.

"Prepare to fire the town," she gave the order. "By lighted arrow, preferably, but burn it the ground as quickly as you can. Regroup on the other side; the wagon will ride straight through town as fast as possible, with everyone who can string a bow it its defense. Prepare your torches."

Caryli really hated to do this, and she knew her troupe felt the same. But they could not allow rebellion to flourish, they couldn't take the game trails that Eothen and Alek were on, and they could not just get picked off one by one riding through town. She considered just galloping straight through town, hopefully too fast for the town to get any good shots off, but that not only let the town's attack go without reprisal but left their wagon, which could not go fast enough to avoid being destroyed, defenseless. Helpless wounded, not to mention all their supplies, would be killed and the supplies used instead to help the rebels? That could not stand. So setting fire to the town was their option. She knew innocents would die right alongside the guilty, but this tow had at least harbored rebellion if not participated in it, so not entirely innocent. She tried not to think about the children and prepared herself for the horrible screaming that was to come and for the stench of burning flesh. She slung one of the two arrow bundles attached to her saddle across her shoulders and took her torch in its place – and they were, all too soon, ready.

She gave the command to begin and the troupe began methodically, but quickly, to set fire to every building in town. They worked in pairs, one pair going to the front of each building and one to the back, breaking windows to set fire to curtains and firing lighted arrows into the thatch. Even the barns were razed; gates were opened first, in order to allow animals to escape and one pair of each team razing a barn rode through in order unlatch horse stalls but Caryli knew a lot of the animals would be too terrified to run.

:I am healthy enough for this.: said a voice within her head; she realized it had to have been Rika when she saw the kyree jump from the wagon, limping slightly, and lope towards the horse barn. :I will get as many to follow me as I can.:

Well, at least there would be that; she sent silent thanks in Rika's direction, and got back to her grim work. Some desperate townspeople threw their children out the broken windows in the hopes that they would live; Caryli hoped that they would, though she could not spare the time or the manpower to escort them to safety. The nearest Guardpost, which was the only place they could go since she expected similar fighting in every town from here to Haven, was a fortnight away. So she would have to hope that the oldest amongst them was mature enough to see them all to safety. They were nearly finished with their task; the smoke was chokingly thick and black, and Caryli knew that the tears on her face was due to the smoke at least as much as it was to the heart-rending screams of the dying. Finally they were finished; the buildings they had started with were smoldering, the last were beyond saving even had there been a fire brigade within range. The troupe regrouped on the far edge of town, exhausted, blackened with soot, all with tearstains writing maps down their faces; and like Caryli, it wasn't all due to smoke. A silence equally as horrible as the screams was all that was left to hear. Rika was limping for real as she received Caryli's assistance to get back inside the wagon; she was a wolf-shaped solid mass of soot with two eyes looking out of it. Her head hung low, mouth open and gulping air; Caryli shared her canteen of water with the poor kyree and Rika indicated her thanks.

:More than half,: Rika said into Caryli's head, answering he unasked question. :Less than all.:

Caryli thought her thanks in Rika's direction, but was soon interrupted by her Lieutenant Detrent.

"There were a few escapees," Detrent said "We couldn't shoot all of them; got most, but they escaped with Geipol."

Sheka. "I had thought him dead," said Caryli. Geipol had been the soldier hit by the arrow.

"No ma'am," he was hit in the thigh; the fall knocked him out, but it was not a killing blow. Shall we mount a rescue?"

"Did you see where they were headed?" Caryli asked.

"No, ma'am," Somewhere towards the woods, that's all anyone can say."

Sheka. "No," said Caryli. "No rescue. As much as I would like to we simply cannot afford to mount a rescue through woods that they know, but we do not; they would pick us off like rabbits, and make all of this in vain. We do not have the manpower or the time to pull it off. Im sorry."

"Understood, ma'am, and and as much as I would like to disagree I cannot," said Detrent, "One thing, ma'am. The townspeople knew that until recently, we were traveling with our two Herald; it cannot have gone unnoticed that they were not with us."

"And the escapees will want to know why," said Caryli. "And they will torture poor Geipol to find out."

"I guess all we can do it hope Geipol doesn't tell them," said Detrent.

"He will," said Caryli, quietly. "He will. No matter how strong or brave anyone is, and I have no doubt Geipol is both those things, everyone breaks. Everyone. There are things torturer can do that will make anyone do whatever they have to to do to make it stop."

"Ma'am?" asked Detrent.

"That's why you all receive training one how to mix enough lies in with the truth you will inevitably tell to make it indistinguishable from the lies so as to confuse the enemy enough so that the truth you tell will be harmless." Said Caryli.

"Yes ma'am," said Detrent. "I hope Geipol was trained well, then."

"I do too," Caryli answered. "I do too."