Thanks: Keita, IHL, Xelena, Stacey, Lady Wild Rose, The Inkblot Faery, Goddess of
Reviews, FantasyWind, Keita again, veralidaine, Xelena again, Peachblossomluver,
Lady Sandrilene
Lookie! I got 206 reviews! Yay! Yay everyone! This is so awesome. This story is
my baby now, teehee.
For the sake of moving the story along, I'm not going to write while they were on the
pirate's ship on the way back to Tortall so this chapter picks up when they have been
on the mainland for a couple of hours.
**Chapter 22: Homecoming**
"I just want to stay stable for another couple of hours," Kel murmured. When their
ship had docked, the three just sort of stumbled off while George had his men take
their things to separate rooms. Not surprisingly, George, Mikhail, Fane, and a few
other of the pirates knew each other and decided to catch up on old times. Merric,
Neal, and Kel had just wandered into the nearest room with furniture and flopped
down.
"Me too," Neal muttered, his head resting on her lap.
Merric had an entire length of furniture to himself and was snorting lightly.
"Alanna and George won't care if we stay here for the night," Neal told her. "They
have visitors all the time..."
Kel had nearly fallen asleep though and was slumping over, her forehead almost
touching his chest. Dimly, Neal realized that Kel would be better off in a bed rather
than if he just sat up, swung her legs over his lap and let her use him as a pillow,
but he felt better with the latter option.
"Oh, wonderful. It's the Motley Crew."
Neal opened one eye lazily and looked over at the doorway. Standing in the threshold
was noneotherthan Thom of Pirate's Swoop himself. "Ah. Delightful as ever to see you
too, Tommy."
Thom snorted. "And you, Neal Anne."
"You should really get some new material, Spawn of Evil," Neal replied. "People call
me feminine often enough that I simply am not offended by it any longer." He
glanced over and raised an eyebrow. "However, if your nose sticks out any farther I
may be offended by it."
Thom growled something under his breath that shouldn't have been heard by
children's ears, let alone anyone else's.
"You want to say that again, Pirate's Swoop?" Neal demanded, gently removing Kel from
his person and getting to his feet.
"Oooh, I'm scared." Thom rolled his eyes.
"Why do you have to do this? Why can't you just leave me alone, you son of a bi..." he
trailed off when he saw Alanna approach behind Thom. "Hello, Alanna."
"Hey there," she answered. Raising an eyebrow, she looked up at her son and her
former squire. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Thom grumbled.
"Sure looks like a whole lot for nothing," Alanna admitted.
"Don't worry about it," Neal advised. He looked to Alanna and hoped he conveyed the
message that he would tell her later with his eyes. However, she gave no indication that
she received it and shrugged. She waddled--for now she was showing with her fourth
child--in between Neal and Thom.
"Now," she told them sternly, "you two need to get along. Thom, you should treat Neal
like a brother, and Neal, you shouldn't antagonize Thom so much."
The male knight's mouth twitched as if he wanted to say something, but instead he just
narrowed his eyes and nodded. "Yes, Alanna."
"Thom?" Alanna pressed.
"Yes, Mother," he replied mockingly.
"Well, I'm going to go down to the infirmary and talk with Maude," Neal announced and
took off.
Merric and Kel had awaken shortly afterwards and Merric decided to spend some time
getting to know the oldest Pirate's Swoop boy. Not long after they left, Alanna and Kel
paired themselves up and went to the armory to discuss matters.
***
Carefully, Neal dug around in the drawers and cabinets of the infirmary, inspecting
every piece of equipment and every instrument in the place. Being around this
infirmary reminded him of his father, he realized with a somber enlightenment. As
he paused to reminisce, someone came up behind him.
"Surprise!"
Neal jumped and toppled over in one fluid movement, successfully landing himself
face-first on the floor. "Gods!" he cried, rubbing his face and getting to his knees.
"Oh, Neal, I'm sorry!"
The girl kneeled next to him.
"I'm fine," he told her, waving her off. He sucked in a breath when he realized that
he had banged his elbow on the counter and rubbed it gingerly. "Alianne, you really
should watch what you're doing."
Alianne ducked her head. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you so badly."
Wincing, Neal shook his head. He had really done a number on his elbow, he realized
as he inspected the fingers that came away bloody. With a sigh, he healed his arm
and looked at Alianne. "Did you need me for something?"
Alianne shook her head. "Nope! I just wanted to talk. You know, catch up on what's
happened."
"As long as it isn't girl talk," Neal replied. Alianne laughed. "If you want some girl
talk, I'd recommend talking to Kel. While she's no 'lady,' she's still a girl."
"I think I just want to talk to Neal." With the practice of someone had done this
every day of her life, Alianne hopped up onto the examination table. "Is that okay
with you?"
Neal shrugged and busied himself with placing everything he had rifled through
back in its original position.
"Did I ever tell you that you have really pretty eyes?" Alianne asked after an
expanse of silence.
Neal flinched and slowly turned to face her. "What?"
Alianne blushed. "I said...you have really pretty eyes..."
For some reason, Neal couldn't make his mouth work. His brain was yelling at him
to tell Alianne something but...it just wouldn't come out, not that he even *knew*
what his brain wanted him to say.
"Uh...thanks..." Neal finally spoke.
Alianne rocked back and forth on the examination table and looked at the floor.
"Do you have any exciting knightly stories?"
Everything that happened the past few months flashed through Neal's memory. He
raised an eyebrow, looked at Alianne, and shrugged. "Not that I can recall."
Disappointed, her face fell. "Oh. Well, what have you been doing?"
Neal's hand danced over the hilt of the Sword of Abscador and again he shrugged.
"Not much."
"What's that?" Alianne persisted, staring at the jewel-encrusted pommel of the
Sword. "It looks really nice...did you get it from the big armory up in Corus?"
"Actually, no," Neal admitted. "I got it from a...an inheritance."
Alianne nodded, eyes wide in admiration but also twinged with a little sorrow. "From
your father? I wish I could have gone, Ma said you said I could have gone if I could
but I just couldn't..."
"It's all right. Father didn't really know you anyway," Neal assured her. "And that
came out a lot more callous than I meant it."
Alianne laughed. "I know."
Neal allowed himself a chuckle, even though he felt ill at ease with Alianne, especially
since the comment about his eyes.
"You have a really nice laugh."
*That's it,* Neal thought decisively. *I think she's trying to flirt with me, and that's
particularly creepy.* He glanced at the door. "I think I hear your mother calling for
me," he said quickly. "I'll go see what she wants."
He dashed out of the door, leaving Alianne sitting on the examination table.
"Alianne! Neal!" Alanna called. "Supper!"
"I guess he really *did* hear her," Alianne muttered. "Coming, Ma!"
***
Neal slipped in next to Kel, squeezing her hand under the table and offering her one
of his genuine smiles. She returned it, both the squeeze and the smile, and winced
when she noticed Neal's gaze turning to Thom. The King's Champion's son sat one
chair down from Neal, which was promptly filled by Alianne. It was slight, but Kel
felt a tremor run through Neal.
"What's wrong?" she whispered to him as the servants brought them their food. She
offered a smile to the one who brought hers.
"Nothing, love," he promised. He nodded a thank you to the servant that offered
his meal and began to eat with the rest of the males.
Unconvinced, Kel turned to her meal and began to eat. She wondered absently if
something had happened with Alianne and decided it must have. "Eat your
vegetables," she told Neal.
He sighed. "Yes, Mother Kel."
Kel shot him an indignant look. "'Yes, Mother Kel'? You're a *healer* for the sake of
the gods; you should *know* to eat your vegetables."
"Between you and Alanna, I know very well to eat them," he informed her.
Kel rolled her eyes. "Then don't fight me on it."
Chagrined, Neal dutifully speared a vegetable on his fork and shoved it in his mouth,
chomping. Alanna and the rest of her family found this particularly amusing and
fought to keep their laughter down. Kel raised an eyebrow at them, noticing their
lack of food consumption. Paired with Neal's melancholy, overdramatic expression,
Alanna had to allow her laughter to bubble up.
George followed her next, and this signalled to his children that they could laugh as
well. Flushing, Kel suddenly found her food rather interesting, especially the piece of
meat sitting at the top of the plate. Neal allowed himself a smile and whispered to
Kel, "They're always like this. They just think we're amusing."
Kel rolled her eyes. "Right."
They all enjoyed their supper for a while longer, conversing and sharing stories about
their travels and what had gone on during the Midwinter they had missed.
They heard stones crumbling moments before the castle seemed to shudder.
The knights jumped up, knocking their seats backward. A split-second afterwards,
George and the rest of the family were on their feet.
"Neal!" Merric yelled. The brunette knight looked at him. "Your sword!"
Neal looked down at the Sword of Abscador and realized it was glowing with a soft
phosphorescence and vibrated in its sheath. He ran outside, looking up, and saw a
shower of fire hanging in mid-air. Then he noticed that if he concentrated hard
enough, a slight sheen the color of the glow from the Sword was just above the
castle.
*It's enchanted,* Neal realized, awestruck. *The Sword is protecting itself...*
Kel, Merric, Alanna, George, Alianne, Thom, and the rest of the household had
gathered around the edges of the shield that had formed over the castle at
barony Pirate's Swoop. Neal's two closest friends stared at him and the sword
strapped to his waist.
"What's going on?" Alanna muttered, eyes fixed to the sky.
Suddenly the attacks halted, and the barrier lowered itself.
A rock came crashing through the foliage and stopped at Neal's feet. Tied crudely to
it with a string was a piece of parchment with the words, "Ten days" scribbled on it.
Neal shivered and felt gooseflesh rise on his skin as he realized what the note implied.
He had ten days to get the Sword of Abscador to Joren.
***
"We have to leave."
"Why?" Kel asked, bewildered.
Like a madman, Neal was packing up their things. "Never mind. Go tell Merric that
we're leaving now."
Folding her arms across her chest, Kel glared. "Not until you tell me why."
"I have to get back to Corus within ten days."
"Why?"
"Mithros, woman! Can't you just accept that I have to get back to Corus as soon as
possible?!"
Justice, the puppy Kel had been forced to leave in Pirate's Swoop while they went to
the Copper Isles, crept between Kel and the doorframe, trotting up to Neal and
licking him furiously.
"Justice, no." He swatted at the dog. "Stop." It was almost a blessing when Mace, the
cat Neal had rescued from the inn so many monthts ago, strutted in to find Justice. He
hissed, Justice barked, and they both ran out of the room. "Please, Kel. Just tell Merric,
will you?"
Kel sighed. "Fine. I will. But you had better explain when we get to Corus why we're
leaving like this."
"Ten days," Neal muttered. He was already planning the trail in his head. If he pushed
it, he could make it to Corus in eight days. However, by the time they got halfway
through, not only would the horses be tired, so would Kel, Merric, Justice, Mace, and
himself.
He would just have to take an extra day to slow the pace down a little.
"Shit," he muttered some more. He felt helpless. How had he lost track of the days?
He could have sworn it was...ten days until the deadline. He just hadn't realized it. He
and the others had been so tired after their expedition with the pirates and the ship
and Emerald Edge that he had just totally forgotten about it.
Merric came in a few moments later, trailing Kel. She kneeled beside Neal and helped
him pack as Merric entertained Mace and Justice.
"All right!" Neal announced as the last thing was packed. "Let's go."
They grabbed their things and nearly ran to the stables. Alanna followed them out,
frowning. "What's the rush?"
"I have to get to Corus in ten days," Neal explained hurriedly. "Don't have time to say
anything else. Thanks for your hospitality and don't forget to come visit." Hurriedly,
he saddled his horse. "Come on, you two!" he shouted as he led his horse out into the
yard and mounted it. "You two are so slow!"
"We're tired, Slave Driver Neal!" Merric called back. A few moments later, Kel and
Merric joined him in the yard. "We're tired and stressed. Why do we have to go
right *now*?"
"Because," he said simply, and led them towards Corus.
***
"Tired..." Kel trailed off, trotting her horse next to Merric's. Her eyelids felt heavy,
her limbs felt leaden, and she was growing into a more irritable mood as the days
progressed. This had been the fourth day on the road of Neal pushing them and
making them ride longer than they normally would. The horses were beginning to
tire out.
"Exhausted," Merric corrected. He didn't feel much better than Kel, if he felt
worse. "Aren't older people supposed to tire out faster?"
"Like Neal? He's only twenty-five," Kel replied defensively. "However, I think I
may end his life at that."
"Come on!" Neal shouted, already yards ahead of them. "Get moving, you two!"
"My legs are numb!" Merric shouted back. "I can't feel my horse underneath me!"
"And you call yourself a knight?" Neal shot back. "And what about you, love?"
"Oh, you hypocrite! You call me 'love' and yet you make us ride as if the Black
God was on our heels!" Kel griped. "And you don't even tell us *why*!"
"The Black God may very well be," Neal grumbled. Snow began to drift lazily
down around them, serving only to make Neal more impatient. "Come on,
we're still four or five days away from Corus."
He turned his horse back around, this time advancing at a slower pace. He
knew that the horses and his companions were tired--Kel was lagging though
she tried not to show it and held Justice in her lap, and Merric was glaring
daggers at Neal with Mace in his lap.
They reached an inn shortly after nightfall, only to find that there was only a
one room vacancy.
"Well," said Neal. "G'night." He flopped onto the bed.
"Hey!" Kel cried, pouncing on the bed after him. She straddled his waist.
"What makes you think you can share the bed with me?"
Neal blinked innocently up at her. "Because you love me?"
"Don't remind me." She rolled off of him and sent an apologetic look at Merric.
"Sorry. I would say you could share the bed, too, but you might not like that."
"I think I'll sleep over here," Merric agreed, grabbing a couple of blankets out
of the closet and situated himself by the fire. "At least I'll be warm this way."
Neal refrained from adding that he had other ways to be warm.
***
The next few days passed slowly with the first of February hanging above Neal's
head like a guillotine. The deadline was the last day of January, and when he
had checked the calendar at the last inn they had slept at, it was the day before
the last day.
"Shit, shit, shit," he muttered like a mantra. Darkness descended, and the snow
fell heavier than before. What would normally take a day was taking three.
They slept in the shelter of a weeping willow, the horses fastened to the trunk.
Neal slept fitfully when he slept at all. The Sword of Abscador thrummed at his
waist, compelling him to move. "Go," the wind whispered through the vines that
surrounded them. "Go. Protect them..."
The moment the sun rose over the horizon, Neal leapt up and changed his
clothes, waking Kel and Merric up as he did so. "Come on, you two. We're almost
to Corus. We can make it today, I promise!"
They hurried because he hurried.
The ride through the knee-deep snow took a while; longer than Neal had
anticipated. When they finally reached Corus, Neal sighed. He glanced up at the
sky and realized they only had an hour or so of daylight left.
"You two, I'm going ahead!" Neal called over his shoulder as he pushed his horse
forward.
Trees passed in a frosty white and brown blur and the ground seemed to disappear
beneath them. The horse couldn't handle that pace in the cold so much and slowed,
making Neal arrive in forty-five minutes. Now he needed to find that small little
restaurant in the snow, cold, with a tired horse.
"Gods," he groaned. He looked around, searching for familiar landmarks. "Where...
where is it...?"
Suddenly, he spotted a small shop he had made sure to notice as he wandered
aimlessly that fateful day so long ago. "Supper's in less than an hour," he muttered.
He led his horse towards the shop and navigated his way slowly, agonizingly through
the deep, cold, icy powder covering the ground.
He couldn't figure out if it was just his imagination or what, but he swore he could
feel his life slipping away through the golden bracelet around his wrist.
"Where?! Where is it, dammit?!" he shouted. People turned and stared at him for a
moment before hurrying on. "Argh!"
Frustration set in. He took a deep breath, the icy air stinging his lungs and puffing
out in a white cloud. "All right, Neal. Think."
He opened his eyes and saw another landmark.
Less than a half-hour to go now.
"Shit," he cursed. He could smell the inns and restaurants preparing their suppers for
their customers. Frantically, he searched for another landmark and found it.
Twenty minutes.
He wasted another five minutes searching for another landmark.
He rounded the corner and spotted the small, out of the way restaurant and literally
sprinted up to it with five minutes left.
He threw open the door.
Reviews, FantasyWind, Keita again, veralidaine, Xelena again, Peachblossomluver,
Lady Sandrilene
Lookie! I got 206 reviews! Yay! Yay everyone! This is so awesome. This story is
my baby now, teehee.
For the sake of moving the story along, I'm not going to write while they were on the
pirate's ship on the way back to Tortall so this chapter picks up when they have been
on the mainland for a couple of hours.
**Chapter 22: Homecoming**
"I just want to stay stable for another couple of hours," Kel murmured. When their
ship had docked, the three just sort of stumbled off while George had his men take
their things to separate rooms. Not surprisingly, George, Mikhail, Fane, and a few
other of the pirates knew each other and decided to catch up on old times. Merric,
Neal, and Kel had just wandered into the nearest room with furniture and flopped
down.
"Me too," Neal muttered, his head resting on her lap.
Merric had an entire length of furniture to himself and was snorting lightly.
"Alanna and George won't care if we stay here for the night," Neal told her. "They
have visitors all the time..."
Kel had nearly fallen asleep though and was slumping over, her forehead almost
touching his chest. Dimly, Neal realized that Kel would be better off in a bed rather
than if he just sat up, swung her legs over his lap and let her use him as a pillow,
but he felt better with the latter option.
"Oh, wonderful. It's the Motley Crew."
Neal opened one eye lazily and looked over at the doorway. Standing in the threshold
was noneotherthan Thom of Pirate's Swoop himself. "Ah. Delightful as ever to see you
too, Tommy."
Thom snorted. "And you, Neal Anne."
"You should really get some new material, Spawn of Evil," Neal replied. "People call
me feminine often enough that I simply am not offended by it any longer." He
glanced over and raised an eyebrow. "However, if your nose sticks out any farther I
may be offended by it."
Thom growled something under his breath that shouldn't have been heard by
children's ears, let alone anyone else's.
"You want to say that again, Pirate's Swoop?" Neal demanded, gently removing Kel from
his person and getting to his feet.
"Oooh, I'm scared." Thom rolled his eyes.
"Why do you have to do this? Why can't you just leave me alone, you son of a bi..." he
trailed off when he saw Alanna approach behind Thom. "Hello, Alanna."
"Hey there," she answered. Raising an eyebrow, she looked up at her son and her
former squire. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Thom grumbled.
"Sure looks like a whole lot for nothing," Alanna admitted.
"Don't worry about it," Neal advised. He looked to Alanna and hoped he conveyed the
message that he would tell her later with his eyes. However, she gave no indication that
she received it and shrugged. She waddled--for now she was showing with her fourth
child--in between Neal and Thom.
"Now," she told them sternly, "you two need to get along. Thom, you should treat Neal
like a brother, and Neal, you shouldn't antagonize Thom so much."
The male knight's mouth twitched as if he wanted to say something, but instead he just
narrowed his eyes and nodded. "Yes, Alanna."
"Thom?" Alanna pressed.
"Yes, Mother," he replied mockingly.
"Well, I'm going to go down to the infirmary and talk with Maude," Neal announced and
took off.
Merric and Kel had awaken shortly afterwards and Merric decided to spend some time
getting to know the oldest Pirate's Swoop boy. Not long after they left, Alanna and Kel
paired themselves up and went to the armory to discuss matters.
***
Carefully, Neal dug around in the drawers and cabinets of the infirmary, inspecting
every piece of equipment and every instrument in the place. Being around this
infirmary reminded him of his father, he realized with a somber enlightenment. As
he paused to reminisce, someone came up behind him.
"Surprise!"
Neal jumped and toppled over in one fluid movement, successfully landing himself
face-first on the floor. "Gods!" he cried, rubbing his face and getting to his knees.
"Oh, Neal, I'm sorry!"
The girl kneeled next to him.
"I'm fine," he told her, waving her off. He sucked in a breath when he realized that
he had banged his elbow on the counter and rubbed it gingerly. "Alianne, you really
should watch what you're doing."
Alianne ducked her head. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you so badly."
Wincing, Neal shook his head. He had really done a number on his elbow, he realized
as he inspected the fingers that came away bloody. With a sigh, he healed his arm
and looked at Alianne. "Did you need me for something?"
Alianne shook her head. "Nope! I just wanted to talk. You know, catch up on what's
happened."
"As long as it isn't girl talk," Neal replied. Alianne laughed. "If you want some girl
talk, I'd recommend talking to Kel. While she's no 'lady,' she's still a girl."
"I think I just want to talk to Neal." With the practice of someone had done this
every day of her life, Alianne hopped up onto the examination table. "Is that okay
with you?"
Neal shrugged and busied himself with placing everything he had rifled through
back in its original position.
"Did I ever tell you that you have really pretty eyes?" Alianne asked after an
expanse of silence.
Neal flinched and slowly turned to face her. "What?"
Alianne blushed. "I said...you have really pretty eyes..."
For some reason, Neal couldn't make his mouth work. His brain was yelling at him
to tell Alianne something but...it just wouldn't come out, not that he even *knew*
what his brain wanted him to say.
"Uh...thanks..." Neal finally spoke.
Alianne rocked back and forth on the examination table and looked at the floor.
"Do you have any exciting knightly stories?"
Everything that happened the past few months flashed through Neal's memory. He
raised an eyebrow, looked at Alianne, and shrugged. "Not that I can recall."
Disappointed, her face fell. "Oh. Well, what have you been doing?"
Neal's hand danced over the hilt of the Sword of Abscador and again he shrugged.
"Not much."
"What's that?" Alianne persisted, staring at the jewel-encrusted pommel of the
Sword. "It looks really nice...did you get it from the big armory up in Corus?"
"Actually, no," Neal admitted. "I got it from a...an inheritance."
Alianne nodded, eyes wide in admiration but also twinged with a little sorrow. "From
your father? I wish I could have gone, Ma said you said I could have gone if I could
but I just couldn't..."
"It's all right. Father didn't really know you anyway," Neal assured her. "And that
came out a lot more callous than I meant it."
Alianne laughed. "I know."
Neal allowed himself a chuckle, even though he felt ill at ease with Alianne, especially
since the comment about his eyes.
"You have a really nice laugh."
*That's it,* Neal thought decisively. *I think she's trying to flirt with me, and that's
particularly creepy.* He glanced at the door. "I think I hear your mother calling for
me," he said quickly. "I'll go see what she wants."
He dashed out of the door, leaving Alianne sitting on the examination table.
"Alianne! Neal!" Alanna called. "Supper!"
"I guess he really *did* hear her," Alianne muttered. "Coming, Ma!"
***
Neal slipped in next to Kel, squeezing her hand under the table and offering her one
of his genuine smiles. She returned it, both the squeeze and the smile, and winced
when she noticed Neal's gaze turning to Thom. The King's Champion's son sat one
chair down from Neal, which was promptly filled by Alianne. It was slight, but Kel
felt a tremor run through Neal.
"What's wrong?" she whispered to him as the servants brought them their food. She
offered a smile to the one who brought hers.
"Nothing, love," he promised. He nodded a thank you to the servant that offered
his meal and began to eat with the rest of the males.
Unconvinced, Kel turned to her meal and began to eat. She wondered absently if
something had happened with Alianne and decided it must have. "Eat your
vegetables," she told Neal.
He sighed. "Yes, Mother Kel."
Kel shot him an indignant look. "'Yes, Mother Kel'? You're a *healer* for the sake of
the gods; you should *know* to eat your vegetables."
"Between you and Alanna, I know very well to eat them," he informed her.
Kel rolled her eyes. "Then don't fight me on it."
Chagrined, Neal dutifully speared a vegetable on his fork and shoved it in his mouth,
chomping. Alanna and the rest of her family found this particularly amusing and
fought to keep their laughter down. Kel raised an eyebrow at them, noticing their
lack of food consumption. Paired with Neal's melancholy, overdramatic expression,
Alanna had to allow her laughter to bubble up.
George followed her next, and this signalled to his children that they could laugh as
well. Flushing, Kel suddenly found her food rather interesting, especially the piece of
meat sitting at the top of the plate. Neal allowed himself a smile and whispered to
Kel, "They're always like this. They just think we're amusing."
Kel rolled her eyes. "Right."
They all enjoyed their supper for a while longer, conversing and sharing stories about
their travels and what had gone on during the Midwinter they had missed.
They heard stones crumbling moments before the castle seemed to shudder.
The knights jumped up, knocking their seats backward. A split-second afterwards,
George and the rest of the family were on their feet.
"Neal!" Merric yelled. The brunette knight looked at him. "Your sword!"
Neal looked down at the Sword of Abscador and realized it was glowing with a soft
phosphorescence and vibrated in its sheath. He ran outside, looking up, and saw a
shower of fire hanging in mid-air. Then he noticed that if he concentrated hard
enough, a slight sheen the color of the glow from the Sword was just above the
castle.
*It's enchanted,* Neal realized, awestruck. *The Sword is protecting itself...*
Kel, Merric, Alanna, George, Alianne, Thom, and the rest of the household had
gathered around the edges of the shield that had formed over the castle at
barony Pirate's Swoop. Neal's two closest friends stared at him and the sword
strapped to his waist.
"What's going on?" Alanna muttered, eyes fixed to the sky.
Suddenly the attacks halted, and the barrier lowered itself.
A rock came crashing through the foliage and stopped at Neal's feet. Tied crudely to
it with a string was a piece of parchment with the words, "Ten days" scribbled on it.
Neal shivered and felt gooseflesh rise on his skin as he realized what the note implied.
He had ten days to get the Sword of Abscador to Joren.
***
"We have to leave."
"Why?" Kel asked, bewildered.
Like a madman, Neal was packing up their things. "Never mind. Go tell Merric that
we're leaving now."
Folding her arms across her chest, Kel glared. "Not until you tell me why."
"I have to get back to Corus within ten days."
"Why?"
"Mithros, woman! Can't you just accept that I have to get back to Corus as soon as
possible?!"
Justice, the puppy Kel had been forced to leave in Pirate's Swoop while they went to
the Copper Isles, crept between Kel and the doorframe, trotting up to Neal and
licking him furiously.
"Justice, no." He swatted at the dog. "Stop." It was almost a blessing when Mace, the
cat Neal had rescued from the inn so many monthts ago, strutted in to find Justice. He
hissed, Justice barked, and they both ran out of the room. "Please, Kel. Just tell Merric,
will you?"
Kel sighed. "Fine. I will. But you had better explain when we get to Corus why we're
leaving like this."
"Ten days," Neal muttered. He was already planning the trail in his head. If he pushed
it, he could make it to Corus in eight days. However, by the time they got halfway
through, not only would the horses be tired, so would Kel, Merric, Justice, Mace, and
himself.
He would just have to take an extra day to slow the pace down a little.
"Shit," he muttered some more. He felt helpless. How had he lost track of the days?
He could have sworn it was...ten days until the deadline. He just hadn't realized it. He
and the others had been so tired after their expedition with the pirates and the ship
and Emerald Edge that he had just totally forgotten about it.
Merric came in a few moments later, trailing Kel. She kneeled beside Neal and helped
him pack as Merric entertained Mace and Justice.
"All right!" Neal announced as the last thing was packed. "Let's go."
They grabbed their things and nearly ran to the stables. Alanna followed them out,
frowning. "What's the rush?"
"I have to get to Corus in ten days," Neal explained hurriedly. "Don't have time to say
anything else. Thanks for your hospitality and don't forget to come visit." Hurriedly,
he saddled his horse. "Come on, you two!" he shouted as he led his horse out into the
yard and mounted it. "You two are so slow!"
"We're tired, Slave Driver Neal!" Merric called back. A few moments later, Kel and
Merric joined him in the yard. "We're tired and stressed. Why do we have to go
right *now*?"
"Because," he said simply, and led them towards Corus.
***
"Tired..." Kel trailed off, trotting her horse next to Merric's. Her eyelids felt heavy,
her limbs felt leaden, and she was growing into a more irritable mood as the days
progressed. This had been the fourth day on the road of Neal pushing them and
making them ride longer than they normally would. The horses were beginning to
tire out.
"Exhausted," Merric corrected. He didn't feel much better than Kel, if he felt
worse. "Aren't older people supposed to tire out faster?"
"Like Neal? He's only twenty-five," Kel replied defensively. "However, I think I
may end his life at that."
"Come on!" Neal shouted, already yards ahead of them. "Get moving, you two!"
"My legs are numb!" Merric shouted back. "I can't feel my horse underneath me!"
"And you call yourself a knight?" Neal shot back. "And what about you, love?"
"Oh, you hypocrite! You call me 'love' and yet you make us ride as if the Black
God was on our heels!" Kel griped. "And you don't even tell us *why*!"
"The Black God may very well be," Neal grumbled. Snow began to drift lazily
down around them, serving only to make Neal more impatient. "Come on,
we're still four or five days away from Corus."
He turned his horse back around, this time advancing at a slower pace. He
knew that the horses and his companions were tired--Kel was lagging though
she tried not to show it and held Justice in her lap, and Merric was glaring
daggers at Neal with Mace in his lap.
They reached an inn shortly after nightfall, only to find that there was only a
one room vacancy.
"Well," said Neal. "G'night." He flopped onto the bed.
"Hey!" Kel cried, pouncing on the bed after him. She straddled his waist.
"What makes you think you can share the bed with me?"
Neal blinked innocently up at her. "Because you love me?"
"Don't remind me." She rolled off of him and sent an apologetic look at Merric.
"Sorry. I would say you could share the bed, too, but you might not like that."
"I think I'll sleep over here," Merric agreed, grabbing a couple of blankets out
of the closet and situated himself by the fire. "At least I'll be warm this way."
Neal refrained from adding that he had other ways to be warm.
***
The next few days passed slowly with the first of February hanging above Neal's
head like a guillotine. The deadline was the last day of January, and when he
had checked the calendar at the last inn they had slept at, it was the day before
the last day.
"Shit, shit, shit," he muttered like a mantra. Darkness descended, and the snow
fell heavier than before. What would normally take a day was taking three.
They slept in the shelter of a weeping willow, the horses fastened to the trunk.
Neal slept fitfully when he slept at all. The Sword of Abscador thrummed at his
waist, compelling him to move. "Go," the wind whispered through the vines that
surrounded them. "Go. Protect them..."
The moment the sun rose over the horizon, Neal leapt up and changed his
clothes, waking Kel and Merric up as he did so. "Come on, you two. We're almost
to Corus. We can make it today, I promise!"
They hurried because he hurried.
The ride through the knee-deep snow took a while; longer than Neal had
anticipated. When they finally reached Corus, Neal sighed. He glanced up at the
sky and realized they only had an hour or so of daylight left.
"You two, I'm going ahead!" Neal called over his shoulder as he pushed his horse
forward.
Trees passed in a frosty white and brown blur and the ground seemed to disappear
beneath them. The horse couldn't handle that pace in the cold so much and slowed,
making Neal arrive in forty-five minutes. Now he needed to find that small little
restaurant in the snow, cold, with a tired horse.
"Gods," he groaned. He looked around, searching for familiar landmarks. "Where...
where is it...?"
Suddenly, he spotted a small shop he had made sure to notice as he wandered
aimlessly that fateful day so long ago. "Supper's in less than an hour," he muttered.
He led his horse towards the shop and navigated his way slowly, agonizingly through
the deep, cold, icy powder covering the ground.
He couldn't figure out if it was just his imagination or what, but he swore he could
feel his life slipping away through the golden bracelet around his wrist.
"Where?! Where is it, dammit?!" he shouted. People turned and stared at him for a
moment before hurrying on. "Argh!"
Frustration set in. He took a deep breath, the icy air stinging his lungs and puffing
out in a white cloud. "All right, Neal. Think."
He opened his eyes and saw another landmark.
Less than a half-hour to go now.
"Shit," he cursed. He could smell the inns and restaurants preparing their suppers for
their customers. Frantically, he searched for another landmark and found it.
Twenty minutes.
He wasted another five minutes searching for another landmark.
He rounded the corner and spotted the small, out of the way restaurant and literally
sprinted up to it with five minutes left.
He threw open the door.
