Chapter Six: Rocky steps always lead to trouble...
Honor, as I have told you, is a great thing to have.
It guides you to the right decisions.
But, sometimes it is necessary to make decisions for the heart and not for honor.
Lady Tamaida of Ninequor to her husband, while her daughter eavesdropped.
It had taken a week to reach Slate Coast properly and a half a day more for them to reach the grand estate that made Teirra's home look like a small storage building in comparison. They camped outside the castle's slate, stone walls, which had no doubt given its name to the place. The knights, King's Own and King's Champion camped in a small clearing on the west side while the Rider's found a more secluded spot in the trees on the opposite side.
Things were being set up and plans drawn by those in charge, including Commander Opion, while Jak and Teirra got the lowest wrung of the ladder: to buy more supplies inside the walls. She wasn't thrilled about such a tedious job, but it gave her a duty besides setting up camp. The last time had not gone very well to say the least.
Teirra stood leaning against the doorframe of a seller's store as Jak bought supplies. At least the days were cooling as summer began to fade. She hated to work in absolute heat. In any matter, Teirra got to people watch. She liked to people watch as it reminded her that people did exist in this world besides those they fought against.
Then she caught sight of a face, one so eerily familiar, her grey eyes widened in sheer surprise. It took Teirra's mind as moment to place the face, but once she did, she was away from the door in an instant.
"Grufford?" Teirra couldn't keep her mouth shut.
As if the man heard her, the face snapped her direction and then began to move through the crowds, away from her. Teirra frowned and followed the man. Could she really be this close to the man she was searching for?
When the man picked up his pace to a run, Teirra ran as well. The crowds slowed them down a bit and Teirra was more careful about knocking into the people. Perhaps because she had a heart.
The man turned down the road with a more narrow lane and less people to block them. Teirra was getting closer and was nearly within an arm's reach when Grufford turned with a short sword drawn. Teirra pulled up short and would have gone too close if not for the arm that wrapped around her waist to pull her back.
"What are you thinking?" Jak released her and looked at the man. "I apologize, sir."
The man still stared at Teirra in caution. "No harm."
"This is who I've been looking for. This is Grufford." She whispered into Jak's ear.
"You're making a fool of yourself." Jak replied, making no effort to remain as quiet as she.
Teirra's face flushed red. It did look foolish, but this had to be Grufford. She was sure of it. "It's Grufford."
"No, this is Master Hale. The seller told me when you ran off. Goodness, you're fast." Jak frowned at her. "Come, let's leave the man alone." He grabbed her arm and started to lead her away.
Teirra looked back over her shoulder at this 'Master Hale.' The man narrowed his eyes at her and Teirra returned the look with equal if not more vigor. Grufford was only a few paces from her reach and she could do nothing about it.
"Teirra, your honor." Jak grumbled.
Teirra sighed, a frustrated sigh. "But my honor dictates that bad men get justice brought upon them. That is Grufford. If anything, he killed Sereous."
"I'm your friend, Teirra, so please hear me out. That man is Master Hale, the Count of Slate Coast's hostler. He's not a bandit. He may look like your sketch, but he's known here." Jak finally let her go once they were far enough away.
"It is a gut feeling, Jak. Believe me, I know who he is." She told him firmly.
"We have other things to concentrate one, like whatever plan out great leaders create and dish out to us, little people." Jak reminded her.
"I know, but I need to deal with this." Teirra replied weakly. She knew what Jak was saying was right, she just didn't want to hear it right now.
"Another time. We're going to need your abilities with the horses. Help me." Jak bent to lift a pail of supplies.
The moon was nearly at its peak when Teirra snuck away from the camp and slipped into the gates. She did note that the leader's tent was still lit as she hid in the dark. It worried her slightly, but she was focused on what she was going to do. She wouldn't let that distract her now.
She headed towards the stables, getting lost in a few wrong turns before she found it. She guessed that the hostler would stay in quarters nearby or within the stables, afterall, it was quite large. As she entered, some of the horses snapped awake, spooked by an unknown presence.
It's alright. Go back to sleep, you'll need it. She told them gently in the best way she could.
Teirra's boots echoed on the wooden floor boards and she cringed. The sound sounded like horns in her ears, announcing her arrival. She had wanted silence tonight.
At the end of the hall, Teirra found a flicker of light form a candle and headed that direction. Slowly, she pushed open the door. Sitting with his back to her was Grufford, scribbling a letter. Teirra crept up behind him, a knife drawn. She could end it now.
"This isn't very honorable, Lady Teirra." The man muttered, not stopping in his letter. Somehow, it didn't surprise Teirra that he knew her name.
"It wasn't honorable to kill women as you did." Teirra growled, unladylike.
"I'm not driven by honor." Grufford turned around to face her and smiled. "You know, in this light you are rather beautiful. Much more so than your friend in the woods."
Sereous. Teirra narrowed her eyes. "You don't deserve to live."
"Then kill me," he smirked at her, mischief in his eyes. "Kill me in cold blood. Do it, my lovely lady. No one would blame you. You could get away with it, with all your honor."
Teirra paused and looked at him. She probably could get away with it. But she couldn't hide it from those whom she cared about and they would look poorly on her. It was cold blood to do it this way.
"Second thoughts?" Grufford taunted her.
Teirra frowned, then looked at the knife. Revenge wasn't honorable, but if one was to take it, this was not the way. She sighed painfully as Grufford laughed at her. Tears threatened the fall in sheer frustration. Why couldn't she do what she wanted to do? It would never get any easier than this.
As a few tears snaked their way down her cheeks, footsteps echoed behind her and Teirra quickly hid her knife in her belt. At least someone was making the decision for her.
"What's going on here?" A female voice sounded from behind her. "I came here to check out supplies for horses and I overhear a conversation I'm not sure I like."
Teirra turned around to find a stout woman with the most firey red hair and unnerving violet eyes. Teirra felt like a giant standing before this woman, in height alone. Everything else felt like a tiny girl.
Teirra quickly knelt as Grufford stood to bow. "T'was nothing, my lady. I'm sorry we have disturbed you."
The Lioness looked from Teirra to Grufford a few times, gauging the situation. "It better be nothing." Then she beckoned Teirra roughly. "Come, we're going back to camp."
Teirra sheepishly followed the living legend out of the hostler's quarters and down the aisle and past the horses. The horses once again spooked had to be calmed by Teirra's words silently.
Once they would outside and headed back toward the gates, the Lioness looked at Teirra out of the corner of her eyes. "I don't know what that man did to you, but that wasn't how to handle whatever you were going to handle."
Teirra couldn't bring herself to look at the woman. It was enough just to walk along side her. "T'was nothing, my lady. It was a poor gut feeling, that was all. It won't happen again."
"I understand gut feelings, more than you know, but what would have happened if I hadn't come along?" The Lioness looked squarely at her now.
"I don't know," Teirra admitted. "My honor would have won out. It always does."
"Good, because I've heard things about you." The Lioness focused ahead again. "Your commander seems confident that if we should need it, you can speak with the enemies horses."
Teirra, startled, looked at her. "At... At a certain range... I have to be...uh.. close enough."
The Lioness smiled slightly. "Good. Whenever there is an engagement, I need you to drop what you are doing and get as close as possible and unhorse those men. Understand?" Teirra nodded. "Good, now, get some rest. Morning always comes far too early for my taste and I've already been up late."
Teirra nodded and bowed once more before running off to find the Rider's camp once more. Her feeling were mixed as she went to bed. She was delighted upon words that Opion had recommended her and that the Lioness was putting faith in her, but what she had been about to do echoed horribly in her memory. She had been about to become a murderer and that terrorified her. She made a vow never to let that happen again. Teirra would obey her orders and if the opportunity provided itself in the battle field and Grufford showed his true colors, she would take her revenge then.
She woke Prancer slightly and told him about the night as efficiently as she could and bid him goodnight. Tomorrow, she suspected, would bring more excitement than she could handle.
If only she knew...
Author's note: Sigh So I need to pick up the pace and actually force myself to decide the direction of this story. I'm also worried about how I wrote the Lioness, it probably needs major work. I know I'll probably be coming back to rewrite it sometime...I just hope I haven't ruined anyone's day by it...