Chapter 10
A lie will easily get you out of a scrape, and yet, strangely and beautifully, rapture possesses you when you have taken the scrape and left out the lie—Charles Edward Montaque, Disenchantment
The next day they packed up as if everything was normal, and it was. The only difference was that Karigan was now very aware of her travelling companion.
By the afternoon, they saw a village marked by an old sign that declared they were now in Codswallow. Yesterday, they had entered D'yer Provence and were headed for Woodhaven, but that was still a good two days ride away. They would need some more provisions before then. After looking around and seeing the village didn't have much to offer in the way of a general store, they headed for what looked like the town inn.
As they got closer, Karigan looked at it with distaste. It looked as if the owners had let it run to ruin. The roof was dipping low, the railing had at one point broken and no one had bothered to fix it. How did they expect to get any customers with their building in such a poor state? They walked up rickety stairs and approached the front door. Karigan hesitated at the inn's entrance, the inside was deplorable. There were drunk men singing in the corner and a woman was sitting in the lap of a young, handsome customer, clearly selling more than drink. Sev (Sevelon she had to remind herself), nudged her shoulder and led her inside. As they walked to a table away from the other customers, the floor made ripping sounds, as if it had not been scrubbed in days. The smell was slightly rancid, possibly from the dried booze on the floor. The inn keeper sat them at the table and asked what food they wanted. Karigan had to make an effort to keep the disgust from her voice as she ordered.
When the man left them alone. Sevelon looked around the tavern room and mocked her. "You survived Blackveil, yet you balk at this?"
She looked around, apprehensive of being overheard.
"Do not worry, I'm bending the sound. No one can hear us, though I doubt even the inn keeper is sober enough to attempt such a feat as eavesdropping."
Relieved, she continued. "By all accounts I should not have survived."
"Have you considered the fact that the gods favor you?"
"The gods favor no one."
"They look after their own affairs first and foremost, but they do notice some humans, especially if the human's actions compliment a particular god's plan."
"I'd rather not have the notice of the gods."
He leaned back in his chair to stretch as if it was nothing, but his voice came out as old and enduring as the wind itself. "Sometimes we do not have a choice."
A memory shone in her mind, elusive, like a piece of metal deep within the water, only to catch the light at certain angles. The memory was of a war horse's back, broad and black as night, muscles pumping underneath her as if flying through the air. The sound of wings beating and draining out every other sense. Twice while sleeping in Blackveil, she would wake because these wings were beating so strongly through her mind. These visions seemed as a part of her as her own memories, but she would only ever get flashes of them. She knew they were significant, but she didn't fully understand them. This nervousness is perhaps what prompted her to share the experience with him. Or perhaps it was because he wouldn't think she was crazy.
"When riders are called, they hear hoof beats." He just nodded, in understanding or for her to continue, perhaps both. "For me the hoof beats didn't stop, but would appear again in times of great need." Or perhaps in great purpose, but she didn't want to put such a self-important term to her own actions. "This faded about a year ago. Something truly disastrous was going to happen. I'm not entirely sure what it was, but I could feel it, can still feel that it was something disturbingly dark and deeply pervasive." Here she stopped and looked at him, unsure if he would think she was crazy. He just nodded again, this time in acceptance. His facial features were calm. He didn't seem to think she was off reality, so in a rush, she told him what was bothering her. "But it was stopped and ever since I've been having these images return like they were my own memories, only diluted and lacking detail. For the past year, it's not hoof beats I've been hearing, it's wings beating the air." She paused and looked at him, her eyes searching for understanding, "The incident's all muddled in my mind. Does anything I just said make sense?"
"I think you have the gods' notice more than you know."
She shrugged, "There've been times when I've felt connected to Westrion and Salvistar."
"They used you and you can't remember what happened," he stated. He felt anger on her behalf. He knew all too well what it felt like to be used as a pawn in the gods' great game of fate.
She nodded, and quietly confirmed, "I think so."
o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o
A day from Woodhaven, he warned of a group nearby, and that they should hide the horses in the trees. Once Condor and the cavalry horse were stowed a safe distance away, they crept up to a group encamped along the side of the road. By all outward appearances, they seemed like D'yer soldiers. Karigan inspected the man standing watch closest to them. His royal blue uniform looked tight, as if it was made for a smaller man. His hair was ragged; he did not look like a man of military discipline. These were not D'yer troops.
Crouching close to Sevelon, she let loose a quiet, breathy question, "Who are they?"
He responded just as quietly, "I'm not entirely sure, but I need to get closer. Would you mind if I allowed us to be captured?"
His question startled Karigan. Feeling slow on the uptake, she restated. "You want to get captured."
He was looking in the direction of the troops, and absentmindedly continued. "There is something very wrong in this group. I'd like to see it up close."
Karigan understood it was his duty to fulfill Aeryc and Aeryon's justice, but she was hesitant to do anything that might compromise her duty to Sacoridia.
"Can't we just observe? We both have the ability to be invisible."
He shook his head, as much to answer her question as to bring his thoughts back to the present. Then he looked at his companion, trying to read through her hesitation. "Before I decide how to fix this, I have to see it. Touch it even. I promise you, we will be able to leave when this task of mine is done. Trust me, there is something in this group that you would not want wandering freely through your countryside."
"I'll give you half a day, then we must be on our way." She needed to get to Woodhaven to send a report to Captain Mapstone.
"Yes Sir." His eyes sparked with amusement and Karigan suspected he was making fun of her status as the Knight of the Realm.
She just harrumphed and walked out of their cover, toward their soon to be captors. Such jokes coming from a bloody Constellation! If anything, she should be bowing to him. Not that she would be the one to point that out. She was never very good at treating people as if they were higher than herself. Aristocrats had always made her uncomfortable and hadn't she accidentally told off the King during that abysmal game of intrigue? She didn't have the greatest track record for giving people their proper respect. She tended to speak her mind, regardless of who she was speaking to. It was so when she spoke to the King and it would be no different with an immortal. She would forget that she was supposed to gravel at his feet and would instead act as she darn well pleased.
He caught up to her, trampling sticks and making as much noise as possible. The men looked startled, as if they'd expected a wild animal. When they saw it was two people, they picked up their swords and ran at the pair. In imitation of a noblewoman she'd went to school with, Karigan squeaked, "Oh no! Look at these brutes. We're going to be robbed!" She made the last word extremely high pitched in the hopes that it would annoy Sevelon. When he looked at her, she just waved him on. It wasn't HER idea to be captured.
The men roughly grabbed Sevelon and tied his hands. "Wrong place to take a walk mate," they jeered at him and gave him some suggestions on how to shut up his girlfriend. None of the suggestions were very gentle. Karigan didn't fight when they grabbed her hands and tied them behind her back. She was too amused at how Sevelon was being roughhoused by the men. As the men led them into the camp and forced them to the ground, he acted so abjectly cowed. She knew the immortal could probably squash them all with just the bat of his eyelashes.
The amusement abruptly ended when Karigan recognized her best friend's voice. However, when she sought its source, it wasn't Estral but a little girl. Karigan remembered Alton's letter describing the mysteriously sudden loss of her friend's voice. How he didn't think it was natural. And here was this child, singing with that voice. It was the same voice that Karigan had grown up with, its beauty was unmistakable. Karigan could only look at the little girl with horror.
"Sev!" She whispered harshly, almost forgetting to call him by his short name.
He looked completely in control of the situation, even with his hands tied. Seeing him so unbothered helped calm her nerves. Still, she had to let him know, even if she didn't fully understand how this had happened. "My friend Estral mysteriously lost her voice while at the wall. That little girl is singing with it. I'd recognize it anywhere. We have to do something." She didn't care if her plea sounded petty. Her friend was withering without her voice. Estral's voice was a part of her being, similar to Karigan's gift, take that away and her body would suffer.
He looked at the little girl and Karigan wondered if this new development would change how he was going to handle things. She hoped so, for the sake of her friend. In the letters, Estral tried to be positive about the situation, but Alton's letters were more honest. He told how Estral continued to be ill and that her strength seemed to diminish by the day.
Unable to grasp his shoulder with both her hands tied behind her back, Karigan scooted closer to Sevelon. When her arm met his, he looked down at her. Her eyes searched his, hoping to find compassion or empathy of some kind. "Please." Even to her own ears, her voice sounded weak.
His eyes remained glassy and remote. She was once again reminded that he wasn't a normal green rider. When he didn't respond, she tried to push her case. "Estral's voice is the product of generations of greatness. It is magical in its own way. I've met few people who could bring such goodness into the world. She can help heal this land, but without her voice she will die. She is already only half the person she used to be." His gaze was still emotionless and Karigan was running out of arguments. With a last ditch effort, she admitted, "I only have so many friends." Then she looked away, ashamed that her eyes had begun to water.
That is when the world went still. Karigan didn't see it happen, but suddenly the men were on the ground. None of them moved and she knew they must be dead. She gulped as she watched Sevelon walk casually up to the little girl. Never had he looked less human than he did now, carnage at his feet and starring at this little girl. Karigan knew he was going to kill her.
Only, he didn't kill her. He stood there for a moment, as if unsure about what he was about to do, then he picked her up and brought her back to Karigan.
Gruffly, he informed, "She is your charge until we reach Woodhaven."
o*o*o*o*o*o*o
That night, Karigan watched the little girl singing next to the fire. Hearing that voice and knowing it had to be connected to evil, she couldn't help but think of the little girl as a monster. Apparently, her feelings of disgust were showing on her face, because Sevelon informed her, "You shouldn't treat her so harshly you know."
Karigan was embarrassed that he knew she had such bad thoughts about one so young. "I know," She admitted with a sigh. "It's just everything that is associated with the Second Empire is tainted in my mind. That Grandmother woman was especially vicious when dealing with our people. She would use her gift to twist their minds, make them believe they were being constantly tortured, when really they were just sitting there." Karigan remembered finding Beryl Spencer in that tent, and shuddered at the memory of such a strong woman being broken with only string and a few words.
Before responding, Sevelon was quiet for a moment. "Humans think of the world as they see it; the problem is that most people do not see beyond themselves. As I grew up, I realized that my thinking was limited by certain conditions. Everything from my family's beliefs to my own personal experiences would dictate how I interpreted every situation."
He was trying to soften his comment by saying even he wasn't perfect, but Karigan knew when she was being chastised. She looked at the little girl. Looking like any other innocent child, she sat by the fire, playing happily with a bunch of twigs and acting as if they were people. Grudgingly, Karigan had to admit Sevelon made sense. If the girl's family was Second Empire, it means she was born into a society that truly believed they had been wronged. "You're right. She cannot help what she was born into any more than we can. Nor is she responsible for what was done to her," Karigan admitted out loud.
The next day, Karigan made an effort to treat the girl as if she was like any other child who was away from their family and everything familiar. The results of that small kindness were surprising. After only a few times of Karigan thanking her, the girl became extremely helpful. She also became more talkative. It was still disturbing for Estral's adult voice to come from such a small frame, but Karigan tried not to think about it overmuch.
As they rode into Woodhaven, Karigan did ask Sevelon. "What will you do with her when Estral has her voice back?" She asked, indicating the girl who was sleeping in front of Karigan, great coat tugged tightly around her small form.
"Before, she had been a mute." He explained, "Often times, mute children will find their voice as they grow older. She hadn't found hers yet, but once she gives your friend's voice back, she will terribly miss being able to communicate. I suspect she will find her own voice then."
o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o
A day later they sat in Woodhaven, having a private dinner with Alton and Estral. Sevelon had returned Estral's voice and they'd found a foster home for the girl. Returning the voice didn't take much effort on his part. Though by the way Karigan now smiled at him, she thought he was the best man in the universe. For a moment, he thought she would hug him out of happiness, but instead she'd turned her attention towards her recovering friend. It was a shame, he was curious how she would have felt in his arms. He had not been touched in such a gentle way since he'd said goodbye to his mother and that memory was millennia away. He couldn't help but wonder how it would feel to have such comfort once again.
Throughout dinner, Estral and Alton bombarded him and Karigan with questions. Estral's curiosity seemed insatiable, "Your rider ability must be well controlled to accomplish such a thing."
Sevelon shrugged, he didn't want them to think he was capable of anything greater than a card trick. Just because he told Karigan who he was, did not mean he wanted the whole world knowing. If anyone found out who he was, such information would fly like fire on a dry field. If Mornhaven found out, Sevelon would lose the element of surprise. Undoubtedly, Mornhaven would react as he always had, with an iron fist of fury and many more people would die. He trusted Karigan with his secrets, but could not afford to have either Alton or Estral know. He needed them all to believe he was a regular green rider. Not to mention, minstrels were some of the worst gossips—always claiming their duty was to write songs about things happening around the land. Karigan's friend would drool at the mouth for the opportunity to write a song of how he'd saved her. Keeping his true powers and identity secret, he claimed his "special ability" was bending sound. He explained this was how he'd been able to give her voice back.
Karigan kept quiet during such explanations. He knew she wouldn't gainsay his cover story, she was too thankful for Sevelon's intervention in the situation. Her friend had a voice and was recovering from a fatal sickness. She was content to let Sevelon spin whatever tale he liked.
"Maybe you could help fix the wall," Alton sounded excited.
Sevelon couldn't understand why they had spent so much time worrying about the wall. Fixing the wall would only give them a temporary break from their problems. No flimsy wall would stop Mornhaven, not now that he was recovered from his injuries. When Mornhaven was gone, Kanmorhen Vane would heal. But, these mortals had no way of knowing that. Nor, could they have any way of knowing that Mornhaven's existence would soon be extinguished. He sighed, he should be easier on them. These were Karigan's friends, surely if she respected them, then they were good people.
If only for Karigan's sake, he'd humor this man, "I'm not sure if my ability works that way, but we can try."
"Great. Of course, it'll have to wait until we get back from Sacor City, but this could be what finally works. The King will be very pleased."
Karigan saved Sevelon from having to answer, by asking, "When are you leaving for Sacor City?"
"First thing in the morning. A message arrived for my father earlier today declaring that Sacoridia is going to War and our presence is required at the Capital. I expect the King has sent similar notes to all the governors, requesting them and their militias."
Sevelon caught Karigan's eyes, trying to communicate silently that he'd need to be around for any major conflict. She nodded almost unperceivably.
She turned back to her friends, "We'll travel with you. Captain Mapstone wanted a report soon anyways."