With nothing but white sky and earth to look at every passing day I grew very fond of the soft glow of the mister as it lit up at my beckoning. Its warm blue light had always been a welcome change to the neutral colors that surrounded me, and for all of the ten years I had worked with the device it never occurred to me to ask that man where the runes had originated from.
Such things had seemed irrelevant.
Four
The morning brought with it the smell of bacon. It was nauseating.
"Why does every noise hurt?" I groaned softly, rubbing my aching temples. A heavy drum beat pounded against my ear drums, and I nearly started crying when I realized that the terrible sound was my own heartbeat. The throbbing threatened to burst my brain from my skull. Even my breath rattled through my lungs with deafening volume.
"The child is hung over! How much drink did you allow her, boy?!" Sarj demanded accusingly as he offered me a plate from where he sat on the bed. I shook my head quickly, too quickly, and found myself curling over and moaning softly as the world spun. It took several seconds for the room to stop tilting. When it had I accepted the offered food and stared at it mournfully.
"I did not know she would turn out to be so light bodied." Arrus answered with dignity, not bothering to look up from his plate as he worked on finishing his breakfast. My face grew hot with embarrassment at my sorry state, and I decided right then and there that I would never drink so much ever again.
Sarj shook with suppressed mirth as he inhaled his food. The large man had removed his armor the night before as well, his great size still only slightly diminished, and now sat comfortably sprawled across the tough mattress of the bed. Even with the pounds of metal gone I had the distinct impression that the man could crush me with one blow. His friendly shoulder taps were testament of that.
As I watched and listened to the two knights continue to bicker with each other I realized that I knew very little about my traveling companions. Arrus was a prince and knight, third son of the king, and extremely skilled in combat. Sarj, clearly as far from royalty as one might get, was exactly the opposite of the younger man in almost every way. It struck me that this was most likely exactly why they were such close comrades. They balanced each other out.
Still, it's about time that I know more of these men. I thought to myself as I pushed my eggs around my plate. The smell alone was enough to turn me away from actually taking a bite.
"Your highness…" I began softly. The boy paused in his meal and looked down at me curiously, one eyebrow raised slightly on his otherwise stone still face.
"How is it you two came to be friends?" I asked after a moment taken to decide my first question. I did not want to start off with something too invasive and lose my chance to learn anything at all of them.
"My father assigned me to Sarj as his squire when I was twelve. When I grew old enough to attempt the rights and won them, I asked to continue with him as my partner." He answered freely, his voice smooth and emotionless. I could not help but wish he would give more details.
"He might as well have been askin' his father to give him the black plague for all of the reluctance he showed!" Sarj added with a smack to Arrus' shoulder. Arrus did not dodge or flinch from the blow, making me feel weak for having done so when Sarj's affections were turned on me.
"Didn' wanna admit he had grown to like the company of his old appointed bodyguard!" Sarj declared and fell into his boisterous laughter. The glare Arrus sent his way sent chills running up my arms. The older man did not even acknowledge his annoyance, having apparently grown used to such looks over their time together. As far as I was concerned I never wanted to be on the receiving end of one of them.
"What about you, then? How did you come to be a knight of the King's guard?" I asked Sarj after his laughter had died a bit. The mirth left him as if it had been sliced away.
"I lost someone important to me. Without them around I didn' have much t'do but fight. It turned out that I was good enough to make it this far." He answered. His voice had grown uncharacteristically soft, and I found myself regretting that I had asked him at all. The loss was still a deep wound for him, one that I sensed might never truly heal, and feelings of understanding and companionship blossomed in my chest. The sensation was new to me, as so many things were, and something must have shown on my face.
"Show us a smile, child! There's no need to get long faced over somethin' that happened long ago." He cried with a solid thump of his fist on the top of my head. I didn't dodge or flinch this time, as I knew he only did so out of his attempt to lighten his own mood, and pulled my lips up into the expression he asked for. Arrus reached out wordlessly and pinched my cheek hard. Not expecting a second assault of pain I was unable to hide my reaction as well as the first.
"Why are you always doing that?!" I asked with as much dignity as I could muster after having just squeaked like a mouse. Rubbing the red flesh of my face I glared daggers at the prince.
"He asked you to smile not imitate a toad." He said with a smirk. He was actually teasing me, I realized. The image of myself croaking almost sent me into a bit of laughter, but I was able to only just hold it off. I did allow myself to smile, however, and cast it towards the large man still munching steadily on his breakfast.
"Better." Arrus approved with satisfaction. His smirk pulled upward into a true, pleased smile, and I committed the rare sight to memory knowing I would not likely see it again for some time. It occurred to me with a wayward thought that the two of them had stricken me quite a few times over the time we had been together. It seemed that not all blows are given with ill intent but could also hold a strange sort of affection. I would have been just as well without it, but it seemed to be their only means of expressing themselves, and so I let it go.
"What is it that a squire must pass in order to become a knight?" I asked after the moment had passed.
"It is called 'taking the rights'," Arrus explained, "And they are different every year. During mine I was stranded with only armor and sword in the middle of Ugran land and left to survive for six days. On the seventh morning they morning they found me bloodied and missing half of my armor but alive and greatly pleased to see them."
Speechless, I stared at him open mouthed. The king would have his own son left to starve and most likely die in a country full of monsters? It seemed that there were many things I could not comprehend. The idea that another father could be as cold hearted as my own was something I had never thought about. It made a sad sort of sense that there would be, though.
"How did you survive? Where you not just a boy still?" I asked a bit carelessly. Arrus bristled.
"I was old enough, and proved it. I lived off of berries and by chasing down the wild chickens that roamed the lands." He said with a sharp voice. I could almost see his chest puffing out proudly. Sarj punched him lightly in the gut, knocking the wind from the boy's lungs. The vision of Arrus as a younger man chasing down a chicken in clanking armor too big for him had me on the verge of tear from suppressing laughter. Sharing the image with him was not a very intelligent thing to do I decided very quickly.
"Aye, he showed himself to be quite the worthy chicken chaser." Sarj said with a merry laugh as the man in question fought to regain his lungs. "Made his father proud."
"I care little of my father's opinions." Arrus muttered weakly.
They do not get along. I noted to myself, finding a kinship with Arrus as well. It seemed that I could understand many things about each of these men and prayed that where ever we ended up during this war that they would not be too far from reach. Even as I send the prayer I felt the childishness in it. Of course the king's guard would return to their king rather than tick around for a simple soldier.
That brought to mind another question I had had while on the road.
"Why did the king send four men just to retrieve a single boy?"
The room grew very still as both men shared a secret look that I did not like in the slightest. Each shifted a little where they sat as they appeared to come to a decision whether or not I should be told. This bothered me even more. He they truly come to gather another boy for the king's army? The more I thought of the idea the less I found sense in it. The king could have sent any number of expendable food soldiers but instead had sent four of his own men. At least two of them were from his guard. A pit of worry grew in my stomach, but I forced my face to remain patiently impassive as they came to their decision. After what felt like an eternity Sarj nodded to Arrus, who shrugged his shoulders indifferently.
"You are needed at the castle." Sarj said simply. I stared at him with increasing confusion.
"Why..?" It was the only question my lips were able to form.
"The king is in need of Wielders." Arrus explained. I let out a startled laugh of relief.
"I'm afraid you've made a mistake, then." I said with certainty. "I am no such thing."
"Actually, you are. The king's seer has marked on the maps where those with the most potential reside, and yours was the first she listed. She was supposed to See only the boys, though, and I wonder now if she knew that she sent us to fetch a girl." Sarj mused as if speaking his thoughts aloud. Finishing his last bite of food he sat his plate aside. I felt only a growing belief that the king's seer was a fraud.
"There is no possibly way that could be true." I argued, feeling as if I was trying to explain the color blue to a blind man. "I have not worked magic a single time in all the twenty years of my life." There was simply no way that these men could convince me that I was wrong. The king would most likely punish his seer when it was found that I was correct.
"That is not quite true…" Arrus said gently and quickly held his hands up to stop me as my mouth fell open with another protest.
"Her me out," He pressed, "We saw you working the fields as we came upon your farm. You pack glowed blue with symbols of magic as you went about your toils, am I not correct?"
"Yes, but I did not do the casting!" I cried in mounting exasperation. "The symbols are older than I am. I only spoke the words that man taught me to bring them to life."
"Understand this, then. Only one with the capacity for magic can work it, and it matters little who set the original foundation of the spell. Did it ever come to you that you should question why your father had never done the work himself? You most likely inherited the ability from your mother."
The younger knight spoke to me slowly and carefully, as one might a child on the verge of throwing a tantrum. I found his insistent calmness more agitating than anything. How could I possibly be a Wielder? Such a thin was impossible. That man had never done any work because he believed it to be beneath him. There was no other explanation, right? My headache of before was now back in full force, crashing in waves behind my temples with increasing cruelty. Rubbing them slowly, I chose not to look at the man sitting in front of me in favor of the uneaten food in my lap.
"Rhyce." Arrus called softly. I did not answer him, lost in my own confusion. Calloused fingers settled under my chin and forced my gaze up meet his.
"Rhynne…" He spoke my name imploringly, "You are a Wielder. There's no getting around it, and you much come with us to the king. We need every pair of hand that can be gathered."
"Why keep the gathering a secret..?" I asked. Nothing in my world made sense in that moment.
"The war brewing is more threatening to our ways than the king can admit to his people without bringing panic. The Ugran have allied with the Unseen. Together their armies are stronger and larger than anything we have ever faced before. Without every Wielder we can muster to our side our chances of surviving the upcoming battle are almost none."
Every grim word Arrus spoke struck heavily against my heart. The Unseen and Ugran working together..? I had heard terrible tales of both races. To imagine the two coming in force as allies was enough to send a shiver of pure dread down my spine. The king was right to gather what forces he was able, but how could I be of any use to him? It did not seem possible that I could do anything but hinder the efforts regardless of my abilities as a Wielder, if in fact I had any.
"Rhynne…" Arrus spoke my name a second time, his hand still holding my chin captive. My eyes flitted up to meet his again.
"You are part of this kingdom's only hope."
The world spun at his declaration. I had no choice but to accept whatever future came to me when he spoke with such certainty.
"I cannot confirm or rightly see that I am the Wielder you believe me to be, but I will do what I can to keep this land safe." I promised softly, hoping for all our sakes that what I was able to do was enough to make a difference.
"Good." He said as he released me. I gulped softly at the weight of the promise I had just made. There was no honorable way of going back now.
"Onto lighter things!" Sarj cried loudly as the room began to fill with an almost tangible silence. I was never grateful for his ability to brighten any room he sat in. "We must put our insufferable armor upon our backs and leave this smelly place before that seedy little inn keeper tries to make off with our purses!"
Arrus grimaced at the idea but began to do so without verbal complaint. The two knotted each other's armor into place with the speed and efficiency that years of practice brought, and I tried not to stare in disbelief as they did so. Once their armor had been placed firmly in its proper order we gathered our things and left in silence.
Back on the road we fell into silence only broken by an occasional bout of off key whistling from Sarj. The newest reveal was still bouncing about in my head as we moved on at a brisk pace. I had grown used to the bumping and shifting of Midnight's back the day prior, but getting onto the steed's back had posed a momentary conundrum until Arrus had once again gather me up like a weightless sack of corn and sat me in the front of the saddle. My grunt of protest was the only thing to pass my lips in the next three hours.
That I might be a Wielder, at least according to the king's seer, was something I had still been unable to fully process. There were very few in existence that were female, and those there were usually only held enough talent to do simple cleaning and maintenance spells. Men were always stronger Wielders. The greatest warriors in history had also been able to use magic, and I was sure that that success had been gathered in no small part because of that talent. This alone convinced me that I would be among the first to be killed during battle. This in itself did not worry me overly much as I had been a close companion with death most of my life. The idea of being found to be a woman, however, was one that meant death by far worse than sword or claw.
"I do believe that ripe smell is us!" Sarj declared so suddenly into the silence that both Arrus and I jumped in our shared saddle. The hand Arrus kept on my waist clenched painfully tight for one fast instant then let loose just as quickly. There was going to be another bruise to add to the list.
"I agree. It has been seven days at least since we found somewhere to take a proper bath." The knight behind me admitted with some embarrassment. I decided it might not be best to tell them how long it had been since my last bath. It memory served it was something along a month…perhaps two? There had not been an overly large amount of warm water on the mountainside, and that man had found it a waste of good firewood to heat up snow. The opinion only settled onto me, of course, so the man was always spotless in both dress and skin. To bite back the pain and use cold water was not only horribly uncomfortable but could lead to the deadly shakes that came from being too cold for too long. Being clean had literally been dangerous to one's life. Quite luckily for me not a lot of mold could grow in temperatures as cold as the mountainside, so I did not smell quite as terrible as I might have.
"There are bathhouses in the town upcomin' if I recall correctly." Sarj offered with a grin. The act made his mustache lift up so high its tallest peaks almost touched his eyes. The hilarious sight was something I was still getting used to, and I was still wiping the tears from laughter from my cheeks when Arrus came to his decision.
"Yes, I believe I could enjoy the stop." He said with a nod. I wondered briefly if Sarj had stated his fact as a means of asking the other knight permission, and then promptly shook my head at myself. Even if Sarj was the senior of the two knights Arrus was still third prince to the king. There would always be an unspoken authority ranking between the two that would not be at once obvious to others by the way they interacted.
"A bath…with hot water?" I asked with some hope in my voice. I did not want to admit how long I had been without one, but the idea of such a treat brought more excitement than I could mask entirely.
"Of course! Could you imagine it with anything else?" Sarj said with some surprise.
"Yes…" I answered softly. The larger man shifted in his seat as his own oversight dawned on him.
"Yer so gentle spirited I forget the hardships yeh've suffered… Aye, you would know of cold very well." Sarj said with chagrin. I had no doubt that that was the closest that he could come to the words "I'm sorry" without endangering his pride. Even his watered down version was more than I was comfortable receiving from a man that had earned so much of my respect in only three days' time.
"Aye, but a strong lad such as I could suffer a dozen frozen baths with no worry!" I exclaimed in an awkward imitation of Sarj's booming voice. It was my bravest attempt at humor yet, and I found myself fearful of his offence the moment the words had begun leaving my mouth. The stared at me with something akin to shock on his face for a long moment, and then burst into uproarious laughter.
"You…are the snarkiest little…lass!" He managed to gasp between guffaws. Even Arrus was shaking silently behind me. I felt a huge grin spread painfully across my face at his words. The idea of having a friend of any kind was almost too much to wrap my already overwhelmed mind around, and here I sat finding myself in the possession of two.
Silence fell again as Sarj managed with some difficulty to silence his mirth, and we continued on in companionable silence, and the sun was at its highest point in the sky when we came across our first true village. Even from a few hundred yards away I could see dozens of people swarming through its streets as they went about their business. The village was larger than I had expected but not as large as I had hoped. It seemed I would have to wait until we reached the castle before I was treated with the sight of a city.
"There! The bathhouses are just so!" Sarj called out, pointing at two buildings with steam drifting out of large openings in their roofs. I instantly knew that I was looking at natural hot springs much like the one I had spent my life working with. The town had more than likely grown around them as they were used for their healing properties. For a selfish moment I found myself wishing we would not go but quickly squashed the feeling down. This was no pace for petty hatred. Now was a time to enjoy a luxury I had never known before.
The trek down the road to the village seemed to take far longer than the hours we had spent getting there, but with the horses moving at a steady caner we were within its wooden walls quickly enough. The bathhouses were located near the center of town just as I had expected them to be. This meant that we had to go through town to get there, and that was perfectly fine with me.
"What are those?" I asked with as much nonchalance as I could manage. There were ten or so contraptions being flown through the air by children pulling strings. Each was unique and obviously homemade, but flew with a grace that matched only by a bird's. My eyes followed a tiny, multicolored dragon as it bumped into a building and crashed delicately to the ground. The young boy that had been flying it ran to gather it up and started running down the street, throwing it behind him. To my amazement it caught the wind and rose into the sky again.
"They're called kites." Arrus supplied from behind me. The noise of children's laughter and people bustling around with armfuls of this and that caused him to have to lean forward and speak in my ear. His breath tickled against my cheek as he spoke, and a spike of something strange turned my stomach and kicked up my breathing. The sudden reaction to his breath made me uncomfortable, and I nodded my thanks to him before leaning forward just enough to be out of reach. The alien feeling subsided almost the moment he was away, so I quickly put it from my mind and focused on the two large buildings now looming ahead of us.
As soon as we neared the gates two stable boy jumped out to accept our horses and welcome us with grins that sparkled on dirty faces. They twittered in awe over the horses we rode and chattered with even brighter joy at the shiny coppers they were given for their service. Faces glowing with the happiness of untroubled youth, they led our mounts away and left us to a little old woman who had come more slowly behind them.
"Well met strangers," The woman said in a voice that was surprisingly clear and loud for someone of her apparent age. "I am Madam Trout, and I will be your humble hostess for your stay here. The baths are always open without charge to those that serve the king."
"Thank you, Madam." Arrus said with a bow of his head. The three of us made to enter the large open entrance behind her when she held up a single small hand.
"I am afraid that your servant is not free if he plans to join you. The master is very particular that only knights be given free admittance." Madam Trout explained with some embarrassment. It would seem she did not like having to make demands of the two men, but it was her job to uphold her master's rule.
"Yer master is a stingy one." Sarj grumbled as he pulled out a silver crown and placed it into her hand. She nodded without expression and beckoned us to follow her.
The bath houses were enormous, much larger than the one our simple shed had held. Just inside the main building's ornately carved front gate was a courtyard of stone and manmade waterfalls. A sheet of water fell from a single slit in the wall of each side of the room, the base a steaming pool with potted foliage and flowers surrounding it. The sounds of the three fountains were surprisingly tranquil with their constant murmuring, and I found with some surprise that I liked this hot spring.
"The men's spring is this way." Madam Trout said briskly. Suddenly, it occurred to me that if I must pose as a man that I would have to bathe with them as well. A rush of heat that had nothing to do with the overly warm air wafting in from the room we were heading towards quickly spread across my face and down my neck. It was one thing to share a room with these men but to share a bath?
"Excuse me, madam, but are there any smaller rooms for a single person?" I asked with as much respect as I could possibly place into a single sentence. The elder woman stopped and started at me blankly.
"Your servant is quite outspoken." She stated simply.
"He is not our servant." Arrus stated frostily. "He is my squire, and if he would like a bath to himself let him have it."
"Of course," She said without breaking stride, "I should have realized. Allow me to show you to your bathing room, and then I shall escort your squire to one of the two private pools."
Moments later the two knights bid me farewell, and I was ushered towards a small certain at the end of the same hall. Behind the thick red fabric was a pool no larger than the one I was used to.
"Enjoy, squire. If you need anything give that bell a pull."
The madam did little to hide her disapproval of me, but I cared little. The moment she had left I peeled my tunics from my skin until I was bare and placed a foot into the pool. To flesh unused to warmth the heat of the water was painfully intense, and with gritted teeth I kept my foot there until it grew somewhat used to the burning water. Once able to tolerate it with some ease I took a steadying breath and walked straight into the water until it reached the top of my chest. When I had gone far enough I knew that going in all at once had been the right thing to do. The dragon's fire that now enveloped my body would have been a special sort of torture to deal with a little at a time. After some minutes the burning ebbed and became relaxing. When I was certain my skin was still attached to my body I made my way across to the little box of cleaning oils by the west lid of the pool.
The little bottles inside were vaguely labeled and much the same in color and size.
"Well then...perhaps this one?" I wondered aloud to myself as I lifted a bottle labeled "upper" and poured some of its contents onto my hand. It turned out that it was a flowery scented soup that lathered when I wet it and rubbed it between my hands. I used that to wash the grime from my arms, face, and chest. It took several handfuls and the work of a wash cloth I was able to dig out of the box to get my skin the proper color. It was actually a bit frightening to find just how much lighter my skin was under the caking of dirt. Once done with that task I tested each bottle until I found what I thought must be soup for hair and scrubbed it into my stringy locks. The water was starting to become a little darker in hue at this point. Once suitably sudsy, I bobbed my head in and out of the water, trying to rinse the bubbles away. On the fifth dunk I felt it had worked enough to stop.
My washing continued in the manor until I was raw and pin from at least an hour of scrubbing. With all of the grime and dirt that had left me I felt I must be at least five pounds lighter. When finally finished I pulled myself wearily from the pool that now felt only warm to me and put on the robe that had been laid out for visitors. The soft cotton clung to my wet skin as I pulled it on but I had nothing with which to dry off so I tried to pay it little attention. I had only just tied its knot when a sharp knock startled me so strongly I nearly fell back into the hot spring.
"Are you still alive, boy?" Sarj's merry voice invaded the calm air.
"Yes! I will be out in a moment!" I called as I gathered my filthy clothing into a tight ball. I was reluctance to have to put it back on again, but at least the skin beneath it would be clean. Making sure I was not forgetting anything important like a sock I pulled the curtain back and joined my companions outside.
"The two men were wet haired and also wearing robes where they stood waiting for me. At the sight of me their expressions changed drastically.
"Shit..!" Sarj breathed. His face was as red as his damp mustache. I only stared at him in mounting confusion. Arrus had not said anything but his body was held as stiffly as a wooden plank, and his eyes were fixed somewhere below my face.
"What..?" I asked with growing frustration at the strangeness of their behavior. Neither of them answered me.
"What?!" I demanded again. This peculiar situation was starting to make me angry.
"We need to get you dirty again." Came Arrus' only response.