Author's Note: For some reason, this chapter was really hard to write! With any luck, the rest will be easier. If my estimates are correct there should only be two or three more chapters to go. I'll do my best to write them soon. Please read and review!
Their clothes and bodies washed for the first time in days, Terciel and Andrael lounged about in robes, reveling in the creature comforts of the inn. They had already slept for almost twelve hours, and Terciel had thought that they might explore the town before dark, but the coziness of their room overcame his curiosity. They were no longer tired enough to sleep, but they were perfectly happy to sit curled up in their blankets and sip the stew that had been delivered from downstairs.
"We slept all day," Andrael noticed, "So we're going to be awake all night and then sleepy again in the morning."
"Don't worry," said Terciel, fishing a chunk of meat out of his bowl, "Orchyre has enough Charter Mages in it that no Dead would dare attack, so we'll be safe here for as long as we want to stay. We'll have plenty of time to get ourselves back to normal."
Andrael spun around on her knees, drawing the blankets in a spiraled cocoon around herself. "What about in Sindle?" she asked dreamily, "Are there many Charter Mages there?"
"Not so many," said Terciel, trying to remember the time he had visited it as a boy, "But it's a walled city, so you should be safe there from whatever is trying to get you."
"That's not what I meant," she said, "I was hoping I'd be able to keep learning Charter magic there."
"Oh," he replied, "Then you might have some trouble with that. There are only a few really good ones, and they don't take apprentices lightly."
"Oh," said Andrael, and she flopped over on her side, taking her wound-up blankets with her. She stared at the wall despondently.
"But you'll be safe," he reiterated firmly.
"I know," she groaned, "But I don't want to be safe my whole life! I want to go with you."
"Adventure isn't as fun as you'd think," he said, trying to dissuade her, "Mostly it's like the last couple of days have been: cold, wet, muddy, and every once in a while you have to fight for your life."
"But you and your aunt would be there to protect me," she tried.
He saw that he wasn't getting anywhere by describing the danger. So he decided to come clean. "It's not just your own life you'd be risking," he said, "There's a Clayr prophesy about you. You're supposed to restore the Charter and bring peace to the Kingdom. So you can't run off with us and get yourself killed."
At that, Andrael shot upright, shedding her blankets. Her eyes were as wide as those of a frightened doe, or a hungry cat. "What did the prophecy say?" she demanded, "Tell me the exact words."
So Terciel told her about the night that Abhorsen had revealed the reason for their journey, in as much detail as he could recall. Andrael tapped a fingernail against her teeth distractedly, looking so excited that Terciel thought she might catch on fire.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me right away!" she said, "I'd be mad at you if I didn't have so much else to think about." She was silent for a few moments as she turned the wording of the prophecy over in her mind.
Finally, pleadingly, she said, "But how am I supposed to do all that? I'm not that smart or strong. I've never even been to Belisaere. And I only know five Charter marks! They must have got it wrong."
Terciel wondered if he had done the right thing in telling her. He tried to backpedal. "I don't know," he said, "They said it was only one possible future out of many. You shouldn't worry too much about it."
"I shouldn't worry?" Andrael said, her voice getting louder, "How can you tell me something like that and then tell me not to worry?"
Feeling panic beginning to creep up on him, Terciel held up his hands defensively. "That's not what I meant," he sighed, "Look, we'll talk to Abhorsen about it. I'm sure she'll have some good advice. Besides, you don't have to make any decisions yet. You can think about it for as long as we're here in Orchyre."
But then, as if fate could hear him speaking, Abhorsen burst through the door. Even before she spoke, the look on her face made Terciel's heart sink.
"Sindle is under seige," she declared, "We're leaving right away."
Though Andrael protested that it was dark out, and that if Sindle had taken care of itself for this long then it could wait a couple more days, she soon learned that when Abhorsen said "right away" she meant exactly that. Within an hour they were dressed, packed, and back in the saddle. Instead of taking the roads, which would have been a four-day journey, Abhorsen opted to take the less-travelled paths, cutting the travel time in half. Her reasoning was that whatever they might encounter in the wilderness wasn't nearly as dangerous as what she knew was waiting for them at Sindle.
"We don't know much," she had explained as they packed, "Trade stopped coming from Sindle over a week ago. Traders who have passed nearby say that the gates to the city are closed, and the walls are surrounded by Dead."
"How many?" Terciel had asked, weighing their odds.
"Accounts vary," Abhorsen had answered, "We won't know what we're up against until we get there. But the Dead are the least of our worries. It's almost certain that they are being lead by this necromancer who has been hounding us. Hands I can deal with, but their master may prove a challenge."
As they began to ride out of Orchyre, Terciel felt very lucky for the conditioning he had undergone for most of his life. Though tired, he knew from experience that he body was nowhere near its limit. Not so for Andrael, who was clearly regarding the road ahead with trepidation. Terciel felt sorry for her, with so much on her mind and so much demanded of her frail body. She looked miserable.
Abhorsen, in contrast, looked as fresh as when they had left the House. Her clothing was clean and her eyes alert. Only Terciel, who had known her for so long, would ever have noticed the slight stiffness in her riding posture that signaled a well-hidden pain.
He finally spoke up. "How is your wound?" he asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Abhorsen replied, and that was the end of that.
They rode in silence, Terciel struggling against fatigue and Andrael nearly sobbing with exhaustion. Their brief rest in Orchyre had only served to remind them of the comforts that they were missing. It made their return to the road all the more disheartening.
The day stretched on interminably, and Terciel felt that time was fragmenting and playing tricks on him. He couldn't tell if they had been on the road for hours or for days. Andrael had slumped forward and fallen asleep with her head resting awkwardly on her horse's neck and her hands still clutching the reigns white-knuckled. She grimaced and mumbled unhappily in her sleep, as her horse obediently continued to follow Abhorsen's.
Intermittently, low whistling would fill the air. Abhorsen was weaving wards around the three of them, her own brand of magic acting as a warning. The Lesser Dead who would have descended on any other traveler in minutes gave the group a wide berth. Terciel could feel them moving in the dark trees, parting down the middle of the path ahead of them to avoid Abhorsen's approach. Some ventured closer than others, and Terciel even thought he could see shapes flitting about in the shadows just out of reach. He tried to be alert, to account for each one, to gauge their strengths and anticipate an attack. But these were no Hands – just weak revenants – and even banded together they were no match for Abhorsen. So they kept their distance.
In what seemed like a lifetime and no time at all, it became dark. Abhorsen cast an enormous diamond of protection around an entire clearing and tossed her pack on the ground. Terciel dismounted and put a hand on Andrael's shoulder where she was still sleeping in the saddle, the horn digging into the pit of her stomach. Despite how uncomfortable she looked, she was reluctant to move. It was several minutes before she finally slid off her horse and stood shivering miserably.
"No fire tonight," said Abhorsen, "Eat something cold and get some sleep. We'll leave at first light. I'll take first watch."
With a groan, Andrael laid out her bedroll and crawled inside. When Terciel joined her on the ground, she rolled over so that she was pressed against him with the bedrolls as the only barrier between them. Feeling the shape of her body under the layers of insulation made Terciel's blood rush, but it was clear by Andrael's shivering that she had no ulterior motive. She was just trying to get warm.
"Is it always like this?" she mumbled as she tried to burrow deeper into her coat.
Terciel wanted to encourage her, but in truth he remembered all too well when he had felt as terrible as Andrael was feeling. When he was twelve, he and Abhorsen had ridden to Belisaere without once making camp, eating and sleeping on the road. When he was fifteen, he had repaired a piece of the ward on Abhorsen's house, holding the immensely complex Charter spell in his mind for twelve hours without eating, drinking, or moving. When he was sixteen, he had spent a week in the woods fending off almost continual attacks, never sleeping for more than an hour at a time. He was no stranger to exhaustion, and what it could do to one's mind and body. "Yes," he admitted, "Sometimes worse."
Instead of despair, Andrael's eyes flashed with defiance. "I can endure worse," she declared. With obvious effort, she suppressed her shivering. "I've made up my mind, Terciel. I'm not staying in Sindle. I'm coming with you."
Terciel winced. He had hoped that the difficult day of riding had disuaded her. "It's not your choice to make," he said, "It's too dangerous, and I won't let you do it. You can't throw your life away for love."
"Who said anything about love?" she replied scathingly, "I want to be someone, to do something important. I want to learn Charter Magic and swordplay. And I want to do it with you, because Terciel, I… I do love you. I do. But it's more than that now. If you won't have me, then I'll do it on my own. You can leave me in Sindle, but I'll just leave again on my own."
Terciel squeezed her shoulder, trying to calm her. "On your own?" he protested, "Where will you go? You've seen what it's like on the roads. You'll die."
"Then you'd better let me come with you," she countered, "So you can protect me."
"I can't protect you forever," he said.
"You won't have to! I'll get stronger and smarter. I know I'm not much use right now, but I know I can get better. And one day I'll be the kind of person who can fulfill that prophecy you told me about, because Terciel, saving the Kingdom? That's… it's… wouldn't that be worth it? Wouldn't it be worth dying for? I'd rather die for something like that than live a long, worthless, boring life. And I'm not just saying that. I've thought about it. If I could do something that important, I wouldn't be afraid to die."
"This is morbid," said Terciel, "You're tired, and you're not thinking straight. We'll talk about this later."
Andrael shrugged his hand off of her shoulder and turned to face him, hissing, "Don't you patronize me! By the Nine, we'll talk about this now!"
The fierceness on her face stopped Terciel cold. She was right. The first time she had begged to be brought along, it had been a naïve request. But this was different. This time she understood what she was asking. No, not asking; she was telling him how it would be. He smiled. "Well," he said, "I guess you haven't given me much choice."
Andrael beamed, but suddenly her face darkened. "What about Abhorsen?" she asked.
Terciel glanced at the silent figure across the camp, her back to them and her eyes staring, unblinking, into the darkness. "She might be hard to convince," he admitted, "And there's no use talking to her now, when her mind is on the fight we're walking into at Sindle. But when that's all over, I'll talk to her. I swear I'll bring her around." And he believed himself. Now that he had agreed, now that the prospect of having Andrael by his side for more than just another few days had become a tentative reality, he was suddenly prepared to defend that reality. Now that he had her, he wasn't going to give her up.
"I love you, you know," she said, her sleepy eyes blinking themselves slowly closed.
"I love you, too," he answered, and he rolled forward to brush his lips hesitantly against hers. She responded by snuggling against him, their limbs seeking to entwine against the barrier of their bedrolls. Happiness overtaking the misery of exhaustion, they fell asleep facing each other, both breathing the same cold air.