I dreamed that night; it were dreams full of darkness and fear, full of screams and silent tears, and when the gently touch of the morning sun finally woke me, I couldn't remember anything but the terror I had felt.
Mathias had left some time around afternoon, taking over watch duty from Emil, so I was alone in the bedroll. Since we had slept through the day, it hadn't been as cold as during nights, but I was still stiff from the hard ground.
I crawled out of the bedroll, and folded it so that we would be able to carry it around. Berwald was already up, cradling Tino in his lap, whose pale forehead shone with sweat. He looked even worse than yesterday. My nose was running too and I felt a light headache, but compared to Tinos state that was nothing. Emil was still sleeping, curled around his puffin and I felt a smile form on my lips at that view. Emil had acted so mature the last few days that I kept forgetting that his childhood hadn't been gone that long.
I nodded a short greeting to Berwald and stepped out under the overhang to go look for Mathias. He sat on a boulder that had tumbled down the hill at some point and now stuck half buried under moss at the foot of the steep slope. I had brought some dried apples and a chunk of bread with me and shared them with Mathias while we watched the sun set. It was a beautiful view, the mountaintops seemed to be dipped in orange color and the whole horizon gleamed in yellow and red. The view would almost make me forget the dire situation we were in.
"We have almost no food left." I said as I nibbled on an apple. It was small and sour, but I didn't mind. "And Tino's condition seems worse." Mathias put an arm around me, pulling me closer. And not to forget our conversation this noon, it was easy forget with the breathtaking sunset before us, but I wasn't sure if Mathias was completely over what happened.
And who said that I was over it yet?
But I didn't dare to mention that.
"I know babe." He said, his hand stroking gently over my back. I didn't even complain that he had called me babe again. It had been a long time since I had complained over something Mathias did, and an even longer time that I had hit or insulted him. I rested my head on his shoulder, spitting an apple seed into the grass.
Love truly was a wonderful thing.
We needed to get our hands on food though and if possible medicine. A cough forced its way through my throat and I leaned away from Mathias to let it run its course. Mathias patted my back and pulled me in a warming embrace after I was finished. "Are you cold?" He asked and checked my temperature with his forehead. "Thank god there's no fever." I smiled, it felt good to be cared for like that.
We returned to the others after the sun had set and the evenings chill crept in on us. Tino was awake, his fever glazed eyes weakly blinking at us, while Berwald fed him some water. He needed food though, but there was nothing left he could eat in his state, only some hard pieces of bread.
We sat down on the cold ground, what little warmth had accumulated here during the day quickly fled with the fading light. I was the first to break the silence. "How is he doing?" Berwald caressed Tino's red shining forehead with a gentleness that seemed so unfitting for his frightening appearance, but I had long since learned that underneath Berwald was far from scary. "Not good." He answered and his worry shone clearly through his thick voice.
"Needs food to get his strength back." And medicine, I added silently in my mind. I remembered my mother waning from her sickness, lying on her bed lethargically, her eyes were the only thing that betrayed that she wasn't dead yet, looking at us with desperation and the silent plea for forgiveness, because she knew she wouldn't make it any longer. I wouldn't be able to stand to see that look on Tino.
"Then we should go get some food and more important medicine." I said, watching Tino closing his eyes as his fever once again took over and pulled him into sleep. I wished I could believe it was only a fever that would pass, but the way he coughed reminded me of how my mother had coughed up blood during her final days.
"But how?" Mathias asked, but I didn't miss the tiny speck of hopefulness that shone from his eyes, sparked by the determination I had spoken with. "There should be a settlement somewhere along the stream, we just need to find it and then buy what we need." Of course that would require two things; first that either Berwald or Mathias thought of bringing money along with them and second that the village or town was still intact. If it got burned down like our town had we could only hope that there was enough left to salvage the remains. But either way we had to try.
"We can't stay here." I continued. "It is too close from where we left Ludwig and his men. So we should follow the stream until we reach a village or maybe a town, hopefully one that is not yet burned down. There we split up, one group protects Tino, the other goes in and gets what we need as fast as possible. Then we should probably find a safe place to rest, because Tino will need some time to recover. We're getting close to the southern mountain chain so we might even be able to find a cave. I just hope one of you thought to bring some money." I finished, eyes glued to the ground. I wasn't too confident in my plan and I feared what the others might say.
"I have." Berwald said, running a hand through Tino's messy and sweaty hair. "That's an awesome idea, babe." Mathias exclaimed and placed a wet and excited kiss on my cheek. "Oh and I brought money too, so that shouldn't be a problem." I rolled my eyes at Mathias profuse enthusiasm, but at the same time I felt a small smile tug at the corners of my lips at his praise even though it was a little bit over the top, my plan wasn't that great. And of course it bore more than one risk.
But it was the best we had.
Berwald would of course carry Tino; he made sure he was wrapped in his second set of clothes that had dried by now before Mathias lifted him onto Berwalds back. Emil then tied Tinos hands together so that he wouldn't drop of Berwalds back. I got Tinos bag, which was the lightest by now and Mathias and Emil each carried two. I would have carried my own too, but Mathias forbade it, arguing that I had still a light cold and shouldn't overexert myself.
It was dark and only a few stars shone down on us, when we finally left. We had taken care of getting rid of every sign that would betray our short stay and while walking we tried again to leave as few traces as possible.
We soon reached the stream and followed it upriver, all the while searching our surroundings for indications of human habitation. And of course we watched out for any signs of Ludwig or any other Orushians, but so far everything seemed quiet.
After a few hours of walking, we eventually encountered the first traces of habitation, fields stretched out on both sides of the stream, bathing in the pale light of the now risen moon. It was in the middle of this year's harvest season so most of the fields were only filled with stubbles of crops. But that at least meant that people were still living here, and that there would be food to buy.
I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong here. We were not that far from where our town had been, only about a two days march, and yet we had seen no signs of fighting or plunder and the only soldiers we encountered were those who had caught us. It all seemed as if the Orushians were not yet at war with us, but instead try to get ransom by dressing up as bandits and abducting the heirs of rich families. And burning down towns.
Maybe we would hear news on the conflict with Lactan if we got to the town. At first I had feared that whatever form of settlement we found would have been subject to pillage or could be at any minute, but the more I thought of it the surer I was, that the attack on our town had been an isolated case with maybe even the sole purpose to get their hands on Mathias to get some money.
Finally the town came into view, it was slightly bigger than ours had been; it even had a city wall. That of course meant we wouldn't be able to enter until morning had broken, but it also would provide safety once we were in. We settled down on the bank of the stream that still flowed merrily beside us and prepared to wait until sunrise. I explained that it probably would be safe for all of us to go into the town so we might even find an inn and stay there until Tino was cured.
Mathias pulled me into his arms and nuzzled his nose my hair, the prospect of sleeping in a real bed again had lightened all of our moods. Emil leaned against the stump of a tree that was long gone and petted Mr. Puffin with an absent looking expression. Berwald hugged Tino closely to his chest, a piece of cloth he had ripped from one of his shirts laid on his lovers forehead soaked with cold water from the stream.
I hadn't noticed while we were walking, but now the cold crept in on me and I was glad for Mathias warm arms around me. But soon his hands sneaked under my clothes, caressing the skin where they found it. I would have protested but it felt so good to be touched by him, after I still felt kind of tainted by Ludwig's unwanted advances, that I simply closed my eyes and leaned back against his chest. And Mathias knew for once how to behave; he kept his hands above the waistline and away from any overly sensitive spot.
"I love you." He whispered into my ear, and I mumbled an incoherent answer, too lazy and content to bother with expressing myself properly. I could feel Mathias smile against my head, knowing that he still understood. After a while Emil came and joined us, cuddling into Mathias arms next to me; the cold was too much even for him. But neither of us minded, we were glad for the extra warmth, Mathias even retreated his hands from under my clothes to welcome Emil and slinging one arm around him.
When morning finally came we were all stiff from the cold and the hour long motionless sitting in the same position so it took a while until we had all gotten up and stretched enough to get going again. The early morning sun illuminated the outline of the city against the horizon, and as we came nearer we could hear the city awakening. By the time we reached the city gates a small line of people who wanted to enter had already assembled and we took our places behind the last person on the line. It seemed as if controls were thoroughly the guards eyed everyone suspiciously, asking countless questions and demanding some sort of entrance fee, before waving them through.
Before us was a man with a cart full of cabbages, who seemed to be especially impatient to enter the city. The people before him, two particularly rough looking men suddenly drew their weapons threatening the guards to let them in and in the ensuing fight the cabbage cart got toppled over and most of the trampled on. I couldn't help but feel pity for the man who kneeled on the ground and wailed for his cabbages, as the two men finally subdued and tied down.
"So now you'll get to see the city, but only through metal bars." One of the guards mocked and kicked one of the men in the guts. Some other guards appeared and dragged the bound up men away. The guard, who had kicked the man, stepped over to deal with the next in line, purposely squashing some cabbages under his heels. He got into a short argument with the cabbage man, before the latter turned his cart around and pulled it away muttering 'my cabbages' under his breath. Then it was our turn.
He eyed us with distaste and then proceeded to ask our business in town. When we explained that we needed to get Tino treated he looked him over, the look of distaste even more growing. "Who tells me that he hasn't got some sort of contagious disease?" He snarled and took a step back. "He has nothing contagious." I said with more determination in my voice than I actually felt. "He just got wet on the way and now has a fever."
The guard just shrugged. "Whatever, you can enter but it'll cost you." "How much?" I asked, but I dreaded the answer. He trailed his eyes over us; I could see him taking in the high quality fabric of our clothes. Sure we looked somewhat rugged, but there was no doubt that we either came from a wealthy family or robbed one. "Well, we have to be careful of bandits; there had been sights of a large group roaming west of here, so we need to be extra careful. Let's say four gold coins each."
I felt my jaw drop. I could count the times when I had seen one gold coin with one hand let alone the amount of, I needed to think a bit until I had correctly added the sum, 20 gold coins. Berwald shot the guard an angry stare, putting all the intimidation into it that he could muster, but even that wasn't enough to deter the guard. He just crossed his arms and grinned in self-satisfaction, throwing a pointed glance on the long line of people behind us, who were eager to pay him to get in town. Mathias brushed past me and dumped a small sack full of clinking metal into the guard's hand.
Okay, so first Emil had been able to sneak a knife past Ludwig, and now Mathias had apparently managed the same with that ridiculous amount of money. Hell, they could have just robbed us, they didn't have to bother brining us along for ransom. But come to think of it, neither I nor Mathias had been searched and I could only guess that the others hadn't been either. Maybe they just didn't expect kids like us to have anything of value on them. No matter, as long as it was to our benefit.
Still in awe about the sum that had just changed owners, I was dragged by Mathias past the guard and into the city. I chose to not think any further about just what we could have afforded with all that money and instead focused my attention on the various sights and smells. I had never been in a settlement bigger than our town and this city, although small was still impressive. There were many people up and about, despite the early hour. Some were returning from their nightly business, evident in their stagger and or tired look, others pulled carts through the streets, selling whatever was on them and again others hurried to wherever they needed to be.
The air was heavy with the smell of baking bread, stale bedrooms being aired and the ever present stench of emptied chamber pots in the side alleys.
It took some time and some questioning around until we find a decent inn, somewhere in the better parts of the city. The innkeeper didn't look too happy as he saw us entering but the soon as Mathias dropped another gold coin on the counter he was eager and very pleased to accommodate us to our rooms upstairs. He then hurried downstairs to prepare us breakfast, which he even agreed to bring up into our rooms.
I really didn't get how it needed 20 gold coins to merely enter a city, but only one to get rooms and food for five people. But Mathias didn't really mind the spending so I guessed it was okay. We had gotten three rooms, one for Berwald and Tino, one for Mathias and me, and Emil got a smaller room at the end of the corridor. But for the moment we assembled in Berwalds and Tinos room, the latter safely tugged under the sheets a wet piece of cloth on his forehead.
The breakfast the innkeeper brought up a short time later consisted of warm bread fresh from the oven, cheese and even a small piece of ham. He had also brought some leftover broth from the day before for Tino. After he had left we all ate in silence, Berwald feeding the still sleeping Tino with a spoon. After the meal we quickly took turns in using the bathroom to get rid of at least some of the dirt that had accumulated since our departure. Mathias then wrapped fresh linen around my hands to replace the makeshift bandages.
When we were finished we decided to split up and get what we needed, Berwald would of course stay here and look after his lover, Mathias Emil and I would go and buy medicine or if possible look for a doctor. Although one had to be careful with so called doctors, Berwald warned, most of them were just charlatans who would make their patients even sicker and demanding horrible fees for their services.
We planned on staying here as long as Tino needed to recover, so we didn't need to restock on food yet, since we could eat at the inn. I was excited to go outside and explore, but my enthusiasm was thwarted at the last minute when a fit of coughing reminded Mathias that I was still sick, so he forced me to lie down in Berwalds bed and get some rest myself, drilling the owner of the bed into looking after me and making sure I didn't get up.
Mathias kissed me on the forehead and then left with Emil on his heels. I just grumbled and turned my face away from him, but I couldn't be truly mad at him for he was only concerned with my wellbeing. And as hard as it was to admit that, but that was one of the things I loved about him, the way he made me feel safe and well cared for. And this would give my blisters some time to heal.
So I settled in for a long morning with Berwald.
...