(-a/n- I'm so so sorry! It's been far too long! But a combination of sailing in Turkey, helping pull calves out of cows and teaching six-year-olds how to swim has kept me rather occupied. And then I find after a break it's always harder to get going again…
And now, to make matters worse the Olympics has started! Don't you just LOVE the Olympics?! It's such a phenomenal event with absolutely amazing athletes! I've been jumping up and down and shouting encouragement to my television; GO TEAM GB!! I don't know about you but the Olympics make me feel all patriotic! Anyway, as wonderful as they are they have been drawing my attention from fanfiction…
Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews; they bring a huge grin to my face :D I've tried to answer most questions…If I haven't then I'm sorry and ask again! (Obviously I'm not going to divulge huge plot details ;P)
Well this is the product of my afternoon and evening :D I'm on a bit of a high at the moment as I've just had my exam results and then went up to London yesterday to see Billy Elliot which is such a good musical! Anyway…without further ado…Chapter 47!
Confusedknight xxx
The breeze's teasing fingers caressed Kel's cheeks as she once more wiped away the strands of hair that had stuck to her sweaty forehead. The coniferous trees offered shelter from the blazing sun but the air was still extremely humid.
Prince lowered his head in a rare show of fatigue and Kel patted his damp neck encouragingly, feeling a twinge of guilt. Their journey from Hamrkeng had been relentless, Kel pressing on at every opportunity, barely stopping to rest as though sleep had become optional rather than a necessity.
'Just a little further boy,' she murmured through lips that were cracked from continued sun exposure.
She had left the Vassa road approximately two hours ago and had been wandering around in the forest ever since. Marthea's instructions had been a little vague and had left Kel with about twenty miles worth of riverside to search. It was frustrating, but Kel hoped that once she'd found the smugglers then she would be able to cross into Tortall without a delay.
Kel felt a sharp sting on her forearm and slapped at the skin in an attempt to squash whatever insect had decided to snack upon her. She felt like crying out in annoyance; this hapless search wasn't getting her any nearer to Tortall.
Prince suddenly stopped and Kel was about to kick him onwards when she suddenly noticed the ground where unmistakeable hoof prints could been seen, partially hidden beneath the ferns. Immediately her irritation faded away.
'Good boy,' she praised, giving Prince a hearty pat.
She dismounted and began to follow the trail on foot. Kel's legs were stiff and she tripped several times on the uneven ground, swearing colourfully under her breath whenever she lurched forwards. Living alongside soldiers and sailors had improved her vocabulary quite considerably.
The hoof prints, which gradually were joined by boot prints and paw prints led away from the river and Kel followed cautiously. The undulating land and thick trees made it hard to see very far ahead at all and Kel had arrived at the village before she'd even realised that it was there.
'Hey!' a shout was raised from the village and suddenly men and women alike appeared from inside their ramshackle houses.
'Wha'd'ya want?' demanded a scrawny fellow directly in front of Kel.
'I want to buy a passage across the Vassa,' said Kel simply.
'Well you've come to the wrong place lassie,' replied a woman a little too quickly.
'I don't think so,' said Kel taking a gamble. 'A friend told me exactly where to come.'
'Is that so?' asked one of the younger adults. 'And who might your friend be?'
Kel swallowed, 'His name is Alexei.' It felt strange to call Alex "Alexei" but she swallowed the feeling and waited, unaware that she was holding her breath. When the villagers didn't speak she continued. 'He and a lady named Rhonda came through here about five years ago, about six months later they returned.'
'I think I recall-' Kel's keen ears picked up the villager's mutterings.
'The Whisper man's friend?' asked another.
'Are you one of the Whisper man's?' the lady asked directly to Kel this time.
'I work for Alex,' said Kel devoutly, 'but he is working alongside the Whisper man, so I suppose, indirectly I work for the Whisper man.' Kel was rambling uncharacteristically, her exhaustion making her feel lightheaded.
'We can give you the passage that you desire,' said the head smuggler, emerging from the back of the group. 'But it will have to wait until nightfall.'
'Thank you,' said Kel, relief flooding through her. Suddenly her knees buckled and the world slipped sideways before fading away.
Something foul was stinging her nostrils and burning the back of Kel's throat. Her hazel eyes flickered open. Someone was holding a bottle of smelling salts under her nose. Kel propped herself upwards on the pallet and looked blearily around the dark room.
'Caused quite a stir you did,' said one of the plumper women, handing Kel a glass of water. Kel accepted it gratefully, ignoring the twinge of pain that darted up her splinted wrist. Six weeks from the battle and the bone hadn't yet knit itself together.
'Sorry,' Kel apologised, disorientated but feeling the beginnings of a blush creeping up from her neck. She sipped and found that the water helped to clear the grogginess from her head.
'You look exhausted,' said a grey-haired lady not unsympathetically. 'And your horse was near dead on his feet too.'
'Prince-' Kel started, but the woman interrupted her.
'My son's taken care of him. You get some sleep now.'
Kel nodded obediently, her bagged eyes slipping shut. One of the women rescued the almost empty glass of water from Kel's slackened grip.
The grey-haired lady looked down at the supine figure on the pallet. Were it not for the two swords at the girl's hip and her claims to know the Whisper man, Caena would've labelled Kel as a runaway.
It was not unusual for young girls in abusive relationships to steal their husband's horse and try to escape to Tortall where life was supposedly easier. Caena was wise enough to know the truth. People were people, and life was no easier in Tortall than Scanra. Their counterparts on the other side of the Vassa fared no better than they did.
The smugglers' existence was harsh, clinging to life on the very line that split two powerful countries. Tension was brewing. Initially the threat of Maggur and his decision to close off the border had been a blessing in disguise for the smugglers whose business had boomed. However war loomed on the horizon and if fighting did break out then inevitably thousands of Maggur's men would swarm southwards, putting the smugglers in danger of discovery.
Caena sighed and shooed the rest of the women from the room. She took a final look at the girl on the bed. She was undernourished and her tanned skin was spread too tightly across her bones. Despite the calm expression that rested over the delicate nose and slack mouth, from all she had seen the older woman had the impression that this girl, this woman, was tough. Caena slipped backwards out of the door.
A soft voice filtered in through Kel's consciousness and slowly, ever so slowly, her senses returned. The feel of the itchy woollen blanket beneath her cheek, the sweet smell of wood smoke, and the terrible weariness in her limbs. With a gigantean effort she sat up. The room that she had been left in was so dark that for a few seconds Kel hadn't realised that her eyes were open.
She took an inventory of her hurts. Her wrist still throbbed determinedly; she'd probably knocked it when she had fainted. There was a scratch on her cheek and lip from where she'd ridden into a particularly vicious bush the day before. Overall the heavy, dense ache in every muscle of her body seemed to have got worse despite Kel's nap. She wanted to groan and sink back to the pallet, but the soft music still filtered in through the open window and her curiosity got the better of her.
The singer's voice was haunting and sung an unfamiliar song, the melody wavering and fading gently with the end of each phrase. It was a strangely intense music considering the soft voice that formed the syllables of Scanran.
Kel pushed open the door and peered out. It was dark but a small fire in centre of the village illuminated the small huddle of people from which the music was soaring. Pulling the door shut behind her, Kel stepped out into the warm July evening.
The men, women and children said nothing when Kel joined them, continuing to appreciate the music in silence. Once the singer's voice faded into echoes applause broke out and the performer blushed prettily, returning to her seat.
It was only then that Kel's presence was acknowledged.
'Here, have some duck stew,' a woman held out a steaming bowl to Kel. 'Once everyone's eaten then Jeike will take you across the river.'
'Thanks,' murmured Kel and began to shovel the piping hot stew into her mouth. She could not remember when she had last eaten something this tasty. Amused by the stew's rapid disappearance, the kindly lady filled up Kel's bowl again.
Once the second bowl of stew had also been wolfed down, Kel sat contentedly, her hands splayed across her bulging stomach that was fuller than it could ever remember being. She waited patiently for the others to finish, staring at the glowing embers of the dying fire.
'This is Jeike my son,' introduced one of the women that had tended to Kel after she had collapsed.
'If you get your horse then we'll go now,' the broad-shouldered man said gruffly.
Kel clambered to her feet and turned to the small group of women.
'Thank you for everything,' and out of her pocket she drew two gold coins. Eyes all around her widened as she pressed the two coins into the nearest woman's hand. 'For the best stew I've ever tasted,' Kel said awkwardly.
Jeike indicated the lean-to stables and Kel quickly fetched Prince, tacking him up in minutes, her practised hands cinching the girth tight and buckling the bridle.
Together man, woman and horse trod a carefully disguised path down to a long flat beach marking the northern side of the raging Vassa River. You could hear the river before you saw it; the roar growing louder and louder as you grew nearer, a noise so great that it drowned out even the loud chorus of crickets.
From behind a rocky outcrop Kel helped Jeike to drag a small skiff, just big enough to transport one horse and a couple of people. They moored the boat until it was bobbing gently in the shallows. The next, more complicated task was to persuade Prince to get onboard. The big horse didn't like boats at the best of times but this wobbly, small craft seemed to be asking too much of him.
'Come on Prince,' Kel murmured, pressing her face to his neck. 'I can't leave you behind; I need you.'
Twenty minutes of gentle cajoling later, Prince was standing between two rails in the ships hull. Hopefully the rails would keep him upright despite the rocking and rolling of the boat. Kel continued her quiet singing to Prince under her breath, whilst Jeike was readying the boat that would take them across the forty metres of icy water that separated the two banks.
Kel tried to ignore the nerves that were jangling in her stomach. The Vassa was a powerful force of nature and she remembered an old northern proverb; "The Vassa keeps what it takes." She prayed that the river wasn't feeling in a 'taking' mood.
They floated out of the gentle water at the edge of the river and Kel felt the current really take hold of the boat. Jeike's muscles bulged with the effort of driving the pole into the riverbed and pushing the boat forwards, fighting the current.
Prince rolled his eyes in terror as the boat was buffeted around as though it weighed no more than a piece of driftwood. Ice cold spray soaked Kel to the bone, making her clothes feel heavy and clingy.
A particularly violent wave slammed into the side of the boat and Kel hit the boat's railings, with a nasty thud. Groaning, and knowing that her ribs would be black and blue by the morning, Kel braced herself. She planted her feet firmly and gripped as tightly as she could to a railing. Her sore wrist throbbed dully but she clung on all the same. If she were tossed overboard then she'd have a lot more than a broken wrist to worry about. Kel screwed up her eyes, barely able to see or breathe through the spray.
When the hull ground into the gravel on the south side of the river, it was with considerable relief that Kel jumped out onto the solid ground. The only one more relieved to be back on land was Prince, who stood looking sorry for himself at the top of the gravel shore whilst Kel helped Jeike hoist the boat away from the racing river.
'Is it always that fierce?' asked Kel.
Jeike considered the question. 'No, but that's not to say that the Vassa is ever calm. And likewise we have seen a lot worse.' Kel shuddered, unable to imagine the river any more agitated that it was.
'Are we actually in Tortall now?' asked Kel, looking around at the landscape that looked just the same as on the other side of the Vassa.
'Not quite yet,' shrugged Jeike. 'The border's somewhere around here but no one really cares about this land; it's inhospitable, the trees are too thick and their roots to deep to farm anything. Just south of here is Anak's Eyrie but they don't want to lay claim to this bit of elk dung. Still, it suits us well enough to be left alone.'
After a short walk up a winding trail, they came to a cluster of longhouses inside a roughly hewn palisade. A man armed with a crossbow emerged from the shadows.
'It's Jeike,' Kel's companion called out.
'Jeike?' replied the watchman. 'It's been too long.' They clasped arms and thumped each other on the back.
'Come in, come in, mother will be glad you're here.' The watchman ushered them inside the wooden walls. Kel followed silently noting that the man spoke Scanran despite being south of the Vassa.
Kel tethered Prince outside the nearest longhouse and followed the two men inside. A strong smell of wood smoke and animal hung in the air. Men and women lounged around a dying fire in an eerie replication of the scene north of the river.
'A new arrival,' rasped an old woman, climbing unsteadily to her feet. 'Come with me lassie.'
Before Kel left she pressed another gold coin silently into Jeike's hand.
The old woman tottered outside to a smaller wooden building where she collected a jug that was covered with a piece of cotton to stop the flies entering. The jug glowed brightly in her hand; evidently this woman was a mage.
'Here, drink,' said the woman handing her a cup.
Kel sniffed warily, 'What is it?'
'If you're questioned under torture then you won't reveal how you crossed the Vassa. We have to protect ourselves,' she croaked.
'And if I refuse?' Kel asked, knowing all too well that the potion could be a poison or a drug.
The old woman raised her eyebrows and reached out a withered hand to the glass. She drunk and swallowed noisily. 'There,' she said, 'No poison.'
Sighing, and knowing that she wouldn't be allowed to leave until she did so, Kel took a big swig and swallowed. The mixture was an infusion of several strong herbs and Kel pulled a face. The mage chuckled, 'And that's one of my nicer remedies.'
Kel placed the warm mug back on the mage's work bench.
'So you have business in Tortall?' the woman inquired innocently.
'Yes,' said Kel grimly, 'unfinished business.' She pushed her hair out of her tired eyes with one hand and with the other she flipped a silver coin to the woman, who caught it with surprising ease.
'If all goes well then we may meet again,' said Kel, already thinking of her return to Scanra before she'd even left the country. And she strode of into the night, her uninjured arm resting on her sword belt.
'Come on boy,' Kel mounted Prince who was just as wet as she was, and rode out of the shelter of the smuggler's den.
The old mage watched the strange, defensive girl leave. 'Gods all bless youngster,' she thought, recognising the fire and determination behind a worn, passive exterior.
By midmorning, Kel's path wound upwards and she came out on top of a bluff that overlooked the surrounding area for miles. She saw a castle in the distance and presumed that it was the fief Anak's Eyrie. Surely by now she must be in Tortall?
Later that day she exited the dense forest and found herself on a well-travelled road that seemed to unfurl ever southwards. Now she knew she was in Tortall, because the road was well maintained and had wooden signposts indicating the directions and distances to various fiefs.
When the main road began to wind to the east, signposted to Northwatch fortress, Kel left it in favour of another road. By the evening she was tired and sweaty and decided to find an inn to stay in overnight.
Despite the fact that she was now safer than she had been for over two years, beyond Maggur's reach at last, she couldn't help but feel on edge. She kept glancing over her shoulder, as though suddenly her older brothers would come riding down the road and discover her.
She had toyed with the idea of returning to Goatstrack, but she felt that if she settled down into Fanche's house again it would be very difficult indeed to leave. Besides it had been a long time since she had last seen the Weirs. She had been a very different girl then, still healing from her ordeal at the convent and yet having not seen the true horrors that the world had to offer. No, thought Kel it would be better not to impose myself on anyone.
As the sun was setting, Kel stopped at a quaint little inn that stood at the very centre of a small village. The building itself was thatched and had had so many extra rooms added to the original building that it sprawled across a large area.
Chickens clucked in the stable yard as Kel lead Prince to a dry, straw-filled stable. She took off his worn tack and used fistfuls of straw to rub down the sweat-soaked patches of his coat.
Kel reached her arms up and hugged the gelding's neck, burying her face in his mane. 'I'm sorry for the last few weeks,' she whispered, 'I know it hasn't been fun.' She swallowed, 'I miss him too.'
Almost as though he understood Kel, he turned his neck and lipped gently at her hand. They stood for a while, as companions who had been through so much together. Then with a final pat, Kel left the stable and made her way into the Inn.
'Hello there,' called out the bartender in Common as Kel entered the dim room. 'And what can I do for you missy?'
Kel blinked at the unfamiliar language. 'Um…a room for me and a stable for my horse.'
Kel was surprised to find that her Common had developed a bit of an accent.
'Step this way,' said the man cheerfully, not batting an eyelid at Kel's filthy clothing, swords and single bag. She followed the man up some carpeted stair and into a bright, clean room. 'I'll bring you up some hot water for a bath,' said the man bustling out.
'Thank you,' murmured Kel, slipping off her dirty boots so that she didn't ruin the soft rugs on the floor.
Five minutes later the man reappeared with a steaming pot of water which he dumped into the tub of cold, clean water. He tested the bathwater with two fingers. 'Perfect!' He exclaimed. 'Well, there are towels in that cupboard to your right. If you need anything else give me a shout. I'm Emery.'
'Lia Strongarm,' said Kel; it was the first name that she could think off. 'Thank you very much.'
The man bowed and exited. Once she'd shut the door firmly Kel made a beeline for the hot water. She stripped and half jumped into the tub, causing some water to slosh over the side. 'Thank you very much', Kel mouthed the unfamiliar words, letting them roll off of her tongue. It would take her a day or two to adjust to the different language; at least it had done when she'd returned from the Yamani Isles. She had to force herself to stop thinking in Scanran as well.
She stayed in the bath tub for as long as she could before the water got too cold. Feeling amazingly clean, Kel put on one of the shirts that she'd acquired in Maeslund and a clean pair of breeches. She towelled her hair dry and went downstairs to eat some supper.
The Inn was quiet and apart from a family of four, and a lone man sitting in the corner, Kel was their only customer.
She ate as much as she could and hurriedly returned to her room, trying to conceal her yawns; the food had made her sleepy.
She removed her breeches, and dressed in just a shirt she went to wash her face before bed, making most of the luxuries on offer. Kel was however distracted by her reflection in the mirror that stood above the washbasin.
Mirrors were uncommon in Scanra, or at least in the places that Kel had been living. This was the first real chance she had had to examine her appearance in a long time. She was more tanned than ever and sun-bleached hair tumbled down past her shoulders. Her face had lost any puppy fat that it had once had and although her mouth and eyes remained the same, she had scars that she hadn't once had and a slightly crooked nose. It was not a girl that stared back from under long lashes, but a woman, one that Kel was sure she knew.
Sighing, all thoughts of face-washing forgotten, Kel climbed into the bed which felt as soft as clouds after weeks of sleeping on the ground. Within seconds she was asleep.
The tauros was there, panting heavily and tramping at the ground. Kel turned to run and was faced with the leering face of Stenmun Kinslayer, wielding an axe identical to the one that had smashed her arm at Somalkt.
One hundred metres away Alex was struggling in his fight against four of Maggur's soldiers. He was calling out, looking desperately around for her, looking for reinforcements.
The tauros lumbered forwards and Kel's sword grew heavy in her hands, growing to the size of the ceremonial sword in the Goddess's temple. She tried to perform an eagle sweep but almost tripped over the blade. Stenmun was laughing alongside a blonde man with a blurry face, a blonde man that Kel just knew was Maggur.
'Let's watch the little wench die before dealing with our other problem.'
The tauros knocked her to the floor, was pawing at her skirts…Kel twisted this way and that, in an attempt to free herself. She turned her head, squirming and came face to face with the glassy eyes and bloodless face of a dead soldier.
With a stifled scream Kel realised that she was lying on the plains of Somalkt, among the thousands of dead. Except suddenly all the nameless faces became that of her family, Neal, Merric, Prince Roald and even Lucie.
She was trapped, she couldn't do anything, she had failed to save anyone...
'Nooooooo,' Kel's voice was muffled by the duvet. She struggled and eventually wiggled herself free of the heavy blanket. Breathing heavily and sticky with sweat, she stumbled over to the window and slammed it open, letting the cool wind soothe her face.
'It was just a dream,' she told herself over and over again. 'Just a stupid, horrible dream.'
All the same, it was a long time before Kel had the courage to shut her eyes and attempt to sleep again.
(-a/n- Again, more travelling, but I'm setting the mood for the next part of the story. I really am hoping to get to the prologue by the time I get back to school (3rd September) But as ever we shall have to see because things have a nasty habit of springing up… )
P.s. The song that the scanran girl was singing was 'Prologue ('Lasto I Lamath')' From the Lord of the Rings musical…You can probably find on youtube if you're interested.
Please tell me what you thought,
Confusedknight xx