Chapter Twenty
When I woke up the next morning, Mal was gone and I knew it wasn't simply to get me breakfast. I dressed in my armor and packed all of my things, shoving the silk dress into the pack with no care about wrinkles. I quickly put my hair up into an elf braid before leaving the room. At the bottom of the stairs, I found Ormvard with his head down on a table.
"Are you feeling that ale?" I asked.
"Mmmm…" He grumbled in reply. He sat up and looked at me with bloodshot eyes. I couldn't help but laugh at him. "Shhhhh!" He begged.
"Come on, friend. Let's get to the base." I pulled him up from the wooden chair and picked up his bag for him. Outside met us with heavy rain and thunder, which was the perfect weather to leave a town without notice.
Once Ormvard, Mal, Lugrub, and I were in the Council's Base, Jurgis said his goodbyes to each of us and directed us to a hidden door in the basement portion of the house. We nodded respectfully to the Council and I made sure to give my great-grandfather a smile. While we were making our way through the dark and dripping tunnel out of Leyawiin, I noticed that Mal was keeping his distance from me again. Was this how it'll be from now on? Was he going to open up to me at night and avoid me during the day?
The tunnel let out on the other side of Leyawiin's tall wall and Mal directed us to circle around the west side off it. I learned over the couple days that we were here that most of the guards were Rebellion members, but Jurgis warned us before we left that some loose-lipped people informed the Aldmeri Dominion that there may be Rebel activity in Leyawiin. Sure enough as we came upon the West Gate I could see Thalmor officers patrolling near the Five Riders Stables. When Mal saw the patrol men, he ordered us to sneak to our left in order to get to the other side of the road that cut next to the city. We continue going left through the tall grass until some weeping willows shroud our appearance. Then Mal directs us to go north.
As the gate and the stables are below us, I rip my eyes off the patrol men and see odd worn down pillars of what appear to be rocks at the base of a thick, old tree and I can't help but wonder what could've been there. We come to the top of a hill and the trees thin out to reveal brown, dead grass and boulders on the slopes below. To the north-west I can see an Aylied ruin, but Mal told me that our goal is the small town ahead.
We're finally far enough from the path that we can stop sneaking and we stretch our bodies out. To get to the village, we have to stumble around boulders and I found myself occasionally slipping in mud from the storm that's beating around me.
Finally, the roof of the White Stallion Lodge comes into view and I walk faster than the men to get to the shelter. Ormvard, after requesting that I slow down, tells me that it used to be a hunting lodge but now it's a Rebel-friendly inn. Once we finally reach the lodge, Mal orders us to stay back and has Lugrub knock on the door but there isn't a response.
When Lugrub looks back at Mal and shrugs, Mal whispers, "Every time I come here, there is someone here. They even told me once that they keep the door unlocked for passing rebels."
"It's locked," Lugrub says back, not even bothering to whisper. "Want me to knock it in?"
"Ormvard, do you remember how to bust a lock?" Mal asked. Ormvard nodded and pulled out a tiny blade as he walked up to the door. I heard a small noise and the door swung open. I looked inside to see a hand stretched out on the floor, with the rest of the body concealed by a wall.
"Wait here," Mal whispers, discretely placing a hand on my arm. He crouches down and sneaks into the lodge. "Two deaths," he finally announces in a thick voice. "Looks like a Thalmor raid. Get in here and see if we can salvage food from these barrels and cupboards. Move fast though, because we need to leave quickly."
It seemed only a moment later we were starting back on the road, comfortably far from Leyawiin's gate. It reminded me of home to watch the cattails lining the Lower Niben move to and fro in the wet wind of the harsh storm. The road stays close to the water, allowing the smell of salt and mud to reach my nose. We pass a village called Water's Edge, but after seeing what happened at the White Stallion Lodge, we decide to keep traveling and camp off the road.
Thankfully, the storm finally begins to let up and dissipate, but its cold winds still makes me shutter as it whips willow branches across the road and into the edge of the water. The road pulls away from the water's edge slightly and an island comes into view. I can see a swinging bridge crossing to the island and Mal directs us towards it. Near the bridge we can see the Wayshrine of Stendarr. To the right of the bridge is an old crumbling fort that I was surprised wasn't re-inhabited by the Legion or Thalmor.
As we cross the bridge I watch the wind ripple the water and think back to how it used to be to sit on the shores of the Sirid River and see the wind play across the calmer areas. I point out a mudcrab dancing sideways along the water's edge and pull out my bow to shoot it for a meal later.
After crossing the bridge and walking a little more, I realize the trees are becoming thicker, taller, and more frequent. The road meets up with a larger one and we head north-northeast on it. I spy some small Aylied ruins on my right about the time that Mal informs the group that we are nearly out of Blackwood and into the Nibenay Valley and we must cut off the path and go east through the Valley. Due to a dense fog rolling over us, it takes us a little while to find a slope that isn't too steep or solid boulder. I quickly realize that the Valley is steep hill after steep hill and at times I feel as if I'm practically lying down on the ground as I use my hands to help me climb. At one point Mal has to grab me by the waste and catch me because I slip in the dew as we walk over a slant that went sharply to our right.
As we zig-zag through boulders, some Aylied ruins appear on our left and I can see the remnants of a well of power in the center, but the Thalmor troops have drained all of those by now. After the ruins, we begin to descend a hill and when it levels out the grass comes above my waste. The fog is so thick I can barely see where the next tree would be, for they were becoming fewer again. Even through the fog I make out a nirnroot, thankful for its glow and soft magical hum, and I tell the guys that we must be nearing a water source. I can't hear any running water so I make a guess that it is a small pond that formed in the low point of the valley, but when we find the edge of it we can't see the other side for the fog. Mal, using his cold General voice, tried to show me up by saying that he thinks it's an off-shoot of the Panther River and we'll need to stick to its edge when we break camp in the morning.
"We're staying in the open?" I questioned him. If there's one thing I learned from Jurgis, it's that you find a well-hidden area for camp.
I could see Mal's jaw clench under his short beard. He made it obvious in the glare he gave me that he did not appreciate me, as the lowest ranking person here, questioning him. "The fog isn't going to lift tonight and no one will come at us from the direction of the water. We're not going to make a fire, either. You have first watch."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I begin to realize that I'll have to remind myself often that General Malpenix isn't the same man as Mal my lover.