Chapter 28: Arrival at Cloughbark

Alistair

Struggling to sheath my sword onto my back as I ran, I could hear the sound of Letha running just ahead of me in the inky darkness of the woods, the rasping sound of rustling leaves as she passed was unmistakable. She was panting heavily from both terror and exertion like an animal being pursued by hounds or hunters. Her flight was occasionally punctuated by a couple strangled screams, resulting from being caught at by branches as she ran. My only hope was that I could catch her without her drawing the attention of a predatory animal like the bear or something more sinister.

After crashing through the bracken in pursuit, I broke through the trees into an open meadow under an open sky. A partially waning moon cast a dim light by which I could just barely make out her form before she fell, potentially twisting her ankle and enabling me to close the distance between us. She tried to scrabble across the broken grass and away from me as I grabbed her around the waist and her struggling knocked us both to the ground.

She was overwrought with terror and I grappled to maintain hold of her, fearing she would injure herself in her mindless desperation to escape. I grunted through gritted teeth, "Letha, it is me! I'm your friend. Please calm yourself or you will get hurt!"

"They come," she sobbed, "They come through the tears, hungry, searching. The forest hums with them. They will find us unless we run far from here. Escape…escape…" She was gasping and choking with tears.

"It is safe Letha," I insisted, feeling her desperation abate with her ebbing strength. Her struggling began to lesson, allowing me to pull her close, rocking her gently in my arms like a frightened child. Her frame was felt rickety and weak now that she had spent herself and it made my heart ache to witness what she had been reduced to.

As she was reduced to mumbling and clutched to the front of my tunic, I started to take note of another sound: heavy horse hooves. It pounded in the night air and it was approaching fast. The ground nearly trembled with its erratic pulsing.

I made Letha lie close to the ground, hushing her and taking hold of her hand. Gently removing my sword from its sheath, I placed it on the ground to my side, ready to be grabbed as necessary. Cautiously I lifted my head above the tall grass to examine the riders.

It was a detail of roughly ten men, only some were wearing armor and they carried torches that lit their way. I could just barely recognize the shape of the helmets that proclaimed them to be Templars, but I could tell little else in the dim light cast by the torches. Those not armored appeared to be wearing rough tunics and breeches, but I could not get a good view of their features.

Suddenly they pulled their steads to an abrupt halt, the lead horseman wheeling slightly to face those following him, "You insisted you heard a noise like a woman screaming."

"I know what I heard. There was a woman screaming in this direction," another Templar insisted, his voice sounding insistent.

Another man shouted in a disparaging tone, "It was probably naught but a screech owl."

"When last did you hear a screech owl in these forests" demanded the second Templar, "or any other animal save for those Fade forsaken wolves?"

"You are becoming unhinged man," another rider reproached, sounding tired.

"Bah," huffed another, "superstitious nonsense."

One of the accompanying men without armor addressed the lead Templar in a denigrating tone, "Is this the quality of men that serve as Templars, Commander? I can see why Arl Boese was quick to request my services. No better than women this lot!" This man's voice was familiar, but I could not decipher where I had heard it before without a clearer view of the face.

The lead Templar trotted his horse closer to the man who had slighted his comrades, "Do not presume too much, Merc! You might have your uses but you are petty thugs compared to the might of these Templars. Know your place!"

I was about to turn my attention back to Letha when I suddenly felt a cold metal blade against my throat, "If you want to avoid having me slit your gizzard, do not move." I also heard the sound of my sword being pulled out of my reach.

I was pulled roughly to my feet, still gripping Letha's hand and pulling her with me, causing her to squeak. She wrapped her arms around my chest as I put an arm around her shoulders to steady her. As we were forced to stumble forward before our captor she clung to me and whimpered.

The man barked, "Quiet, bitch!" and shoved me again.

As we approached the man called out, "Boss, look what I found cowering in the tall grass." We were pushed roughly into the pale circle of light created by the torches.

"I told you a woman screamed," the nervous Templar piped up again before being silenced by a quick jerking gesture of the Knight Commander.

Refusing to dismount, the Commander rode closer to us and removed his helmet, allowing me to look at him closely. His hair was cut short, leaving nothing to soften his sharp angular features. His eyes were so dark they were nearly black. He examined us with the air of a farmer appraising livestock and he demanded, "What were you doing here?"

Letha's face was pressed into my shoulder and I could feel her entire body tremble. We had replaced her torn chantry robes so she probably resembled any other village woman. My tunic was dirty and my breeches torn from chasing her through the woods, so I also did not stand out to the eye. I looked up at the Templar and tried to maintain a neutral voice while looking into a face I had the strongest desire to spit into, "My sister and I became lost in the woods searching for knoutberries. We thought we heard the wolves prowling nearby. She became frightened and she screamed. When we heard you riding towards us we were unsure of who you were so we hid."

The Commander seemed satisfied with my explanation, but the man that had insulted the Templars previously also rode closer and took a careful look at me. At that moment I realized where I had met him before just as he recognized me, "I know you!"

"You are unfamiliar to me, Ser," I answered, praying inwardly to the Maker that he would not deduce where he had seen me.

"No, I have seen you before. I am certain." His eyes narrowed and then he asked the man who had found us, "did he carry a weapon?"

The man stepped forward, handing the rider my sword, and he examined it closely. On seeing my sword, the realization dawned on him where he had seen me before and he smiled that same smug smile I recalled from the road early in our journey when his men ambushed us. He turned to the Knight Commander and stated, "Though he appears rough, he is no mere villager. This sword is too fine to be used by a man to collect firewood and fight off wolves. He is one of the knights from Redcliffe that my men detained a few weeks ago. They had escaped and I heard from one of my men later that they were aided by a woman wearing a mask. Would this be her, I wonder?"

This information struck a chord with the Commander and his eyes flashed, "A woman with a mask? My men were conducting a winnowing near Herfirien and had lost some of the villagers who were also aided by a woman with a mask. This is more than a coincidence."

"Bind them," the mercenary commanded his men before addressing me again; "you are going to wish we had ransomed you back to Redcliffe."

The mercenaries grabbed us roughly while the Templars seemed content to witness it. Letha began to cry and mutter incoherently as they dragged her away from me. I pleaded with them, "She is not the woman who wore the mask. She is a woman who was kind to me when I was separated from the rest of my party. She lives not far from here. Please let her go."

"You were with a group of knights," the lead mercenary continued without heeding my request, "Aside from the ones we killed, there should have been four more of you."

"The older knight died of his head wound, two were sent back to Redcliffe and I was separated from my other comrade along with our guide. I have been wandering the woods for days." I answered reluctantly, "This woman tried to help me."

"Then she will be very sorry she did so," the Knight Commander intoned darkly.

I tried to argue, hoping they would let her go and Ser Grey would find her later, "She is of no value to you. She is one woman. Be merciful and allow her to leave."

"All hands can serve the Maker," the Knight Commander recited, "All benefit from the opportunity to be purified through labor. She will come with us and perform penance."

On hearing these words Letha began to moan and shake her head violently. Even with my hands bound I shook off the two men who held me and ran to her, putting my bound arms over her head and whispering calming words. I had not forgotten what Svenya had said about villagers who fought back, they were made into examples.

"How touching," crooned the mercenary sourly who snatched me back, but my touch had the desired effect. Letha began to calm slightly, though she remained distressed.

"What would you do with them?" the mercenary addressed the Knight Commander.

The man put his helmet back over his head, "We are slated to report in to Arl Crewe and deliver a missive from Arl Boese before returning to the compound. They will accompany us. We should arrive there by morning rather than wasting the night camping."

"He did mention that he was separated from another knight and a guide. Should we not search them out?" The mercenary inquired.

The Knight Commander answered him in pointed tones, "Since they escaped from you, it seems only fitting that you and your men locate them. When you have them, bring them to the compound. I can spare you no more men or time for it draws short."

"Oh, how I will miss you," the mercenary muttered under his breath before giving me another smug nod and riding off with his men, leaving us alone with the Templars.

Mercifully, one of the Templars hoisted Letha over the front of his saddle where she continued to whimper and moan but did not struggle. I was forced to jog behind, with my hands bound and tied to another Templar's saddle by a long rope. They stopped to rest sparingly and kept a brisk pace, eager to reach Cloughbark by morning.

Mentally I struggled to find that tone that I recalled from my dream, the one that bound me to Svenya. It still vaguely clung to me and by focusing on it I managed to keep up and avoided being dragged behind the horses. I tried recalling Svenya's stories and her songs to help me pass the time and to help distract me from the burning sensation as it built in my muscles. Even during the days of the Blight I had not been so bone weary.

The hours passed and eventually the sun rose as I willed my body to become numb to the punishment of the forced march. I was parched, my tongue cleaving to the roof of my mouth.

"Water…" I finally panted. The Templars did not look at me friendly, but they did not desire for me to die before reaching Cloughbark, so they stopped long enough to offer me the water skin and sit for a moment. Letha had managed to fall asleep and I was grateful for they would not harm her as long as she remained complacent.

Not long after sunrise, a large estate came into view. It appeared to be all gray stone and black slate roofs, with a high wall around it. The surrounding trees had already lost their fall leaves and resembled skeletons, warning off the unwary. Even at a distance it looked forbidding.

The Templars rode into the courtyard with me in tow and the gates made a sickening crash as they closed behind us. This was the destination I had longed for and now I was trapped.

My head began to spin and I found I could no longer remain upright in my exhausted state. I collapsed to the ground and vaguely registered Letha's cry as she wriggled free of our captors and staggered to me, pulling me into her arms, yammering incomprehensibly in her distress. I tried to pat her hand and soothe her, but I was spent. My eyes were closing just as I heard the Knight Commander order the guards, "Drag those two to the dungeon while we meet with Arl Crewe."