Chapter 7 - The Fog
"Well, at least it's not raining today," Jacob announced with a smile as he and his brother coaxed their horses into a trot along the uneven road.
"At least," Will mocked the younger man, rolling his eyes in exasperation, "At this moment rain seems like a better alternative, I can barely see you through this fog."
Despite his hopelessly optimistic attitude, Jake was beginning to feel as nervous as Wilhelm's touchy mood showed him to be. After departing from the thief's house in the early hours of the morning, and passing through the small town that Will had visited the night before, they had followed a series of seemingly endless meandering roads winding between cultivated fields and forests. However, even after finding their way onto the main road, they had yet to meet a single traveler. Jacob hesitantly voiced his thoughts to Will, partly out of concern, and partly to break the growing silence between them.
"You know, it was the strangest thing," Wilhelm suddenly spoke, seeming to ignore his brother's words entirely. "When I went into town last night for you, the old woman who sold me the tea and medicine was warning me about a blue-eyed demon that inhabited a wealthy old house along the road. It sounded like an old wives' tale to me, but how come we never passed anything of the like?"
Stifling a laugh at his brother's thick-headedness and uncanny inability to read between the lines, Jacob reined his horse in and maneuvered himself closer to Wilhelm. "Brother, think for a second. Carefully. A mansion and a blue-eyed demon," he repeated pointedly.
"Weiss?" Will exclaimed after a moment of silent thought, "But, he's human… isn't he?"
"Of course he is, Will. But he's also a thief, and a very notorious one at that. The last thing he wants is people keeping track of his comings and goings. He mentioned to me that he took the idea from an old folk legend," Jacob replied, hoping that his brother couldn't see him grin through the dense fog.
"Fairy tales and folklore… what is this world coming to?" Will responded with an exasperated sigh, and Jacob could all but picture the irritation on his face.
Seeing the bait for what it was, and uneager to replay an old argument for the hundredth time, Jacob stayed silent. Although he did allow himself a small chuckle as he thought about the wondrous amount of irony that was involved in his older brother owing his life to magic.
"Aren't you going to debate me like you usually do?" Will pressed, unable to disguise the surprise that coloured his voice at Jacob's silence, especially on a topic that was all but guaranteed to get a rise out of him.
"Why, Wilhelm? Do you enjoy arguing with me?" Jacob retorted, his growing annoyance clouding any desire for a civil conversation.
"No… I just," Will faltered uncharacteristically, "I guess I just got used to it. You know, us always arguing." Taking a breath he continued, "It seems like it's always been like that since- well especially after…" He began, but quickly trailed off.
"Since what, Wilhelm? Since our sister… is that it?" Jake asked icily, glad for the fog that hid him from Will as his face grew hot with anger and shame.
"What? No… Jacob, that's not what I meant at all; I was talking about what happened in Marbaden," Will answered softly, his expression masked by the mist.
"You bring her up so often, how was I supposed to know?" He asked weakly, hoping his brother hadn't heard the way his voice faltered.
Pointedly ignoring his brother's words, disliking the painful truth they held and how it sat heavily in the pit of his stomach, Wilhelm turned his attention towards the empty road. "We should probably pick up the pace if we want to make it to whatever godforsaken place we're headed before nightfall," He snapped, urging his mare into a gallop to put distance between them.
"Hameln, Will, we're going to Hameln," Jake replied with a tired sigh, as he pushed his horse forward into the dense fog.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading. This is the updated version of Chapter 7, uploaded on 02/2023.