Part 2 Chapter 4

CHAPTER 13

 

 

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ertia is standing in the Throne room with her mother beside her and in front is two tall royal knights surrounding a third man smaller, obviously a peasant and a poor one at that.

  “What do you mean he is gone!” screams Sertia and watches the peasant jump back into the guards’ arms.

  The peasant man had come to the castle with the thought of being a good citizen; he had seen Prince Olraym buying some horses and originally thought nothing of it but then the fact that Olraym was supposed to be King tomorrow came to mind and he ran back to where he saw Olraym last and saw him leaving on horseback with someone else. He wanted to catch him but he knew it would be useless; he would never reach him in time so he ran in the opposite direction to the castle to tell the royal family of what he saw. But this is not what he expected at all. He expected praise and gratitude for this but instead he only sees anger unjustly directed at him.

  The man, wanting to finish as soon as possible, nods, “I saw him go to Volutin’s stables and buy two horses from him.”

  “Two?” he jumps back again. He knows he is in trouble but knows not how to get out of it. Sertia and Moira notice his jump but neither care as there is more important matters at hand.

  “Yes, yes two your majesty, he had the Cultist with him,” the peasant backs away slightly as he sees Sertia face turn a dangerous angry red. He looks to Queen Moira for help but finds her stone faced, unwillingly to calm her daughter. He looks to the two guards but they are the same as him.

  “How did she get out?” Moira looks down, believing she is the reason but then looks back up at the peasants reply.

  “I do not know your majesty,” he says, “but she was in shackles,” he adds quickly hoping that will help. This does calm her a little; the redness in her cheeks dissipates and her heavy angry breathing slows.

  “Do you know where they are going?” Moira asks in a calm voice but unfortunately the man is dreading this question for he doesn’t know the answer.

  He gulps audibly, “no, your Highness, I do not, I asked Volutin but he did not know either.”

  “Volutin did not know what?” asks Thorne as he enters. His entrance surprises everyone but they all regain composure quickly. The soldiers and the peasant man all bow to Thorne who nods back pretending to be friendly.

  “Apparently Olraym has left, with that Cultist woman,” says Moira still looking at the peasant man. Thorne’s shock is not fake, this is completely unexpected and to Thorne, undesirable. Even with Olraym gone Moira and Sertia will not appoint either him or Sertia to be ruler, no they will persuade others to postpone the inauguration ceremony to name him King.

  “Does this man know where?” he points to the peasant man. Both Moira and Sertia shake their heads.  Thorne thinks hard of what to do, “what are we to do?” he asks innocently thinking of what their answers could be and what he might say in return.

  “We cannot wait for him for too long, we have no idea when or even if he will return,” says Sertia, calmer than before. Moira nods in agreement but she is still stone faced.

  “Perhaps I should go get him,” Thorne says. This shocks everyone, especially Moira and Sertia who know him best. This is very unlike Thorne.

  “You, why you?” questions Sertia.

  “Perhaps the words of family will bring him back, and you two still need to make preparations for the ceremony,” while this is a well thought out argument, this convinces neither of them that this being a good natured deed by Thorne. But while they know something is wrong they cannot think of some good reason to say no.

  “How long ago did he tis Cultist woman leave?” he asks the peasant man as he turns to him. The man looks around more, noticing the conversation has shifted back to him.

  “Twenty minutes ago, sire,” Thorne nods and puts a wide smile on his face.

  “If I leave now I could get to them and bring them back in time for the ceremony, if not I can be postponed for a day or two at least,” again they could find no reason to say no to Thorne. Moira grimly nods and, with the smile still there Thorne turns and leaves. Then almost as if they notice him again, Sertia and Moira turn back to the guards and the peasant man.

  “Give this man a decent meal then send him on his way,” says Moira, the two guards leave with the man who looks jolly at the sound of a good meal, then they close the door.

  Moira is about to walk out as well but is stopped by Sertia.

   “Are you sure about this?” she asks, obviously guarded about Thorne going after Olraym. Moira stares at Sertia thoughtful then looks away.

  “Of course not, but what would you do?” from her voice it is obvious to Sertia that she is scared, scared of losing more family so soon. But Sertia knows she is right, there is nothing else either of them can do. They just have to hope then when Thorne returns with Olraym they are both still breathing. That Cultist woman Trugaime can die for all Sertia cares, the woman wanted her young brother dead. But then that does create the question of what she is doing with him. She figures she will ask Olraym when he returns.

 

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Queen Moira also thinks of what her son is doing and why, but unlike Sertia Moira decides to try and do something. She leaves the castle, with four royal knights accompanying her, and goes to the nearest temple of the Twelve. In Tov’ra the temple of the Twelve is the largest in the Highlands, being a few storeys taller than the mausoleum.

  When the five of them arrive Moira takes notice of the way it looks. The roof of the temple has twelve silver spears sticking straight up at twelve inches, one after the other, and the front double-doors are twelve feet tall.

  Once Moira enters she finds thing similar inside: there are twelve pews in both sides. A candle-stick is standing at the back of the temple with twelve lit candles set in a circle.

  The four royal knights wait at the door as Moira walks to the pew at the front and sits down. She closes her eyes and takes a deep cleansing breath, then leans forward and places her hands at an angle at her sides.  She prays to the Twelve for guidance, for help with Olraym to return safely and soon. She prays that Thorne does the right thing when he finds Olraym, hoping he won’t do anything evil toward him.

  She finishes with a prayer that the Highlands will prosper followed by a thank you to the Twelve, as if they have already does as she requests. She stands and with a hopeful smile returns to the castle.

 

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Thorne can’t believe his luck: since Olraym returned Thorne has sent a Cultist assassin after him who failed is was imprisoned, then when he sent Dunarn to take care of it he lost Dunarn. But now it is changing, Olraym has left with the Cultist assassin for a reason Thorne neither knows nor cares for and Thorne finally has a chance to deal with it once and for all.  He takes only a few supplies, believing he will only be gone a day or two, then goes to the castles stables and takes his own horse. He rides it to the city entrance and through the now much smaller crowd until he is out of the city. Once out and up the hill path he stops hoping to find something to help him. Seeing nothing he instead looks for someone. He darts around looking, his horse jerking around, waiting to move again, and he spots a small group of three.

  He rushes to them, his horse making some noise so the three turns around and see him. While they do not realise who he is at first, they soon do and are frozen in fear and look away, hoping he will pass them. He doesn’t, though they cannot see him they hear the horse slow down next to them. The first thing Thorne notices is that the three are in fact two men and a woman, while the two men appear to be the same old age; the woman, from her relative size seems more like a girl. They stand still as he looks at them from the side, with their heads turned the opposite way. Thorne moves forward slightly and looks back as they turn around. It is obvious to Thorne that they don’t want him to see their faces but as they turn around he does and so the second thing he notices about them is that they are members of the Brotherhood of Speechless Words.

  Being a man of suspicion Thorne has never trusted Brotherhood members no matter who they are or what they look like. He gets off his horse and calmly walks towards them with a painted friendly face. Since they have turned around from him they don’t see it but he keeps it on anyway.

  “Excuse me,” he says in a tone to match his expression. They do seem to hear him but make no move to acknowledge him. This irritates Thorne but he does his best to keep his friendly face on. “I’m sorry, please face me I know you’re Brotherhood members.” Thorne can tell they are hesitant, “I promise not to harm you,” he soon begins to perceive their collective shoulders slump and slowly they turn to face him. He knows they are afraid of him but not being seen, they are afraid of what his reaction is. They look shocked by the fact that his friendly face does not disappear. At seeing their faces Thorne can tell that the two men are in fact rather old; their faces are mapped out with wrinkles and their eyes convey age and experience. The girl on the other hand is younger that Thorne first thought; he would be surprised if she is in her teen years.

  “I am just wondering if you have seen someone. Two people in fact, they may have rode this way from Tov’ra just half-an-hour ago. I want to know where they went.” The three look at each other, they move their hands which, to Thorne, looks like nonsense but they seem to know what it means. They do this for a few minutes then one of the old men points straight ahead with his hand outstretched. But then with it still outstretched he gestures it slightly left. Thorne realises he means they Olraym and Trugaime have moved left which makes it slightly more difficult and slightly more confusing. The man drops his hand and Thorne can tell their collective fear is almost gone.

  “Thank you,” he looks around, finding no one in sight, and reaches and takes out a small dagger and before they know what is happening he kills the man that showed him where Olraym and Trugaime had gone. The other two widen their eyes and the second man tries to run but Thorne takes the knife and swipes at his throat, the man stops and both Thorne and the girl watch as blood seeps out of the wound. Thorne cannot hear him make any chocking sounds as he falls to the ground and dies.  

  Neither can he hear any screams from the girl as she witnesses it. Thorne’s eyes meet hers, he could see her fear, could almost smell it. The girl notices Thorne is almost excited by what he has done, she spins around and runs fast as she can.

  He chases her and she goes not for Tov’ra, since she knows no one will help her but further into the surrounding woodlands. She dodges through the trees hoping the get clear of Thorne but he is able to keep up with her, he can tell she is weakening although he is surprised that she has lasted as long as she has. She trips over some tree roots which Thorne uses to close the gap and throw the dagger; it skims through the air and implants itself in her back. She falls to the ground and Thorne can hear a short yelp from her followed by what sounds like pained groaning.

  He walks briskly to her form, beads of sweat forming on his head and he takes deep breathes. She is lying face down with the dagger sticking out of her back, just below her shoulder blade. He takes hold of the dagger then stops, letting her know what he is about to do and letting her fear of that knowledge grow, then he pulls it out. He hears a scream erupting from her stitched-closed mouth and shame mixes with her fear. This is surprising to Thorne, which makes him falter, as he knows no member of the Brotherhood is ever allowed and is trained no to make any sound from their mouths, but she is so young Thorne decides that maybe she hasn’t been trained too much.

   Blood flows from the hole in her back and Thorne can see her turning a ghostly shade of white, although she looks very alert as she is trying her hardest to stay awake, to stay alive.

  Thorne grabs her arm and drags her to the nearest tree, she moans barely able to struggle or even know what is happening. He drags her hard and can hear the twigs underneath her snap as she goes over them, then he picks her up from her armpits and tosses her onto the tree, she lands on the tree with a loud thump in a seated position. He looks down at his hands; they are covered in the girls’ blood and his right hand has a cut as well from when he pulled the dagger out. He backs away two steps and watches her; her eyes are closing but she blinks heavily and tries to open them again, he can see her failing. Then she stops moving, her small chest stops its movements. She is dead, like the two others.

  Thorne walks back to her and cleans his dagger off her worn-down clothes then sheathes it and leaves in a slow calm pace.

  He feels rather pleased with himself, he has always hated Brotherhood members no matter who they are, and feels he has done a service by killing three of them. Though they had not committed a crime in the strictest sense Thorne believed that when they were waving their arms in their strange language they were talking of committing one in killing him. A grave sin to anyone, Thorne feels he is safe from retribution from anyone �" God or man �" by believing this.

  He arrives back at the road, there is still no one in sight, so he lets out a breath he forgot he is holding. He straddles his horse, and rides off in the direction the member had motioned to. While he knows that the time it took to kill them has made it more difficult to find Olraym and that Cultist woman, he thinks he can catch them easily, so he makes the horse go slow, just at a trot.

 

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In truth Olraym and Trugaime are further ahead than Thorne thinks. Not only have they not stopped for anything but their horses are moving faster. Since leaving Tov’ra they have not spoken a word to each other, though Olraym looks as if he wants to. He wants to explain to Trugaime, to further question her, to know her. But whenever he opens his mouth to speak he falters and closes it.

  Divinwood from Tov’ra is a five day horse ride, if the horse is healthy and fast, and if the weather permits as little stops as possible. Luckily for Olraym the weather today is passive, with white clouds spaced out, creating shade in the roads for several minutes. But Trugaime can see there is the threat of dark clouds on the horizon.

  Though the sky is mostly blue the air is somewhat cold, and since Trugaime is wearing many layers she starts shivering. Olraym, being ahead of her, doesn’t notice at first, but when he turns around to look at her for Trugaime knows to be the sixth time since they left Tov’ra he notices her shivering. He slows down until they are next to each other.

  “You’re cold,” he says, he looks concerned which Trugaime is quietly thankful for.

  “I am aware of this,” she says harder than she means to, not sure she wants to show anything.

  Olraym feels indignant at her response but says nothing back. He looks around, notices the dark clouds slowly approaching, and turns back to her. “We should find shelter; those clouds will hinder our progress.”

  Trugaime looks over to the dark clouds again, they are coming closer, but they are still a distance away. “We still have time, you still have not told me where we are going or why I have to come with you, but I’m guessing you want to get there soon.”

  Olraym sees the rationality of her argument but still doesn’t want to see her shiver any more. He unhooks his fur cloak from his shoulders and tosses it over her haphazardly shoulders. With her chained hands she fixes it and hooks it over her own shoulders then wraps it around her. Olraym then moves ahead again until the chain attached to Trugaime’s shackles starts to pull then slows again until it isn’t.

  For the next three hours the two ride along in silence, the dark clouds drawing ever closer until finally the two know they need a safe place to rest before the threatening storm actually hits. The winds have picked up speed and the air has gotten colder, and the bright yellow light from the sun is now completely blocked by the clouds giving everything a dull grey look.

  During those three hours Olraym takes several turns onto small paths that make it difficult for Trugaime to know what their destination is. That is until they arrive back onto a main road where she realises they are in to Burden, or at least in that direction. This makes her concerned since she thinks he may be going to her village, to her home. But she drowns these thoughts in others such as ones about going other places like actually going to Burden. She thinks about asking him again but decides that he probably won’t answer her this time either so there is no point.

  She suddenly realises that Olraym has stopped so she does the same. He is looking ahead slightly to the right through some thick shrubberies at a rocky hill and when Trugaime does the same she finds it has a cave entrance.

  “This storm will be here soon, we should go in until it subsides.” This time Trugaime agrees with him and nods until she realises he can’t see her so she agrees vocally.

  Olraym gets off his horse and with his help Trugaime does too. The two then take hold of their horses’ reins, tug on them lightly until the horses start moving, and then they walk to the cave with the horses a few steps behind.

  Inside the cave is dark, dank and both Olraym and Trugaime notice a strange odour coming from deep within. Olraym notices the cave ceiling going in a slope so while the entrance is large enough for both them and their horses the further in the cave goes the significantly less room there is. They leash the reins of the horses to a long rock protruding from the bottom like a spike just at the cave entrance on a set of thick sharp rocks then move further inward, stopping just before the ceiling gets too low for them to stand up straight. Trugaime watches Olraym get a blanket from a sack; she thinks of using Olraym’s fur cloak as a blanket to lie on but decides to get one from the sacks carried by the horses, then the two gather small rocks and any sticks they could find in and around the cave. Once gathered they use it to build a fire between them. It is a slow process but soon just as they were about to take a break from trying Olraym gets a spark and sees a little smoke coming out. He carefully blows at it until it grows then backs away slowly as it continues to become a full warm fire.

  They hear the sound of thunder from far away, which makes the horses jump and look outside frightened, and the two see outside rain is slowly beginning to drop. They silently count down until they hear thunder again followed by more frightened whining from the horses. It is definitely getting closer.

  The two stare at the fire intently, as if staring at it will force it to warm them, which it is but not because of them. Occasionally one will look outside, watching the now heavy rain crash onto the ground, and wondering is it more or less rain fall than before.

  Finally after feeling substantially warmer Trugaime asks: “are you finally going to tell me where you are taking me?”

  Olraym has been waiting for her to ask for some time, he glances up at her through the fire and replies: “yes but you’re not going to like.”

  This confuses Trugaime who shows it without pause. ‘Where exactly are we going?’ she thinks then shortly after a silent moment she asks him. In those silent eternal second after she asks him only the bangs of thunder and the whining horses are heard to let Trugaime know that time is still moving forward.

  “Divinwood,” he says, looking back down to the fire. Not really wanting to see her reaction, but just as he does so he thinks it has made it worse.

  He is right; Trugaime looks at him as if he is a madman. She cannot believe it, Divinwood? Why would anyone purposely go there? And more importantly, why is he taking Trugaime with him? These questions come and go in her mind and incalculable speeds, so much so that she can barely hold onto one before another takes over. She hears a noise but cannot tell what it is, it is too blurred and she can only hear for a few seconds at a time. It is later she realises it is Olraym talking to her, bringing her out of her trance like state.

  “Say something,” he says and she can now hear it clearly. “Say something,” he says again this time with more intensity. But she is quiet.