12.

Restored by the witch's potion, Luke rejoins Kyara to continue their journey.

12.

 

Kyara was standing by the horses, no longer crying, but with a hopeless and helpless expression on her pretty face when Luke joined her, half an hour later.    Theo followed him and silently climbed into the cart where his fellow Halflings waited, sensing the two elves would want a private moment.

“How are you?”  Luke asked her softly as he neared.   The princess looked up, somewhat surprised at the change that had come over him.   He walked completely upright and with a relaxed, normal gait and his eyes revealed the lack of pain that had troubled him since he’d returned.    She just stared at him for a moment, but when he smiled at her, she burst into tears again.

He rushed to her and forgetting any courtly etiquette for a moment, opened his arms to her.   She rushed into them and grabbed him tightly, trembling like a small child after a nightmare as she cried against his shoulder.

“Shh, it’s alright, Princess,”  He said soothingly to her.

“It’s not alright!” She replied through her sobs, “You look almost like you did a year ago!”

He laughed at her words, “What is wrong with that?   I feel fine right now - numb, but full of energy.”

“You’re like an hourglass that is running out of sand, Luke!”  She exclaimed, “It seems so cruel - you look like you once did for the most part - except for some puffiness- and yet the clock is ticking for you!   It’s so… sad!” 

She buried her head in his chest and he awkwardly patted her back and tried to reassure her.

He let her cry for a while, then, when she seemed to be regaining her composure, he said, “Yara, let’s make the most of my time.    I can ride now without any ill effect, so we should get going at once.   If we can reach the forest early, then we’d have a better chance of finding any refugees and mustering them.”

Still sniffling, Kyara nodded and mounted her horse.   

 

“I want to thank you for your help,”  Luke said to the Halflings after he was on his horse, “You’re kindness will not be forgotten.”

“We owe you our lives, Sir Knight,”  Cass responded for his companions, “We are glad we could help, though I’m not sure this is helping much.   Is there anything more we can do to assist you?”

“No, thank you though.   We are going to have to head cross country at a quick pace.   You can pray for our success, that much I will ask of you.”

“We will do that,”  Cass replied with a nod of his head, “May Yesh grant you complete success and perhaps even a miracle or two.”

“Amen,”   Kyara murmured in agreement.

 

***

 

They took leave of the Halfling merchants a short time later and then waved to them until they disappeared from view.    Just outside of the mining town was the Copper Gate ford over the Brombrun River, which was the shallowest place to cross for many miles.

There were several people crossing the river at the ford and some of them looked in curiosity at the two armor clad horsemen.     The two elves just ignored them and took their horses across the stream.   Their path took them upward again into the foothills of the mountains, but then leveled off to a long, winding mountain road.    The view was incredible, the air filled with the smell of pine as they rode along with a handful of merchants travelling in small groups to the northwest.    Yet each group kept their distance from each other so there was privacy to talk as they rode.

“The traffic should keep bandits away,”  Luke said to Kyara after they had ridden in silence for a while.

The princess just silently nodded, staring blankly ahead.

“So are you going to give me the silent treatment for the entire ride?”

Kyara turned toward him, revealing the grave look on her face that she had worn since they left the witch’s house, “How can you be so flippant, knowing that you only have a week to live?”

Luke shrugged, “What do you want me to do?   Mourn and grimly await it?   I feel almost like my old self, Yara, and it is a spectacular view, the air is cool, it isn’t raining…yet… and if you would smile and talk to me, I’d have a very lovely riding companion.”

The girl blushed slightly at the compliment, “I can’t get the hourglass out of my mind, Luke!”

“Yara, everyone dies sometime.   Even elves will meet with an accident or murder sooner or later.   There are things worse than death, believe it or not,”   Luke shuttered at the memory of some of those very things.

“There’s been too much death, Luke…I can’t take any more of it!”   She began to tear up but fiercely fought them back.

“Maybe your luck is about to change.”

She looked up, wondering at his cryptic words, but he didn’t elaborate on them and instead began lightly humming an elven tune.

She listened to him, taken back for a few moments to a happier time when an elven bard sang that tune in her father’s dining hall.    She thought of Avalynn and she almost groaned out loud with longing to see her sister.     

“I’ve ruined everything!”   She whispered, but Luke heard her and stopped humming.

“Yara, sometimes situations leave few options to us and we do the very best that we can with what we’ve got.    You’ve done the best that you could; don’t second guess yourself.”

“But what about Avalynn?   I shouldn’t have-“

“Avalynn knows how to take care of herself,” Luke replied with a grin, “She is a survivor, just like you.    Don’t worry about her.”

“She just got me so mad!”

“You sent her on the path she was planning to take for herself anyway.    She always did what she wanted!”   Luke laughed slightly as if recalling an incident.

“You really liked her, didn’t you?”

“I still ‘like’ her, Yara, but you mean in the romantic sense, don’t you?    Most men in your father’s court were attracted to her, Yara.   She thrives on attention by men.    I just followed what the others did.”

“You aren’t a follower, Luke Penrook!   You were known as the favorite of the ladies!   I heard several stories about you!”

“They were embellished, Yara, believe me.    I wasn’t nearly as amorous as my reputation would have everyone think that I was.   Most of the stuff at your father’s court was just frivolous flirting - your father would not have put up with any of his knights acting improperly to a lady.”

“So you and my sister never…well, you know…”

“Certainly not!   Your father would have chopped off my head.    Besides, Frendac Thalomic was so obsessed with Avalynn that none of the other knights would have dared court her.”

The mention of Frendac made Kyara forget her melancholy mood and for a quarter of an hour they laughed and told tales about the young elven knight who was known for his height and notorious for his clumsiness.   Many of Frendac’s chivalric exploits were legendary as they usually ended in humorous mishap that he would dutifully recount to the King and his court with such skill and humor that everyone would be doubled over in mirth before he had finished.

“He rode off with my group, you know,”  Luke told her after they had retold his most amusing adventures, “The last time I saw him was right when the ambush began.    His horse had been stabbed in the rump by the lance of the knight riding behind him and was bucking and rearing up, with good ol’ Frendac hanging on for dear life.    Then all hell broke loose around us and I had to focus on staying alive.    I don’t know whatever happened to him, but he wasn’t among the captives taken.”

“I guess he’s dead too,”  Kyara replied, sinking quickly back into her somber state.

Luke shared her bleak thoughts and so for a while they rode in reflective silence.

“Luke?”   Kyara finally spoke up, “I’m… sorry… I’ve been trying not to think about… about everyone who has…died or about you dying… but I just can’t shake it off!   I forgot about everything for a while when we were reminiscing about Frendac, but then…”   She choked up and didn’t finish her sentence; instead she just swallowed down more tears and shook her head, hoping she’d said enough that he’d understand.

“Death is never convenient, Yara,”  He replied after a moment, “We elves don’t understand it or accept it like humans do.    They have a much deeper understanding of the finality of life, being mortals.   I think that is what makes death so hard for us - we don’t age, sicken and die - usually-  and so elven death is either a murder or an accident and it hurts worse.”

“I just was thinking of you, Luke!    You’re still so young - even by elven standards, and you deserve a longer time to live!”

“Yara, my life was over when those torturers started in on me.    I knew it then and was more than ready to die.   If it hadn’t been for you pulling me out of my father’s burning mansion, I’d be dead already.”

“It didn’t accomplish much, did it?   I only extended your life by a week or so!”

“Perhaps, but I do have a better peace about dying then I did.   I’m ready for it.”

“You want to die?”  The Princess asked in horror.

“No, but I know that I’ll go to a better place where all of my family is waiting for me when I do die.”

“I can understand that, Luke, but what scares me is that you told me recently that you had nothing left here to live for… and when I began looking at my own life, I was shocked to realize that I don’t have much to live for either!”

Luke stopped his horse suddenly, reached over and gently grabbed her by the wrist, surprising her with the serious look in his eyes.

“Don’t say that, Yara!”  He said to her, staring directly into her eyes.    He was still handsome, though the shapeless flabbiness that characterized eunuchs was beginning to transform his face.

“It’s true, Luke!”  She exclaimed, emotion in her throat, though she didn’t cry.

“You have a cause, Yara, and that is more than many people!   You want to keep your father’s kingdom free and your people free from tyranny.   There are few more noble causes.”

She shook her head, “Who are you kidding, Luke?    You know that there are few chances that I’ll find any of our people in the great forest and even if I do muster up a handful of them, it won’t be nearly enough to defeat Reddric.   I might just be leading them to their doom, whereas they could have lived in safety in the great forest if I hadn’t come looking for them!”

“Living like outlaws in the forest isn’t much of a life, Yara, especially for a proud elven knight or soldier.   Reddric needs to be stopped or no elf will be left in Albyia in a generation or two.”

“Maybe so, but I don’t see how I could succeed.   I’m hoping for some crazy miracle without any real evidence that one could happen.   Avalynn is in the heart of my enemy’s camp, you’ll be dead, my brother and father are dead and I won’t have a home to go back to in a few weeks!    It all seems so pointless!   I feel completely helpless, Luke!   Helpless and lost!”   She batted away tears as she hung her head and her shoulders slumped.

“Yara, make your goal simply to live from day to day.   Nothing else - just survive.    Keep living, even when the pain feels as if it will consume you.    I don’t know what will happen.   I don’t know what waits down the road for you.    But you are young and strong.    You’re a fighter and extremely intelligent.   If everything completely falls apart here in Albyia, then find a way to slip onto a boat and sail west… or even east.    There are still pockets of elves in the world, and you can find a safe haven, if you are willing to look for it.    You are beautiful; find a handsome elven man, fall in love and marry, then raise a family.    Your future is still before you.”

“But not the one I want!”

“Maybe not - but we’ll try to salvage one for you here first… if that is still what you desire.   It isn’t too late to call off this trip to the great forest.   I could get you to the highlands before I…um…”

“-Before you die!”  She finished his sentence with much bitterness, “Luke Penrook, I don’t intend to watch you die!   By Yesh, I won’t see it, do you understand me!”

He smiled at the sudden fire in her eyes, “I’ll go off so you’ll be spared.”

She shook her head, “That’s not what I meant!   I am going to find a way to override that witch’s potion and that poison that Reddric’s men gave you!”

Luke smiled sadly but didn’t argue with her.

“You don’t believe me, do you!”  She said upon seeing his expression.

“I don’t know the future, Yara, but I don’t expect to live long.”

“I’m not going to let you die, Luke!   You are the only sane voice of reason that I have right now.    I need you to stay alive!”

“You know that is out of my hands now.”

“But it’s not out of God’s hands!”

Luke nodded, refusing to vocalize his secret doubts that even Yesh could stop the processes that they’d set into motion.

A sudden loud clap of thunder shook the air and drew their conversation to a close.    In the distance, heavy rain clouds were approaching, announcing an end to their pleasant riding weather.

“It’ll hit before too long and we’ve got probably three hours more riding until we reach a village,”  He told her as he scanned the skies.

“Are there any farms on this trail that could offer us shelter?”

“No, this is a mountain pass and it’s uninhabited.”

“What about caves?”

Luke’s eyebrows arched, “Caves?   Hmmm… well, you know, I do remember seeing an outcrop of rock about a mile back that would offer shelter.   It didn’t look like it was actually a cave, but I’d say it was probably fifteen feet deep, so we could take shelter there.”

“Let’s do it, then, and quickly; those clouds look as if they mean business!”

Turning around, they galloped back down the road; a band of merchants a quarter mile behind them parting to each side to let them ride past.

 By the time they reached the outcrop, the wind had picked up and it was lightning and thundering.   Hurriedly they left the road and rode up a slight incline, where they dismounted just as the rain began to fall.    Quickly they led their horses under the outcrop, which upon inspection was slightly deeper than Luke had estimated.    The horses were glad to get out of the inclement weather.     The outcrop offered protection on three sides and from above as well.   The floor was made up of gravel and loose stones, but at least was dry.    They put the horses at the very back of the outcrop and sat down between them and the entrance just before the storm hit.

 

“Wow, look at it come down!” Luke commented after they watched it rain for a while.

“See?   I would have been out in that if you’d not suggested finding shelter.    I need you to look after me.”

Her youthful insecurity moved him and without thinking, he slipped his arm reassuringly around her shoulder.

She leaned against him, her head resting on his arm, but she didn’t say anything.

 

The storm lasted about an hour and then they resumed their journey.   Kyara was subdued and avoided any mention of Luke’s limited time remaining.    Instead, they chatted about common things such as the condition of the road, the political situation in the capital city and the latest rumors from the royal court.

“You need to be prepared for what will eventually occur,”  Luke said after an hour of casual talk, “I want you to understand how Reddric thinks.”

“Okay,”  The Princess replied somewhat hesitantly, knowing how grim their conversation would grow.

“Yara, he is primarily focused on securing his kingdom and destroying any threats.     The Archbishop whispers into his ear all the time and spreads his anti-elven poison all around.    These two reasons - the High King’s insecurity and his blind obedience to whatever the Archbishop tell him- are what motivate him to desire to destroy Baylcothrom and massacre all elves.”

“Yeah, that is not news to me, Luke.”

“But you probably don’t know that the King and many of his nobles are quite fond of elven women.”

“To rape, no doubt!”

“As mistresses.    You know about the proclamation that Half-Elves have half souls?   There are rumors that this is a nod to some of the nobles who have half-elven b******s.     Nymphs were included in this group, too.     The reason for this?   You and your sister.”

Kyara looked up in surprise, “What?”

“Reddric and his nobles know that you and Avalynn are daughters of a Nymph.    They also know that there are no such things as half-Nymphs.     They know that any child of a Nymph is female and is a Nymph herself.     Since they have heard Bards tell stories of the great eternal beauty of Nymphs, they pressed the Archbishop to declare that Nymphs are spiritually the same as Half-Elves; possessing half of a soul.     Therefore you and your sister could be captured and taken as mistresses without running afoul of the church.”

“Well, I knew Reddric was interested in Avalynn.”

“It is more than just for sex.    They greatly desire non-aging, eternally beautiful women as it gives them the illusion that they are not aging.   But they also believe that they can have daughters by Nymphs that will be equally as beautiful and could be used to cement political bonds.”

“But Nymphs cannot produce children with humans that live very long!   Only elves and half-elves can produce healthy children.”

“Yes, but apparently this knowledge has escaped them, or else they don’t believe it is true.   This is why Reddric has sought out Avalynn, and I believe that he will make an attempt to capture you soon.”

“I’d rather die first!”

“I certainly understand that, Yara, but listen to me:   if you are captured, he most likely won’t kill you and where there is life, there is hope.”

She snorted, “This coming from the man with less than a week to live!”

“I’m serious, Yara!   The point I’m trying to make is that there are rumors that some of the nobles, since they can’t find a Nymph, have secretly taken elven mistresses.   These mistresses will be kept away from court, of course, but there will be some in hidden locations in the capital.    Many may be more or less just slaves of noblemen, but they will certainly be sympathetic to your cause and if you or Avalynn can find them, they may be able to help you.”

“You sound sure that I will be captured.”

“I pray that you are not.   But if you are, I wanted you to know that you have some things in your favor that might keep you alive if you are careful.    It is much better that you escape from Albyia rather than fall into Reddric’s hands.    But no matter what happens, there is hope; don’t forget that, Yara.   There is always hope where there is life.”

“Well, at least most times… you don’t seem to apply that to yourself.”

Luke shrugged, “Who knows?    Yesh could certainly do a miracle for me, but I am not expecting it.     But forget about me - you just remember that you have options available to you.   You need to stay alert and if you are ever captured, keep your head, watch your tongue and you should be able to survive, even within Reddric’s court.”

Kyara just nodded and didn’t say anything for a while, digesting what he had told her.

It quickly grew dark in the overcast skies, but they kept riding on the muddy road, for Luke wanted them to reach Ledfurdd before they rested.

“Ledfurdd is a mining town, Yara and the people there are coarse and vulgar.    Strangers are not highly regarded, so we need to keep to our covers as militiamen being sent to Poltris to join up with Reddric’s forces amassed on the border of the Yehsaelie forest.”

“We don’t look like the typical human militiamen.”

“No, but I’m hoping a liberal use of gold coins will cause the inn keeper to not ask too many questions.    Let me do the talking, Yara; you don’t sound like a man.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,”  She replied with a sad smile.

“It is, but we really don’t want to get you discovered.   By the way, this town is notorious for its prostitutes - they come right up to people in the streets selling their… um… services.   Don’t stare at them or they might read that as shy interest in them and then we’ll be hounded until we get to the inn.”

“So there is only one inn there?”

“Yes, ‘The Lead-shot Inn and Tavern’.   I’ve never stayed there, but while I was a prisoner, some of the guards were talking about the wild parties that the Inn has each night and discussing the attributes of the various w****s there.”

“Oh wonderful - a great place to get some rest after a long day’s ride.”

“That is all there is - the roads outside of town are not safe to camp near after dark, so we’ll have to stay there.”

“Isn’t there some place else?   Another small town or something?”

“I’m afraid not, Yara.    We’re in the mountains now and the settlements are sparse and are found just along the path through the mountains.”

“So how long until we get there?”   She asked with mild disgust in her tone.

“Well, as a matter of fact, I can see the lights of the town through the trees - we’ll be there in five minutes.”

“Great; I can’t wait.”