Oh and one more thing. disregard any breaks in paragraphs, i am not going through and pressing enter between each paragraph after i have pasted it onto here...that would take WAY too long.
(My NaNoWriMo) Word Count at end of week 2: 25,955, words written during week 2: 12,605
Letting her mind wonder she completely forgot her reason for
coming to the wagon in the first place. After a little while of staring into
nothing her slowly began to close, just when she almost asleep a shadow blocked
out the small beam of sunlight that had peeked through.
Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she looked up to see a
man shaped shadow leaning over her. Her first thoughts were that it was one of
the knights and she nearly jumped up screaming when she realized that this man
shape was not covered in black metal. Squinting up she saw that it was in fact
just Jason leaning over the side of the wagon.
“You nearly gave me a heart attack! Don’t do that to me.”
Annoyed with him she pushed herself into a sitting position so she could
actually see him and to keep him from hovering over her. Jason only smiled and
leaned against the side of the wagon. “How long was I asleep? It felt like
hours.”
“Well Gerald finished whatever it was he was making, gave it
to your mom and now she’s all better. We camped there for the night, broke camp
in the morning and now we are about to make camp again. So I would say a day
and a half.” Jason said with a huge grin on his face. Emily looked around at
the trees that surrounded them and then back at Jason. Trying her best not to
smile back at him she instead punched him in the arm and jumped out of the
wagon.
“You’re a bad liar you know. I would know this forest
anywhere.” She said before searching one of the bags for something to eat.
“I’m a wonderful liar when I choose to be, but I was
actually coming over here to see how you were doing. Since that was your first
encounter with a knight.”
“I could be better. It was pretty weird though.” She said with
her face in the current bag she was digging through
“What was? It seemed like a normal attack from the knights.”
Seizing an apple she took a bite before she explained. Jason
waited patiently with his chin in hand and elbow propped up on the wagon. After
a couple bites, Emily set the apple down and turned towards the campfire pa had
going. “All of it. It was so sudden. We were getting ready to leave and then
there was this scream. I thought it was mama and I think pa did too. After pa
ran out the door a knight attacked me and said something about crimes. But the
weirdest part of it all besides everything freezing was that the armor was
completely empty. Emily shivered as she recalled the memory of the empty suit
and the impaled helm.
“What did the knight say about crimes?” Emily turned back
towards the wagon and rested her arms across the wagon and sighed.
“I don’t remember, all he or it or whatever that thing was
said was something about my crimes against the crown or something like that. I
don’t even know. Either way it was mistaken I haven’t done anything against the
crown so I don’t know why they would even be after me.”
“Yeah odd. We will get it figured out, for now why don’t you
help me set up camp and wait to see how things work out with your mother.”
Jason grabbed a back from the wagon and walked to the other side of camp next
to the stream. Emily found her own bag and did the same just farther up the
stream that Jason. After everything was set she decided food for everyone else
would be required so she grabbed her fishing pole and walking up river until
she found a nice secluded spot.
Emily settled in and got ready to wait a while before she
caught anything. With thoughts about the past two days running through her head
she began to get restless. She was thankful that she wasn’t going to fall
asleep this time, that would be a very cold awakening. Glancing down at herself
she thought maybe that cold awakening would be required after all. Pulling her
line in she leaned her pole up against a tree next to the stream. She checked
the area to make sure there were no hunters in the area or anyone else that
could be lurking behind a tree before she pulled her boots off.
Setting her boots on a rock she shimmied out of her pants
and proceeded to take her shirt off. In the midst of unbuttoning her shirt she
started to feel like there was someone watching her, out of the corner of her
eye she checked the bank of the stream to either side of her, deeming it safe
she lifted her head and caught sight of a gorgeous white deer on the opposite
bank. Moving as slowly as she could so as not to spook the deer she started to
button up her shirt again. Once she was done she attempted to pick up her pants
that were lying on top of her boots, which in this case was very hard to do
since the rock she was standing on was particularly slimy. Looking down she
grabbed her pants and carefully straightened back up only to catch the tail end
of the deer disappearing through the trees.
“Damn it.” She whispered quietly to herself.
“Damn what?” A voice said from behind her. Turning around a
little too quickly Emily lost her footing and attempted to correct her balance,
swinging her arms she tried her best to catch herself but instead fell straight
into the stream instead. Laughter could be heard from the bank as Emily’s head
emerged from the water.
“JASON!! What the
hell!”
“It seems the rocks are a little slippery wouldn’t you say?”
Jason said, still leaning against the tree. Emily wrapped her arms around
herself as she watched her shirt try and float up around her. Making sure to
keep only her head above the cold water Emily worked her way back to the bank
of the stream, at the same time trying to keep her shirt down and stay on the
other side of the rock so Jason could not see her. “Do you need a hand there or
are you going to try and get out yourself?”
“I’m fine; I think you’ve done enough. How long were you
standing there anyways?” Now right behind the rock she did her best to climb up
on the small ledge that they rock sat upon.
Jason shrugged and turned his back, “Oh just long enough to
watch the deer run off. I didn’t see anything I swear, well besides some really
white legs.” He lifted his hands in an innocent manner while trying his best
not to burst out laughing again.
“Ha very funny, and my legs aren’t white they are just
light. Like your legs are any better, they are probably whiter than mine are!”
Successfully staying behind the rock she managed to wiggle herself back into
her pants in spite of her drenched shirt and damp legs. Once she was decent she
climbed back onto the rock making sure not to slip or lose her balance again. Grabbing
her boots she brushed past Jason, with everything she had she forced herself
not to hit him as she walked by, no matter how much she wanted to. All the
while thinking that she got in the creek like she planned on but not how she
wanted to.
Too frustrated to even worry about Jason or the fact that
her shirt was now soaked, she didn’t even notice that he was walking closely
behind her until he spoke. “So how was your bath? I’m assuming that’s why you
came down here.”
“Can’t you just leave me alone, every time you are near
something bad happens. Just go away.” Fuming Emily kept walking without looking
back. Much to her annoyance Jason walked a little faster to catch up with her
and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Stopping mid-step Emily shrugged his
arm off her shoulder and turned towards him. “Seriously why won’t you go away?
I don’t even know you. You just showed up yesterday and then everything went to
crap. Why are you even here?”
Tucking his hands in his pockets Jason shrugged his
shoulders and looked at the ground for a moment before he straightened up and
crossed his arms over his chest. “You know what little miss; I’m here to keep
an eye on you. I’m here to make sure you don’t get hurt. I’m here to keep your
white ass out of trouble. That’s why I’m here. Your parents asked to me look
after you and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. If you don’t like it then
tough, because I’m staying whether you like it or not.” At the end of his rant
Jason turned and stomped off back in the direction of the camp leaving Emily
standing there once again with her jaw dropped.
Blinking her eyes a couple times Emily looked around the
forest and then started following Jason back to camp feeling like a complete
idiot. Of course Mama and Pa would ask him to keep an eye on her, it just made
sense. Clutching her boots in both hands she walked on until she made it back
to camp and went to find another shirt in one of her bags, thankfully she
thought to pack a lot of clothes.
Looking around camp she saw pa tending to mama but no Jason.
She prayed she didn’t make him mad enough to wonder off in the forest, a forest
he didn’t know. After changing her shirt behind a tree she went to check and
see how mama was doing. Hopefully whatever it was that pa made for her would
help and she would be back to normal in no time. Sitting a log that was sitting
near the campfire in the middle of the clearing she grabbed a flask of what she
hoped was water and took a drink. Pa looked up and gave her a small smile. Mama
was still asleep but at least she didn’t look dead anymore so the concoction
should have helped, or it looked like it anyways.
“Where’s Jason?” Pa asked looking around the camp.
“I don’t know, I think I made him mad and when I got back he
was gone.” Emily looked over at the horses to make sure that all four were
there and they were, sighing she turned back and took another drink from the
flask. “Why did you and mama ask him to look out for me?”
Pa took a deep breath before laying mama on the palled they
had made for her earlier. Mama yawned and rolled over before snoring really
loudly, which made Emily giggle and pa chuckle. “Well because you’re a young
girl and we knew that the Knights would be coming for us soon, we didn’t think
it would be this soon but either way we wanted to make sure you were safe. We
couldn’t exactly send you out into the world by yourself without any knowledge
of any of it.” Pa glanced at mama peacefully sleeping as he made the last
comment.
“But that doesn’t make sense Pa, if you would have sent me
away then the knights would have still found you like they did and you both
could be dead now. Something saved us earlier and I don’t know what it was but
I’m glad that I was there for it. I don’t know what I would do if I lost either
of you, pa.” Emily took one more drink from the flask before looking for
something stronger than water. Leaving pa to tend to mama she went back to the
wagon in hopes that pa had remembered to pack some of his homemade ale.
Scrounging around in the bags Emily kept trying to find
something that resembled ale of any kind. Again that day Emily didn’t hear
Jason come up behind her. As she dug around in what looked like a bag mama had
grabbed from the kitchen Jason walked up to the side of the wagon and once
again rested his arms on the side.
“I didn’t mean to snap at you, there’s just more to this
than you know.” Jumping at the sound of his voice Emily fell out of the wagon
but thanks to Jason’s quick thinking he caught her before she hit the ground.
With Jason’s arms wrapped around her waist from where she fell backwards Emily
looked over her shoulder. That would have been a very painful fall with her
feet still hanging over the side of the wagon.
“Uhm can you put me down or at least help me back into the
wagon?” Nodding Jason did his best to lift her back into the wagon, which
turned out to be more difficult than it looked regardless of his height.
Finally after pulling herself into the wagon and Jason trying to keep her from
falling Emily sat in the bed and made sure that she couldn’t lose her balance
again. “Thanks, and I’m sorry I was rude. Your right I don’t know the full
story yet, but I would like to know if someone is willing to tell me.” Emily
said with her best smile plastered across her face.
Without answering Jason leaned over the side of the wagon
and dug around in a bag that Emily had yet to get to and pulled out a rather
large and unusual looking flask. It looked like it was made out of tree bark
and the mouth was the roots. Jason took a swig and grimaced before passing the
flask to her. “I think this is what you were looking for.”
Emily grabbed it and took a small sip expecting a strong
bitter taste, but instead she was overcome by what felt like fire being poured
down her throat. Coughing and sputtering she handed it back to Jason. He just
laughed and took it back before she spilled it from coughing. “Yeah it’s
something you get used it. It’s called Fairy fire, which is quite fitting since
the little sprites make it themselves.” Once she finished coughing all she
could do was look at him like he was crazy.
“You’re kidding right? Fairies aren’t real…are they?” She
had never heard of fairies before besides in books and stories that mama told
to her that she didn’t think was real, but after the day she was having she
would believe anything just about now.
“They are just as real as you and I are, little miss.
Stories are just stories but when you actually meet one that’s when you realize
that all those things you heard about them was completely true. I’m sure Mari
has told you plenty of stories about the little devils. She has plenty of them
after all.” Jason took another swig and offered Emily another drink; once she
declined he just shrugged and pocketed the flask for later consumption.
Emily stood up to get out of the wagon as Jason reached out
to give her a steadying hand. “Are you sure that’s necessary, it seems when you
are around its pretty inevitable that I’m going fall.”
“That’s why I’m reaching out now so when you do fall it will
be easier for me to catch you rather than you falling into me or even into a
very cold stream.” Jason just smiled and Emily rolled her eyes at him but
grabbed his hand anyways. Placing her other hand on the side of the wagon she
attempted to jump out but her foot had other things in mind. As she was hoping
over the side her right foot caught on the lip and she went falling forwards
right into Jason. Frustrated with herself she pulled her foot back over and
pushed away from Jason to fall the rest of the way to the ground. Luckily her
feet were working with her this time for she landed firmly onto both feet.
“I have never been this clumsy in my life. I think I’m
really beginning to hate you being around. Why don’t you go do something else
so I will quite falling for maybe an hour or so?” Jason just crossed his arms
and smirked at her as she got frustrated all over again.
“I guess I could go find something for dinner since you
decided to take a dip in the stream instead of doing just that.” Jason’s smile
got wider as she realized that she had left her fishing pole leaning against a
tree.
“This is your fault anyways. If you hadn’t of sneaked up on
me I wouldn’t have fallen in and then in turn forgot my pole. I think since it
was your fault you should go get it and maybe fish something up while you’re at
it.” This time it was Emily’s turn to cross her arms and smile.
“Oh I see, so it’s my fault that you’re clumsy and
forgetful?”
Glaring at him Emily turned on her heel and stormed off in
the other direction. She sure was fickle lately. Walking the path she had taken
earlier she looked for the rock that she was standing on before she fell into
the stream. Finding it farther off than she thought, she searched for the tree
she had used as a support for the pole. A moment later she found the tree but
no pole. Looking around and not being able to find it she started to get
confused. “I swear I left it right here.” She whispered to herself. Hearing her
own voice out loud she started to wonder when she began talking to herself.
“Are you looking for this?” A voice said behind her near the
annoying slimy rock. This time the voice didn’t surprise her, but the fact that
Jason made it over here before she did, surprised her very much.
“Seriously how in the world did you make it over here before
I did?”
“It’s called magick.” He said with a wink. He tossed her the
fishing pole and jumped down from the slimy rock with the grace of a cat.
Catching the pole she grumbled under her breath about being to do that.
Unfortunately for her Jason seemed to have the hearing of a cat as well. “Then
why did you fall in the stream?” he asked as he walked past her.
“I am not explaining myself again. You know damn well why I
fell, either way we need to find something for dinner and possibly breakfast.
It looks like we may be here for the rest of the day.”
“Why don’t you fish something out of the stream?”
“I don’t want to anymore. Why don’t you go find something in
the woods, you seem to be pretty good at sneaking up on stuff plus you got
those shiny daggers.”
“Already did.” He said pulling two dead rabbits, two
squirrels, and three fish out of his cloak.
“When did you even have time to do that? We haven’t even
been here that long and you’ve already killed seven things!”
“Like I said little miss, magick.” He said with a wink
before he took off through the trees back to camp. Emily wasn’t sure if he was
funny, mysterious or annoying, nor could she decide if she hated him or not.
What she did know was him sneaking up on her and scaring her all the time was
getting old and quick, then again so was her falling every time he got close to
her. She was so done with this trip already, and it had just begun.
Hitting the road
The rest of the day was spent sitting around the fire
sharing Jason’s fairy fire and some of pa’s ale he had stashed in one of the weapons
bags. Mama hadn’t awoke yet but pa said now she was just sleeping to gain back
some of the energy she used and that she should be back to normal in a day or
two. Jason showed off his culinary skills by cooking up his catch from earlier.
Emily pretended she wasn’t impressed but in the process she learned a trick or
two that she had not thought of before.
That night they had herb crusted rabbit, squirrel on a
stick, and fried fish. How he managed all that with only the small amount of
supplies they had brought was a feat indeed. Emily continued to think about
what she had learned the past two days and the mystery behind how everything
froze only nagged at her more as she thought about it. She understood that mama
was a mage but if it wasn’t mama who did it then who was it? After playing what
happened through her head a dozen times she began to wonder if she too had any
magickal abilities or if it was even passed down through parents like other
traits were.
Sitting by the fire she fought the urge to wonder off and
walk around the forest for a while but thought better of it when Jason came
back saying that a perimeter was set, whatever that meant. Deciding that it
would be in her best interest to go to sleep she went over to her place near
the camp fire and crawled onto her pallet. Curling up in a ball to keep out
some of the cold she realized what it was she had forgotten, a blanket to cover
up with. Grabbing her cloak she did her best to cover up with it instead. Not
long after she started to fall asleep a shadow fell over her and then a moment
later she began to get warmer. Peeking past hooded eyes she saw a figure
walking away and a wool blanket that had just been draped over her. Smiling she
closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning Emily awoke to the smell of coffee and
rabbit left over from the night before. Sitting up she pulled the blanket
around herself and wondered over to the camp fire that was surprisingly still
going. Emily looked around camp and noticed she was alone so she found a cup
and poured herself some coffee before grabbing a piece of rabbit. As she ate
she kept an eye on her surroundings and did her best to wake up and stay warm,
the latter wasn’t as hard to do as she assumed mostly due to the blanket she
had wrapped around her shoulders. Looking at all the bags and blankets spread
across the clearing she took note that pa’s was as disorderly as he usually was
while Jason’s was in perfect order, including her blankets. Looking back to
where pa’s pallet was she noticed that mama’s was missing. Hearing noises
coming from the wagon Emily left her coffee behind and headed in that direction
figuring it was either pa or Jason. There was a small scraping sound followed
by a metallic bang and then surprising Emily mama popped up from inside of the
wagon.
“Blasted old man you used my good herbs didn’t you? Why
couldn’t you have used something else like sage, or wolfs tongue, or maybe even
some venom root. Now I have to wait until we find some more for me to do
anything.”
“Oh hush woman I was saving your life. I didn’t care if it
was the good herbs or not you should be thanking me not yelling at me.” Pa’s
muffled voice came from under the wagon on the opposite side. Mama leaned over
and looked down before, as he said, yelling at him once again.
“Yelling? Oh I’m not yelling at you, not yet anyways. Either
way if you wouldn’t have interrupted me then it wouldn’t have happened anyways.
You should have just let Emily touch me and then run so I could take out the
lot of the daemons.” Since mama’s back was turned she was unaware of Emily
listening to their conversation. So instead of letting either of them know, she
just stood with her hands on her hips and waited to see what else would be
said.
But her willingness to listen in was quickly interrupted
when Jason walked up and whispered in her ear. “Eavesdropper.” Hearing laughter
behind her, mama turned around and saw Emily glaring at Jason as he walked off
giggling to himself.
“Oh your awake, that’s wonderful, pack your things dear we
got to get on the road if we are going to make it to the compound any time
soon.” Pa stood from the other side of the wagon and smiled at Emily over the
edge before helping mama out of the wagon with more ease than Jason or Emily
showed the day before.
“Good morning mama, are you feeling any better today?” She
asked as she walked with mama back to the fire. She looked to be a lot better
than yesterday; in fact she looked better at that moment than she did the
knights even showed up. Whatever it was that pa made for her really did wonders
for her, or maybe it was all that sleep.
“Actually I’m feeling wonderful, got some much needed beauty
sleep plus the potion pa made for me yesterday helped me get back much of my
energy. I’m sure pa already told you but I should be back at the top of my game
in a day or two.” Mama patted Emily on the shoulder as she walked past her to
take care of the camp fire. Trying to take stock of what time is was Emily
looked for any sign of the sun within the haze. Watching as the haze swirled
and danced in upon itself, she thought it looked darker than normal. The only
time that it was darker than it normally was was if there was a storm coming or
if it was nighttime.
“Hey mama.” Emily called to her still staring at the sky.
“Yes dear?” Mama looked over at Emily then looked to the sky
as well. “Oh. Well that can’t be good. PA! We need to make this quick! Jason
get the wagon covered as quickly as you can.” Mama made quick work of the camp
fire, and did a surprisingly good job of clearing it away completely. Once she
was done Emily could barely tell that there was a camp fire there moments ago.
Mama caught Emily’s eye and winked before she went about packing up pa’s pallet
and grabbing his bags.
Emily followed mama’s lead and picked up her things as well.
Not sure who to thank for the blanket she folded it up and stuffed it into her
bag as well. Throwing her things into the back of the now covered wagon Emily
looked to the sky one more time, this time she knew for sure that it was
getting darker. Deciding not to take her time she went in search of the horses.
Once everything was packed and the horses and mules were ready they headed
towards the road. Pa had mama sit in the wagon despite her objection and her
insisting that she was fine to ride a horse.
Leading the way back to the road Emily weaved in between
trees trying to find the best route for the wagon to go through all the while
trying to ignore Jason and his scouting ahead as he called it; every once in a
while though he did seem to help on picking where to go. Emily made sure to
keep heading north so they wouldn’t be back tracking and possibly run into the
knights again. Up ahead Jason could be seen crouched beside a tree, his horse
was a little ways back just in case someone on the road heard it. Turning
around he waved for the rest of them to wait.
Handing the reins to her horse to pa Emily dropped down and
made her way to him as quietly as she knew how, which wasn’t that quiet.
Several times Jason turned around and told her to hush and she tried but failed
miserably, it seemed if there was going to be a crunchy leaf that she was going
to step on it or a brittle twig, she was going to snap it. Finally reaching him
she stayed behind the tree and tried to peek around but was pushed back by
Jason as he squeezed himself behind the tree with her.
“There are three Knights on the road; they seem to be
waiting for something, most likely us. I didn’t see any more but I doubt that
is all of them.” Jason whispered to her. He peeked around the corner one more
time before turning back towards her. “What do you suggest we do?” Emily was incredulous; he was asking her of
all people what to do. He did realize that she had never been in this type of
situation in her entire life, didn’t he?
Emily stared at him for a moment in disbelief before shaking
her head and doing her best not to laugh. “You’re kidding me right? I have no
idea what to do; I just can’t up here to see what was going on. Maybe you
should ask pa or something.”
“You know this forest better than the rest of us; if anyone
could find a way past them then it would be you.” Jason stole another peeked
around the corner, only this time he jerked back as if avoiding something, a
moment later whistle was heard as an arrow flew past their tree. “Uhm, I think
we should get going. I don’t think I was seen but I don’t want to stick around
and find out. So I recommend you find a way around them and quick before they
realize that wasn’t an animal they just shot at.”
Emily sat frozen for a second before she shook herself out
of her shock. Thinking about the forest and where they were she started to plan
a route that would take them right past the knights and still get them north.
“We go back to the stream; it’s the only way to get past them without them
seeing us or being followed. I doubt they even know how to swim, so it might be
the only way for us to go. “
“Is there a place we can take the wagon across?”
“I hope so.” Another arrow buzzed past a tree farther up the
road. Jason nodded to Emily and silently crept towards his horse. Emily did her
best to follow without making a sound and much to her surprise she did rather
well. Once she got back to pa she explained the situation and he made
preparations to turn the wagon around. Jason coaxed his horse over to them and
motioned them follow back towards the stream.
They didn’t get far before they realized the wagon was too
loud to take any farther. Stopping the wagon, pa unhooked the mules and started
loading bags onto both of them. “The wagon is too heavy and to old, we can’t
take it any farther. Unfortunately if they search this area they will find it
and know we saw them. Grab your bags and load them onto the horses. Don’t mount
up; it will be easier if we guide them through. Em what’s the best way through
the area?” Pa whispered as they huddled around the wagon, luckily they were
closer to the clearing than the road so they wouldn’t have much farther to go.
“We can follow the stream until we hit the rocks then we
will have to head west to make it back to the road. Do you think they will
continue to follow us?”
“Without a doubt dear. They have been trying to find us for
over a decade now and they won’t stop. They don’t seem to be very smart, but
they do have an advantage, they don’t have to sleep or eat. So we will have to
keep moving and rest as little as possible. Also they must know we are still in
the area or they would have continued following the road. The only advantage we
have are the horses. But that’s also a disadvantage since they also need to
rest and eat.” Mama said. It looked like she didn’t want to count herself as an
advantage.
All in agreement they went about transferring bags to the
horses and the mules. Jason took point while mama and Emily came in behind and
pa stayed behind to cover their trail as best as possible. As quietly as they
could they retraced their steps back to the clearing, once there they followed
the stream north parallel to the road. For over an hour they continued in
silence. Every now and then mama would check the sky. To Emily it looked the
same as when they left the clearing but with every glance mama moved just a
little bit faster as if she was trying to outrun the impending storm.
The hours started to pass more slowly the farther they
walked and soon the silence began to get to Emily. Usually she was ok with
silence but the energy in the air was starting to grate on her nerves. Just
when she was about to say something Jason signaled for a stop up ahead.
Jason looped the reins to his horse around a limb and waved
them over. “I think the rocks that you talked about are up ahead any ideas of
how we should proceed? We are unaware of the knight’s location so we need to
plan accordingly.” Emily stared at him for a moment before she spoke.
“You were in the army right?” Jason only nodded. “Well I can
tell. Anyways, the rocks are too steep for the horses so we can either follow
them until they run into the road or we can cut through the forest here and
head straight for the road now.” Emily pointed as she spoke either direction.
“When did you have so much time to go exploring this part of
the forest?” Mama asked from her left.
“You remember when you and pa took that trip a couple months
back and you left farmer Lou’s daughter to watch after me? Well she figured I
was old enough to take care of things myself so she kind of snuck off with the baker’s
son who told his father that he was going to try and court the tailor’s
daughter over in Westbridge. So while all that was happening I went exploring.
I didn’t go any farther than the rocks though so I’m not sure what’s on the
other side.”
Mama and pa shared a look before pa burst out laughing. “Oh
Mari you hear that, Mark courting one of old Marcus’s daughters, that’s a side
splitter. It’s even funnier because all three of them are already engaged.” Pa
continued to laugh as mama just smirked at him with her arms cross. “What?” He
asked when he realized he was the only one laughing
“Lorri just broke it off with Andrew, Veronika caught
Stephen cheating, and Christopher lost all his money gambling. You need to
catch up on your gossip.” Mama grabbed the reins to her horse and followed the
stream to the rocks leaving behind a very stunned Emily, an amused Jason, and a
very confused pa.
“Wait a second…” Hollered pa as he pulled on the reins to
all three of the animals he had in town and went after mama.
“Well I guess we are following the rocks. I’ll walk with you
if you would like.” Jason said as he turned and motioned for Emily to continue
on.
“Thanks.” She said as they followed her parents. Even at a
distance they could hear the confusion in pa’s voice as they discussed the
local gossip.
“The things that happen in a small town.” Jason commented as
they walked side by side. “Nothing ever goes unnoticed does it?”
“Unfortunately no. Can’t take a piss in a pot these days
without someone telling a story about how it sounds. It’s a good thing we are
leaving, because the story about the knights attacking yesterday is going to
spread like a wildfire.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Yeah, I’ve wanted to leave for a while now so I guess it’s
a good thing. But I am going to miss here. Since it is my home after all and
I’ll admit the gossip can get pretty funny even when it is true.”
“Is it ever not true?” Jason asked with a smile.
“Honestly not very often. Usually the rumors that spread
around here are the true ones. It’s the ones that are spread by jealous kids
that are usually false. For instance after mama and pa got back; one of the
rumors that were going around was about how the baker’s daughter, Mark’s
sister, was being courted by this rich guy from a few towns over. No one had
ever seen him or even knew who he was. Even her parents said they had no idea
who this person was their daughter was always talking about. Turns out she was
just trying to make old man Hinkle’s son jealous. And apparently it worked
cause not even a month later they were seen up at Jinxie’s dancing and
drinking.”
Jason listened as Emily told another story about the local
people and how easily a rumor got started around there. For some reason he just
couldn’t help but listen as she continued to talk.
Once they made it to the end of the stream and the rocks
veered off to the north-west Emily stopped talking. Looking around she noticed
that it was really quiet. “You hear that?” She asked.
“Hear what?” Jason looked around too and got his daggers
ready.
“That’s my point. It’s really quiet. Also where are mama and
pa? We should be able to see them from here.” Jason walked off the path and
once again looped the reins over a branch. Following Jason’s lead Emily did the
same. Motioning for Emily to be quiet he headed off into the forest straight
towards the road. This time Emily decided to stay put.
After walking all day, standing still in a deathly quiet
forest was pretty hard to do. So Emily did the only other thing she could see
to do. Looking for a decent spot to climb Emily made her way to the rocks and
climbed up the side. At first the ascent was slow but as she went farther up it
got easier and faster. Finding a ledge a good eighty feet up Emily maneuvered
herself around the rock face to more easily access it. She pulled herself up
just high enough to look over it, seeing that it was clear and wide enough for
her to sit on, she managed to pull herself up onto it and sit down.
The view from her spot was magnificent. She could see for
miles around, and it was gorgeous. In some places she could see where the lack
of proper sun was taking its toll on nature and in others it seemed to flourish
instead. After looking as far as she could see and taking in the sight to hold
forever she figured it was time to scan the forest and see if she could see
anyone at all. Her hopes were that at this height she would be able to see
Jason and possibly her parents. She even wanted to see if there were any
knights in the area. Then she realized if there were then they could probably
see her as well, if they actually saw that is, she wasn’t so sure about that to
begin with.
Looking down to where she started, she realized how high she
was and thanked her lucky stars that she was sitting down, for if she was
standing then she most likely would have fallen to her death. Taking a deep
breath and steadying herself she scanned the area she saw Jason disappear to.
Seeing nothing she kept scanning until she got to the road, being able to see
only half of the road due to the trees being in the way, she hoped that if
anyone was actually on the road they would be either in the middle or stay on
the other side.
Emily followed the road as far south as she could see and
only seeing a few travelers began looking to the north. Not far to the north she
saw the rock cliff and how the road went through it. Just past where the rock
cliff and the road crossed paths she saw a few black clad figures, she watched
them for a moment and realized they were knights. Remembering she was supposed
to be looking for Jason and her parents she began to search the forest again.
In the middle of the forest between the rock cliff and the
road she saw two horses and two mules, praying they were theirs she kept
looking in that area until she saw a glint of light just off the to the side of
the horses. Focusing the best she could, she studied that area until she saw it
again. Then she realized what she was seeing was actually a sword and pa was
holding it. He had seen her and was waving to get her attention. Thinking
better of jumping up and waving she lifted her arm as if to stretch and then
dropped it quickly so he would understand.
Figuring she needed to get to her parents she attempted to
turn around and work her way back onto the cliff face, which turned out to be
much harder than she thought. After a couple of close calls she finally got her
footing and started to work her way down. Halfway down she thought she heard an
owl, which was strange for this time of the day, owls usually only came out at
night. Pausing in her descent she listened to see if she would hear it again. A
couple of seconds later she heard it again. Trying her best to not fall she
looked down and saw Jason just inside the tree line waving at her.
Rolling her eyes since she couldn’t exactly wave back she
continued to climb down. By this point her legs were burning, she was
definitely not used to this kind of activity. As she got closer to the bottom
her legs started to give out. Twenty feet or so from the bottom her left foot
slipped, hanging with both hands and trying to support her tiring body with one
leg she tried to pull herself back up. Below her she heard the sound of an owl
again, this time she risked looking to the ground. Standing just below her with
arms spread out in front of him, Jason stood ready just in case she fell.
“Will you catch me?” Emily called down to him. She prayed no
one was in the area; the last thing she wanted was the knights finding her when
she was clinging to a wall of rock.
“All you have to do is let go, it’s not a long drop just a
couple feet. I’ll catch you I promise.”
Taking a deep breath Emily tried to allow herself to just
fall, but she just couldn’t do it. She had no way of actually knowing that he
would catch her, yeah her parents trusted him but she had only known him two
days and every time he was near accidents seemed to happen with her. Looking
back down she held her breath, closed her eyes, and let go.
She didn’t particularly like falling, and she definitely did
not like the jarring sensation when she collided with Jason and they both went
down in a heap, but at least she didn’t get hurt. Like he said he did catch
her. Laying there for a second she attempted to catch her breath, a couple deep
breaths later she rolled over and checked to make sure that Jason was alright
as well. She had landed right on top of him, but now that she was looking she
noticed that he wasn’t moving. Starting to panic she grabbed his shoulder and
shook him to try and wake him up, all the while hoping she didn’t accidently
kill him.
“It’s a good thing your small, otherwise that would have
really hurt.” Jason hadn’t moved yet but he did open one eye to peek at her, he
smiled knowing he scared her and found it very funny that she was getting all
worked up.
“You’re a jerk, I thought I hurt you.” Emily punched him in
the shoulder and got up. It was just like a man to do that, she thought.
“Nah, I don’t think you could hurt a fly if you landed on it
while wearing a suit of armor.” Laughing he sat up and rubbed the back of his
head. “But I will say this; I’m going to have a nasty bump on the back of my
head. You could have warned me at least, something along the lines of ‘I’m
letting go, get ready’ or maybe even ‘look out below’.” Jason continued to
laugh even though Emily was staring daggers into him.
“Yeah I was right you are a jerk.” Crossing her arms she
stomped off towards the forest.
“Well are you going to tell me what you saw up there on the
little perch you found?”
“I could or you could be quiet so the Knights on the road at
the end of the rock cliff don’t hear you. Plus I have to find mama and pa. I
saw them over in this direction. Pa had his sword out so I hope they didn’t get
into any trouble. Speaking of, what did you find while I was climbing some
rocks?” Emily continued walking in the direction she had seen her parents,
Jason had to run to catch up when she walked off. Laying his hand on her arm he
turned her towards him and put a finger over his lips.
“I didn’t find anything. I didn’t even see your parents. I
looked this way and I found the horses and miles but your parents weren’t
anywhere. I did find a sword lying next to one of the horses though. I don’t
know what you saw but I don’t think it was Gerald.” Jason whispered to Emily.
He continuously watched the forest for any signs of anything, but there was
nothing not even an animal. It was almost as if the local animals knew
something was wrong.
Just then they heard a scream. It was a scream of pure rage,
a scream filled with so much pain. Emily and Jason looked at each other before
they both took off at a run towards the road. Neither of them paid much
attention to where they were going or how much noise they were making. As they
neared the road Jason picked up speed so he could reach the road before Emily
did. Just at the edge of the tree line Jason stopped and stood frozen, Emily
barely had time to stop before she barreled right into him. Emily went around
Jason to get a look at what it was he saw and she too froze. Before she could
even react Jason grabbed her and attempted to drag her back into the forest.
In the middle of the road a body laid, blood covered its
clothing and the ground beneath it. Lying next to it was a very grey haired
head with blood dripping down the sides of the face. The only other occupant in
the road was a screaming woman. Once Emily got a good look at whom it was in
the middle of the road she too started screaming. Mama lay draped over pa’s
body screaming and crying. Jason didn’t know what to do but to keep Emily safe.
She had said there were knights on the road and the last thing he wanted was to
lose her to them as well. He made a promise to protect her no matter the cost
and he would carry it out, even the man he now considered his father was lying
dead in the road.
“Pa!” She screamed while thrashing in his arms. Mama still
lay over her dead husband’s body. “Let me go! Pa, please no.” Emily screamed on
more time so loud Jason almost let her go just so he could cover his ears;
gritting his teeth he did his best to hold her so she wouldn’t hurt herself or run
out there and get herself killed. Pulling her farther into the forest Emily
kicked and screamed all the while cursing Jason and ever empty devil that
walked the earth.
“You have to calm down; please you have to calm down. Its
ok, everything will be alright. Emily you have to be quiet please. Shhh Emily.
Breathe calm down.” Jason whispered in her ear over and over again. He hated
that he had to leave Mari in the middle of the road, but one screaming and
ranting woman was almost more than he could handle let alone two.
When he got her far enough into the tree line where she
couldn’t see pa’s body anymore he sat her down in front of a tree. As soon as
she touched the ground she crumpled and bawled. Feeling very inadequate Jason
stood there watching not knowing what to do. He never before had to take care
of a crying woman, and he was beginning to hate it. Squatting down in front of
her he took her by the shoulders and attempted to get her to look at him. The
moment she saw his face she latched on and cried into his shoulder. Almost
falling over again he braced himself, for the second time in less than a minute
he was unsure what to do.
Allowing himself to fall back onto his behind, he pulled her
into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, hoping that it would offer some
comfort. Not far off the screams of an angry woman could be heard. Jason prayed
that the knights wouldn’t kill her too. Other than Andrea she was the only
thing he had left. Realizing what he had to do, he pried Emily’s arms from
around his neck, by now his shirt was thoroughly soaked from her tears. Jason
took her face into his hands and looked her in the eyes. Such beautiful green
eyes that should never have to see something like that again, eyes of a woman
who should not know the pain she now felt. Wishing he could change what she had
just seen, he wiped the tears from her face and set her on the ground.
“You stay right here, I’m going to go get Mari, and I won’t
let anything happen to her I promise. I’ll fix this, I can’t bring him back but
I can keep this from happening to Mari as well.” Emily stared at him for a
moment before giving him a small nod. Pulling a dagger from his boot he handed
it to her. “If anything or anyone besides me or Mari comes near you, kill it.
Ok?” Emily took the dagger and stared at it a moment before looking at him and
nodding again. Jason stood and started to jog back towards the road when
Emily’s voice stopped him.
“I’ll kill him; I’ll repay him for what he has done to me
and my family. King Kinkaid will know pain like he has never known before.”
Emily lowered her head and started crying all over again. Jason stood staring
at her for a moment before turning on his toe and running back towards Mari.
When he got back to the road he felt like he had missed a
lot in the couple minutes he had just spent in the forest. Empty suits of armor
were scattered all across the road, almost a dozen or so still stood while
another dozen lay upon the ground. In the middle of all the chaos stood Mari
still screaming. Flames rushed around her as lighting struck the ground
randomly, sometimes even hitting one of the Knights. He knew that she was one
of the only people who could kill a knight, so he could only assume that she
was working some kind of spell. Every time a knight got close to her he would
drop to the ground like a bag of stones. He wanted nothing more than to grab
her and take her away from this place. Too much had happened in the two days
that he had been back and a part of him felt responsible for the outcome.
Pulling his daggers he rushed toward the nearest Knight and
used his own magickal blade to tear through its armor. A hollow scream rent the
air as he rode the knight to the ground and jumped back to his feet to attack
the next one. Fire blazed, lighting struck and metal screeched as one by one
the knights fell to the ground. As Jason took down the last knight a final
scream was heard from Mari as she collapsed on top of Gerald’s body once more.
Hoping that was the last of the knights, Jason rushed over
to Mari and did his best to pull her from the ground. His efforts were futile
though since Mari would not let go of her dead husband. “Mari, we have to go.
There might be more Knights nearby.” Mari only shook her head and held onto
Gerald’s body for dear life. “Please Mari, Emily needs you.” At the mention of
Emily’s name Mari looked up at Jason. Her eyes were filled with pain and
sadness. He knew the feeling of losing a family member but he had yet to
experience the loss of someone he loved like the way Mari loved Gerald. Sitting
down in front of her he placed his hand on her shoulder and did his best not to
cry as well. “I promised you both that I would take care of your daughter, now
I have made a promise to your daughter that I would bring you back. We will
bury Gerald but then we have to leave. I can’t lose you as well.”
Mari lowered her head and closed her eyes. Taking a deep
breath she summoned the last of her strength to let go of his body and stand
up. When she looked into Jason’s eyes once more there was something different
there, something more than pain, it was the same look he had seen in Emily’s
eyes just minutes ago. “She has to make it to the oracle then we will take care
of the rest of them.” Walking off into the forest she left Jason standing there
with the body of the man he had considered family for a decade and a half.
Silently he vowed that he would not lose any more people he loved.
What an odd sight he was, one man surrounded by the empty
armor of almost two dozen knights of Glore with a headless body at his feet. Figuring
it would be in his best interest not to be found standing in the middle of them
all he decided to move them all off the road and into the forest. Hopefully no
one would see them and if they did then he prayed they were long gone before
that happened.
Meanwhile back in the forest Emily sat in front of a giant
oak tree clutching the dagger Jason had left her. Of all the things she had to
protect herself the dagger was the only thing she held. Back on her horse she
had a bow and arrows; pa had been teaching her to shoot but she wasn’t very
good at it yet. Plus she didn’t have the strength or will to move. It had been
a couple of minutes since Jason walked off and still she had not budged or even
lifted her head. She didn’t care, pa was gone and that was all that mattered at
that moment. Oh how she wanted to say goodbye or even tell him she loved him,
but now she would never get the chance. Vaguely she heard footsteps but they
didn’t register in her mind.
Tears continued to stream down her face as the picture of
pa’s body replayed itself over and over again in her head. Wishing more than
anything that this was all just a bad dream she squeezed the dagger harder and
let the tears fall down her face. Feeling something touch her, she whipped her
head up as she struck out with the dagger. Those bastards would pay for hurting
her pa. Awareness kicked in a moment later when the dagger hit nothing but air.
Wiping her eyes she looked around for the first time since Jason carried her
away from the road. Tears poured from her eyes anew when she saw mamas face.
Dropping the dagger she leapt into her arms and buried her face into mama’s
shoulder. She didn’t care where they were, pa was dead and mama was alive.
Mama wrapped her arms around Emily and squeezed as tight as
she could. They were all each other had left and they were never letting go of
each other. At that moment Emily wished she had even a fraction of the power
mama had for if she did she would rip the world apart looking for the one responsible.
Mama squeezed one more time before leaning back and taking
Emily’s face in her hands. “My little girl.” She said. “You are my whole world,
and now you are all I have left. I want to bury Gerald, he deserves to be
buried. I can’t leave him in the middle of the road for an animal it’s just not
right. Will you help me?” Mama’s eyes pleaded with her to say yes and to help
her. Emily could only nod as she held onto her mama. With strength she did not
know she had, Emily let go of mama and stood up. Reaching a hand out, she
helped mama to her feet. She swayed for a second before she was able to steady
herself. “I’m ok dear, just tired.” She said when Emily looked at her
uncertainly. Holding each other they walked back towards the road. When they
got there they were surprised to see the road empty except for pa’s body and
Jason sitting beside it.
Jason looked up as they approached with sadness written
across his face. Standing up he took mama in his arms and they both held each
other as they cried. Standing beside his body Emily knelt down and placed her
hand on his chest. Sadness over came her and she dropped down and cried again.
Trying to pull herself together she forced herself to back away from pa. For
the first time in her life she felt true pain, true anger, and the taste of
revenge was like acid upon her tongue. Getting to her feet she took mama’s hand
and stood beside Jason. The stood there together remembering the man they had
lost in silence.
After a long moment Jason looked at mama and nodded it head,
it was time. Mama took a deep breath and reached her arms out in front of her,
focusing she slowly lifted pa’s body off the ground and together they all
walked his floating body back into the forest.
Two hours later they stood at the edge of the forest with
all four horse and the two mules. It was time for them to get back on the road.
Pa was buried and the knights were hidden in the forest, there was nothing left
for them here anymore, nor was there anything left for them to do. Mounting up
Jason took the lead once again and lead his horse and the mules down the road.
Mama and Emily rode side by side behind him thinking of nothing but revenge.
Chapter 6
The next morning Emily awoke to the sound of squirrels
chattering. Opening her eyes she started at the haze filled sky. Feeling numb
she laid there and did not move. The day before still hanging heavy within her
mind. No one had spoken since they left the forest and went through the pass in
the rock cliff. Mama had taken pa’s death hard and Emily knew it, she just
didn’t know what to say to her so they had rode out the rest of the day in
silence. Jason had chosen to stay ahead just in case they ran into anymore
Knights and he too was mostly silent except for a few words here and there.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw smoke drifting up.
Turning her head she found Jason sitting next to a fire with a chicken roasting
over it. How he managed to find a chicken she would never understand. Taking a
deep breath she sat up. The only thing that went through her mind was of coffee
which was a change from the emptiness she felt everywhere. Overcome with shock
she could barely think of anything at all, so even the thought of coffee was an
improvement or at least she hoped.
Standing up she stretched and then popped her back. Who knew
sleeping on the ground could be so uncomfortable. Finding a somewhat flat and
steady rock she took a seat by the fire across from Jason. Leaning over she
placed her hands and chin on her knees and stared into the fire. Getting lost
in the dance of the flames she barely noticed when Jason sat a cup of coffee in
front of her. She only lifted her head when mama sat down on a rock beside her.
Straightening up she leaned over and put her head on mamas shoulder. Mama
wrapped her arm around Emily and rested her head on top of Emily’s.
Remembering her coffee she took a sip and waited for the
heat to fill her. Finally finding the courage to speak she looked over at
Jason. “What do we do now?” Jason paused and looked over at the two women. Up
until that point he seemed very interested in turning the spit the chicken was
on.
“We keep going I suppose.” He said returning to the cooking
chicken. Mama looked down at Emily and gave her a sad smile.
“We can’t stop now; if we do then Gerald would have died for
nothing. He would want us to make it to the oracle.” Emily only nodded and took
another sip of her coffee. Another moment of silence followed until Jason took
the chicken off the fire declaring it was done. They all sat around the fire
eating their chicken and drinking their coffee in silence. Once everyone was
done they went about breaking camp. No one was sure what to do with pa’s horse
so instead of making either woman take it Jason kept it with the mules.
Before they left the spot along the road Jason turned to Mari,
“There’s a town just north of here that’s only about half a day’s ride. We can
either stop and pick up supplies or we can keep going it’s up to you. But if I
recall correctly it’s the last one before we make it into the city.” Mama
looked over at Emily who only shrugged her shoulders. Sighing mama nodded.
“We will stop. Maybe the activity of the town will help
clear out minds, plus a nice glass of wine and a bath would be a welcome
distraction. What do you say Emily?” Emily thought about it for a moment before
nodding.
“Yes mama, a bath would be most welcome. I would also like to
see if I can do a little bit of shopping. I need new boots.” Lifting up her
foot she showed mama the hole that was developing on the bottom of her shoe.
“New boots!? I just bought you those. What do you do that
would cause a hole in the bottom like that? You’re a lady not a child you
shouldn’t be running around in pants and boots anyways.” Mama huffed, climbing
onto her horse. Grabbing her reins she pulled her horse next to Jason and reached
her hand out. He looked at her confused for a moment before she pointed to Pa’s
horse. Reluctantly he handed over the reins before mounting his horse as well.
“And another thing, you need to learn to be lady like. Running around playing
with fish and animals in the woods is not lady like at all. When we get to town
I’m buying you another dress…” mama continued for what felt like another hour;
going on and on about woman wearing slippers and dresses and learning to cook,
not fight. Emily did her best to drown her out with her own thoughts but at the
moment those thoughts were fleeting. No matter what popped in her head and no
matter how hard she tried to lock onto it she just couldn’t keep it.
By midday the town of Dulak could be seen through the trees.
It was a small town with no wall besides tree stumps carved into spikes to ward
off the random animal or troll, in these parts one could not be too careful. Guards
could be seen patrolling the outer ring of spikes; it appeared the town was on
edge. Small wooden buildings lined the outside of the town while the outskirt
farms got little to no protection from the town. As they got closer Jason began
to tell Emily about the city. He didn’t see the need to tell Mari since she had
already known about it. In fact she had been there many times when Emily was
still a very young girl.
“The spikes are there to help ward off the random troll.
Usually they stick together in packs or tribes as they like to call it but
sometimes they go rogue and do as they please. As far as we known they don’t
usually attack people but instead go after their animals, so we have to be
careful while we are out here.”
“What about the farmers and the people that don’t live
inside the city?” Emily asked spotting a farm a ways off from the city.
“The local militia patrol around the farms and along the
edge of the forest. But they can’t always protect them from troll or animal
attacks. Living this close to troll territory people have to learn to protect
themselves. You see that man over there with the sheep and two dogs?”
“Yeah, what’s he doing?”
“Well, he’s making sure no wild wolves get his sheep. And
those aren’t actually dogs, if you look close enough you can tell they are
actually wolves, or well part wolf. Some of the farmers breed their dogs with
wolves to help protect the farm. They are usually really loyal and do really
well at it, but sometimes they decide to take a sheep or a cow for themselves.”
“Why doesn’t the farmer just give the wolf a sheep every
once in a while so they don’t do that?”
“Sometimes they do but then it gets the taste of the sheep
and well the only way to stop it from killing more sheep is to kill it. And if
they kill them who will protect the sheep?”
“Ok, I understand. That sounds like it’s just a pain in the
first place.”
“Yeah but what are you going to do? Some of these people
have been farmers or sheep herders their entire lives and it’s all they know.
We are almost to town, it would be best if we didn’t mention to anyone anything
about the knights, they might see us as a threat and make us leave.” Both Emily
and mama nodded, falling silent as they rode.
As they approached town Emily was able to see more of it,
the small buildings she saw lining the inside of the spikes looked like houses
to her. Small plumes of smoke drifted from their chimneys. Even from the
distance they were at she could hear the voices of the people who lived,
traveled through, or just came to town to pick up supplies, talking within its
spiked walls. It was the first time she had traveled this far, and the first
time she had seen a town besides the one just south of their home. The home she
would never see again, the home she grew up and learned to hunt and fish from
her pa, the home that she last told pa that she loved him. Shaking off the
memories she did her best to focus on the town and the guards standing at the
break in the spikes.
“When we get to the guards, don’t say anything, let me do
all the talking.” Mama spoke up from the other side of Emily. “If anyone asks,
Gerald got killed by bandits a two day ride south of here.” Both Emily and
Jason fell silent as they nodded their heads in agreement. Approaching the
town, the guards came out to stand in the middle of the road.
“Halt, state your business.” A tall scrawny man said. He
worn farmer’s clothing and had the build of a man that worked on one as well.
“We are just passing through and were hoping to stop at your
local inn for the night and catch our breath before hitting the road again.”
“How long do you plan to stay?” The man on the right said,
he was almost the exact opposite of the tall scrawny man, except for the
clothes and dark dirty brown hair. Emily assumed the man on the right was the
tall ones father since he was older and did look a bit like him.
“Just the night; we were just hoping for a nice hot bath and
maybe a warm meal as well. We have been on the road for what seems like ages
and my daughter is starting to feel ill from lack of sleep.” Emily glanced at
mama from the corner of her eye and fought the urge to roll her eyes. Beside
her she could hear Jason snickering.
Playing along Emily yawned and rubbed her eyes in hopes to
make them just red enough to convince the men that mama was telling the truth.
“We just have one more thing to ask you before you can
enter.” The short older one said.
“Ask away my good sir.” Mama said bowing her head.
“Have you seen or heard anything strange on your travels
here?” Mama closed her eyes and bowed her head before she answered. Emily knew
exactly what mama was going to do, and if it worked then the men would surely
let them in.
“The only strange thing that has happened to us was two days
ago. You see my husband, god rest his soul, was protecting us from some
bandits. He and my son,” she said pointing to Jason, “fought to protect our
lives and our things, but my poor husband didn’t make it.” Bursting out into tears
once again mama sold the act, or in this case the false act if there was such
thing, and secured their way into the town.
“Oh you poor woman, please let’s get you and your family
into town. We can’t have poor souls like you standing out here almost begging a
troll to attack.” The older man said stepping aside and ushering them through
the spikes. Mama rode past the two men in front of Emily while Jason stayed in
the back. Knowing that mama wasn’t completely faking her tears Emily pulled her
horse next to hers as soon as she had the chance.
“Mama, are you ok?” She asked placing a hand on mama’s arm.
Mama looked over and Emily and did her best to smile through the tears that
streamed down her face. Nodding she took a deep breath straightened up and
wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“I will be my dear, I will be. Now, Jason can you go find a
place for the horses and Mules? I doubt that the local inn will have the room
for all of them. Emily and I are going to see if we can find the local inn.”
“Yes ma’am. And the inn is down that road on the right.”
Jumping down from their horses Emily and mama handed their reins over to Jason
before turning towards the street he indicated. “I’ll meet you there when I get
the horses taken care of. Also it should be called the Stuffed Pig, or at least
it was the last time I was in town.”
“Ok be careful dear.” Tipping his head, Jason led the horses
and mules away. Mama linked her arm with Emily’s and guided her down the road.
“It has been so many years since I have been here. You were just a small child
the last time we came through. Back then they weren’t worried about the trolls
or animals attacking, back then they were worried about the Knights. It seems
they have been left alone in the passing years.”
Mama pointed out the buildings she recognized as they passed
them and the ones that were built since the last time she passed through they
took the time to stop and guess as to what they were. Some had signs while
others held no indication as to what their insides held. Towards the end of the
road stood a three story building, almost as wide as two houses sitting next to
each other. Stopping in front of it mama looked up at the sign and read it out
loud. “I do believe the inn has been taken over by someone else since the last time
Jason was here.” Beside her Emily giggled as she too read the sign. “The
slippery Nipple. I’m beginning to wonder if this is an inn at all.
“Maybe we should look farther down the road. Or maybe Jason
was mistaken by which road it was on.” Emily suggested as they stood just
outside the building. Behind them a laugh burst out causing both Emily and mama
to spin around. Seeing Jason standing there they relaxed.
“That damn old man. I should have known he was telling the
truth. Aye this is the inn. And eyesore if I ever saw one.” Jason laughed as he
walked towards the door. The two women stood staring at him like he was crazy.
When he realized they were not following her he turned around, “Well aren’t you
coming?”
“This is the inn you want to take me and my daughter too?”
Mama asked incredulously.
“Yeah? Oh the name, don’t worry about the old
bat that owns the place lost a bet and had to change the name. I promise it’s
still an inn and there won’t be any naked women hanging on any of the chairs…
well unless they are already drunk that is.” He laughed once more and waited
while Emily and mama shared a look before following him through the door.
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