Embers at Galdrilene (11 page)

They reached the village that night. Emallya secured two rooms at a small inn nearly identical to the last one Serena and Kellinar had tried to stay at. Serena took advantage of the chance to wash some of the travel grime from her hands and face. She wished there was a place to bathe. She ached all over from the day spent riding. But the tiny inn had no such accommodations. She made do scrubbing with the soap and water in the wash basin in the room.

The dinner that evening, although rather meager, was nonetheless appreciated by them all. The traveling cakes Emallya provided were nutritious and kept hunger at bay, but they didn’t satisfy like a regular meal did.

They ate in silence. When the dishes were cleared and hot tea served, Emallya looked at Serena and said, “You and Kellinar have been very quiet today. I am sure you had a lot to think about. Riding double, especially when you are not used to riding at all, makes conversation difficult. Now we have food in our bellies, hot drink in our hands, and the opportunity to relax just a bit. So please, tell us about yourselves.”

Serena did indeed feel relaxed. Was it the food and drink? Or did the woman somehow use her powers to induce the feeling? It didn’t really matter. They couldn’t very well travel all the way to wherever they were going without getting to know each other. “I was born and raised in the Dellar District in the city of Trilene. I apprenticed under a healer until one too many of my patients got better when they shouldn’t have. I didn’t understand at first. By the time I figured it out, others had too and they turned me in. The Keepers held and questioned me for a little over two months. I was very careful in that time and never gave them any evidence to use against me.”

She didn’t like thinking about it. She would never forget the damp cell or the terror she had felt. She shrugged, trying to shake off the feelings the memories brought back. “They finally declared me to be free of magic and innocent of the charges and let me go.” She stared at the flames in the hearth. “Nothing was the same though. The healer I apprenticed under no longer wanted anything to do with me. My parents…they didn’t want anything to do with someone even suspected of being contaminated by magic.” She blinked back the tears that stung her eyes. She refused to cry anymore over people who didn’t want her. “As far as they are concerned, I am dead.”

She looked back at Emallya. “In Trilene, there is only one place for a homeless, penniless person to go–the Mallay. So that’s where I went. I found a place to work and live. I secretly worked at controlling my powers while I saved money to leave. And,” she finished, giving Kellinar a playful shove, “I met this scoundrel.”

Kellinar laughed. “I’m not a scoundrel.”

“You are, too. You’re a thief and you spend far too much time in the company of questionable women.”

He flashed a wide grin. “If that’s your definition,” he rose and bowed to Emallya, his ice blue eyes sparkling with mischief, “Kellinar the scoundrel, at your service.”

The older woman raised an eyebrow. “You were a thief?”

“He’s the best and the leader of the thieves in Trilene,” Loki said loyally.

Kellinar nodded. “My family died of fever when I was six and I grew up a street urchin. There aren’t a lot of professions a young orphan growing up in the streets and alleys of the Mallay can hope to aspire to. Assuming, of course, the orphan lives long enough to worry about it.

“When the upper Houses of Trilene warred with each other, it’s me they came to when they wanted something taken. Whether it was information, jewels, wives or daughters, there wasn’t anything I couldn’t get and nothing that could keep me out. It worked out well until I somehow picked up a man, without laying a hand on him, and tossed him a good distance.”

Vaddoc looked across the table at him, his amber eyes hard. “You sound as if you are proud of the lifestyle you chose.”

“I make no apologies for who I am, Shaderian.”

“So, you have the power to heal Serena, and you Kellinar, you have the power to control the air and water. How did you two come to meet?” Emallya asked.

Serena smiled. “Actually, he saved me from a man who tried to stab me and steal what little coin I had.”

Vaddoc snorted. “Given what you do, why would you care?”

Kellinar regarded the other man. “I’m a thief, not a flaming cut-throat. No decent thief would ever steal from someone of the Mallay, it’s not honorable.”

Vaddoc shook his head, a look of disbelief on his face. “Honor and decency among criminals?”

Loki scowled across the table at Vaddoc, but remained silent. Kellinar raised his eyebrows and leaned back in his chair. “Are you not decent and honorable, Shaderian?”

“My entire life has been based on those two things, thief.”

Kellinar shook his head. “Yet you can use magic. Since you’re still alive by the beliefs we have all been raised with, you’ve abandoned both honor and decency. You’re as much a law breaker as I am. Don’t elevate yourself so high above me Border Guard. Lofty perches have a good view, but they are painful to fall from.”

“Enough,” Emallya stood up. “It is late and we have a long way to travel, I suggest you four get some sleep.”

“What are you going to do?” Vaddoc asked.

“I am going to see a man about some horses,” she said.

“Who sells horses at this late hour?”

Emallya smiled. “For the right amount of coin any item can be bought at any time.”

Serena spoke up, “Kellinar and I are not without coin and we can purchase our own horses.”

“Do not concern yourself; coin is not an issue. I will see you all with the rising sun.”

Early the next morning, Serena looked doubtfully at the small, scruffy horse Emallya had purchased the night before. She had never ridden a horse in her life. Well, technically she’d ridden one all day the day before, but sitting behind the saddle and clinging to the person in control of the animal didn’t count. Neither Kellinar, nor Loki, had ever ridden alone either, although the latter had already scrambled up on his mount.

Serena knew the mechanics of it. She had seen plenty of people on horseback. Taking a deep breath, she cast a wary eye at the animal’s face when it looked around in curiosity. When it didn’t appear likely to bite, she reached up and grabbed hold of the saddle. She tried three times to get her foot in the stirrup without success. Sighing in irritation, she held the stirrup in one hand while she shoved her toe into the opening. She got a good hold on the saddle again and hopped several times before heaving herself up.

The horse shifted a step and she clung to the pommel with both hands. After a moment, when the horse didn’t appear inclined to move again, she tried to work her other foot into the stirrup. She felt like an idiot with the others waiting on her. Even Kellinar already sat in his saddle with a foot in each stirrup, although she did gain some comfort from the look of unease on his face. Maybe she could ride with one foot out.

Vaddoc came to her rescue and held the other stirrup so she could slide her foot in. Then he handed her the reins which she sandwiched between her hands and the front of the saddle. She sincerely hoped the horse would know what to do because if it waited on her to tell it, they would stand there forever.

Emallya nodded as if satisfied they could at least get themselves on a horse. “Let us be on our way. You three will have to learn as we go.”

The horse did indeed seem to know what was expected of it because it fell in behind the others. Either that or it didn’t want to be left behind. Serena was just happy the horse was content to follow so she didn’t have to worry about what to do with the reins. She knew pulling back would make the horse stop, however, right then she was more concerned about the way the saddle moved.

She looked at Emallya who rode ahead of her. “Are you sure this saddle is on tight enough? It feels really loose.”

The older woman nodded. “It is tight enough. It is just moving with the horse. You will become used to it in time.”

Serena wasn’t so sure about that. It felt like it was sliding around on the horse’s back. To top it off, the ground looked a long way down. Logic told her the horse wasn’t tall. In fact, when viewed from the ground, it was rather small. From the saddle though, it seemed as if the horse had grown a few feet.

They rode steadily, always with Emallya leading and Vaddoc bringing up the rear. They passed through rolling grasslands, quiet and unbroken, but for the occasional group of trees. That night, they set up a camp well hidden in a small copse of trees and brush. Serena’s muscles screamed in protest as she eased herself to the ground. After a day spent riding behind Emallya and another spent riding on her own with every muscle tense, she felt beyond exhausted and hurt so bad she wasn’t sure she would ever move right again.

They ate a quiet meal of traveling cakes and water. Just as they settled down to sleep, Emallya gave them alternating watches. “Tomorrow, you will start learning to focus on the presence in your minds to the exclusion of everything else. You already do this to some extent Serena, however, you must learn to do it better. Later it will not matter because you will be shielded, but for now it may save your life.”

Serena looked at her in apprehension. “I thought you said we wouldn’t be followed.”

“I said I didn’t think the Benduiren would follow us yet,” Emallya answered, “But things rarely go how we think they will.”

V
addoc and the others woke early and quietly began their day with a quick morning meal of tea and traveling cakes before setting off. They stopped only for a break at mid-day to eat and then rode on until the stars began to blanket the sky. The rhythm of the days, the unchanging land and constant wind of the open prairie, seemed to dull the senses of Serena and Kellinar. They appeared to ride without seeing the land around them.

The hum in Vaddoc’s mind changed to a low growl of warning, making him feel the need to look over his shoulder. Every time he did, only empty rolling hills spread out behind them. The sight did little to ease the tension in his shoulders or the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He looked at Emallya as she watched their surroundings. He caught her eye and she dropped back to ride beside him. “You sense something.”

He thought for a minute before answering, “My instincts say something is following us. My eyes say the land is empty except for us, yet I feel something out there.”

A grim smile touched her lips. “A small band of Kojen stalks us. They have trailed at quite a distance for two days now. I can feel the evil that taints them. It spreads out from them like a foul wind.” She held her hand up as if testing the air, then wiped it on her thigh as if the air had left something unpleasant on her palm. “Those with the right abilities can sense that taint.”