Origin (43 page)

“I think it would be best if you and Ayron packed up and headed north. When the assassins don’t report back, they may send more,” Gral said to Elwyn in a series of graphic images. “Dras and I will shadow you for a few hours and then head back into Wheryn.”

Elwyn shared Gral’s advice with Ayron, who was only too happy to pack up and leave their current location. None of them were comfortable with the dead bodies of the assassins lying around, and the air still smelled slightly of blood. Elwyn gave the morden a once over, looking for wounds. The morden seemed immune to the assassin’s poison, but they weren’t immune to infections. Ayron, in the meantime broke camp, packed up their things, and filled their waterskins. When he was finished, they both said their good-byes to the werecats, thanking them again for saving their lives. As the cats silently disappeared, they mounted the morden and headed north toward Findara.

As they rode, Ayron deflected some overtures by Elwyn to talk over the events of the past twenty-four hours. When she asked him if something was troubling him, he said that he needed to think some things through. Ayron didn’t want to talk, especially not to her. He had just witnessed his niece kill five out of the eight assassins sent to kill them. She did this without any military training or even competent combat training. According to Keroc, her accuracy with a bow was unmatchable and she would put even the best trained elven archer to the test. Keroc said that he had never seen her miss a shot. But, at the same time, he had also just witnessed her spending the last twelve hours fighting for the life of a werecat that should have been dead. His niece was an enigma to him. She was stronger, faster, brighter, and braver than anyone he had ever met, human or elf. Plus, she possessed the skills and the heart of a master healer. She was almost like a younger version of Lady Silvenna, who brought the elves out of the Unknown Land to settle in Silvendil alongside the humans that lived there. But Lady Silvenna was an elf of very ancient and powerful bloodlines. Although she was well over six hundred seasons old, she was definitely still a force to be reckoned with. He really wished that he could take Elwyn to her so that his grandmother could meet her and perhaps explain to him why she was so different than other half-blood elves.

As Elwyn rode along on Gemma, she tried not to think about the attack the night before. She was so tired of having groups of assassins pop out of nowhere to attack her and whoever she was with. She hated to kill anything and was worried that having to kill these attackers was changing who she was. Elwyn loved and valued life and would rather save one than take one. She also wondered how much longer the attacks would continue now that she had crossed the border into Silvendil. Since she knew that no one here knew of her existence, the assassins had to have been sent by her mother’s uncle, King Stefan. She was still very puzzled as to why he was so determined to end her life. She was no threat to him and couldn’t see herself becoming one in the future. She hoped that Ayron could shed some light on the subject, but he seemed very preoccupied and not in the mood to talk. Maybe when they stopped to camp she could ask him about Stefan and why he seemed so determined to assassinate her.

Elwyn was startled but pleased to sense Kierra’s presence in her mind.

“How are you, Elwyn? I understand that you have had another very difficult time and I am glad to hear you are safe. I was happy to hear that the potion we developed to combat the assassin’s poison was also effective for the werecat. Toruk filled me in about all your exploits and I am very proud of you. I would like to ask you to contact Gral and tell him that we will send some of the potion to the werecats as a gift for seeing to your safety while you were in Wheryn. Tell him to look for a pair of drakenhawks in about a week. They will each be carrying a supply of the medicine and will contact the werecats as soon as they cross the border into their land. I will contact you again soon, but first I need to speak with Ayron for a bit. He has a lot on his mind.”

With that, Kierra withdrew and Elwyn’s mind was quiet again. She thought about Gral and was soon able to sense his presence. She thought about what Kierra communicated to her so that he would be able to notify his pride. Elwyn could sense that Gral was very excited by the news. He was anxious to return to his pride and tell Madrigal about the medicine and the way she healed Dras with it. Many members of their pride had been lost over the past season or two from Salissian poison. Elwyn bid him farewell and wished them a safe journey home. As Elwyn felt his presence leave her mind, she realized just how tired she was. The adrenaline rush that hit her during the attack of the shadow squads and the crisis with Dras was wearing off. The thought of sleeping in a bed and taking a real bath again comforted her as she drifted off to sleep to the rhythm of Gemma’s hooves striking the hard ground.

Ayron was so relieved when Kierra contacted him that he almost shouted for joy. He spent some time filling her in on the problems he saw telling Azavon about his daughter’s existence. He expressed his great sorrow and concern that his niece seemed to be under attack at every turn. He also added that he didn’t want to add to that danger and was concerned that telling Azavon of her existence just might do that. The other issue that he discussed with Kierra was Elwyn’s incredible abilities. She seemed to excel at everything, far beyond the abilities of even an elf, and he had no explanation for it. He already knew that when Azavon saw her features, he would know something about her was different. If it hadn’t been for that mass of curly reddish gold hair and those deep violet eyes, he wasn’t sure that Azavon would believe him.

Ayron was grateful and excited that Kierra had some ideas about how to deal with both situations. Over the next two days as they camped and shared information, Kierra planned to also listen to what was said.

“I think that we may be able to fill in some of the missing information by examining Rhianna’s diary. So I suggest that you and Elwyn spend time each evening reviewing the information written in its pages. I will speak with Lady Silvenna to see if she has any explanation for Elwyn’s appearance and enhanced abilities. She spends much of her time nearby teaching the hatchling drakenhawks, so she is easily accessible.

I also recommended that we let Lady Silvenna speak with Azavon. She has more political savvy than most, and would know how to explain the danger in letting anyone know of Elwyn’s existence before she could be properly guarded in Findara.

Ayron agreed wholeheartedly, thought that Kierra’s ideas were wonderful, and felt strongly that they should follow her plan. He smiled and whispered his thanks as he felt Kierra leave his mind.

Feeling in a much better mood, he turned to speak to Elwyn only to discover that she was sound asleep. He had already made up his mind that the best thing they could do was to ride through the night. There was a small village about a day’s ride from where they were. If they could reach it sometime tomorrow, perhaps they could actually stay at an inn and rest for an evening. Ayron thought that, as long as they didn’t run into any more trouble, they would be able to reach Findara in about a week. He also hoped that, for Elwyn’s sake, that they could space their travel to find an inn at least every other day.

If they were going to stay at some of the inns in Silvendil, it was going to be important to hide her identity. There was a pretty good chance that they wouldn’t meet anyone who might question who she was. He often traveled with one or more of his soldiers accompanying him. Just to be sure, he would have her pull back her hair and wear a cap so that the people they met didn’t notice her strange hair color or her curls. He would also suggest to her that she avoid making direct eye contact. Those deep violet eyes were never seen outside of his family line, and they would be a dead giveaway if they were noticed by the right person. With that Ayron drifted off to sleep after asking Keroc and Gerrack to keep them traveling north.

Elwyn woke up as the sun was rising over the top of some distant hills. She noticed a small pond off to one side and woke Ayron to suggest that they stop for a brief rest. He agreed and while the morden ate the lush grass that grew around the edges of the pond, she and Ayron refreshed themselves, collected some wood, and started a small fire for tea. Ayron dug out some of the dried meat, dried fruit, and travel biscuits and the two ate in companionable silence while watching Keroc practice stretching his wings by flying up to perch on the low lying branches of some trees that were located close by the pond. Elwyn also contacted Toruk and instructed him to rotate the drakenhawks out to hunt while they traveled. When he growled at her in response, she added that they should try to stay within a few minutes of where the group was traveling in case of another attack.

After lunch, Ayron dug into his saddle bags and brought out a cap that he requested she wear. Elwyn had always tried to use her large masses of curly hair to hide her elven features. Now Ayron was asking her to do just the opposite. She had to try to hide her hair and her eyes, but not try to hide her pointed ears and slanted eyebrows. It was definitely a challenge for her, but she understood his reasons for asking and said that she would do as he requested. Having a conversation with Elwyn about changing her looks proved to be both difficult and sad for Ayron. Elwyn came from an environment where her elven feature were not accepted and felt she had to hide them, and now, he was asking her to hide the only features that linked her to her human mother as well as her elven father. Ayron would be happy and relieved when this deception was at an end and his niece could embrace her dual heritage. That was the basis upon which Silvendil had been founded. It seems to him that his people had somehow wandered far from the path.

As soon as Elwyn donned her disguise, they set off again. They rode throughout the afternoon, only stopping for short periods to let their mounts rest. As dusk approached, they spotted some cultivated fields and knew they were approaching the small village of Elbran. It was dark when they rode into the center of town. The people seemed kind, and they were quickly directed to the stable and from there given directions to a small inn. The stablemaster agreed to look after the morden for the evening; promising to feed and groom them. Then, Ayron got them two rooms at the inn. After they were settled into their rooms, they met in the dining hall for dinner. Ayron was glad to see that it was a very busy place. He explained to her that it probably meant they served good food.

Shortly after they were seated at a table near the far corner of the room, the innkeeper brought them a hearty stew, a large loaf of freshly baked bread, and a flagon of hot spiced cider. Both Elwyn and Ayron ate and drank until they were beyond full. Feeling stuffed, they decided to walk off some of their meal by walking over to the stable and checking on the morden. Then they returned to their rooms, both looking forward to a well deserved rest in a comfortable bed. Before retiring, Ayron asked the innkeeper to have some hot water brought up to their rooms. He was pretty sure that Elwyn would enjoy soaking in a hot tub almost as much as he would. Giving her a quick hug, Ayron bade her good-night, and asked her to meet him in the dining hall for breakfast.

While soaking in the tub, Elwyn checked in with Toruk who was waiting outside the village in some woods directly to the north. She let him know that they were safe and would be traveling north again in the morning. She also told him that all the drakenhawks should use the time when she and Ayron were safe from attack in the village to hunt. Then she finished her bath, dried her freshly washed hair by the small fireplace in her room, climbed into the big soft bed, and fell soundly to sleep.

E
lwyn woke the next morning to a sharp rap on her door and the sound of her uncle wishing her a good morning, and pronouncing that breakfast was down in the dining room waiting. She yawned and definitely felt reluctant to leave the warm cozy bed, but told him she would be dressed, packed, and down to breakfast in five minutes. As she jumped up from the soft warm bed, Elwyn was very happy she’d thought to pack her belongings into her saddle bags before she fell asleep. She’d pulled her hair back into a tight braid after her bath while it was still drying, so she quickly washed her face, jumped into her woodland gear, pulled on her cap, and hurried down to meet Ayron for breakfast.

For the first time since they met, her uncle seemed to be in a really good mood. Granted most of their time together had been in the middle of one crisis or another, but he always seemed weighed down about this or that. Elwyn was beginning to wonder if he was always that way, and was pleased to see that this morning, he seemed downright jovial and relaxed. He had perched Keroc on the table next to him and was feeding him pieces of ham from his own platter. Keroc had not yet healed enough to hunt on his own and Ayron was using the opportunity to draw closer to his little drakenhawk. As Elwyn took a seat across from him, the innkeeper rushed over and put a large platter down on the table before her. It was full of fresh eggs, thick ham slices, savory sausage links, and piled high with biscuits. These were not the type biscuits they ate on the road, but big fluffy tender biscuits that could be eaten with either a heaping helping of butter or dripping with honey from the large jug that sat on the table before her. There was also a large pitcher of hot tea and two mugs sitting in front of her.

“I must say that I am shocked at how generous these people are with their food and hospitality,” Elwyn commented as she stuffed a large piece of biscuit dripping with honey into her mouth. “If I ate like this on a regular basis, I would grow as large as Gemma.”

“Well to be truthful, they know who I am here and treat me and anyone that travels with me as well as they possibly can. That, and the way they try not to draw attention to us, is their way of thanking the military for providing them with safety and protection when it is needed,” he said while feeding another strip of meat to Keroc. “But I have to say that this is one of the nicer inns in this area. The innkeeper is very hospitable and his wife is an excellent cook,” he added, as he bent his head over his platter and continued eating.