The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (81 page)

“
I
believe so,” Josephine replied, trying not to make her face seem
too grave. “Tell me, is he still around?” she asked quickly and she
scanned the room in case she had missed someone. It was empty
still, except for them.

“
Not in here, no, but he may still be around the
village. Not that there’s many other places to visit here, having
said that. More likely he would have carried on to Riverfell or
Gavna up the way. But I wouldn’t try and follow him at this time of
the day, not with that injury you have!” She shook her head. “No,
better to make a
fresh
start of it in the morning. I shouldn’t think a man of that
age would get
too
far in a day, and if you like, I can get a message to the
towns, to send word to him?”
“No, that will be quite alright,” Josephine smiled thinly. “We will
catch up with him tomorrow.”

The woman smiled. “Very well.” She shook her head.
“Not often I have something like
that
to excite my day in these poor
months!”

“
What an interesting life you must lead,” Thadius whispered
very quietly under his breath.

“
I’m
sorry?” the woman queried when she could not hear him.

“
How exciting
indeed,
”
Thadius
lied quickly.
Josephine looked at him
sardonically
.

“
Well quite! Belyndra is my name,” she bobbed. “I
own this tavern. As you can see, we are a little
quiet
at this time of
year. Which is why I’m talking at you like a
mad
woman!” She sighed. “Come the mid -
cycle though, and this place will be full of traders! Mostly they
come here because they can’t get room in the larger towns, true
enough, but once they try my cooking, you see me
try
to get rid of
them!”

Thadius smiled, but his eyes were anxious.
“Perhaps we might
sample
some of it? My stomach is
grumbling
for that pie you
mentioned!”

The woman waved him away. “Of course! Where
are
my manners? Why, I
could talk for
Olindia!
Why, I haven’t even got your
drinks
, have I?” She tutted. “I’ll bring them
over and get you both a pie. Then I shall have a room prepared for
you. Perhaps then we can talk more as the sun goes
down?”

“
That would be
very
pleasant,” Josephine smiled, and the woman lit up.
She bobbed away into a back room to fetch them a
drink.

“
Pleasant?
” Thadius exclaimed, raising his
eyebrows.

“
She is harmless enough,” Josephine smiled back.
Then she leaned forward anxiously. “That description sounds
an
awful
lot like Fenzar.”

Thadius nodded. “I would agree. What do we do?
Should we make a
run
for it?”

“
Given the size of this village, I can’t imagine
he
is
still here. There
are just houses and the smelters. If he
were
looking for me, then surely he wouldn’t
waste his time wandering about the place? More likely he has moved
on to another town.”

“
Even so, if he
is
this close-”

“
What more can we do tonight? You are
exhausted
Thadius!” She
sighed. “You could barely make it another
foot
.”

“
If it means keeping you safe I will drag my leg
across a
thousand
more miles to get away from him!”

Josephine smiled. “I know.” She looked out the
window. “The sun is nearly setting. It will be less than an hour
before it is dark.” She nodded. “We will eat something and have a
rest for an hour or so and then, if Belyndra will leave us alone
for
long
enough, then we will sneak off and travel overnight. If
Fenzar
is
around in a nearby town, the chances are he will not do the
same, if what Matthias has said of him is anything to go by.
Roughing it does not sound his style.”

“
But
where should we go? He is likely ahead of us, or else we would have
encountered him on the road here! Which means we can’t keep going
as we have been!”

Josephine sighed. “We need help from somewhere.”

“
I
agree. But where?”

Belyndra burst out from the back carrying a thick,
wooden tankard and a wine glass. “Olindian mead for you! No
finer
ale for miles.
Brewed by my own husband, no less! He’s away at the moment, helping
his brother with his farm. A
small
place, but they have
oh-so-many
animals, you wouldn’t
believe!
And for
you
,
young lady,
spiced
wine from
Aslemer
.” She set the drinks on the table. “They’re
brutal
people, those
Aslemerians, but I’ll say
this
for them, they do make a good wine! Now, I’ll go
and fetch you your meals before I let my tongue run away with me
again!” She scuttled off again with a smile.

Thadius supped at his tankard and smacked his lips. “She’s
right, this is a fine ale! Let’s hope the pies are as good as she
says they are. We will eat them and then be gone the first chance
we get.”

Josephine sipped delicately at the wine, and sniffed at it,
swirling it around in the glass. “Thadius,” she began. “How far
east are we from Crystal Ember?”

“
Hard to say exactly without a map, which I am
ashamed to say, Matthias was the only one of us who had the
sense
to bring one! But
we have come a fair way in a short time and on foot as well for the
most part, aside from that wagon we managed to hitch a ride on a
few days back. Maybe…
thirty
leagues in a general easterly direction?” He shook
his head. “No wonder my leg hurts if that’s the case. That’s over a
hundred miles!” He gulped more mead back and then, as he was
supping from the frothy mix, his eyes cast themselves suspiciously
towards Josephine. “
Why?
” he asked.

“
How
far do you think it is to Aslemer?” she asked.

Thadius lowered his drink and shook his head. “You
don’t mean to travel
there?
”

“
Possibly,” Josephine nodded.

“
But…
Aslemer?
” Thadius repeated. “What in the name of the gods
would prompt you to
want
to go there? And
don’t
tell me it’s because they make fine wine!” he
pointed to the glass.

“
Mages
, Thadius,” she instructed. “In my teachings I
remember the Emperor of Aslemer commanded a large army of magic
wielders called Dark Mages.”

“
That’s true. They are notorious amongst soldiers.
They come from a species called the Innie. Little, cute, furry
animals- until they rip you
apart
. The little blighters are like rabid dogs!
Aslemer use them as cannon fodder!”

“
If
there were any place that could stop the dragon now, anywhere close
enough that we could get to, do you not think that Aslemer would be
the best port of call?”

“
I think riding to the
sun
would be less dangerous,” he
grumbled.

“
Think
about it though! The emperor will recognise me as
the Princess of Aralia! We can get assistance from him to fight the
dragon! He will not want that creature around any more than the
rest of us!”

“
Aralia isn’t exactly on the
greatest
of terms with Aslemer,” He
advised. “Your father always kept the emperor at arm’s length. With
a
sword
at the end of it.”

Josephine shook her head. “I know. But
this
time we share
a
common
enemy. And where
else
can we go?”

“
Home!
” Thadius exclaimed.

“
I wish I
could
go home, Thadius. But I am being hunted by wizards
and dragons and sorcerers and
madmen!
No - one can protect me at home from that.
Besides, how much longer would it take to reach home than
Aslemer?”

He shook his head. “I’m not sure. Months perhaps
now. We barely have enough coin to
eat
, let alone buy any horses or book
passage.”

She
nodded. “I can’t imagine Fenzar following us into Aslemerian
territory. A wizard against an army of mages?”

Thadius sighed. “It would probably still take a week to reach
their border. Less perhaps if we can find some transport we can
afford. Then, if we can convince their border guards to take us to
their capital, probably another few days riding.”

Josephine nodded. “Then we should set off in that direction
tonight. Travel as far as we can until sunrise.” Thadius looked
doubtful. “What is the other alternative? Wander around as you
said, until Fenzar catches up to us?”

“
What about Matthias and Luccius?” Thadius asked.

Josephine took a moment to reply. When she spoke,
her voice was heavy. “They’re gone, aren’t they? You know it and in
my heart
I
know it too.” She swallowed and blinked back
tears.

“
I think so, yes,” Thadius said sadly. “I’m
sorry
princess.”

“
Then it’s up to
us
now to finish what we set off to do together,” she
said passionately. “Otherwise they died for
nothing
. And I
won’t
have that. They are too
precious
to me to let their
deaths have been in vain.” Her lip trembled. “I
must
avenge them
somehow.”

Thadius ran a finger around the rim of his pitcher
as he thought. “Matthias and Luccius have had
such
an influence on you, Your
Highness,
especially
that wizard. You think differently, act differently, you
even
talk
differently, since you met him.”

“
I
suppose that is a bad thing?” she said glumly, blowing her nose
delicately on her handkerchief.

Thadius shook his head. “On the contrary. You are
all the
better
for it.” He smiled. “I might not have thought so at first,
but it is true.” He leaned forward and grasped her hand tightly.
“They didn’t die for nothing. They have
both
made you stronger. And you are braver
than
I
am, I will tell you that.”

“
You sell yourself too short, my good knight,” she
advised him. “You have helped me as much as anyone. If it weren’t
for you I would have
died
in that fortress.”

Thadius bowed his head. “Well maybe so.” He lifted his
tankard and gestured to Josephine. “To Matthias and Luccius,” he
proffered. Josephine raised her glass.

“
To
Matthias and Luccius,” she repeated, voice wavering.

They
both drank a little and then Thadius nodded. “Very well my
princess. Onward we will go to Aslemer.”

Emary was already down by the fire of the common room of the
inn they stayed in, her feet up on the varnished table - top when
Luccius came down just after sunrise. The innkeeper, much more
pleasant than the one at their previous destination, had found them
a room in spite of how busy he had become with people moving here
and there, trying to avoid the dragon at all costs. Matthias
remained upstairs, attempting to meditate. In truth, Luccius
suspected he just wanted to be alone awhile.

The ansuwan slumped down into the chair opposite
Emary. He could still taste the fire water that Emary had made him
drink yet
again
the night before. It turned his
stomach
. They were the only ones around in the
room so early, apart from a lone, old man who was warming his hands
on the embers of the fire. The innkeeper approached their table
with a steaming ceramic jug. He placed it down on the table and
handed Emary a thick pottery cup. He then went to get another cup
for Luccius.