The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (95 page)

Josephine shook her head. “
You
haven’t slept
either.”

“
Yes
but I’m as stubborn as an ox and I own this place.”

Josephine thought for a moment. “Are you sure? You
still have a full
house
in there!”

“
And I will for many days and nights by the looks
of it. It will do me no good if all my staff collapse from
exhaustion
before the end of
it!”

Josephine nodded. “
Very well.
Thank
you, Cristyn.”

“
I'll come and wake you when we need you again,” the woman
advised with a nod. “Now rest that pretty head of yours before it
falls off.”

Josephine untied the grey, dirty apron from about
her waist and pulled it from about her head, hanging it on a peg on
the wall. She slipped out the kitchen and padded slowly upstairs to
the servant rooms - two large, cabin - like chambers with several
cots lined up next to each other. Another girl lay sleeping at the
far side, with her face to the wall: Iselle, by the looks of her
pigtail. Josephine pulled her dress from her aching body and folded
the yellow cotton garment, placing it on a small table at the end
of the bed, and relaxed the corset around her midriff, slipping it
off and pulling on a shift Cristyn had provided her. All the
clothes she had been given were worn, but comfortable and she was
grateful to the innkeeper for getting her out of the Aslemerian
clothes that she had grown to loathe as a reminder of all that had
happened in that realm. She slumped on to the woollen blanket atop
the cot and lying down in her shift, rolled herself up in it. Sleep
came quickly to her and before she knew it she awoke to the birds
chirping again, and her eyes snapped open quickly. She sat up and
looked around. Two more girls were sleeping around her, bundled up
in their blankets. She slipped out of the bed again and looked out
the window. It was definitely late morning. Why hadn’t Cristyn
woken her sooner? The other girls must be
overwhelmed
with people by now!

Hurriedly she washed herself with water from the wooden basin
in the corner of the room, slipped her corset and dress back on and
left the room, venturing downstairs. Sure enough, the kitchen was
alive with activity. Girls were still serving the stew from the
night before and by the side of the large cauldron, another metal
pot filled with pottage bubbled away.

“
Hello
again sleepyhead!” Cristyn smiled at her, entering
from the common room. “I take it you rested well
then?”

“
I
did
,
thank
you,” Josephine replied. “You
should
have awoken me. I did not expect to be
asleep for
so
long.”

Cristyn waved her away. “You needed the rest.
Besides, don’t think today will be
any
easier for you than yesterday! I’ve just had word
that we may be expecting more people fleeing from Six Oaks,” she
said.

“
Aslemer has reached
that
far?” Josephine exclaimed. She had grown familiar
with the neighbouring towns and villages over the last fortnight.
Six Oaks was forty miles away, which seemed
unnervingly
close now.

Cristyn nodded. “I’m afraid so. But don’t panic just yet.
I’ve heard they’ll have to carve their way through the ‘Eastern
Vipers’ before they reach us.”

“
Who
are they?” Josephine asked.

“
An army ten
thousand
strong. They’re blocking the Aslemerian’s path
into the valley.” She smiled. “We’ll see them off. Trust
me.”

The
problem was, Josephine had seen first hand how vicious the
Aslemerian army could be. She had seen the dark mages and what they
could do. How could the Olindians defend against such a force for
long, especially in their current crippled condition? She smiled
regardless and busied herself to filling several bowls with the
steaming pottage and placing them on a tray. Lifting the tray
carefully, she walked gingerly into the common room. It was heaving
with people still and the noise and commotion was almost
unbearable. She placed the bowls down at the bar and asked Terra,
another maid, who she should give the pottage to. She pointed to a
table over in the far corner, and she turned to it. Instantly her
skin bristled and she froze.

The men sitting at the far table were unmistakably
Mahalian. They wore similar clothing to Matthias, albeit in
differing colours and around their necks Josephine could see they
wore the same pendants. Two of them looked in their middling years,
one bald, aside from tufts of hair behind his ears, the other with
longer, curly hair falling to his shoulders. But it was the oldest
of them that Josephine was gripped with fear by. He was aged, with
a grey, whisky beard and a rich coat bristling with ornamentation.
It was
undoubtedly
Fenzar.

Shaking herself out of her panic, she turned so that her back
was to them. Had they spotted her? No, they were looking in the
other direction and the place was so busy. But if she remained in
the room they would identify her soon.

“
Terra, please could you take the food to them? I… I need the
privy,” she lied. The younger maid nodded and Josephine smiled at
her and then slipped into the back of the inn. Once out of sight
she darted up the stairs and into the bedroom, shutting the door
behind her. What should she do?

She felt in the pocket of her dress. The coin she
had been paid so far sat in a small pouch within. She inspected it.
There might be enough there for a room at an inn for a few nights
in another town. Maybe even a few meals. It would have to be
enough. She couldn't stay here, or
anywhere
nearby, for that matter. Not if Fenzar was
this close. My gods, what would he do to her if he saw
her?

She
grabbed two apples and a canister of water one of the other girls
had brought upstairs and placed on the nearby table and rolled them
up in the woollen sheet that lay on her bed, tying it with a strip
of ribbon that hung from a hook, probably used to tie one of the
girls' hair up. It was quite weighty, but she needed something to
keep her warm out there at night. She would need to sleep rough for
a while until she could get far enough away to risk staying in
another inn. She couldn't risk leaving Fenzar a trail of her
movements. She looked sadly back at the room and at the cot that
she had come to think of as a home away from home and then,
swiftly, slipped back out of the room and snuck down the stairs.
Everyone was working in the common room or the kitchen. It was so
busy that hopefully she wouldn't be missed for a while. She padded
to the back door and unlatched it quietly and carefully, opening it
just enough so that she could fit through and closed it behind
herself. The street was quiet and she walked quickly to the corner
before turning to take the path that led on to the Telthon Road.
From there she would slip off into one of the bordering fields and
from there... well, she would come up with a better plan later.
Right now it was just important to put as much distance as she
could between her and Tamet.

Princess Josephine pulled the blanket tighter around her
shoulders as a chill rippled down her spine. She had been walking
for two days, keeping to the fields growing maize that dotted the
nearby landscape, in fear of being spotted. It felt like she were
an ant, crawling around enormous blades of grass, and she made slow
progress, but it seemed better than taking a path where there was
potential for her to be spotted. Now she lay nestled amongst the
crops, staring up between their leafy confines at the stars she
continued to dream about flying amongst. Every now and again a
creature would cross her path: a shrew or a cricket crawling around
and across her blanket. A few weeks ago she would have screamed at
that, but she had slept rough so many times now it seemed almost
calming to not be alone in the wilderness.

How
long had it been since she had lost Thadius? She couldn't remember
now. Nor could she accurately picture the time that had passed
since she had been separated from Matthias and Luccius. Two months?
Perhaps more? Perhaps less? Every night now she practiced wielding
her power, bending the forces in unique ways that even the night
before she would not have considered. As she tested herself she
continued to formulate a plan in her mind to stop the dragon. But
she would have to find it first if she were to put it into
practice. She would soon find the clue she needed when, still
keeping to the fields two days later, she spotted a large caravan
of people travelling along the distant dirt path. She shielded her
eyes as she tried to make them out, but they were shadows against
the afternoon sunlight and so, hesitant at first but growing with
determination as she emerged from hiding, she set out towards them.
Most of the troupe had already passed by when she intercepted them,
but she managed to catch the last few people, travelling with a
rickety cart pulled by an emaciated - looking horse.

“
Excuse me,” she announced herself to the people,
who seemed to take little notice of her appearance before them.
“
Hello?
” she tried again. “Please, could I speak to one of you for
a minute?”

“
We don’t have no food,
” one woman snapped at her. She was a
good deal older than Josephine and wore a dirty - white bonnet atop
her curly, ginger hair.

Josephine shook her head. “Oh. No, you
misunderstand me. I don’t
want
any food. I just wanted to ask you where you were
travelling?”

“
Leave my family
alone!
” the woman continued. “We’ve been
through
enough,
without
answering any questions. Now
clear
off!” she hissed and waved Josephine away
from her and two children that she drew close to her. The princess
stepped back and let them carry on. As they passed and she watched
them go, a man approached her from the last group of people in the
line. He was about the same age as her - perhaps a little older-
and he sported a bristly brown beard and a brimmed hat. He had his
hands in his pockets.

“
Don’t take that personally,” he said. “Maggie’s had a worse
time than most here. Lost two of her daughters.”

Josephine already knew the answer to her next question, but
she had to ask it anyway. “You are fleeing from the dragon?” she
asked. He nodded.

“
Attacked our village two days back and decided to
take up residence while there was still stuff to burn and
corpses
to eat.” He shook
his head. “Most of us were working the surrounding enclosures when
it struck. We were the
lucky
ones.” He looked grimly at the people ahead. “A
few like Maggie made it out of the village and we moved quickly
with what little we could bring from the old Rustingleigh Farm down
the way before the beast decided to follow us. We’ve been
travelling for miles now, day and night since.”

“
That’s
terrible
. I’m
so
sorry,” Josephine said softly.

“
You’re welcome to join us if you’d like,” the man offered.
“We’re heading to Tamet. Word says they are taking in refugees like
there’s no tomorrow!”

Josephine smiled. “That’s very kind, but I am afraid I am
going the other way.”

The
man nodded. “Just be sure you don’t head north - east when you
reach the split in the path. That’s where we’ve come from. There’s
nothing left there but ash and death.” He looked sombre. “You
shouldn’t be travelling alone miss, especially not in that
direction.”

She
smiled again. “I am afraid I have no choice. But thank you for your
kindness,” she said.

He
bowed to her. “Safe journey,” he proffered, and then continued on
his way, re-joining the others. Josephine watched them go. Then she
turned to the path ahead and took a deep breath.

“
Right then, Sikaris. It’s time you and
I
met face to
face.”

She
continued on up the path for another few miles before she stopped
to rest awhile by a tree that grew by the side of the path where it
split in two. She was gasping for a drink, but she dared not take
another swig from the flask she had taken, as she had not had any
opportunity to refill it since she left Tamet and was down to the
last few sips. She would have to ration it from now on, until she
could find somewhere to replenish the supply. To make matters
worse, her stomach was starting to rumble again. She doubted there
was anywhere nearby now for many miles more that she could buy any
food from. She would just have to forage as best she could. She had
grown accustomed to her belly being hollow when she fled Aslemer. A
few more days would not finish her off now, not now she had the
dragon in her sights. After a few minutes rest she carried on,
taking the fork leading in the direction she had been warned
against. Two days of walking, the man had said, day and night. She
had to keep going, and quickly, before Sikaris decided to travel
much further.