Episode 14: The Road to Thaliron
It was rather warm and sunny for an autumn day, and five people walked the dirt road north. Kieme Aemonstane, Kreis Delamuir, Triana Mayfey, Amercy Chellirane, and Re Sakarta. Re was still somewhat bandaged, but he walked with no noticeable limp, and the only sign of Kreis's ordeal of a few days past was the bandage wrapped around his arm. The mood was strangely quiet, and even Kieme missed Gregan's cheerful jokes to keep up the spirit of the travelers.
"You know what day it is tomorrow, Kreis?" Triana practically jumped on him from behind, giving him a hug. Kreis smiled.
"How could I forget?" he replied. Triana kissed him on the cheek, and Kieme shook her head.
"Spare me, if you please. I never could abide public displays of affection."
"Maybe because no one's ever shown you affection in your life," Triana snapped back to her. Kieme shrugged, a little smirk on her face, and turned away.
"Kreis..." Triana noticed that Kreis's eyes followed her as she left.
"Sorry...I was just thinking." What is it she wants to tell me?
"About what?" Triana wanted to know.
"It's nothing."
Triana frowned. "No...really. What's bothering you?"
Kreis forced a smile. "I'm fine."
"Ever since we started this trip, you've been different. The way it used to be, we could tell each other anything."
"Well, things have changed, haven't they?"
"Kreis...I didn't mean to make you mad at me..."
"I'm not mad at you."
"Then what is it, then?" demanded Triana. Kreis sighed.
Amercy decided to interrupt before things got any uglier. "What day is it tomorrow, then?" he asked.
"Our birthday," Kreis replied. He touched his cheek where Triana had kissed him. They'd kissed before-but they were just kids. Obviously, they weren't kids any more-and Triana had kissed him. He felt his face turning red.
"Oh, happy birthday," Amercy said, smiling. When he wasn't terrified, he was actually quite pleasant. "Are we going to come across a town any time soon, Miss Kieme?"
"It won't be long," she replied. "You two love-birds should be able to get a room there," she added, her voice wickedly indifferent.
Kreis turned even redder, and Triana turned violent.
"What are you talking about?" she demanded, her own face scarlet with rage and embarrassment. Kieme's eyes crinkled, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. "It's not funny at all!"
Kieme broke out into laughter--real laughter, not her usually sarcastic chuckling. In her face, Re saw the Kieme he had known years ago, before she had been transformed by bitterness and tragedy. So, the woman he had once loved had not been completely destroyed...a small, wistful smile spread on his own face. Amercy noticed it, and wondered what was going on in the older man's mind.
Triana was still furious, but Kreis managed a smile, though his face was burning. The idea of it was just so...ridiculous. Did they really think that he was attracted to Triana in such a fashion? They were just close, after all. They'd spent their whole lives together.
So why don't I tell her, then? Kreis asked himself. He put his hand in his pocket, touching the ring that Kieme had given him. The symbol of a promise...she knew something she had to tell him. I owe nothing to Kieme, anymore. I should talk to Triana. So she won't be so upset with me...
But not with Re and Amercy here, he rationalized. It's not that I don't trust them, but Amercy...he might be being used and not even know it. How odd, to realize that he trusted these people. Shy, earnest Amercy...he didn't want to hurt anyone. Re was a bit rough at times, but he was still a kind person. Kieme might not be his favorite person in the world, but even she would not hurt him...they had fought together before, and he was sure that they would again.
Funny, the way things turn out, he thought with a sigh. And so it goes...until we reach Thaliron, anyway. Until we meet the Queen of Shadows. We may have a truce for now, but...
"And there you go again," sighed Triana. "Kreis! Amercy was trying to ask you a question."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Kreis said sheepishly. He tripped on a pebble and stumbled a bit, then regained his footing. Triana giggled.
"I just thought...you were so good with a sword, the other day..." Amercy's face was red. "Do you think you could teach me? I mean, I don't think I'll be as good as you, but I want to learn something..."
Kreis blinked in surprise at the request. Was he really in earnest? "I...don't know..."
Amercy recognized his apprehension and fidgeted. "I just...want to be able to take care of myself," he added softly.
"In the world to come, you won't need to worry about fighting," Kieme murmured.
"Not this again..." Kreis sighed. "You and your war-to-end-all-wars philosophy. Do you even think of the lives you take when you preach about saving people?"
"I hate meaningless bloodshed just as much as you do," Kieme replied, "and I'm prepared to take responsibility for all the blood I've spilled on this world."
"You still haven't learned." Everyone turned to look at Re, who had stopped walking at Kieme's last comment. The claret-haired woman turned to look back at the man, and a few moments of silent motionlessness passed.
"How do you two know each other, anyway?" Triana finally broke the silence.
"A long time ago..." Kieme drifted off.
"We were lovers," Re concluded for her. Kieme didn't even turn pink-Re seemed to share her blunt way of stating the uncomfortable, and Kieme wasn't going to be phased by her own tricks. "But it was a long time ago. It's been...what, six years now?"
"Yeah, sounds right," Kieme replied. "Why are you worried, Amercy? You seemed to be able to do some decent magic..."
So that's why Re came along on this trip, even though he was injured... thought Kreis. I think there's still some unfinished business between the two of them. Well, whatever it is, it's none of my business. He realized he was touching the ring in his pocket again, and pulled his hand out of his pocket self-consciously.
"I don't think that's a very safe place for it, Kreis," Kieme said, slowing down casually to walk beside him. Kreis didn't look at her.
"I won't lose it," he said.
"Yes. I trust you." Kieme let her words fall casually. "I'm afraid we might be meeting some of Amercy's old friends soon. We're being watched."
"What?" Kreis gasped.
"Don't worry about it," Kieme sighed. "There's no one near us. They're watching from a distance, waiting...they won't take action for a while yet."
"How do you know that?" Kreis wondered.
"Can't you feel it as well?"
Kreis did feel a bit of a strange feeling that he couldn't name. "I...maybe, I..."
"They're afraid of us. They know we can handle anything that they can afford to throw at us, so they're going to hang back for now. But I still think we'll meet one before we get to Thaliron."
*
"...but...but I..."
"That's enough, Lida. Don't hurt yourself." The red-haired young man began to unplug the various wires that had been connected to the blond woman in the center of the spiderweb. Her eyes were closed, and she hung there limply, her breath coming out in labored gasps.
"I was...close..."
"It's all right," Sarhe said. "You need to get some rest." He lowered her gently from the tangle, carrying his fragile cousin delicately. She's even lighter...he realized. "Lida...you don't have to try so hard." If you die...then I'll be all alone...
*
"Please watch over them, Goddess..." Faradine heard the door to the sanctuary open as she was finishing her prayer. Her heart was with the children that she thought of as her own, on the anniversary of their birth, eighteen years ago. She looked up to see one of the girls standing in the doorway.
"Someone's here to see you, Mother," she said respectfully. "May I show them in?"
Faradine nodded wordlessly. She had a feeling...
A girl and two young men entered the sanctuary. She recognized the older as Gregan, and the younger boy as Arik Siro, but the pink-haired girl was not familiar. "Welcome," she said. "What do you seek, here?"
"Mistress Faradine," the girl spoke, "I speak for the Queen of Shadows. She says...that she has no more interest in your land, and you are free to do with Norana as you please. However, please remember that the surrounding lands of Namaia and Iadior are now the property of Aradinea Osareon, and any hostile advance will be considered reason for dissolving our partnership, but we would like to offer you an alliance."
The Queen of Shadows-set on uniting the world under her power-was offering freedom to Norana? Faradine couldn't believe it. But this girl reminded her of some of the other orphans she had raised...could so young a girl have the authority to speak for the Queen of Shadows?
And why were Gregan and Arik standing behind her? While the girl looked serious and professional, the two boys looked bored...Arik was fidgeting impatiently, and Gregan's eyes wandered, looking out the windows. The girl glared at each of them, and they tried to look more professional, but still seemed bored.
Faradine didn't really have a choice. She could take this offer and hope it was the truth...what was there for her to lose? The Queen's army was strong enough to crush Norana in an instant...why did they bother offering her freedom?
"Kreis and Triana are fine," the girl added. "Kreis is..." She drifted off, blushing, and Arik pouted.
"Very well, then," Faradine replied. "I accept the terms of your offer."
*
They arrived in town later than expected, and, to Kreis's dismay, the marketplaces were closed. "Oh, man," he said, coming back to the inn after searching row after row of closed shops. Now what am I supposed to give Triana for her birthday?
When he came to the bedroom he was sharing with the other men, there were two small boxes on his bed. Amercy was already asleep, and Kreis had no clue where Re was. There was a note with each of the boxes.
Figured you might have trouble finding something for Triana so late, so I thought this might do. You can pay me back later. Inside that box he found a necklace, a flower-shaped pendant on a gold chain. It was all real gold...he hated to think how much it must have cost.
The note on the other box simply read, Happy Birthday, Kreis. He opened it and found another necklace, this one a silver locket. He opened it, and there was a picture on either side of the shell...a pretty young Elorhan woman with dark green waves of hair and dark red eyes, and a handsome young man whose short-cropped hair was the same dark blue as Kreis's own. His skin was even darker than Kreis's, and he had human ears.
The locket looked old and fragile, and was probably worth more even than Triana's present, but it was the two tiny, flawless paintings that intrigued him the most. Who were these people?