Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One (22 page)

He shook his head a bemused
smile appearing on his lips. “You grew up with this man and you do not trust
him…yet. You have known me for a few hours and you trust me?”

I realised the truth behind his
words, but rather than admit this lapse of care I shrugged as casually as I
could. “You seem to have faced a similar situation as I. I hope you do not
prove my trust misplaced.” The corners of his mouth twitched into a small
enigmatic smile, but he said nothing.

I walked a short while with him
talking of small things. We arranged to meet for lunch at the Blue Moon tavern
the next day.

After we parted, I walked back
towards Rose inn. After what Seran had told us of this inn, I would be looking
for new accommodation for the remainder of my stay in Medirea. Markai was
walking with me and I told her of what we had learned of Seran. She was pleased
that we had found him so quickly. I asked if she knew where we were to go next,
she said that she did not, but would try to find out more from the other Fae.
She thought they might have some information that would be useful. I would be
grateful for any direction at this point, as I had no idea where to go or what
to do next.

Brant was sitting outside our
inn when I arrived. I kept my face carefully blank. He got to his feet as I
approached. He looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable. “You know, I wish I
could say you can trust me. I know right now, you can, but what the Cha told me
deeply disturbed me. I cannot imagine betraying everything I love at home, but
he assured me that there was equal chance for me being good and being evil.” He
shuffled his feet and shook his head. “I know about that creature of yours.”

Before I could moderate my
response, I burst out. “What? You followed me?”

His face went a bit harder. “No.
I knew all along. I just wanted to say that I understand why you did not trust
me with this, but I hope that you will accept that I am trying to clear the air.”

Immediately I thought back on
the half-heard conversation between Jamber and Brant. “It was Jamber wasn’t it?
He betrayed me. I did not believe it at first. Convinced myself it could not
be.” My fists were clenched into tight balls. He opened his mouth to say
something, but I pushed past him roughly. As I walked away, I said over my
shoulder, “We are meeting Seran at the Blue Moon for lunch.”

The next morning I spent
leisurely exploring the town. I knew I was avoiding Brant, but I was still
angry with him. Just outside the centre of the city was a low green hill with a
lone tree at the top. I climbed up and sat with my back against the trunk. From
here, I had a reasonable view over the city and the breeze was cool and fresh
on my face. My thoughts drifted to what I needed to do now. Obviously, I needed
to find the next person, but where to look? I called to Markai and she appeared
as always out of thin air. She sat on her haunches next to me. “Have you any
new information?”

Barely.
All I know is that you must continue north.
That and it is a woman you seek.

I chewed my lip. Not much, but
at least I had a direction. “Thank you, we will set out today. What do you
think of Seran?”

I could sense her approval
. He seems a good man, if perhaps a bit
bitter. I think we can trust him.
At least as much as we can
trust anyone at this point
.
Her approval was better than having known him a year. We sat in companionable
silence watching the city’s people go about their daily lives completely
unaware of the danger that was awakening.
As I was not long
ago.

I was the first to arrive at the
Blue Moon. Most likely because I had not eaten any breakfast so my stomach had
chased me there. I chose a table near the entrance where they could easily see
me when they arrive.

I became aware of two men
watching me. I do not think I would have picked up on it except for the fact
that I was watching out for Brant and Seran. They had untouched ale in front of
them.
 
They barely spoke to one another.
I wondered if they were the same two who had been asking about us back in
Pharae. They were not wearing cowls to cover their faces, but that did not mean
much.

I reached for Navitas and my
hearing sharpened, as did all my other senses. I listened carefully, trying to
pick out their murmured words from the dull hum in the room. Even then, I could
barely make out anything.

A hoarse voice was speaking.
“…we supposed to do.”

Another answered. “We watch, we
wait and we report back.”

The first one snorted and spoke
again. “I don’t understand why we do not simply stop him. We have the ability
between us. He will only grow stronger.”

The clipped response came as if
spoken through gritted teeth. “I have told you, that is not our orders. We
follow orders.” He punctuated the last words as if he had repeated them several
times already.

I jumped with surprise when
Seran sat down across from me. I had been concentrating so much on listening to
their conversation that I had not even noticed him enter.

The
corners of his mouth quirked up with amusement.
“You
look a little jumpy.”

I frowned at him. “As soon as
Brant arrives we need to leave.”

His smile disappeared at the
tone of my voice. “Why, I thought you did not even know where we are going?
Where did all this urgency come from?”

I dropped my voice to a whisper
and he leaned in to hear. “I am being watched. The two men four tables over.
No, don’t look! They are talking of watching me and reporting back to someone.
I think one of them wants to kill me.”

His eyes narrowed. “How could
you know what they were speaking of from over here? I doubt they were
announcing their plans.” I cocked my head to one side and gave him a look that
I hoped said, think that over.

Brant was still not there so in
order to keep up appearances we ordered some drinks. I grimaced when I realised
that was exactly what the two Watchers had done. To my relief, a few minutes
after our drinks arrived, Brant appeared. I realised that I had been wondering
if he would turn up at all.

He sat down with a face like
stone. I quickly told him of the Watchers and filled Seran in on the two men
who had been asking about Brant and me in Pharae.

He glanced over to them. “Why
would we run? They are hardly going to come over here and kill us in broad
daylight. If they are indeed the same men as from before then they are not only
determined, but also patient. Besides if we leave now, they will know that we
know about them.”

I had to admit that it made
sense. Brant ordered a drink and our conversation turned to our plans. Brant
looked over at Seran with a frown on his face. “You do not seem to mind leaving
everything behind at the word of men you do not know.”

He shrugged. “It is not like I
am leaving behind much.
That I already had to do.
I am
a good judge of character, so I trust Kadin.”

Brant glared at him, but I could
see Seran’s effort at hiding his smile.
“Seran, how long
before you are ready to leave?”

He gave a small shrug.
“Tonight.”
I nodded. “Taking those two into consideration I
do not think we want to leave when they expect, otherwise chances are that we
will be followed. We will go our separate ways and slip out a couple of hours
before dawn. We will meet you on the north road.”

Excitement lit his eyes and he
nodded eagerly. “So you know now where we must go?”

I realised that I had not told
them of Markai’s information. “Markai has managed to find out we must head
north, but where to I do not know. She has also said it is a woman we search
for.”

Brant smiled. “That should make
this a bit more interesting.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

I called Markai before we
started towards the Rose inn. It was unlikely they would attack out in the
open, but I thought it best to be cautious. Seran needed a lot of convincing
before he would agree to set foot near the inn.

Brant looked around. “It does
not seem they are following.”

I shook my head. “They are.” If
Markai had not been following some distance behind us, I would not have thought
they were either.

We sat down to dinner in the common
room. Rose gave Seran such a contemptuous look when we arrived that I was
certain they must have had words in the past. The food consisted of thick pork
sausages with vegetables all covered in rich gravy.

Markai kept an eye on the
Watchers. They had gone into a tavern across the road from the Rose and were
sitting at the window facing the street. They were obviously watching to see if
we leave. I could only hope that they would leave later, assuming that we have
gone to sleep.

When the solemn serving girl
came to clear our dishes, I saw Seran pressing a handful of gold coins into her
palm. Her eyes went as wide as saucers before she hurriedly looked around to
check if anyone had seen. The broad smile that blossomed across her lips
transformed her face. She was quite beautiful. She dropped a quick curtsy and
rushed away with our plates. Brant was looking at Seran contemplatively.

Late into the night, Seran set
off towards his home. “Shall I not ask Markai to walk with you?”

He snorted with derision. “I
know how to take care of myself. It is more useful to know where the Watchers
are and whether they still watch.” He turned and walked off.

Brant slept on the floor of my
room that night. We took turns to sleep not trusting to wake in time if we both
nodded off. Markai let me know just after midnight that the Watchers had left
and gone into another inn further up the road. Presumably, they were staying
there. She told me this while still outside their inn and I found myself idly
wondering to what distance this communication between us would work. As I did
not get an answer to my musing from Markai, I thought she must not know either.

A yawning Brant woke me with a
shove. I looked up at him with bleary eyes. “It is time,” he said simply.

Stretching I sat up and prodded
at Markai. She told me that they had not left their inn. We gathered our bags
and quietly went out to the stable. We left through the back door and hurried
to the stable. The stable boy came rushing out rubbing sleep from his eyes when
we saddled our horses. He recognised us and after giving us a look that said he
thought us crazy for leaving at this hour, helped us finish. I gave him a
copper for his trouble and a silver to keep our departure to himself for as
long as possible. With a grin he told me he would only admit to seeing us if
Rose asked. I supposed that was as much as I could expect of him.

We did not see a soul as we
left. Just outside the town borders, we found Seran waiting for us. He was
riding a beautiful chestnut gelding with a graceful arched neck. His horse was
pawing at the ground impatiently and he smiled broadly at our arrival.
“Perfect timing.
I trust our friends did not follow.”

I shook my head. “Markai has
them still at the inn where they are spending the night. As we drew nearer, I
saw that he was not alone. Behind his saddle sat the serving girl from the
Rose.

Brant noticed her at the same
time. “What is the meaning of this? We did not agree to anyone else coming
along.”

Seran’s face was all calm
innocence. ”No, she was a last minute addition to the plan. She followed me out
last night and asked if I could help her. She will be travelling along until we
reach a suitable place for her to stay.” His tone brooked no argument.

I nodded. “We are wasting time.”
I heeled Balder to an easy trot.

We
travelled until well past nightfall, trying to put as many miles as possible
between us and the Watchers. Trissa, the serving girl, kept herself quiet and
said not a word the entire day.

We sat around the fire and Seran
cooked a stew with the provisions he had brought.
 
I eyed the meat that he was using. “You were
a sheep farmer in Medirea?” He nodded without looking up from his work. “What
have you done with your sheep?”

He shrugged.” Brise, the farmer
on the land to the east of mine was one of the only people who treated me like
a person as opposed to a foreigner. Last night I herded them onto his land. I
expect he would have had a nice surprise this morning.” His mouth curled up
into a small smile.

I noticed Trissa looking at
Seran with something akin to adoration in her eyes. She was sitting with her
knees drawn up, hugging them to her. Sitting like that, she looked even younger
than the sixteen turnings I had guessed. “Trissa, if you do not mind me asking
,
where do you come from?”

Her eyes flicked away from Seran
and to me, but just as quickly, they shifted to look down at her own toes.
“From the west.
A small town.
You
probably have never heard of it.”

Clearly, she was not comfortable
talking about it, but my curiosity spurred me on. “How did you come to be in
Medirea?”