Origin (50 page)

“Ayron, it wouldn’t hurt you and Elwyn to examine the pendant and the sword closely when we get the time, just to see if there is anything on it that might relate to the riddle.”

Kierra withdrew from both their minds and Ayron and Elwyn stumbled exhausted onto their beds. Sleep came easily to them both this night.

Elwyn came awake with a start as she felt Ayron touch her arm and heard Toruk’s warning of danger in her mind.

“There are a large number of armed men moving stealthily through the woods that surround the cabin,” Ayron whispered hoarsely. “Toruk had Keroc pass the warning to me. He thinks they are trying to sneak up on us as we sleep. I think it would be the best use of our skills for you to take the high position while I take the low one”

“I’ll slip quietly downstairs from the loft and get my weapons, Elwyn softly responded knowing that part of Ayron’s plan was designed to keep her as far from danger as he could.”

His response that she was the better archer and could take down many more soldiers if she was not fighting them off at the same time made sense to her. She ran quietly down into the main room of the cabin and quickly got her sword, dagger, bow, and two quivers of arrows. She then returned up to the sleeping loft and told Ayron that she would probably be the most good positioned on the roof of the cabin overhang. She also asked Toruk to let her know as soon as the men broke cover so that she could kill as many as she could before they reached the cabin.

Within minutes she could see the first of the men exiting from the trees that surrounded the cabin. Elwyn heard, the order to attack in her head as Toruk, and the rest of the drakenhawks silently swooped down and began attacking the intruders. While Ayron, Gerrack, Keroc, Gemma, Raffe, Toruk, and the other five drakenhawk guards fought the assassins close at hand, Elwyn let arrow after arrow fly at the assailants from the small overhang. Their numbers seemed overwhelming. She worked hard to shoot the men as they emerged from the trees, so that her companions fighting on the ground would not get overrun. She was glad she took Thanes quiver along with her because she quickly ran out of her own arrows and had his to use. In a sense, by using his arrows, he was there along with them.

When all the arrows had been spent, she jumped down from the overhang and ran forward to engage the men still standing with her short sword. It was easy to recognize the men that the drakenhawks attacked because their throats were all ripped open. Elwyn stood shoulder to shoulder with her uncle fighting the men still emerging from the woods. Her short sword and dagger took many lives as she fought alongside her companions. Eventually the attack slowed, and then stopped altogether as the last few assassins fled through the thick woodland. Toruk and the drakenhawks took off and scoured the woods around the cabin for any more signs of danger.

Since sleep was out of the question, Elwyn walked through the maze of corpses searching for her arrows. She retrieved them from the dead assassins and quickly cleaned them off. She now knew that the danger had not passed and that she might need her weapons again. Ayron joined her and told her that this attack showed the desperation of whoever was determined to keep her from reaching Findara. He said that their attackers looked like a mixture of humans and elves hired as mercenaries, paid to eliminate them while they slept. He added that he was amazed that they had come through the attack unscathed, since there had been close to forty mercenaries in the raggedy assassination squad.

Elwyn didn’t have much to say. She had still not been able to come to any kind of peace with the part of her that acted instinctively and was so efficient at killing. She had the feeling that it would be quite a while before having to take a life wasn’t a distinct possibility. The fact that she was very good at it did not make it any easier for her to come to terms with it; in fact, it made it more difficult. When she got to Findara and had some time to herself, this was something that she planned to deal with. Two weeks was just too short a time to go from being a simple village girl who disliked even taking a life to put meat on the table to a person who just instinctively did what she had to do to protect her life and the lives of her companions. Elwyn headed back into the cabin with Ayron to try to get some rest. She eventually fell into an uneasy sleep, knowing that Toruk would let her know if danger struck again.

E
lwyn woke up the next morning to the high pitched shriek of a drakenhawk outside her window. She panicked for a moment, thinking they were under attack again, until she realized that it was Keroc. She chuckled at his excitement. He had just come back from hunting and was feeling full, happy, and very proud of himself. Once she greeted him, he showered her with more detailed images than she ever wanted to see, about his hunt and the enjoyment of eating his breakfast, raw.

“I will certainly be happy once that little drakenhawk has learned some restraint,” said Elwyn to herself.

“We will as well,” added Toruk with a sense of labored patience.

Elwyn slowly rose from the chair, reluctant to get up and face another day. She found that she was a person who didn’t mind dealing with what she knew, but this whole situation was about trying to deal with what they didn’t know. If she added that to the attacks that seemed to come at random times, it made almost everything about this journey just seem overwhelming. A large part of her just wanted to run away and hide from it all. As she dressed, she reviewed the points that bothered her the most. Her mother had been heir to the throne of Avrelan. Upon her mother’s death, that dubious honor passed to her. Her father was the current ruler of Silvendil. Upon his death, or when he chose to step down, that honor would pass to her as well. In two weeks, she had gone from being a simple village maiden to being the heir to two large kingdoms. This was all extremely difficult for her to believe and accept. It was also very frightening since someone seemed to know where they were and was launching attacks hoping to kill them all.

Frankly this morning, all she wanted was to spend the rest of her life as a solitary hunter, living off the land and traveling from place to place. Somehow, she didn’t see that happening anytime in the near future. Everyone else seemed to have other plans for her. She dressed and went to the kitchen, only to find that Ayron had set out a simple breakfast of bread, cheese, and tea for her. He, of course, was out grooming the morden. She went out to join him as soon as she had eaten and began to share with him something that occurred to her after she retired for the evening. She told him that, if it was true that King Stefan, who had been trying to kill her, was also working with someone in Silvendil, then that person knew that the shadow squads failed. Obviously that person also had a way to know where they were since they had tried very hard to end their lives, yet again, last night. It also stood to reason that whoever was involved in the conspiracy was probably already making plans to eliminate her in Findara, if they failed to do so before she arrived.

“I fear what you say is true,” said Ayron as he started to saddle the morden.

“My guess is that they may be afraid to try again, with you and the drakenhawks as my protectors,” said Elwyn. “They may have also learned that I am tougher to kill then they expected. You know uncle; the best way to keep this whole plot from being exposed would be for them, to not only assassinate me, but to kill you, my uncle, and Clayre as well. My guess is that they don’t realize that the morden or drakenhawks are that knowledgeable, and they are surely underestimating their capabilities.”

“Yes, I agree with you Elwyn. We will have to be vigilant in watching for danger both before and when you arrive in Findara,” Ayron said as they began to walk back to the house together. “I do want to discuss an option that might lessen their chances of success, while we are traveling to Sylreth today.”

Elwyn nodded and the two of them worked together tiding up the house. They packed some leftover food to eat for lunch, and then went out to the morden. Elwyn stood watching the mist rise from the surface of the beautiful pond, as Ayron closed and locked the door to the small cabin. She was sad that their stay had been so short and that she’d experienced so much violence here. Ayron noticed the faraway look in her eyes and knew exactly what she was thinking.

“You should definitely ask your father to bring you here for a getaway once things settle down, Elwyn. This would be a good place for the two of you to get to know one another, without all the interruptions that take place in Findara. Maybe you can convince him to take some time off and relax. He might even rediscover his love of life again. Besides you should try to experience this place again when the danger is past and the truth has been revealed.”

“I don’t know if I can do that, Ayron. This place will hold some bad memories for me, but I would definitely like to be able to get to know my father without a lot of other distractions. I want to know the man that my mother loved so much, not the king. I would also like him to read my mother’s diary. I think it will mean a lot to him to know just how much she loved and believed in him. I think it may be difficult to really get quality time with him, either in the castle or in a village where he will be looked upon as ruler of the land.”

“When we get to Sylreth, I’ll speak to the couple who oversees the cabin for us and ask them to hire some men to clean up the area around the cabin as well as the cabin itself.”

The two of them mounted the morden and rode back to the main road, continuing their journey north. The morning was very quiet. Neither Ayron nor Elwyn felt much like talking. There were just too many things to think about. Toruk let Elwyn know that everything looked safe, and that he and the other drakenhawks would be scouting the road ahead of them. Elwyn felt very grateful that the drakenhawks were there as protection. Even if she didn’t need them, she felt secure knowing that they were watching out for her. She chuckled to herself as Toruk expressed his appreciation at how she felt. And that brought another dilemma to mind. She would miss all of the drakenhawk presence in her mind after she arrived in Findara. She found that she did enjoy being able to interact with them when she felt the need. She just wasn’t sure what to do about it.

Ayron and Elwyn stopped for lunch in a small meadow just out of sight of the main road. Ayron said that he chose the spot so that they wouldn’t be interrupted. He was increasingly nervous about Elwyn being recognized as more than one of his soldiers. Sylreth was the largest and closest village to Findara, and many of its citizens had seen one or more members of the ruling family. By hiding her hair color, Elwyn appeared to be, at first glance, just an elf. Her eye color however, was another matter. It was unique and could draw unwanted questions and speculation if it was noticed. Ayron cautioned her again about the importance of not making eye contact, and either keeping to her room or the shadows as much as possible. He informed her that they would be arriving in the village shortly after dusk, and that he planned to ask that dinner and bath water be delivered to each of their rooms as soon as possible. He also let her know that he would take the morden into the stablemaster alone while she waited outside. The stablemaster knew him well and was a very talkative fellow who loved to get to know each person that crossed his path.

“How long will we be staying in Sylreth?

“To be honest, I’m not sure. Definitely until Kierra explains all that has happened to Lady Silvenna and then until Lady Silvenna gets the opportunity to speak with Azavon and helps him grasp all this. I am hoping that Kierra speaks with Lady Silvenna today and that she speaks with your father tomorrow. We could then finish our journey to Silvendil the day after.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad, I guess. I keep vacillating between wanting to run away and hide, or just getting the whole thing over with. But I have to tell you that I don’t like walking into a situation where I know that one or more of the people want me dead. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.”

“I can certainly understand that, little one. In fact, that brings up another conversation that I need to have with you.”

Over the next hour they talked about life-bonds and what they meant to each of the partners.

“You shouldn’t judge what a life-bond feels like or means by your experiences with the companions that have entered your mind since you left Tarlon. What you have been experiencing is more like an intrusion than a bond; but it was the only way the drakenhawks and werecats knew to help you to stay alive.

You shouldn’t judge it on the basis of your interactions with Keroc either. Keroc is still a child, both mentally and physically. While I am very proud of the way he has conducted himself during the time he spent with you, he can be very impulsive and doesn’t, as yet, recognize boundaries with someone he loves.

From what I have been able to ascertain from Keroc, linking with your mind is much easier than most, because you are very open to new experiences, have very few prejudices or preconceptions, and are naturally able to recognize truth.”

He went on to describe a life-bond to her as a partnership, where each individual willingly shares their thoughts and feelings with the other, or others if there would happen to be two.

“It is an intimate relationship built over time and serves to bring the partners into one accord. That sense of unity helps to provide fluidity when fighting, comfort when in pain, and solace when grieving. Of course, no partnership is perfect. I had my fears, because I am an introvert like you Elwyn, but I have discovered that I am the happiest and feel the most confident when I know that I and my companions are unified in our decisions.

On the other side of that coin, my relationship with my companions is a true partnership, and the spirit of the life-bond means honoring each other’s choices, even if they don’t always make much sense.”

Then Ayron talked to Elwyn about Gemma, who had already life-bonded with her. He explained that a life-bond with a morden was the easiest to have.