Servants and Followers (The Legends of Arria, Volume 2) (3 page)

Basha stared at him.
Why are you so concerned? He wanted to ask the knight, but
couldn’t. For the past few days, whenever they had passed anybody
on the road
,
heading towards Coe Anji, or away from
it
,
Sir Nickleby was certain to sweep aside his cloak or saddle
blanket to reveal the hilt of his sword in its scabbard right
beside him, even if they weren’t close to the stranger but on the
opposite side of the road from him or her. Basha and Oaka had
learned to follow suit, perhaps to detract any possible murderer or
thief from tangling with them, but perhaps it wasn’t necessary,
Basha thought.

The knight had all of
these tips on survival, and lectured them constantly on what they
should expect while traveling through Mila Forest, Popo Hills, and
Tau Valley as if he might not stay with them all of the way. He
told them all about the cities and towns they might stay at, the
challenges of camping out in the wilderness, including how to
properly set up camp with holes for the latrine and fire, the
proper form of etiquette should they stay at a nobleman’s
estate
…
everything they should know, it seemed to Basha. He supposed
the knight was worried, in case something should happen to
him
and the boys would be
left on their own
, but Basha was certain
the knight would be with them always. Sir Nickleby had to be one of
the most experienced knights ever, and certainly knew how to plan
things out
.
H
e couldn’t be so careless as to let
something happen to him.

On the first day, the knight had
planned their route, using a map full of intricate drawings of
Arria. It showed the routes that traversed mountains, trees, towns,
rivers, and castles, the sections split between Mila Forest in the
north, Popo Hills in the middle, Tau Valley taking up most of the
bottom half of the page and a blank space for the Wastelands ruled
by Doomba on the other side of the mountains known as Dragon’s
Teeth

“
Where is Coe
Pidaria?” Basha had asked, staring at the blank space on the map
that first day
, as if it
might appear if he concentrated hard enough
.
Coe Pidaria, the
legendary first capital city of Arria where the first king, Corr,
had ruled almost three thousand years ago, and was also the
location of Tau’s Cup, a sacred relic that had been used by the god
Tau to create the first humans, had been lost to the outside world
when Doomba and his Wastelands had surrounded it. No one, as far as
they knew of, had seen Coe Pidaria since that time, but now they
were heading there, to that legendary city, in the hopes of
retrieving Tau’s Cup so that Basha might bestow it upon his beloved
Jawen back in Coe Baba as a dower. It was a risky quest,
considering the territory they would have to cross through to reach
Coe Pidaria, but Basha hoped that it might be worth the
reward.

“
It’s either in the
northwest corner, the southeast corner, or the northeast corner of
the Wastelands.” Sir Nickleby had told them. “People are not sure
of the precise location because it has been so long since anyone
has been there. Personally, I think it might be in the southeast
corner, because it supposedly was as far south as anyone could go
in Arria. We, however, need to be careful about how we’re going to
approach it.” Sir Nickleby said. “My feeling is that, if we were to
travel southeast all the way down to Coe Pidaria, we might be
noticed. And so we are going southwest, not southeast. I believe
that is the safest way.” The knight told them.

“
Isn’t that the long
way around?” Oaka had asked, looking at the map and getting a grasp
on it. “I mean, if we were going to go southwest from Coe Baba,
then
we would have to circle around to get
to Coe Pidaria in the southeast...” He said, trailing off as he
traced the route on the map. “We’re going around on the coast all
the way down to the south, aren’t we?” He asked.
“
And then we will be
t
raveling
from
west to east when we’re on
the edges of the Wastelands, that is
dangerous. And we’ll be practically traveling along the
whole border of Arria throughout this entire trip, if we do manage
to make the return journey, we’ll be making one great big circle or
square!
”
Oaka cried.

“
The reports I’ve
heard seem to indicate that most of the coast is clear of Doomba’s
influence,” Sir Nickleby had said. “It’s only further inland,
deeper in the heart of the Wastelands, that Doomba’s presence is
really felt. There have been ships that went around the coast to
get to Mirandor on the other sid
e, though the waterway has been treacherous.”

“
But that’s
still
…
I don’t want to spend any more time in the Wastelands than is
necessary,” Oaka had said, shuddering. “
Not to mention traveling throughout all of Arria, the
length and width of it twice.
I don’t
think this is very wise. And how do we know that Coe Pidaria is out
of Doomba’s influence in the first place
?
”

“
We would know if Coe
Pidaria was ever taken by Doomba.” Sir Nickleby had said, turning
around to face Oaka. “There would have been
a disaster of the worst kind,” The knight muttered. “Doomba
would have swept Arria right off the map if he ever got his hands
on Coe Pidaria.” The knight said.

“
Uh, Arria was nearly
swept off of the map all those centuries ago,” Oaka remarked, “But
it came back again.”

“
Barely.” Sir
Nickleby added.

Basha now thought
that Sir Nickleby had worried a little overmuch about the
challenges they might face
.
W
hile Doomba’s Wastelands certainly would
be dangerous, thus far nothing much had happened to them as they
traversed the forest road, and slept with one of them on guard duty
for part of the night before they switched shifts. It was still
early, but if the rest of the trip was going to be like this, it
might be easy. Basha and Oaka had been warned for much of their
lives of the dangers of the outside world,
how Coe Baba was a safe haven,
but if the
whole
world was like this, like Coe Baba,
then
it
might not be so bad.

“
How much further is
it to Coe Anji now, sir?” He asked Sir Nickleby on this third
day.

“
Fifty-five more
miles, we have a full day ahead of us.” The knight said, going to
his pack and pulling out the map.

“
Can we cover that
distance today, sir?” Basha asked.

“
If we try. From Coe
Anji, we will go to Coe Aela,” The knight said, looking at the map.
“Coe Anji is where we will pick up some supplies, Coe Aela is where
we might ask the lord for assistance. Lord Fobata is Duke of Coe
Aela, which is a castle, not a town, ‘Coe’ applies to both castles
and towns
.
A
nyway, Lord Fobata is a good man, so he
should be able and willing to help us.” Sir Nickleby
said.

“
How do you know
that?” Oaka asked.

“
I have met the lord
twice, first when I was invited there to a feast many years ago by
the lord’s father, Lord Joq, who was still Duke at the time.” Sir
Nickleby said as the boys started to realize this would be one of
those lectures. “Lord Fobata was just a boy, smart and ready to
enlist in the army, good with stratagems, lists, equations and
such.” The knight remarked.

“
And then when I was
older, on my way to Coe Baba to take up my assignment here, he
invited me to lunch when I stayed at his castle. Brilliant man,
well-spoken and full of such ideas, and he was not even 35 yet! But
still, he seemed much older than I was.” Sir Nickleby said,
sighing. “Apparently he had just lost his wife.” He hesitated as he
realized the boys were starting to nod off a bit.

“
Anyway, we shall
head straight south from Coe Aela,” Sir Nickleby said, gruff as he
realized his audience was not so attentive. “We shall have all of
the supplies we need to make it through the interior of the Popo
Hills without stopping at the Coes along the west coast. The hill
bandits most likely would be along those western roads, picking off
merchant trains and unwary travelers, so we shall head across
country, marching as quick as we can to avoid all of that bother.
Then we shall reach Coe Kiki.” He said.

“
Coe Kiki?” Basha
said, lifting his head up as he remembered the stories.

“
Aye, Coe Kiki,” Sir
Nickleby said with a nod, “That’s right, and maybe we shall see the
palace, or even stay there, if I have any influence left with my
title.”

“
The capital city!”
Basha said, turning to Oaka. “King Sonnagh! Oh, is that not worth
the trip itself?” He asked Oaka.

“
I suppose, although
I’m not getting the Cup for Sisila.” Oaka remarked.

“
And from Coe Kiki,
we shall head west, and then south along the coast, hopefully with
enough supplies
…
” Sir Nickleby started to say,
but the boys weren’t paying attention to him now.

“
Don’t worry, you’ll
get the glory.” Basha whispered to Oaka. “If I get the Cup out of
Coe Pidaria, I’ll be sure to say it was all because of
you.”

Oaka smirked. “I’m
intrigued and interested
.
T
hat might be worth the trip. Sisila can
say she is married to the man whose brother saved Tau’s
Cup
…
hey!” He cried as Basha tackled Oaka, and the boys wrestled
on the ground.

Sir Nickleby looked up from the map he
was studying and shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m traveling
with a pair of 12-year-olds.” He said, watching them fight.

“
We’re not 12, we’re
17!” Oaka yelled, raising his head.

“
Act like it, then!”
Sir Nickleby roared back at him as the boys stopped fighting.
“We’re losing daylight. We need to eat fast, and then be on our
way. Pack up your stuff, and remember that we need to travel
light,” Sir Nickleby said, as the boys started to get up to proceed
as ordered. “Don’t take anything out of your packs that you don’t
need for the night when we camp, and on this trip, don’t take any
more than you need or can carry. Remember, the horses are not only
carrying you, they are also carrying your things, and we need to be
prepared in case anything should happen to the horses.”

“
The horses? Why
should we have to worry?” Basha asked.

“
Ah, ah, I am the
expert on this expedition, Basha.” Sir Nickleby said. “As a leader,
you should recognize when people have more knowledge than you
do
.
”

“
A leader?” Basha
gasped, shocked at this. “I can’t be a leader!”

“
That’s right, you
are a leader. You are responsible for why this has happened, this
quest is because of your oath
to Jawen
.” Sir Nickleby insisted.
“You will take charge of your actions and this expedition, but only
after you have learned enough to handle the responsibilities
involved. Until then, I am in charge of taking care of you boys.”
Sir Nickleby said, walking away.

“
A leader...” Basha
said, slightly stunned. Never had he imagined
…
he had gone on this
quest, expecting that he would have to take care of himself and be
responsible in the sense of fulfilling this task. But to take care
of others, and to make decisions that would affect
them
…
he couldn’t do that, could he?

He would be
commanding Oaka and Sir Nickleby in the process, and he couldn’t do
that, could he? They weren’t exactly going to listen to him,
especially Oaka, his older brother wouldn’t tolerate orders from
him! And he would be embarrassed at ordering Sir Nickleby
about
;
the knight might obey him, whatever he had to say, but it
would feel weird, and then he would have to listen to Sir Nickleby
if the knight had an opinion
…
would he really be in charge
then, or would it just be a charade to make him feel
good?

“
A
leader
…
Basha?” Oaka laughed. “He’s not
…
”

“
He will be one day,
Oaka!” Sir Nickleby cried back at him, before continuing
on.

Basha frowned, wondering why Sir
Nickleby had to defend him like that. The knight was not doing him
any favors with Oaka. But was it so ridiculous for Oaka to laugh at
him like that?

“
Why am I not
surprised he took your side?” Oaka muttered, low enough for Basha
to hear, but not Sir Nickleby. “Why did he have to come along with
us in the first place, Basha?” Oaka asked.

“
He’s helping us,
Oaka.” Basha said, staring after Sir Nickleby.

“
Is he really?” Oaka
asked.

“
I hope so,” Basha
said, following after Sir Nickleby. He wasn’t ready to give up his
trust of Sir Nickleby and his abilities, when it had been his
mainstay for years now. But the knight’s willingness to come with
him did strike him as odd, almost as odd as Oaka seemed to find it,
but whatever reasons Sir Nickleby had for coming with him, he hoped
they were good ones.