Ties of Blood (3 page)

“I think it would be best if we tried to go as far as we can without getting noticed. It doesn’t look as if they have many guards posted. I doubt we will get through the whole camp but the longer we can make it the easier it will be to get through to the other side.” Ballard said in a low whisper.

Without another word the three carefully made their way toward the first row of tents. It would have been easier had the tents been set up in a uniform pattern but it looked as if they had been thrown up without any regard to uniformity. Considering the Ablaian’s natural love to order she had expected to find a meticulously formed camp. She didn’t know why but seeing something so haphazard annoyed her.

After they passed the first group of tents a soldier who was sitting near a small fire looked over at them. The soldier jumped from his seat startled at their appearance. Two daggers flew from Darryl’s hand one catching the soldier in the chest and the other cutting deep into the man’s throat. The Ablaian grabbed his throat trying to stem the flow of blood that poured from the wound like a fountain. He staggered backwards tripping over the log he had been sitting on and tumbled into the fire.

The soldier tried to roll out of the fire but his struggles were in vain and short lived as the fire quickly consumed his body filling the air with a repugnant aroma. Whether it was the noise or the scent of burnt skin and hair that now filled the air people starting piling out of their tents to see what was going on.

“Time to ride.” Darryl said as he swung up into his saddle.

Eloen mounted her own horse and took the shortest route to the end of the canyon. It didn’t take long before she could hear the cries of alarm going up throughout the camp. She looked over her shoulder and was glad to see that Ballard and Darryl were still behind her.

The ride through the camp was short and they could see the end of the tents. A few arrows whistled by her but none of them had been close enough to make her jump. Once she was out the other side and the noise quieted down she could hear pursuers but it sounded as if they were a good deal behind them and falling behind more every second. Luckily they had caught the Ablaians sleeping and ill prepared.

Eloen didn’t slow down but kept her horse at a full gallop until she was sure they enemy camp was far behind them. It was her steed that finally decided it had enough and came to an almost dead stop breathing hard. She knew the poor horse needed a rest but the area was too open and she was afraid to rest in the open. So she nudged the horse to continue on as she began to scan for a suitable place to rest.

Ballard and Darryl came up behind her a short time later their horses complaining loudly about having to continue on. She felt bad about forcing the poor animals to run themselves to near death but in the end it had been a needed sacrifice.

“We need to find a place to rest?” Darryl said his voice pained.

Eloen turned to see Darryl trying to dig an arrow from his arm. The wound didn’t look as if it had hit any veins but she knew that they had to get the arrow out soon or they risked him getting an infection. “Quit playing with it. If a piece of the arrowhead comes off we will have to cut you to the bone to get it out.” Eloen scolded him.

“Yes mother.” Darryl said back jokingly.

They followed the mountain until they found an out of the way passage. It wasn’t perfect but it would hide them from a distance and if forced they could hold the tight corridor easily. As soon as they dismounted Ballard went to Darryl and made some small cuts around the arrow to allow the arrowhead to slide out easily.

Eloen was still to edgy to sleep so she volunteered to take the first watch. She had expected to hear some complaints but neither of the men seemed to have the energy for it. As the two men settled down for some much needed rest Eloen found a nice seat and watched as the sun began to crest on the horizon. Her mind was still on Thad, as she wondered if he was watching the same sunrise as her.

CHAPTER III

Eloen covered her mouth as she yawned. She was tired from getting only a few hours of sleep the night before. Ballard seemed to share in her misery but Darryl seemed to still have plenty of bounce in his step. She felt jealous of his seemingly boundless energy. They had left camp only a few hours before midday, and had only been traveling for a short while but it felt like it had been much longer.

None of them had been to Abla before but from maps, she knew that the capital lay in the southeastern corner of the Kingdom. They didn’t have any leads so that’s where they were headed. Hopefully in the first town they could find out something. She knew it wasn’t the best of plans but it was all she had at the moment.

They continued to press on as the sun moved along its route in the sky. A high overcast began to move in, and the clouds began to thicken. It was easy to tell that an early spring storm was brewing. The only question was how bad was it going to be? A little rain was one thing but Abla was famous from some large storms with winds strong enough to rip houses apart.

“We need to find shelter.” Eloen yelled over the mounting winds.

“Where do you expect us to find shelter out in the middle of nowhere?” Darryl yelled back.

She tried to answer him but the winds began to howl as a light rain started to pour down. Eloen spurred her horse to go a bit faster as the rain and wind began to pick up to the point where she was sure she would be left with a few bruises from the pelting rain.

The stormed continued to grow in intensity until the rain was so thick she could barely see her horse’s head. To keep from getting separated from the others they rode close together holding a long rope. It was slow and inconvenient but it was better than having to search for them later.

By sheer luck they came across a small farm. Dismounting her horse Eloen stowed her sword and battle harness in her travel pack. Abla didn’t allow females to carry weapons or join the army like Farlan. In fact from what she had heard Abla was the complete opposite of Farlan in almost every regard. She knew that she would have to allow Ballard or Darryl to take the lead when they dealt with the locals.

Before they could reach the house the door swung open revealing a rather large man. “What in the blazes are you doing out in this weather?” He bellowed from the doorway.

“We were traveling and got lost in the storm.” Ballard yelled in reply.

The large man shook his head. “Well hurry up and get yourselves inside, I’ll have one of the boys see to your horses.”

As soon as they were inside the house a young boy no more than twelve rushed out the door. Eloen watched the boy slightly worried that something might happen to him out in the storm.

The large man catching her look gave her a warm smile. “Not to worry Tim may be young but nothing is going to happen to him out here on the farm.”

Eloen simply nodded her head and followed Ballard and Darryl into the main room of the house. The house was simple, with only a few wicker chairs and a table set in the middle of the room. It wasn’t spacious by any means, but there was a large fire going and the second the warmth hit her, the small house might as well been a mansion.

“Do we have visitors dear?”

Eloen turned to see a petite woman coming down the stairs. She wore a simple homemade pale peach dress with flowers embroidered all over it. She wasn’t a great beauty but she was far from homely. She had a simple beauty, with long dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes. Eloen was sure she had a fair number of suitors when she was younger.

“Oh my!” The lady said rushing over to Eloen. “You’re soaked to the bone. Joshua where are your manners we can’t let the young lady stand around in wet clothes. What if she catches a chill?” She said scolding her husband.

The woman turned toward Eloen giving smiling brightly. “Come with me dear, we need to get you out those clothes. You can have one of my old dresses, I have plenty that just don’t suit my tastes anymore.” She said grabbing Eloen securely by the arm and dragging her up the stairs.

Once in the room alone the woman turned to her and gave her another one of her brilliant smiles. “I am Rene. What can I call you dear?”

“Eloen.”

“Nice to meet you dear, now get out of those wet things so we can hand them over their fireplace before they sour.” Rene said holding out her hand. Eloen obeyed and quickly shimmied out of her wet dress and short clothes.

The woman wanted her to wear some of the more feminine dresses but Eloen wanted something that wouldn’t draw attention. After trying on a few they both finally agreed on a plain gray dress. The young woman’s dresses were a bit tight and slightly shorter than she felt comfortable wearing but it was better than prancing around in the nude.

Back in the common room of the house they found only the small boy hanging up his soaked cloak to dry above the fire pit. Rene followed suit handing her clothes up on one of the small pegs to dry. Eloen pulled one of the wicker chairs up to the fire and took a seat and started to thaw her numb fingers.

“May I ask what has you out this way?” Rene said pulling up a chair to sit beside her.

“Were we on our way to the capital, and lost our way during the storm.” Eloen said repeating what Ballard had told the woman’s husband.

“Well you’re lucky, it doesn’t seem like the storm will let up before the morning.”

The three men returned with Ballard and Darryl having changed clothes. Unlike her they could wear their other changes of cloths. She was used to wearing dresses when she was at home but she felt more comfortable in a pair of leather pants than a dress. She knew that she was going to have to make sacrifices but it was slightly annoying not to have her weapons with her.

“Your brother tells me you are headed to the capital to meet up with your betrothed, who has got himself stationed at the prison. Don’t know whose bad side he got on to get that posting, but I’m sure that with such a lovely lady such as yourself on his arm he’s bound to be the envy of everyone.” The large farmer said giving her a sly wink.

“Glenn you behave yourself or I’ll cook nothing but greens for your supper for the next fortnight.” Rene said slapping her husband playfully on the arm, then turned to Eloen her face brightening in the space of a heartbeat. “You’re getting married? You have to tell me all about it. I was just about to start dinner, if you don’t mind helping we can chat while the men see who can tell the most outrageous stories.”

Eloen laughed and followed Rene into the small kitchen. While they prepared the meal Eloen told her everything about Thad without trying to blow their cover story. The woman seemed to be genuinely interested in her stories and asked countless questions. She wanted to know everything from how the two had met, to their first kiss. It was going well until Rene asked about her father’s thoughts about the marriage.

“I don’t know. I never knew which of my mother’s lovers my father was. He could have been any number of her slaves.” Eloen blurted out before she knew what she was saying.

Rene and Eloen stared at each other for a long moment then the woman turned to the young boy who was tending the fire of the stove. “Timothy, would you please go clean that pigsty you call a room.” The boy huffed but obeyed shuffling off mumbling out of the kitchen. As soon as he was well out of sight Rene turned to Eloen and gave her a scrutinizing look. “Now a few things you said didn’t seem to match up. I don’t enjoy being jerked around, so why don’t you start telling the truth before I call for my husband.”

Eloen let out a heavy sigh, and began to tell Rene the truth. Starting with where they were really from, how she had met Thad and what they were really doing in Abla leaving out only Thad’s ability to use magic. The woman gasped a few times and often asked her to elaborate on her story. When she was finished with her tale Eloen stood there waiting for the worst.

“I didn’t know we had a force attacking Farlan again, I swear that our men can’t live without starting a war every few years.” Rene said wiping a tear from her eye. “You know when I was a child I always loved the stories my mother would tell me about the handsome prince who would brave all danger and fight against impossible odds to win the hand of the princess. I would lay awake at night and dream that I was the princess waiting for my prince to come and whisk me away. While your story isn’t the same it has the same spirit and I can’t help but wish for your success.”

“So you’re not going to tell your husband.” Eloen asked her heart pounding fiercely.

“I love that windbag, but he’s about as romantic as a wet bag.” Rene replied laughing. “No, I won’t tell that lummox, so you can breathe easy. I do think you’re going the wrong way though. They take prisoners of war to Treforge. It’s to the southwest a little over a fortnight from here. I would suggest you head to Boral to the south, and follow the southern road. It’s the fastest route I know of, maybe you can still catch up to them. If they reach the prison you would need an army to break him out.” Rene said placing her hand comfortingly on her shoulder. “Don’t worry I’m sure your love is safe.”