Chapter 16

The stop at Dalewood was uneventful. Corec had asked at The Smiling Jester, but there hadn’t been any packages needing delivery. He was starting to believe that working as a courier wouldn’t pay any better than being a caravan guard, unless he could get hired on full time by one of the houses.

They got back on the road the next morning. At the edge of town, the West Road split into the Trade Road, which led to Four Roads and then through the hills into Larso, and the Old Road, which led into farming country. The Old Road had been a major trade route once, but wasn’t used much anymore.

The first evening west of Dalewood, they stopped to make camp at a spot where a long stand of willow trees showed there was water nearby.

“The caravan usually camps here, too,” Corec said, pointing to a flat area between the road and the trees, with several fire rings surrounded by stones that were black from soot.

They dismounted and led the animals off the road, choosing a spot farther back in the trees for their campsite rather than staying out in the open like the caravan did. While Katrin and Bobo gathered wood for a fire, Shavala helped Corec take the animals to the stream. Her ability to talk to them didn’t allow her to control them, but Socks and the mules usually listened to her. Corec kept a lead rope on Dot and Rose, and they walked with the other animals.

Nearing the stream, he stopped in surprise. A young blonde woman was bathing naked upstream from where he stood. She was facing to the side and hadn’t seen them yet, and the sound of the water must have covered up any noise they’d made. The stream wasn’t deep, and he could see the curve of her hips and the swell of her breasts as she bent over to splash more water on herself.

“Oh,” Shavala said, as she stopped next to him. “Is she alone?”

“I don’t see anyone else,” Corec said, managing to tear his eyes away from the girl. He decided to take the animals far enough downstream that he and Shavala weren’t spying on the girl. Then, after she’d finished bathing, they could find her and talk. “We’ll have to let her know we’re camping here.”

“Hello!” Shavala yelled, and the girl looked at them in shock, covering her breasts.

“That wasn’t what I meant!” Corec said.

The girl waved at them, still covering herself with her other arm. There was a flustered grimace on her face but she didn’t seem as startled or embarrassed as Corec would have expected. She made her way to the bank of the stream, to the spot closest to where she’d been bathing, and grabbed a thin linen towel that was hanging from a branch there. Her clothes were folded neatly, resting on top of a pack that leaned up against the same tree. Corec again forced himself to look away as she dried herself off and got dressed.

The girl cleared her throat once she was clothed, and he turned back around to see her walking toward them. She stepped with a cat-like grace over the uneven ground, despite not wearing any shoes. She was slender, with unusually blue eyes and the lightest blonde hair Corec had ever seen, other than on a seaborn who’d just come out of the water. She wore a plain gray tunic belted over plain gray pants, both of which hung loose around her body, though the top laid enticingly over her chest.

“I didn’t realize anyone was around,” the girl said, taking them both in. Her eyes widened when she saw Shavala’s ears and her rune. “You’re an elf! I mean ... I’m sorry. I haven’t seen many elves before. Are you dorvasta?”

Shavala appeared startled at the girl’s use of the elven word. “Yes. My name is Shavala. We just arrived ourselves—we didn’t see your camp.”

“I’ve just got my pack,” she said, pointing to it. “I’m Treya.”

“You’re traveling alone?” Corec asked, concerned.

“I can take care of myself.” She glanced at the family crest on his cuirass. “House Tarwen?”

“You’re from Larso? Oh, sorry—my name’s Corec.”

“No, I’m from Tyrsall, but we had to study all the northern kingdoms. Located in the Black Crow Mountains, major exports are maple syrup, apples, potatoes, wool, and silver. I’m afraid the only name I know is the baron, Ansel.”

He laughed in surprise. “Not much silver left these days, but yes, that sounds right. Ansel is my father, by way of his concubine.” That last sentence just slipped out. If he was going to start telling complete strangers—Varsin Senshall and now this girl—about his family, he realized he should tell Katrin, too. There wasn’t much point in keeping it secret anyway, it was just a habit.

“A concubine? I was trained by the Three Orders.”

Corec stared at her for a moment, wondering at the coincidence. “My mother grew up in the Highfell chapter house. You’re a concubine, too?”

“No. Concubines are just one of the Three Orders. I chose another.” She didn’t elaborate.

“Where are you headed?” he asked.

“To Four Roads first. After that, I’m not sure. I’m supposed to go wherever the road takes me—like a journeyman, though we don’t call ourselves that.”

“We’re headed to Four Roads, too,” Corec said. “Us and two others. You’re welcome to travel with us if you’d like.” He was still concerned about her being on the road by herself.

Treya gave him a long, serious look. “Perhaps. We’ll see. I’ve had bad luck with traveling companions.” She reached up and scratched at a spot on her forehead.

This time, when Corec’s arm started itching, he noticed.

“Oh, shit.”

Treya wasn’t sure what to believe.

“You’re really serious about this?” she asked, looking at the others. Corec and Shavala had introduced her to a young, red-haired woman named Katrin and a portly fellow with a scraggly beard who called himself Bobo. The four of them had been trying to explain what she’d gotten herself into.

“Yes,” Corec said. “I’m sorry. That wizard back in Tyrsall that we mentioned—his name was Deshin—says there’s no way I could be the one doing it, not without training, but I’m not sure I believe him. How else would it keep happening?”

“Maybe we need to put a blindfold on you anytime you’re around a woman,” Katrin said, her voice betraying a sense of disappointment.

“I ... do you think that would work?” He sounded genuinely curious.

“How would I know?” she replied.

“Wait, what do you mean, when I’m around a woman?”

Katrin pointed to Treya, Shavala, and herself. “Notice a pattern?” Then she pointed to Bobo. “He doesn’t have one.”

“Just wait a minute,” Treya said. “I’ll admit my head itches a bit, but that doesn’t mean someone’s cast some sort of spell on me.”

“That’s what I thought,” Shavala said, then shrugged, her rune glowing brightly on her brow.

“You could get a hat like this,” Katrin said, taking it from her lap and putting it back on. It came down low on her forehead, hiding the rune she’d showed Treya.

“What do the runes actually do?” Treya asked. “What does this binding spell do?”

“Nothing, as far as we can tell,” Bobo said.

“I can always tell where Corec is,” Shavala said.

Corec shot her a glance. “What?”

“Well, not where you are, but what direction you’re in.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I didn’t realize it until today, and we hadn’t had a chance to talk yet.”

Treya stood up abruptly. “I’m not sure what to say about all this. I need to think.”

She walked away from the group, wanting to be alone.

Katrin glanced around at the others after Treya stalked off. “I’ll go talk to her.”

She followed the other woman and caught up to her, but they just walked silently for a few minutes. The sun was starting to set, but there was still plenty of light to see where they were going.

Finally, Treya said, “Do you think he did it?” It was obvious she meant Corec.

“Yes, but I believe him when he says he didn’t mean to.”

“Why?” Treya asked, stopping.

Katrin stopped as well, facing her. “Because I’ve been traveling with him for over a month now and he seems to be trying to do the right thing. We just don’t know what that is, exactly.”

“Why do you think he’s only doing it to women?”

“With Shavala, it was just one other person, so I could ignore it. But now with you ... I don’t know.”

The blonde girl was almost uncomfortably beautiful. Was that it? Shavala was attractive, too, and it would certainly explain why Bobo didn’t have a rune.

“You haven’t figured out a way to get rid of it?” Treya asked.

Katrin sighed. “No. That wizard who tried the banishment spell, he suggested we try another wizard who knows more about them, but the new wizard charges more money than we have. We were going to look down in Circle Bay, instead.”

“Why Circle Bay?”

“Corec says there aren’t any wizards in Four Roads, and Circle Bay is where we’re headed next, to help my brother.”

“Your brother?”

“He’s in prison. It’s a long story.”

They started walking again, doing a wide circle around the camp.

“That seems like a long way to go to get help,” Treya said. “You’re going back to Tyrsall first, right? I know some priests there who might be able to do something.”

“I’m willing to try anything,” Katrin said. “I’m getting used to it, and I’m getting better at making it disappear, but I just want things to go back to normal. I want to go home and help my brother, and get back to playing music.” Even as she spoke, she wasn’t sure she was being honest. If everything returned to normal and she went back to Circle Bay on her own, she’d miss her new friends. Even Bobo. Even Corec. “How would a priest help, though?”

“You know that some priests can heal, right?”

Katrin nodded. Everyone knew that.

“Some can do other things, too. The Bishop of Allosur can break demonic curses. This might be something like that.”

“You know the Bishop of Allosur?”

“No, but I’ve spoken to one of his priests a few times. He might be able to help us.”

“We should ask,” Katrin agreed. “Does that mean you’re going to come with us?”

“Well, I was going to Four Roads anyway. It’ll be weird to return to Tyrsall so soon, but if that’s where I need to be, then that’s where I’ll go.”

Just then, Katrin realized the other woman had been walking shoeless over the stones and the weeds. “Your feet! Don’t they hurt?”

Treya laughed. “Mystics go barefoot. We need to feel the world around us, and if we have to fight, it’s better if there’s nothing covering our hands or feet.”

“Fight? What’s a mystic?”

“I guess you weren’t there when I told the other two I grew up in the Three Orders. We’re not all concubines. I joined the Order of Mystics instead. We’re ... difficult to explain. It began as a way to seek enlightenment through knowledge of oneself, but the first mystics learned some things they weren’t expecting.”

“But how do you—”

There was a snarl. Katrin looked to the side expecting to see a wild animal, but instead she found two men wearing black brigandine armor running at them, one carrying a sword and the other with an axe.

“Corec!” she shouted, then stumbled back and fell on her ass.

The one with the axe drew close, his eyes glowing red. Katrin was too frightened by the sight to move, but then Treya was suddenly there. She punched him in the face, her hands and feet glowing with a pale white light. He turned his attention to her and she grabbed both his arms, too close for him to hit her with the axe. She turned him to the side, putting him between her and the other man, whose eyes were also glowing. The swordsman had been charging forward, thrusting at Treya, and wasn’t able to change direction in time. He stabbed the axeman in the back.

With the wounded man falling to his knees, Treya turned her attention to the one with the sword. He didn’t react to stabbing his partner, merely pulling the sword back out and slashing toward her with a growl. She twisted away and kicked her leg up higher than Katrin had thought was possible, striking the man in the face. He stepped back and shook his head, his nose bleeding, then tried to attack again.

A look of concern grew on Treya’s face as she hit and kicked the man repeatedly, seemingly with no effect, while having to constantly dodge his thrusts and slashes.

The first man struggled back to his feet, so Katrin scrambled up, too. She fumbled with the dagger tied to her waist, managing to pull it from its sheathe on her third try. The man was ignoring his stab wound, but he moved slowly and awkwardly. When he bent down to reach for his axe, Katrin rushed forward and stabbed him in the neck, then let go of the dagger in horror when she realized what she’d done. He fell, and ended up on his side staring at her. As he died, the red light faded from his eyes.

Katrin dropped to her knees and threw up.

Once her stomach was under control, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stood up. Treya was staring at her in concern.

“I’ve never killed anyone before,” Katrin said, trying not to look at the man she’d stabbed.

“Neither have I,” Treya admitted, looking green herself. Katrin followed her gaze to the see the second man on the ground, his neck twisted sideways.

Then, Katrin’s eyes caught Treya’s as they both realized no one had come to their aid. The clanging of metal could be heard from the camp. The two women ran toward the fight.

Shavala waited with Corec and Bobo at the spot they’d chosen for their camp. There was still plenty of light out, so she could see Katrin and Treya walking in the distance, at least when there weren’t any trees in the way.

Since they weren’t planning on traveling any farther for the day, Corec was taking the opportunity to remove his armor. As he did so, he stared after the two women, a concerned look on his face.

Bobo tried to distract him. “I finished that book on binding spells, and I was right the first time. There’s not much useful in it, other than the description of the different types of bonds.”

“Like what?” Corec asked.

“Well, if we limit it to binding spells between people, rather than objects, there’s one that lets you control what the other person does.”

Corec laughed. “It’s not that one, trust me. Just ask Katrin.”

“There’s also one that lets you know when the other person has been injured, and a very nasty one that causes any injuries done to one person to also be done to the other.”

“Why would anyone do something like that?”

“The book didn’t say, and I really don’t want to speculate. And, since Shavala mentioned it, there’s one that lets you know where someone is at all times. Or perhaps just the direction, like she said. The description is unclear.”

“So, that’s the one we have, then?” Corec asked. “I didn’t even notice it until she said it, but if I close my eyes, I can still tell what direction they’re in, even while they’re moving around. It doesn’t make any sense. Why would anyone go to all this trouble just so we can locate someone we’d never met before up until that point?”

“It does seem somewhat pointless,” Bobo said. “Though, if you’re doing it yourself, perhaps it’s simply because it’s the only binding spell you know.”

“I can tell when I’m casting the other spells though. I’ve never felt anything for this one, other than the itching on my arms.”

“Why worry about it?” Shavala asked them. “It doesn’t sound like it’s going to hurt anyone.”

Corec looked at her seriously. “You’ve never found it disturbing to have that thing on your head?”

She shrugged. “What’s done is done. If it’s harmless, we can ignore it.”

“What if I can’t stop?”

Before she could answer, five men in identical black armor rushed toward them from behind the trees.

Corec jumped to his feet and shouted, “Hey! Who—”

They didn’t look like they were going to stop to talk. Shavala glanced over to the tree trunk where her bow stood propped up, unstrung. Her quiver was next to it, but she didn’t think she could get there in time, and Corec had removed all of his armor except for the greave on his left leg. Luckily, his sword was still nearby, and he pulled it from its sheathe as the men ran at them without speaking.