Chapter 9

I was more than a bit proud of myself since we were moving upstream even if we had to move almost directly against the wind. Okay, I was probably moving quite a bit slower than the more experienced sailors here on the Slow River, but I didn’t mind. We were moving and we were getting ready to start the next phase of our plan!

There were three people besides me on this trip, Linnea, since I needed to be sure that I would not be lied to; Frey, since he would need to learn this trade as I wouldn’t always be here; and the Elves had requested to have some time with Tove in order to soften her for the idea that Frey’s help would be needed at the valley, too. Finally, there was Hantaliel. She was with us because I wanted her to be there. Hantaliel had decades of experience following and dealing with people - and I really trusted her.

Trust. My women had decided to trust Kara so much that she had been asked to spend some nights with us - and my women also made sure that I finished what I had started with Kara during our trip there. At first, Kara had been a bit tentative but a few words from Bellcauniel had been enough to convince her. I wasn’t asked; I was ordered. My task was to make Kara ‘one of us’. After all, I had brought her there, so it was my responsibility.

Even if I had gotten better at reading people, I wasn’t able to read the look on Kara’s face the following morning - or any of the mornings when she had spent the night in my bed. Or in our bed, since both Bellcauniel and Fainauriel joined us the last night before I left the Valley. I shook away those memories and concentrated on the river in front of me and the wind that was causing me some problems.

Gradually, I really got the feeling for how the boat was reacting and I had to force myself not to push it - not just because I was afraid that I’ll sink our boat but also because Frey had started to look a bit uneasy. That was something he needed to learn to handle since, at some point, he would be running this business if things went as planned. Hantaliel had been in a boat before and had no problem with it and neither did Linnea, even if this was a new experience for her. Birgit had also offered us some things to trade as she decided to try this northern route; it might be significantly cheaper than the sea route, especially for some small, good quality items. Like our wine and spices. Of course, we could have done the business without Birgit, but things were easier if your name was already known. Besides, the Elven women wanted her to have her share.

I warned my fellow people before making another turn across the river, after which I took a quick look at the river map I had in front of me. Even if you were able to sail the Slow River upstream (which you could not do with River Aston) these shifting shallows prevented all the upstream traffic with large boats quite well. After a quick look around, I noticed that Frey started to look really gray. I knew that I’d need to do something. Something other than making him lose his breakfast.

“Frey, come here. I want you to take the helm.”

“Me?”

His voice almost squawked but I pretended I had not noticed anything.

“Yes, you. After all, you need to learn this thing rather sooner than later. Besides, it also forces me to think about what I have learned.”

There was also something that I had remembered from Birgit’s instructions. That it might help sea-sickness if you were able to control the boat by yourself. The problem was that I loved it, myself, and I did not like to give the control to anybody else. I knew that I would not be able to do everything alone but learning to share responsibility didn’t come easy to me. I wasn’t at all sure how I would react if some of my women wanted to have a baby with some other man. The mere idea made me feel sick. I shook those thoughts away and moved to make some space for Frey.

“Now Frey, take a hold, like this, of the tiller bar. When we are moving like this, you need to push back with some force in order to keep the boat on the right course.”

After some time I noticed that teaching what little I knew about sailing the boat upriver wasn’t too hard. Not only that, I found myself understanding better some things Birgit had shown or told me once Frey asked me more about them. Still, it wasn’t quite as nice as doing it yourself, but I’d need to learn to live with that. Besides, Frey already looked more than a bit better.

Teaching Frey had made our progress somewhat slower than planned and we weren’t able to reach the village that had been our goal that evening. Luckily the map of the river I had with me offered some places to spend the night - and even the location of some natural springs from which you could get fresh water. No, I would never drink water from the Slow River. I was sure that I wasn’t the only one who had dumped something disgusting into it.

I took the steering from Frey when we got close to the shore and I made him check the river depth from the front of the boat. We would not be able to get ashore with this boat but we could use the little skiff we had with us. Once our boat was anchored at both ends, I was quite satisfied with myself. At least I hadn’t wrecked our boat yet.

Then I felt them. A group of people approaching the location where I knew the spring should be. For a moment, I wondered if we should get moving, but soon decided against it. Instead, I turned to my friends.

“We may get some visitors soon; a group of five people moving towards that spring. A group of Guardians, if I guess correctly.”

Even if Frey had guessed something about my special ability he wasn’t convinced.

“How do you know that they are Guardians?”

I smiled. “I don’t. But there aren’t so many others who move around here in the forests - and in a group of five persons.”

“Does the amount have some special meaning?”

“I guess that it’s the standard size of their party. A wet-eared Lieutenant, an older Sergeant who runs things and three rank-and-files who do most of the work.”

“How do you know all that?”

I turned to look at the forest that started a bit further away from the shoreline. There was a gentle rise that steepened a bit further away. Back in my hunting days that kind of bank under the small ridge would have been a place from which I would have searched for a source of clean water in unfamiliar terrain. There were pine trees on the ridge which indicated that the ridge might be mostly gravel, while down closer to the river there were birches which meant that there had to be enough water available. Most likely there would also be several animal paths leading to the natural spring. I had noticed all those things even if I hadn’t consciously thought about them until now.

I answered Frey. “I spent a year helping the Guardians - the good Guardians. Those people who spend most of their lives walking these hillsides and protecting people. Those few years in Aston almost made me forget that most of the Guardians are actually good people, protecting the normal people and fixing the deadly things some ambitious Magicians do. However, that is something you may never mention to anybody outside our valley and perhaps not even there. The young hunter who helped those Guardians back then is assumed to be dead now and he needs to stay that way.”

I wasn’t smiling anymore and something in my voice made Frey pull back a little. Once he understood that I had allowed something grim to surface just because of quite an innocent question I turned to smile at Frey.

“I’m sorry, Frey, that was a good question. It just woke some memories; memories about things that happened when I was close to your age and I think that things turned out better than well for me in the end.”

Yes, things were better than well for me now. Especially if you managed to forget the faces that visited my dreams. I didn’t feel that I had actually been lying to Frey so I was a bit surprised to see Linnea looking at me the way she did, like she was worried. I wondered if I should tell her that there was no need - I felt much better now than I had felt some time ago. Sleeping next to Hantaliel also helped keep the nightmares at bay.

I didn’t need to go ashore to look for the Guardians since, after checking the natural spring, they came to the river, which was understandable. Even if I wouldn’t drink the water from the Slow River, I felt okay to wash myself or my clothes in it. I was sure that if these five really were Guardians they would first check the natural spring and then they would come to the river bank to wash themselves.

Sometimes it was great to have it right. Especially when inside me I had known that some villains could have had a group of any size. Well, now I had my crossbow with me, but I would be happy if I would never need to use it against people again. There was already too much of a crowd in my dreams.

“Hello, there! Is there something we should worry about or is it safe to come ashore and get some fresh water?”

I knew quite well that there were no other people nor any big game nearby, but I would never reveal that to these Guardians, however good Guardians they were.

The group was almost a caricature of a Guardian group, just as I had said. Except that besides that one fresh Lieutenant there were two fresh rank-and-files, as well as one who was not so fresh. After tracking them for a while, I felt sorry for the Sergeant. Whatever they were after would be gone well before they’d get there. Once we all were ashore, I felt pity for them and put out two extra snares for the ever-present rabbits. I had asked Hantaliel if she wanted to hide in the boat for the night, but she was sure that none of the Guardians would notice anything - and I had to agree.

“Why are you spending the night here? Wouldn’t it be safer and nicer in a pier at some village?”

Even if the young Lieutenant didn’t really know his way in the forest, he didn’t seem to be a dummy. I shrugged and smiled at him.

“Is it really safer there? Maybe in some village, but in towns? Probably not. Look, Lieutenant - I haven’t been in this business too long, but the only times somebody had threatened me was in towns or cities, never here in the forests. Besides, if somebody wants to try that here, nobody will ask any questions if I accidentally use my crossbow on him.”

The young Lieutenant looked almost shocked while the Sergeant laughed a bit.

“Then there is also the fact that this time we aren’t in a hurry and I wanted to give my younger cousin here an opportunity to train himself steering the boat. Half a day or even one day delay is not too bad if we get more experienced boat operators.”

“But you can’t just shoot people if you happen to meet them here!”

“Not even Trolls?”

Now the Lieutenant gasped and the Sergeant started laughing. “Sir, I told you not to underestimate all the people living here on this side of the river. Most likely all of them have heard what has been happening around here and some of them may even know people who have been involved.”

The older man looked at me and raised is eyebrows when he finished what he was saying. I smiled grimly and nodded to him. “If I hadn’t seen that it’s your people coming to the shore, I would have visited that natural spring alone and the rest of the us would have been waiting in the boat with at least one loaded crossbow. No point in taking any chances here. You can also be sure that if I can avoid it, I have no intention in meeting any of those Trolls ... ever.”

Luckily the Guardians didn’t press me any further. However, we agreed that the women would be sleeping in the boat while Frey and I would be sleeping ashore, together with the Guardians. Having lived almost all his life in a forest near Aston Frey had missed most of the fabulous stories about the bravery of the Guardians. I guess that it was a good thing, since now he was only slightly impressed by their ways. However, the Guardians quite happily accepted the two rabbits I gave them from my snares before we were on our way up the river again.