Chapter 6

The call of winter wolves had followed me into my sleep, but it was Deak's call that I followed out of it. I awoke to a drizzly world with a cold, soggy campfire and dank furs that had cold condensation clinging to them. Were I not a wizard, privy to the usual tricks a wizard knows, I might have spent a miserable morning getting myself ready to travel, but fortunately I knew enough to get me and my furs dry and warm and with the tricky parts accomplished, quickly got my saddlebags repacked, and resumed my travels, a bit of sausage and cheese in my hand to pass as my breakfast.

Deak's call had been one of caution. He smelled wolves and it made him nervous. That the wolves chose this time to come close made me nervous, but in the final analysis, I was more prepared to confront them this morning than I had ever been. I would prefer not to have to do so though, as I had at least one more place to go and one more thing to do before I began to look beyond my present situation.

With his saddle on his back and the bags in place, Deak decided I had the situation in hand and settled down somewhat. Once I'd taken my place in the saddle and nudged him east, once again following the path that led back to Starhill, he settled down even more. He had never been this way before, so it could only be an echo of my own nervousness that had him on edge once again when I left the trail I remembered and kept us to a more southerly course. I did not want to ride back to Starhill beneath the shadows of the mountains of the north as Ilesa and I had when we had left it.

I rode due east for several days until I came across a trail that seemed inclined to join itself with the trade road at some point to the east of us. The trail was slick with ice from the remains of the drizzle which had been falling since I'd awakened the morning after finishing my hilt work. The skies had finally cleared sometime during the night, and the temperature dropped enough to freeze the remaining water the thick, clinging drizzle had left on everything.

We went slowly all morning, unwilling to risk our lives and limbs with the unsure footing. Deak's willingness to go on at all was a pleasant surprise in my book. Trail horse or no trail horse, nothing makes a horse more nervous than unsure footing. Fortunately, the rising sun finally took care of the thin coat of ice on everything, including the trail, and we rode on wet, but warming and far more sure-footed.

The trail I had been following met a road running northeast two days later. This had to be the road to Starhill, but if it was, the changing character of the forest since my fall made it unfamiliar. Not that it should be familiar — I'd traveled the road exactly two times in my life.

I met no one one the road, coming or going the rest of the day, but early the next morning I overtook three wagons loaded with wooden barrel of various sizes. The three wagons were accompanied by a six man crew of guards. Each wagon had a driver and a passenger. The entire group look well-traveled.

"Well met, traveler," the older and more seasoned of the riders greeted me with as I came up to him at the rear of the wagons.

"Well met," I returned, watching his eyes rest for a moment on my sword and dagger where they rested in their places. I was wearing riding clothes and not my apprentice's robes.

"Do you ride from Cairncross?" he asked, and it was a fair question, that being the heart of the Vale. I could tell by his accent he was not of the Vale, and the question suggested it as well, as most in the Vale would assume anyone on this road was more than likely coming from Cairncross, or Trilin beyond it.

"Through it, and through the north wood after that. From Trilin to begin," I had finished looking him over as well. He had the look of a seasoned soldier or mercenary. I could see no device on his armor to suggest an allegiance to anyone royal, king or otherwise, so mercenary seemed more likely. "You ride from beyond the Vale, I assume by your accent, or else you've come to it for your hire?"

"I'm Brodi Welles, captain of the Shield of Tehare. My men and I are hired men out of Mondain on the Eastern Sea. We've a shipment of dried sea kelp and smoked salmon due for the markets of Starhill."

"We are about a day's good ride away, I would venture," I'd decided so this morning, letting my magic out a little while I rode to give me some hint of where I was. "I'm Pacasin."

I got a long stare at the mention of my name, but it was followed by a shrug, finally.

"You've been this way before then, good." the guard captain said after a moment. "Old Mattias the wagon master, says the forest has swallowed up much of what he remembers from his trips here in the past. From what I've seen it looks like it's likely to swallow the entire Vale before its done."

"It will, before its done," I agreed, frowning slightly at the negative connotation in his words and the way in which he spoke them. "The north wood is reclaiming the Vale."

"The way you say it apprentice, I might believe you think it a good thing." Ahh, so my name had been recognized, and my position with it. The tale of my fall had spread wide indeed then. No surprise there, I suppose. "Other than the foresters who see the source of their livelihood growing faster than they can cut them, who sees this as a benefit?"

"Its not my place to say, but I do not believe it to be as bad a thing as some. Gaen is returning a part of itself to what it once was. Some of those who were here before we came will return to prosperity. Except for the unhumans, these are beings with which men could find common ground. Perhaps we will all be better of because of it."

"That's fine for wizards and kings, I suppose," the mercenary said finally, but there was no weight to his words. "For us common folk, its just another case of living with the results."

The rest of the journey to Starhill was far less philosophical than that brief exchange. I did dwell for a time on the seeming inherent fatalism of the common man as expressed by Captain Brodi Welles.

The weather remained clear, though we did experience some morning fog the next morning which didn't burn off until midmorning. It slowed us down some and got us into Starhill well into the afternoon. The wagon master asked after one of the local merchants and was directed by the guards at the gate towards the marketplace.

"State your business," the guard asked me when I at last approached the gate. The way he said it left no doubt that he knew who I was.

"I need to speak with Magister Ownes," I answered.

"To what purpose?"

"It's personal."

I had to wait a good hour before word came that the Magister would see me in his quarters. That was a bit of surprise, but perhaps he wanted to get away from the usual ears that would be nearby anywhere else.

I was met at the door by Bron Tieres.

"I should be surprised to see you returning here, and asking to see the family, but I guess it needed to be done," He said coldly. "Follow me."

I followed him through the house and into the garden. Bron led me to the familiar tree with the bench built around it where I had tested Ilesa's magical sensitivity. Ilesa's parents were both there, her mother sitting on the bench and her father standing beside her. Delan nodded at his son-in-law and he left without a word. I stood before the two for a long moment before speaking.

"Thank you for agreeing to see me," I began.

"We have been told that you are not to be blamed for what happened to our daughter," Elin Ownes said bitterly.

"I have been told the same thing," I answered sadly. "I don't believe that any more than you do. I made a mistake that gave the unhumans the wardstone at Hoartongue keep. Everything else that happened, happened as a consequence of that mistake. I'm sorry."

"We expected an apology, but do you expect our forgiveness?" Delan said coldly.

"No, only to temper your feelings with what I know of what happened there, and what has happened since."

"My king has tried to tell me that my daughter may not be dead," he said bitterly. "But it is hard to see how that is possible, given what happened."

"Hard to see indeed, even for me, and I was there for it. King Tynis, your cousin, tells me he is to blame for Ilesa being there. He tells me that he saw her being there and knew it to be what had to be. He has told my master these things and my master has told me, and added his own understanding to it. I do not know what more they might know which they haven't told me, but I assume there is more to tell than what has been said."

"Such is the way of kings," the magister sighed.

"So I have been recently reminded."

"Do you believe our daughter still lives?" Elin asked after a long silence.