Chapter 17

Felek did not so much wake, as stop trying to sleep.

Movement had started throughout the camp, some unknown signal starting the morning process despite the darkness. Trying not to let out a groan, he pushed himself up into a sitting position. Ruta rose beside him, arm falling away from his chest without protest. Someday, he thought, he'd actually get to be with her in bed again, not just have her cuddle his clothed form. She blinked, hand going to her eyes.

"They're crusty," she said. Felek just grunted. Anelie was nearby, rolling her blankets. Inspired to not look lazy, he forced himself to his feet.

"Come on," he said, reaching down to help Ruta up. "You can not sleep on the wagon."

"True." He pulled Ruta to her feet. She fell against him, Felek sensing her sleep had been as restless as his own. He held her for a moment. The temptation to lay back down with her was great. But, if they were to meet a Goddess, resisting temptation would probably be a good way to start the day. Giving her forehead a quick kiss, he disengaged from her. Wisely, he decided not to mention her skin tasted of dirt.

The glowing coals from the night before flared up, metal pots positioned over the renewed flames. He looked to the north. An answering flare seemed to come from the Elven camp. There would be no sneaking away from the pointy eared creatures. Klocia came over, four steaming cups held in her two hands. She held two out.

"Here. Careful."

"I'm never careful this early," Felek said, yawning. He reached out to take them, tightening his grip as Klocia freed her fingers from the mug handles. Anelie came to stand beside him, accepting her cup from the soldier. Felek took a sip. "Thank you, Klocia."

The girl nodded, face serious. Anelie tipped her cup back, seeming to gulp the hot drink down. Swallowing with a content sigh, she motioned with the cup towards the Elves.

"I would have bet they'd come over to talk again."

Felek nodded, his own opinion seconded.

"You may have scared them off." Anelie scoffed as Ruta gave a soft giggle beside him. "Or, more likely, they've decided forgiveness is easier to get than permission and they're just going to follow us."

"Yeah, that's what I figured." Anelie took another gulp. "I don't think it's worth stopping them. I just want to get going, see if we can get there. We'll worry about the Elves when there's something to worry about."

"Well," Felek said, downing the rest of his drink, "let's get going then."

The sky was just lightening as Anelie ordered the wagons to start moving.

The Elves followed.

The pointy eared barbarians matched the horse's speed, without much apparent discomfort. The children, five in all from what Anelie could tell, were in the three wagons, small heads looking with awe at the tail of the Polish column. Or, she assumed it was awe. She could not actually tell at this distance, nor in this light. Maybe they were laughing at the strange horse riding strangers.

It did not take long for the valley to close in on the river. The wide meadow where they had camped gave way to a thin strip of shore barely twenty yards wide. As light from the rising sun broke above the valley rim, she could see the ground become rockier the farther she looked upstream. Where was their magical road now?

"You would almost," Felek said, eyeing the path ahead, "think we were being deliberately kept to a slower pace. I really don't want to have to replace another wagon wheel, or listen to Ruta bitch about the bouncing."

"She doesn't like bouncing?" Anelie could not help the comment. She glanced at him, wondering how he'd take it. Felek just grinned at her.

"Not sure yet. We'll have to try it tonight. You can be the judge."

"Um, no." She hoped her face was not turning red. Felek's turned serious.

"I don't know why, but I don't really like this. How about sending a pair of scouts ahead? Get an idea of what's around each turn."

"Don't think it does us any good." She looked around, considering the valley. "It's not like we can go anywhere BUT forward, no matter what they find. Plus," her eyes flicked to him, "I really want us at full strength around the Elves."

"I'm going to go talk to them," Felek said abruptly. He moved his shoulders and neck, as if working out a kink. Care to join me?"

"I think I'll stay up here." She paused. "Take Klocia with you."

He nodded.

"I'll be back soon."

Felek contemplated dismounting beside Qui, talking to the walking Elf on more even footing. He decided against it. On foot he could be overwhelmed, even with his armed escort. Trust was not a given yet. Instead, he simply matched Qui's pace, keeping enough distance between them that Qui would not feel like he was being looked down upon. Felek could feel the eyes of the others on him.

"I have to ask," Felek said, keeping his voice light and hopefully inoffensive, "if this lake tower is so evil, why were you camped so close?" Qui glanced up at him, expression neutral. Felek shrugged. "I mean, if nothing else I'd rather be upstream from Evil than downstream."

The Elf cocked his head, the humor obviously losing something in his internal translation. Qui shrugged.

"We were here when Tribe Mother Ves sent people on quest to contact Queen Catty. If we moved, they would never be able to find us again. Thus, we settled."

Felek nodded. That made sense. He glanced again at the rising sun, now to his right.

"You are far from the Elven lands. What drove you here?"

Qui was silent. Felek chuckled. That would remain a mystery for a bit longer, it seemed.

"Well," he said, regarding the Elf, "it's not like us Poles didn't go on our own exodus."

"We are sorry." Qui bowed his head. Felek smiled.

"It was not you who attacked. Nor was it Queen Catty. No, it is the rest of your kind who we have ... disagreement with."

Felek could not help but look at the marching Elves. All he had known of their people were the Queen and her four men. His Grace had impressed on the boy that one should never assume all of their people were like those five, that preconceptions must be put aside when meeting new groups of a race. Yet, he thought these Elves WERE like Queen Catty, her mate Far. Felek had come to understand Elves as no different than Poles, no better, no worse. The Elves before him were so similar to people he had seen on the exodus from Nowy Kiev, refugees far from home, he was at a loss for words. He looked at the kids. One, a purple haired girl with amazing black eyes, was peeking at him over the side of the wagon. He smiled to her, her head immediately ducking down. As he kept watching, it slowly rose. He smiled again as her eyes cleared the wagon, her head vanishing again instantly.

Looking at the Polish wagon before them, he saw both James and Zuza peeking out at the Elves, just their eyes and hair visible. They suddenly ducked down, as if someone had noticed them.

Kids.

The tower.

It was a sliver of white, shining against a background of green and blue. Anelie pulled back on the reins, hand unconsciously going up. Whether the others stopped or not was the farthest thought from her mind.

The tower.

The lake was still in the distance, trees and the form of the land still hiding most of it. A flat expanse of blue. They would be there by noon.

"Anelie?" Felek's voice seemed to wake her. She took a deep, shuddering breath.

"I see it. Let's go!"

Felek slid off his horse onto the rocky shore.

They had made it.

The lake looked to be a mile wide, the far shore perhaps not quite that far away. Thick woodlands covered the shore, interrupted now and then by what looked like small streams feeding its waters.

In the middle, lay an island.

It was small. Tree covered. In its center, a gleaming white tower rose. It looked round, no windows visible. Maybe they all faced north, towards the sun. Felek let out a breath he felt he had been holding since the day they had left Fort Buffalo.

Ruta had not been crazy.

Despite all that had happened, there still had been that doubt in his head. That small voice telling him there was no way any of this could be true. That the woman he loved was crazy, that he and all the others were just humoring her. Felek now felt ashamed for those thoughts. Forcing his eyes away from the lake, he looked back. Ruta was staggering forward, eyes wide, body trembling. He moved to her, taking her in his arms.

"You did it," he whispered, cheek pressed against hers. "You did it."

"We did it," she corrected, rubbing her cheek against his. Pulling back, he gently kissed her.

"Whatever happens now," he said, "at least we made it."

A greenish brown hand touched Ruta's shoulder. Releasing her, Felek watched as Adanya grabbed the girl in a fierce hug. Bogdi stood behind her, eyes wet with tears.

"Thank you, thank you!" Adanya's voice was sobbing. Felek moved over to Bogdi. Female tears were ... upsetting.

"Sir." Bogdi held out his large hand. Felek took it. They shook, silently.

"Now what?" Issa asked. He came up beside them, one of the few not really showing much emotion. He felt them, though. Felek could see it in his eyes. He was just not going to be all wimpy about it.

"Now," Anelie said, standing on the shore, "we find some way over there."

Felek looked around. There was no boat dock. No craft pulled up on the shore. There could be boats elsewhere around the lake. On the other side, for example, if as he suspected it was, in fact, northward it faced. The shoreline did not look easy to traverse.