"What might that be?" the Master asked. "Well, ye see, Master, during me last visit to the Market last week, I overheard a conversation between two hooded men who spake of a terrible thing comin' thataways," Boone replied, making the Master squint his eyes slightly.
"What sort of terrible thing?" he asked. "I dunno for certain, but sounded to me like some dark mage, or something o' the likes, were to be makin' its way there soon," Boone replied. The Master looked at Garett, whose eyes were wide open and eyebrows raised. "Did they happen to mention when this dark mage would be there?" the Master asked.
"The way they'd put it, sounded to me like it were to be sometime this week, Master," Boone replied solemnly. "That's not good at all, then. My good man, I must ask that you stay as far away from Coltend as possible until we return. If we return, that is," the Master cautioned. "An' me produce, Master?" Boone asked with tears almost welling in his eyes.
Leona, who had been paying attention to the whole conversation, rode up to him and dismounted. As soon as she did so, she pulled off one of her silver rings with an emerald embedded within. "Here, this should be enough to buy a year's worth of supplies," she said, grabbing his hand and upturning his palm to place her gift. His eyes widened in surprise, as more tears began to well in his eyes.
"T-This be far too much, good lady," he said, trying to give the ring back, but she took his calloused, dirty hand in hers and closed it around the ring. "The information you gave us is worth far more than that trinket. Consider it a form of thanks from all of us," she said with a smile. Boone tore his eyes from the emerald, only to find two more eyes as blue as the sky beaming back at him with a warm smile thrown in.
"Thank ye, lady," Boone said with his most humble bow. "I think you'd best be heading home, my good man," the Master said. "An' ye'd be right. The dark brings dark things, unless of course ye be one of those dark things creeping 'bout like some sort of wraith or shade-walker," he said. "We can when needed," The Master said with a grin, raising his hand and motioning for us to move forward.
We continued down the path, while Boone went to his farmstead, content at the priceless gift he had just received. Anwill rode up to the Master's side, trotting alongside him briefly. "That piece of information may prove to be more useful than we thought. With the passageways beneath the city, we may be able to infiltrate it and avoid many losses as a result," he said.
"That still doesn't guarantee that he hasn't already thought about that possibility, should anyone muster the courage to attack him. Chances are there will be more than a few sentries placed beneath the tunnels, by his doing or not," the Master replied grimly.
"Leona said that Coltend was an old Elven city, right?" Anwill asked. "If I recall correctly, she did," he replied. "Not many people outside the Elven Elders know about the old cities. Maybe, just maybe, whoever this dark one is doesn't know about them either," Anwill explained. "Even with that element of surprise, it might not be enough to retake the city completely," the Master sighed.
"That's why we're bringing five hundred of us, right?" Anwill asked with a sly grin. "I have always admired your optimism, my old friend," he said with a nasal chuckle. "I try to be as often as possible. I pray the gods will give us the knowledge to win this next trial," Anwill said, staring off into the distance. "And I pray the gods hear you," Garett chimed in.
We rode a bit longer as the twilight sky began to overtake the flame-colored sky, eventually stopping to set up camp before the final leg of our journey. The others made fires and camps, while Bernar and I helped Leona and Meliss set up a pair of tents. Bernar helped Leona set up her tent, since her lack of experience was only solidified by her collapsing tent, eliciting a friendly chuckle from both of us.
Meliss and I, on the other hand, made a single tent by conjoining the ones we each had, making it doubly spacious in the process.
Night came as quickly as it ever did, and a few of us, Batch, Edryd, and Irun included, sat around a small fire we had started, telling tales of the days of old. Meliss and I slipped away after a little while, and were content to have some time to ourselves, away from peering eyes. However, it was short-lived, as we heard someone approaching.
"Thoma, are you in there?" Leona's voice came from outside the tent.
Shit, I completely forgot about that, I thought.
"I'll be out in a moment," I said, kissing Meliss and proceeding out of the tent as she fell back in the furs and wrapped herself. "I suppose you've already forgotten that I wanted to speak with you," Leona began, noting the belt to my trousers being undone with a raised eyebrow, prompting me to look down and quickly tie it.
"Sorry," I blushed. "It's alright. I've seen uglier and smaller things dangling between the legs of men with much higher social standings than you," she said with a slight giggle. I instantly felt a bit more comfortable, but I would be lying if I said I didn't feel embarrassed.
She was still royalty, after all.
"Come with me," she said, taking me by the hand. Bernar watched the two of us from a distance, wondering what we might need to say without him present. He shrugged and joined the others around the campfire, grabbing a mug of ale from one of the younger ones. "You can't handle much more than that, you're too young," I heard him say as he did so.
Leona led me a short distance from the camp and gazed up at the stars. "Beautiful, aren't they?" she asked. I looked up, and just as I did, one of them streaked across the dark sky, as the moon had not yet risen. "They really are, but I assume you want to talk to me about more important matters than the stars," I said shyly, causing her to chuckle lightly. "Way to point out the ochelon in the room," she said warmly.
"The first thing I need to speak to you about, I believe to be the most obvious," she began. "My brother, you mean to say," I filled in for her, getting a nod in response. "He is a good man, from what I've seen, and I pray that our little… relationship doesn't affect you negatively," she said, making me chuckle lightly.
"Oh, my dearest Leona, if only you knew your worth to him and the world around you, you wouldn't even dare say something like that. Besides, after everything he and I have been through, I think having you by his side might make him an even greater person than I already know him to be," I said warmly, watching her eyes widen in surprise.
"Are you sure you were never trained in politics?" she asked playfully, but I could only shake my head. "No, but I'm just being honest," I shrugged. She smiled warmly, then looked back up at the stars again, lost in thought. "With a compliment like that, it's no small wonder why Meliss likes you the way she does," she said idly. "I try," I shrugged. "You are an amazing boy of… wait, how old are you, again?" she asked. "I just turned eighteen," I replied. "Ah, right," Leona nodded, recalling what Bernar had told her earlier.
"Being the remarkable man he is, and the inquisitive boy that you are, has made you both invaluable to me; something I never would have expected to happen so quickly," she said pensively, causing me to smile. "I pray that when this is all over, I will be able to grant both of you gifts worthy of a king," she said, but I shook my head and raised my hands in refusal in the dim light of the distant fire. "There is no need for that whatsoever," I said lightly.
"By the Graces, Thoma! I will give you the treatment you deserve," she said somewhat firmly. "Stubborn just like my brother. No wonder you two get along so well," I chuckled, patting her hand lightly. "Well, since I've lost this battle, I guess that means I can't turn you down," I shrugged. "I'm glad to hear that," Leona said, playfully nudging my arm with her elbow.
Leona looked back at the camp, probably listening to Bernar's laughter drown out the others'.
"There is, of course, one other thing I wanted to talk to you about. I haven't told anyone else, not even Bernar, though I suspect he and the Master may already know," she began, but I could only swallow dryly. I knew that whatever came next was paramount, and I listened attentively.