While the Prince’s tour of the toddy and amber ale mills were impressive, it still didn’t have enough people working them to justify the amount of unused townhomes in this village. And while I still can’t unsee the sense of pride in him as he walked around and explained the contraptions and the boost in the town’s economy that the mills provided, I still planned to follow him and his Lords tonight to wherever the night road takes them. Something just wasn’t adding up.
So I remain sitting here, at the edge of our dinner table, moving forward with Golem and mine’s concocted plan. First, I dilute my ale with water. Not the amber ale, that drink is too good to be watered down, but the normal golden ale that graces only mine and one other’s mug. I engage in dinner as normal but stay away from Cal, Alanna and the Prince, the three of them the most likely to pry me with drinks.
I wait after dinner and watch for the signs of sleepiness to greet the table, the yawns coming from the humans first and Discerni later. I feign my yawns with the table and wait for the first person to announce that they’re tired, every so often scowling at the breeze from outside as it slips directly into the common room through the hole in the ceiling above.
Once Bryson, a stalky human who is part of the army of three, stands up to bid everyone goodnight, I heave a big yawn with the hopes that the rest of the table sees it. Shortly after his departure I, too, take my leave, saying goodnight to the group as Golem follows silently behind me.
I go about the rest of the night in my room normally, only this time with the added bottled coffee we purchased from Margaret this morning. I bathe deeply, as we’ll be on the open road until we reach Red Falls, and pack all of my travel bags so they’re ready for the morning. At different intervals in my preparation Golem passes me the coffee in reminder. I take large sips and let the caffeine do its work against the air of the forest, the two of us finally giving eachother a look once the chatter in the common room dies down.
Now comes the waiting game.
I layered myself earlier with a normal shirt under a long sleeve one and double wrapped my socks before throwing on my boots. I may be over-dressed, and I know that Red Falls will be even colder than our cool forests, but I’m a child when it comes to cold weather and love my sun too much.
Once we hear that everyone has gone back to their rooms, Golem starts making quiet trips down the hall to check if the owner has finished closing down. He finally comes back with a nod and the two of us anxiously set out, heading down the hall and to the door leading outside.
The cool of the courtyard greets us as we walk quickly towards the road, both of us looking for a dark and secluded hiding spot that we can hunker down at until the men arrive. Golem points to the side of the courtyard wall, to a corner darkened and damp with no torches in sight to illuminate the area, and I smile at him in agreement as we walk over to the hidden alcove. We both dip into the shadows, with Golem standing next to me as I press my back against the wall and slide down to the ground.
“And now we wait,” I whisper to my magical friend, watching his head bob in the dark.
He hands me the canteen of coffee as I keep my eyes trained on the courtyard entrance, praying to the sleeping Ancients that the Prince won’t try to locate me tonight. It’s a gamble to take, but my gut tells me that Keane won’t use his summoning so soon after finding out that I can feel when he does.
The night passes quietly as we wait in the shadows. I can feel the woods trying to lull me to sleep, can feel the soft caress of the air as if it’s a hand wanting to draw me to bed. I find myself patting the side of my face to wake myself up, graciously accepting another drink of coffee that Golem passes my way.
It isn’t until the moons are a full turn from their apex when a movement comes from the front of the courtyard in the form of the Master Informer. Desmond walks out, his tall body covered by a long black cloak as his short beard and proud chin jut forward without the use of his hood. Lord Daniel arrives next, also wearing a black cloak, his normally tied-back hair hidden beneath his hood. He nods to Desmond in silent greeting as the two of them stand in the small glow of the inn’s courtyard, waiting until Keane arrives.
My heart stills when he does.
The Prince is a formidable figure moving in the darkness as he steps forward to greet the men, his features cool and calm in a deep green cloak that billows behind him with every step. He’s wearing a pair of thick black pants and a tunic underneath, his whole body moving with the shadows of the night and blending well with the dark pines and forest around him.
If I could paint him, I would.
He looks to be made from the woods themselves.
The three men set off down the road in the opposite direction of Gaumond, walking towards the edge of the forest that leads to the border of our Kingdom. I give them a head start before lifting up and stretching my legs, smiling at the readiness in Golem’s eyes as we glance at eachother one last time. Without hesitation we bound forward, keeping a hefty distancebetween us and the men as we all move through the village. The two of us weave in and out of the shadows along the road and use the cottage walls and storefronts to hide our movements, and when we finally reach the edge of the village, we watch as the men continue down the Great Road and into the woods, the three of them nearly becoming lost to the darkness.
Golem and I tread carefully now, not wanting to be seen following behind them on the open road. We share a look and move to the side, letting the forest on our right act as a getaway if needed. After a very lengthy walk along the Great Road, the three Discerni finally change course and bound straight into the trees on the left. Golem and I wait for Desmond’s back to retreat into the woods before darting across the road, the two of us stopping at the area where the three men disappeared.
“We’ll need moonslight here, Golem,” I whisper, trying to find some opening or inlet that will direct us to where the men went. Golem moves to stand in front of me and pulls the lantern out of his robes. He lights it so softly that it barely brightens the woods around us.
“Perfect,” I nod, looking at the ground. “There!”
I point to a path that’s smaller than the one used for the mills. I take an excited step into the forest and immediately hear a twig snap under my boot, the sound so loud in the dead of the night that it makes us both stop dead in our tracks. My heart thuds frantically as Golem waves his hand over the lantern to remove the light, the two of us standing in absolute silence as we wait to see if we’ve been heard.
When no movement or angry men greets us from ahead, I gently lift my boot off the ground and take another step forward. I move slow along the path and keep as quiet as possible, the task immensely hard as I’m barely able to see the ground without Golem’s moonslight. The forest is too thick in this area and the trees so dense that they block out any chance of natural moonslight, and eventually I have to turn back to Golem, the walk too much of a hassle to tread in the dark.
The magical creature flicks his hand over the lantern again in understanding, his clay face illuminated under the glow that now gives us a better view of the woods.
I walk through the forest in awe, staring at the hundreds of thick trees that jut up from every portion of the ground. At times, the woods are so thick that we lose the path altogether only to double back and find it on the other side of a tree trunk, while other times the walk turns so tedious that it leaves no end in sight, the three men we originally set out for completely gone. But we walk on with resolve for what seems like ages, that is, until another noise forces us to stop in our tracks again... One that definitely didn’t come from us.
Golem immediately removes the moonslight from his lantern and lets the darkness swallow us whole. My magical companion comes to stand at my side, his robed shoulder pressing against mine as I squint between two large trees to our left. There’s something out there in the forest, a wide figure that’s hiding in the shadows and wants to remain unseen…
“A curious one indeed, Your Highness,” Lord Daniel’s voice chuckles from between the two trees.
“With the bravery of a Warrior,” Prince Keane replies, chuckling himself.
“True,” the Lord agrees, just as Desmond’s voice speaks out of the darkness, “and the feet of one, too.”
I scowl at the comment and watch as the area around me is illuminated in soft moonslight, the glow coming from Golem’s lantern but not lit by the magical creature. I look towards the voices, realizing that the figure I saw in the dark was all three men standing side by side down an opening in the path, each of them now staring at me and Golem.
