The Stewards of Reed, Volume 1: The Rise of Fallon (35 page)

Everyone arrived at the Hartford Inn the day before the wedding: Hammond and Edith, Tobias and Zeke, members of Daria’s family. Plenty of ale was consumed that night (even Zeke took a little sip when no one else was paying attention), but somehow everyone managed to arrive at the old oak tree on time the following day.

Steward Isaiah presided over the short and sweet ceremony. Daria had never looked more beautiful than in her simple blue dress with a white sash and pretty white and blue flowers weaved into a crown upon her head, and Gentry had never looked more happy and nervous, standing at attention in his plain brown suit. They exchanged rings of gold, courtesy of Saul’s Jewelry Shop in Jessum, and drank heartily from a golden goblet filled with wine. The vows concluded with a passionate kiss that was cheered on (loudly) by the guests.

Fallon was quite excited for his friend. He briefly entertained the thought of getting married himself one day, but this made him frown.
She is a Komanite
, he thought, sadly.

“I thought they would
never
stop kissing,” whispered Zeke with a nudge to Fallon’s side as he nodded towards Gentry and Daria.

This made Fallon laugh, and for a moment he did not think of the girl with the jet-black hair.

As beautiful as the bride and groom and ceremony were, it was actually Beatrice that stole the show (at least as far as Fallon was concerned) with her amazing spread of food. She had been slaving away in the kitchen for days, constantly tripping over Mobley as he tried to lick up any crumbs that fell to the floor.

“I would never admit this to Elizabeth,” Fallon said with his mouth full, “but I think I like your sweet bread better, Beatrice.”

She positively beamed.

That evening they were all back at the Hartford Inn, drinking, dancing, carrying on. Fallon watched as Gentry and Daria danced around the floor for hours. Daria kept urging Fallon to join them, but he remained sitting at a booth with his father and Zeke until the final dance when the wedding song filled the air and all the guests made their way onto the floor:

’Tis a happy day, this wedding day,

A day to remember for all of one’s life,

A day a man has finally taken a wife.

’Tis a happy day, this wedding day,

We feast and dance and sing so bold,

For those that now wear rings of gold.

’Tis a happy day, this wedding day,

When one becomes two and then hopefully three,

In nine months’ time we soon shall see!

’Tis a happy day, this wedding day,

A day to remember for all of one’s life

A day a man has finally taken a wife.

He was surrounded by family and friends. Laughter filled the air and it was impossible not to be in good spirits. It was memories like this that made it particularly difficult to deal with his recurring dream…the very dream that kept him up that night and for several nights thereafter.

It had been another long and cold winter and the Reedites were nervous about the potential for a raid, but as spring set in there was no sign of the Komanites. The Steward was somewhat comforted by the fact that Fallon had not dreamed about them, but Hammond’s army was put on high alert nevertheless.

Uncle Charles had some important business to attend to – fabric merchants from Henly were visiting – so this time Fallon made his birthday trip back to Littlebrook with only his Aunt Rebecca. It was amazing how much had changed in a year. Although Fallon still thought his uncle to be prim, judgmental and boring, he found that his aunt was quite loving and warm once she overcame her shyness.

“Aunt Rebecca?”

“Aye?”

“Why is it you never had any children?”

Fallon regretted the question almost immediately, but it was too late, the words had been spoken. “I am sorry, that is really none of my business. I should not have asked.”

Aunt Rebecca frowned and was quiet for a moment. “No, it is all right, Fallon.” She spoke so softly that Fallon could barely hear her over the hoofbeats. “I had a child once, a girl. She was stillborn.”

“Oh,” said Fallon, deeply ashamed that he asked the question. “I am truly sorry.”

“First my parents, then my baby. I was not quite right for a long time. I tell myself that I would not have been a very fit mother…so it is probably for the better that I was not able to be with child again.”

Fallon remained silent.

“Your uncle has remained quite supportive through it all. He has his quirks, but he is a good man, Fallon,” she said. “So is your father. I am glad that we are spending more time together these days.”

“Me, too,” said Fallon as he smiled at her.

Although Fallon was tempted to make the same wish he had been making ever since his 14
th
birthday, later that night, when he blew out his birthday candle, he wished for happiness for his aunt.

*************

This time Gordon was not hearing any of it – he was coming along whether she wanted him to or not.

“But I need you to help take care of Lady Blythe,” protested Lady Dinah. “She is still not well.”

“Abigail has already told me that she shall be just fine handling Lady Blythe by herself, and there are plenty of other helpers around if she needs assistance,” retorted Gordon. “I refuse to let you go off to the Durango Region without me. I do not care if Lord Jameson is expecting you. It is not safe to travel alone – not there anyway.”

Lady Dinah finally relented, seeing that the stubborn dwarf was bound and determined to come along. “Fine, but I shall be leaving immediately after lunch – you better be ready.”

The journey to Cortez was painfully long, but at least they were able to enjoy a visit with Lord Edmund in Thorpe and Lady Adeline in Lucerne. Lord Edmund reported that for some time there was little activity coming from the Eastern border, but that it had picked up a bit as of late. He was clearly troubled and looked forward to discussing recent events at the Council of Wizards meeting next year. Lady Adeline was still distraught over the unexplained disappearance of her father, Lord Milton. She, too, was looking forward to the Council of Wizards meeting.

Upon leaving Lady Adeline’s house, they traveled across Lake Brielle to the far eastern side of the lake, which bordered the Village of Inverness. From there they estimated it would take two days to reach the Village of Cortez, where Lord Jameson lived. The journey actually ended up taking them a week. For one, it was no longer safe to travel on the main road south. It had been overrun by unscrupulous (or, depending on your viewpoint, enterprising) Easterners who had set up various check points in which passage would not be permitted unless a handsome fee was paid.

Lady Dinah and Gordon were forced to take many detours to avoid these checkpoints. Even then, it was impossible to avoid the Easterners. Everywhere one looked one could see little camps of tents teeming with emaciated people dressed in rags. The sight of the children was especially heartbreaking for Lady Dinah, but they seemed not to know how awful things were and could often be seen laughing and playing games with nearby rocks and sticks.

Most of the houses they passed were either abandoned (and vandalized) or had been converted into heavily barricaded fortresses. Durango itself was a lush green valley nestled between two mountain ranges, so the contrast of the natural beauty with the impoverished camps and abandoned houses was particularly striking.

“I had no idea the situation here had become so dire,” Lady Dinah muttered.

“I hope we reach Lord Jameson soon,” said the dwarf.

They did eventually make it to Lord Jameson’s home in the foothills of the Divisidero Mountains, just outside the Village of Cortez. His property was isolated from the village by a deep river gorge that had no obvious bridge or other means to cross; there was not a tree tall enough to span the gorge and the cliffs were too steep to climb down safely. The only way around would be to hike for several days east up to the source of the River Santos in the heart of the Divisidero Mountains or to hike for several days west and cross at the river’s outlet at the South Samora Sea.

But there was in fact a bridge – a magical one that only revealed itself when Lord Jameson uttered the appropriate words and waved his wand. “Hurry,” he said. “The bridge shall only remain for five minutes before it vanishes again. If we are not across by then… well, it is quite a long way down.”

Lady Dinah and Gordon walked along the narrow bridge as fast they dared, guiding their horse and pony behind them. They had just barely reached the other side when the bridge evaporated before their eyes.

Lord Jameson’s home was a modest one by wizard’s standards; only Lady Blythe’s tiny cabin was smaller. Even for its size, it was sparsely furnished, and Lady Dinah could not help but notice the bare rock walls and general emptiness of the rooms.

“I have been expecting you for some time,” said Lord Jameson after they had settled in the small sitting room for some tea.

“Aye, our apologies. We did not realize we would need to take so many detours from the main road to avoid the Easterners,” Lady Dinah replied. “For how long has this been going on?”

“For a few years now. I do not venture out much, but I have been forced to do more of that recently. I have lost all of my good help.” Lord Jameson grew quiet for a moment as he thought of Cedric and the others. “They have either crossed over the border into Quintara or they are dead – so I must do more for myself these days.”

“Dead?” exclaimed Lady Dinah in shock.

“Aye, my lady. There have been quite a few skirmishes between the people of Durango and the Easterners. For as starved as they look, those Easterners are well armed. The skirmishes never seem to go well for the people of Durango; nevertheless, they keep trying to take their land back. They want nothing more than for everything to return to the way it was before. They often pay the ultimate price for that desire – a few of my former servants did, anyway.”

“What can be done?”

“Nothing, unless we want to start another war.”

Lady Dinah frowned.

“Has Lord Milton been found yet?” Lord Jameson asked.

“No, I am afraid not.”

“I am certain he is dead. I would imagine that the Eastern Wizards had something to do with that as well.”

Lady Dinah frowned. “Are you safe here, Lord Jameson?”

“For now, but it is only a matter of time before they find their way across the river. I have certain protections in place beyond the River Santos, of course, but they shall not hold for long. I have already taken anything of value to Lord Olivier’s place in Genoa.”

“I see,” said Lady Dinah. “Does that include your library?”

“Aye. Not that I had much of a library to begin with.”

Lady Dinah was distressed. It was clear the situation in Durango was going to require some sort of action by the wizards, but the thought of going to war left a sour pit in her stomach. The Second War was still fresh in everyone’s minds, and had cost so many lives. She did not think she could endure that again.

They stayed the night with Lord Jameson, with Lady Dinah in the lone spare room and Gordon sleeping on the floor of the sitting room, and left for Genoa the next morning.

*************

The Moraga Mountains are old, weathered mountains and not nearly as imposing as the Divisidero or Atlian Mountains, buy they are still formidable. The trails are narrow and often overgrown, and hikers are often surprised by the sudden onset of severe summer storms. It was with much anxiety that Lady Dinah and Gordon headed west towards those mountains, which stood between Cortez and their next destination – the Town of Genoa in the Quintara Region. Nevertheless, they took some comfort in knowing they were not likely to encounter any Easterners along the route.

Their memories of the desert storm in Aberdeen were still somewhat fresh in their minds, so Lady Dinah and Gordon watched the skies intently as they pushed forward. A brief lightning storm did blow through on the third day of their journey over the mountains, but they were able to take shelter under a rock formation and wait out the storm. The flat lands of Quintara were a most welcome sight, and Lady Dinah and Gordon quickly made their way towards the Town of Genoa, where Lord Olivier was waiting for them.

“Lord Jameson sent word you were on your way. It is a pleasure to see you, my Queen.” Lord Olivier bowed low as Lady Dinah and Gordon entered the Merced Inn and Pub, the largest inn within the village.

“It is good to see you as well, Lord Olivier. The journey has been long and we are delighted to finally reach Genoa.”

“You should have some tea and biscuits and rest a bit before we venture further. My house is on the far side of Lake Merced and it shall take some time to reach it.”

Gordon in particular was keen on the idea of eating. He had already lost quite a bit of weight on this trip and even had to tighten his belt one notch. Being a dwarf, Gordon received more than a few stares, yet no one bothered the table of three as they sat down for a light meal.

“You must board your horse and pony here as well,” Lord Olivier said as they were getting ready to leave. “My boat only has enough room for the three of us.”

Lake Merced is a rather large body of water, similar in size to Lake Brielle, and the three travelers spent the next five hours in Lord Olivier’s tiny boat. The water was fairly choppy and on several occasions Gordon thought he was going to be sick, but Lady Dinah’s stale crackers seemed to settle his stomach.

It was nightfall by the time they reached the far side of the lake. As they came closer, Gordon noted that there was no dock to be seen, just a sheer rock cliff that towered over them. He expected Lord Olivier to slow down as they made their approach, but the wizard did not lower the sail.

“Look out!” Gordon cried, with the boat only a few feet from the rocks. He could not bear to watch and buried his eyes in his arms.

Lord Olivier chuckled. “It is all right, Master Dwarf. You may look now.”