Gorinthians (46 page)

The stable master nodded,
frowning as he weighed the coins in his hands, more than likely
trying to decide how much coin it would take to build the wall. “I
am afraid that there are no other stables in North Fork.” Shaking
his baldhead regretfully, he sighed. “The king's soldiers have the
only horses left in town, but I don’t think that they would be
willing to part with them.”

“
Thank you for the
information,” Thistledown said with a brief smile. “I think I can
convince a few of them to give up their horses.”

They began moving back
toward the house again, when the stable master spoke up
suddenly.

“
The next
town over was complaining about monsters stealing their children
and livestock.” He rubbed his baldhead reflectively. “We all
thought they were getting excited over shadows. Odd folk, up there
in Fair Venning, but I guess they
were
seeing
monsters.”

Thistledown saw Seranova
shift uncomfortably from the corner of his eye. He would have to
see what she knew about Fair Venning.

They arrived at the stable
master’s house. The dogs, which the master locked away in the shed,
barked as they sensed Thistledown near the home.

“
Good luck with your wall,
good master,” Thistledown offered by way of farewell, moving toward
the main road.

“
Oh yes,” the stable master
mumbled distractedly, “and thank you for the loan. Come and see me
next time you travel through here, and I should have something for
you.”

The streets were empty in
the late evening, with the exception of a few cats roaming in the
moonlit night. The two moons were still more than half-full, making
torches unnecessary. Thistledown looked back at Seranova. She was
muttering to herself quietly, almost arguing it seemed.

“
I assume that you and
Morindessa came through Fair Venning,” Thistledown remarked,
pulling her out of the odd argument she was having with herself.
“Did you see any of these lizard creatures while you were
there?”

“
No,” Seranova answered in
disgust. “The fools that lived there tried to accuse Jesha of being
the monster that was stealing their children because the local
trapper said she had the same kind of eyes as the
monsters.”

“
I was wondering how she
joined your party,” Thistledown murmured, feeling a thrill of pride
in how well Riah had raised Morindessa. Riah always had the softest
heart, something she had obviously passed on at least a part of to
Morindessa.

“
They said Jesha was
stealing their children?” Lori exclaimed, her young face shining
with amazement in the bright moonlight. “What kind of people are
they?”

“
The worst kind,” Seranova
growled contemptuously. “They were threatening to kill the man who
raised her if he didn’t hand her over to them. If Morindessa had
not been there that night, Jesha would be dead, and probably the
man who raised her as well.”

“
What did she do?” Lori
asked, her eyes wide.

“
Certainly not what they
deserved,” Seranova declared disdainfully. “She just made a loud
bang that scared them out of the inn, and then left a sound around
the building that made them uncomfortable when they were near it.
She would have been better off breaking their legs.”

“
A wonderful solution for
violent villagers;” Jalorm drawled from behind Seranova, “break
their legs the first time, and their necks the second
time.”

Seranova looked over her
shoulder at Jalorm expressionlessly, obviously uncertain of whether
he was mocking her. Thistledown thought it fortuitous that she did
not know him well enough to realize he was mocking her.

“
We will be using the
soldier’s horses,” Thistledown broke in, more to change the subject
than anything else. “I rather doubt they paid the stable master for
them anyway.”

“
His name was Delton,”
Seranova commented, still glancing back at Jalorm with a small
frown on her face. “Jesha mentioned it before we ran into your
friend. She said the pimply kid couldn’t stop drooling at
Morindessa.”

“
Delton?” Thistledown
stopped dead in the road with a small shiver creeping up his spine.
“You are sure his name was Delton?”

The others were looking at
him curiously. “Yes,” Seranova affirmed with a nod. “She said his
name was Delton. Why? Do you know him?

Thistledown shook his head,
starting down the road once more. “Never mind. I thought it was
someone else for a moment.”

Seranova stared at him
suspiciously, obviously not believing him. The rest of the group
wore the same skeptical expressions. He did not want to explain
that the only Delton that he had ever known had been a man on Earth
who bred horses for a living. The Delton he had known had not been
bald, but after hearing the name, Thistledown could piece the other
similarities together. Somehow, people from earth were still
arriving on this strange planet. Thistledown wondered how many
other earth people had suddenly had their lives sucked into this
planet.

Chapter 26

Celdic stood alone in his
room at The Lucky Door, staring out the window that overlooked the
street below. The sun was just beginning to shine down on the
rooftop of the inn across the road. The streets were steadily
filling up with farmer carts and merchant wagons as the town slowly
woke up. Lendel was already down in the common room with the others
of the party that were awake. The two of them had shared the
bedroom, with Lendel muttering in his sleep the entire
night.

Turning to his traveler
sack, Celdic pulled out one of the new shirts and trousers Terrance
had given him back at the cottage. The dark green shirt was made of
what felt like sturdy wool, though Celdic was certain that it was
not wool. It had secret pockets in the sleeves and under each
breast that contained star knives and short throwing knives. A
hardened material lined his forearms. Terrance had informed him
this material could stop a sword blow. The trousers were just as
utilitarian, with a small knife hidden in a pocket on each thigh.
They contained shin guards that were made of the same material as
the forearm guards. Just below each knee, a small one-inch knife
stuck out when he bent his knee. Celdic pulled the new clothes over
his smallclothes, hoping that Cha’le had not left any surprises in
his boots. A year or more had passed since the last time she put a
water demon in his boots. She usually let enough time pass that he
grew careless of checking his boots each morning, and then she
would leave a new surprise.

The shirt fit snugly, but
was also surprisingly limber. Terrance had asked him to wait until
he reached North Fork before wearing the finely made clothes. After
buttoning up the trousers, he felt a lump in one of the pockets.
Frowning, Celdic pulled out a tightly folded piece of paper. His
eyebrows rose in surprise as he unfolded it and realized it was a
note from his father, Terrance.

Celdic:

I am sorry that I cannot be
with you when you reach Shalilayo. I left instructions with
Thistledown to have you, Lendel, Li and Cha’le introduced at the
court in Shalilayo as my heirs. The ranking officer, Captain Kerns,
is aware of who I am and will assist you in the transition to court
life. Should anything go wrong, there are several important things
that you need to be aware of.

First, Shalilayo is what we
have dubbed, a ‘catalyst’. The altars of power that the Derinian
Order set up throughout the world can only work in harmony if
someone places a Chasel in a device located in the throne room at
the Palace. This device looks like a large three-dimensional
triangle, with a small cutout in the middle for the Chasel to sit
in. If, for any reason, it appears the enemy is going to gain
control of Shalilayo, we must destroy this device at all
costs.

Second, you may meet a man
by the name of Radroc in your travels. He was a close friend once,
and may be willing to aid you. His knowledge of the Spiritual Realm
is invaluable and may hold the key to victory over the
enemy.

Lastly, I want to tell you
how proud I am of the man you have become. I hope to return soon,
but if I do not, know that you have my love, and the love of your
mother to keep you company in the dark storm ahead of us. Be
well.

P.S. Cha’le put a burr
inside the toe of your boot.

Celdic blinked and re-read
the last line. Leaning down, he stuck his hand into his boot and
felt the sharp points of a burr. Pulling the burr out, Celdic
scratched the back of his head in puzzlement. How had Terrance
known that Cha’le would put a burr in his boot this morning?
Shaking his head in wonderment, Celdic pulled the boots on and left
the room, hoping that Thistledown could answer some of his
questions.

The soldiers that had
filled the common room the night before now filled the rooms on the
ground floor, with some rooms holding up to ten soldiers.
Thistledown had made some kind of connection to the soldiers with
his
yar
when their
party returned from the stable yard the night before, and the
soldiers had all risen from their tables and walked woodenly to
their rooms.

Riah stayed the night in the
same room as Morindessa and Jesha. Morindessa looked completely
refreshed from her ordeal from the previous day, aside from a
haunted look in her eyes. Riah, Jesha and Morindessa were sitting
across the table from Thistledown, Lendel, Cha’le and Jalorm.
Celdic walked around the table, unobtrusively dropping the burr in
Cha’le’s long blonde hair as he passed her before sitting down
between Jalorm and Thistledown.

“
Good morning, sunshine.”
Cha’le smiled at him with her eyes twinkling. Her innocent face was
full of suppressed mirth, almost making Celdic smile in
satisfaction at her failed prank.

“
Nice clothes,” Jalorm
murmured, studying Celdic’s shirt in fascination. “Where did they
come from?” He had combed his dark hair back from his
almost-handsome face, an odd change from his normally shaggy
hair.

“
A late birthday present
from my father,” Celdic answered dryly, pulling a knife from one of
the sleeves to show Jalorm the hidden pockets.

Jalorm looked impressed,
even a touch envious as he wrapped his knuckles smartly against the
forearm guard and fingered the star knives in fascination.
Morindessa was also studying his new outfit with interest, her dark
eyes touched with respect. Celdic remembered the pile of bodies she
had left surrounding Riah when he finally rejoined her after
killing the archers the previous day. He was not sure who would win
if he went up against her, but he suspected the odds were in her
favor. Even growing up in Chasel Ri’ Aven, where the women learned
to fight alongside the men, it was hard to think of someone as
beautiful as Morindessa being so deadly. Long black hair that fell
to mid-back framed her finely sculpted features, with a portion of
the black mass spilling over one of her shoulders.

“
How are you coming along
with your technique?” Thistledown inquired with a quirked eyebrow
at Celdic. Thistledown wore what Celdic had first assumed to be a
set of laborer’s dull gray overalls with a faded white cotton shirt
tucked in. Looking closer, Celdic realized Thistledown had
outfitted his provincial clothing with secret pockets for various
weapons, much like Celdic’s own new clothes.

“
I think it
is going well,” Celdic answered hesitantly. Life in Chasel Ri’ Aven
had prepared Celdic for the sensations that using his
yar
would introduce, but
actually feeling the alteration of his perception as his awareness
expanded to include anything that his
yar
touched still left him in awe.
When he was not reaching out with his
yar
to sense his surroundings, he
felt insignificant in the sea of objects that immersed his being.
“A lot of the lessons from the Tar Ri’ San that didn’t make sense
before are much clearer now.”

“
Good,” Thistledown
replied, nodding his head approvingly. “It might not be a bad idea
for you to participate in the lessons Li is giving Lori so that you
can practice the new skills together.”

Celdic flushed slightly,
feeling a wave of pleasure wash through his veins at the thought of
another excuse to be with Li. “All right.”

Cha’le leaned forward from
her place on the other side of Thistledown to smile widely at
Celdic, a mischievous twinkle in her deep blue eyes. Celdic decided
to change the subject before Cha’le said something to embarrass
him. “I found a letter from Terrance in my pocket,” Celdic told
Thistledown, pulling the letter out of his pocket and handing it to
the little man.

Thistledown scanned the
letter quickly. Cha’le sat next to him trying to read the letter
without appearing to. When he finished reading the last line, his
lips twitched slightly. He glanced sideways at Cha’le, absently
folding the letter up before she could read it. “I planned on
waiting until we were closer to Shalilayo before revealing this
information, but Terrance probably has his reasons for telling you
now.”

Thistledown handed the
letter back. Celdic knew he would have to burn it or it would
inevitably end up in Cha’le’s hands. “I was curious how Terrance
knew about the information on the last line,” Celdic asked
cryptically. “Can he really see into the future that
clearly?”