Midnight Quest (17 page)

She took a deep breath and let her eyes open, as if she truly had just awoken. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” he responded. “Come, I will walk you down to yon creek—”

Bortonor let out a very unhappy growl in the back of his throat.

“—oh, so that be your job?” Rialt challenged. “You watch her step, then. Mind, the way be steep for her.”

The dog let out a huff as if insulted by this unnecessary reminder. He rose from his comfortable spot—which let a blast of cool air in to chill her side—and shook himself from head to tail. Having lost her heat source, Jewel sighed and climbed to her feet. As she found her boots next to the blankets and slipped them on, she couldn’t help but reflect on Sarvell’s statement. He was right.

Rialt truly was worse than the dog.

~*~*~*~

When riding through largely deserted foothills covered in nothing but unending waves of tall grass, there wasn’t much to do to pass the time aside from conversation. Jewel rode in front of Rialt (as usual) with Bortonor trotting along on one side and Chizeld on the other. She took advantage of the proximity and the relative peace of the morning to pepper the man with questions.

“I’m starting to question everything that was read to me, everything that I was taught in the Order,” she admitted to Chizeld frankly. “I’ve encountered too many contradictions in my travels to what I was told. And I learned very little about the crystal while growing up. In fact, it’s only experience and vague instructions from Elahandra that has taught me as much as I now know. You seem to know more than I do. Start from the very beginning and tell me everything you know.”

“Everything?” Chizeld asked in bemusement. “Even from the time Elahandra decided to give the crystals to the clans?”

“From the very beginning,” Jewel repeated firmly. Rialt and Sarvell didn’t say a word, but she could feel their keen interest in the conversation. Rialt twisted ever so slightly in the saddle to face Chizeld more directly.

The horses’ hooves thudded against the packed dirt for several moments before Chizeld snorted. “From the beginning, then. When the Father God of this world created it, each fledgling god was assigned certain people to guide and protect. This would be the gods’ testing ground, a place to learn how to govern mortal men. At first, the gods did well with the new role. But as time went on, some of the gods grew weary of the task. Other pursuits were found and attention deviated from the humans the gods were supposed to guide and protect. Broeske, the God of Learning, was the first to ignore people in favor of experiments. Baurthan, the God of Order, soon lost all patience with the chaos that mortals create and followed Broeske’s example.”

So far she found no difference in the story he told than the one she had grown up hearing. She waved a hand for him to continue when he paused.

“Then Cherchez, the God of Tricks, begin to stir up people against Evard. Cherchez was bored with the relative peace of the land, and convinced the Daath that conquering Evard’s people would make life easier. The Daath began to come against Evard’s citizens and the Jordia Clan was the first to suffer from Daath armies. Elahandra, Goddess of Light, saw what was happening to the people because of sibling’s neglect. It angered the goddess and Elahandra resolved to help. Could not do anything directly because Elahandra had no power outside of Jordia’s territory. Went to siblings and urged to help people, but to no avail.

“Then Ramath was invaded by the Daath. The goddess, Juven, had gone on a hunting expedition and thoughts were far from people. Elahandra could not stand to see the war rage on, even though it did not affect own people, and tracked sister down. Juven was remorseful and came to help Ramath, but many lives had already been lost.

“To prevent this from ever happening again, Elahandra called the brothers and sister together in council. There it was decided that Elahandra could establish one Order in each territory that would provide a strong barrier to protect the entire country. Only through called servants would Elahandra be allowed to act. Goddess of Protection constructed large crystals to store power in and fuel the barrier and called a priestess to manage each one.”

“Wait, wait,” Sarvell interrupted from behind them. “Now,
I
was told that none of the other gods were interested in protecting their people and so Elahandra took on the task for them.”

Chizeld’s saddle creaked as he turned in it. “No, not so. The other gods wanted people to be protected, but were afraid that didn’t have the concentration necessary to keep up with it. Elahandra did. That’s why task was given to the Goddess of Protection.”

“Sarvell’s version is the one I heard as well,” Jewel admitted slowly.  “It’s because of the other gods’ neglect that Elahandra’s Order has the right to interfere in other clan’s territories, or so I’ve always been told.”

“Lorin, you be sure of this?” Rialt asked in a soft, neutral tone.

“Very sure,” Chizeld answered firmly. “The book this story comes from has been in the family for seven generations. Very old. It is the truest version.”

“So the question stands, why was the story changed?” Sarvell clearly meant this as a more rhetorical question. “Was it simply altered through time, depending on who was copying it down from one book to another? Or was it purposefully changed for more political reasons?”

“I think political,” Rialt growled.

“I’m inclined to agree,” Jewel said in a matching growl. “Cherchez’s beard! No wonder things have become so chaotic. There’re too many agendas that are making a mess of things.”

“I feel sorry for the new priestesses about to be called,” Sarvell remarked on a long sigh. “They’re going to have their hands full. With the newest version being the accepted truth, they’re going to be facing a lot of political upheaval.”

“Except with Ramath,” Rialt reminded him.

“Well of course except Ramath. Ramath is against anything Thornock says!”

“Eh, well…we be tired of dealing with the Daath too.”

Jewel rubbed at her temples, feeling a headache coming on. “One problem at a time, gentlemen. Alright, so putting the crystals back in the right position is actually the first step of the solution. Having a high priestess called for each crystal is the second. But she can’t do the job alone—” as Jewel had learned painfully well “—so she’ll need to call in help. Either a guard of sorts or something similar.”

“Priestess Jomadd cannot do this last task, not in the other territories.” Chizeld’s tone brooked no disagreement. “For one thing, not enough time. Building an Order takes years before fully operational. For another, do not have the authority. High Priestess of Thornock only has authority in Thornock. Already operating outside of jurisdiction just to find crystals and put them back,” he admitted.

Lovely. Hence why Elahandra was calling other priestesses, no doubt. Jewel hated to just find the crystal, slide it back into place, give the newly called priestess a crash course of the job and then run. But it looked like she didn’t really have much of an option. Chizeld was right about the authority and the time restraints. As High Priestess of Thornock, she really shouldn’t be outside of her clan’s territory. And the crystal in Thornock barely had any energy left in it. She had a limited amount of time to put everything back where it should be and recharge the crystals otherwise the barrier, weak as it was, would fail entirely.

Weren’t impossible tasks supposed to get
easier
over time?

Chapter Twelve

Rialt kept a close eye on Lorin as they travelled. Sent by Elahandra or no, he did no know the man, and he did no trust him quite yet. Jewel did no seem to have the same hesitation—she readily accepted him as she had he and Sarvell. In fact, as they rode, Jewel’s focus had narrowed specifically to the location of Bryn’s crystal and pumping Chizeld for information. A whole day had passed as she satisfied her curiosity.

He almost blessed her distraction, for he did no want to worry her, no without cause. But he knew full well that the safety of being in Ramath had passed. They were nearing Bryn’s borders now, and Bryn had close ties to Thornock. A trade clan by nature, they had close ties with
everyone
, but Thornock had more sway here than any other clan’s territory. Here, he expected trouble.

They did no dare discuss it openly, but a glance at Sarvell conveyed the idea well enough. The merchant’s son looked grim, as if he expected trouble around the next bend. Lorin picked up on it as well, and he started paying better attention to their surroundings. But no trace of it entered his voice as he answered the lass’s questions and Rialt silently blessed him for that.

If worst came, Rialt could likely trust Sarvell to take her and run. Fighting on this open place would no be his first choice, but here he likely could no pick the battlefield. He kept sneaking glances at Lorin as they rode. The man looked strong enough, and Elahandra would no send a weakling to guard the lass, but that did no mean he knew enough to trust the man to guard his back if a fight
did
break out.

Lovenanty, but he did no like this. No one bit.

They started the second day of traveling with Lorin, no trouble on the horizon. But that meant they were that much closer to Bryn. If something
were
amiss, Rialt would no be able to spot it. He did no know the area well enough for that. But Sarvell would…maybe he should send the man ahead to scout a little afore they reached a town.

After traveling a good portion of the day this way, Jewel demanded, “What? What’s wrong?”

“No one said a word about something being amiss.”

“I’m blind, not oblivious,” she snapped back, turning in his arms so that she could hear his voice better over the sound of hoof beats. “You keep loosening your weapons in their sheaths. All of you are on edge. Why?”

“Observant,” Chizeld approved. He sounded strangely proud of her, too. Rialt’s eyes cut to him. A small smile played along the man’s lips and he truly did look pleased with her. “Good. In answer, Ramath’s border is behind. In Bryn now.”

“No Thornock soldier be daring enough to hassle us in Ramath,” Rialt elaborated in clipped words. “But Bryn be another duck. They will no hesitate to engage us here. We be expecting trouble.”

“Oh. That’s vastly unreassuring. What do I do if we are attacked?”

“You grab the saddle horn and hang tight, even if I dismount,” Rialt ordered. “You be aboard a warhorse, see. He will protect you even if I be down.”

“Alright.”

Rialt knew that his answer would no really solve the problem, no if they were outnumbered. That sounded all well and good in theory, but what if all three men were injured? Or driven away from her? The only thing she knew about horses was how to mount and dismount. She had no a clue how to lead one. If all of her guards were defeated, she likely would no stand a chance either, warhorse or no.

They rode the rest of the day in uneasy silence.

The sun had started its decent toward the horizon when Jewel sat up abruptly in front of him, head snapping to the left. “Oh!”

Had she heard something? Rialt came alert, hand automatically reaching for the haft over his shoulder. “What?”

“The crystal is there!” she said in excitement, pointing to her left. “It suddenly feels very distinct instead of vague. Oh
good
. We won’t have to go to the temple and search through the records here either.”

They must be close if she could feel it distinctly. Rialt heaved out a sigh of relief and lowered his head. One less temple to go to sounded grand to him. “That be good, lass. How far, do you know?”

She pointed in its direction and said, “It’s there. Just there. No more than an hour’s travel away, I would think.”

“Fruithy is that direction,” Chizeld noted thoughtfully.

She cocked her head, puzzled. “Fruithy?”

“Famous vineyard,” Rialt explained. “The sweetest wine be said to come from Fruithy. I have never been this far south, so I had no notion we were that close. Lorin, you know the place?”

“Been there once,” he confirmed. “Not a large town, but it spreads out over the foothills.”

“How far?”

“About an hour,” Chizeld answered dryly. “Crystal likely buried in foothills somewhere.”

“Eh, belike it be buried,” Rialt grumbled. “But no in rocks. Lass, how much would you care to wager it be buried in grape vines?”

 “Oh dear. You’re probably right. The vines would be attracted to the crystal as a matter of course over the years.”

“Like Ramath’s crystal?”

“Heard about that, did you? Eh, it was a right mess to hack it clear. Mind, Jewel pulled it easily back into place once we freed it, but…” Rialt’s voice trailed off in a resigned grumble. “If that crystal truly be buried in Fruithy’s precious grape vines, it will be a fashrie to pull it free. The local people belike will no view the enterprise kindly.”

“That sounds like a terrible understatement,” Jewel sighed.

“Sarvell,” Rialt turned with a creak in his saddle to look at the man riding behind him. “Have you been here before?”

“It’s been years,” Sarvell admitted frankly. “We normally just have an agent come and inspect the wine for us. But I remember it well enough, I think. You want me to scout ahead?”

“Ah. If there be lookouts, I want to know. We do no need to go to Elahandra’s temple but—”

“Actually,” Jewel interrupted apologetically, “We will.”

Rialt turned back around to stare at her in puzzlement. Her expression had screwed up into an anticipatory grimace. “Eh?”

“I am the high priestess for the Order in Thornock,” she explained with a shrug. “But I am also the Guardian of the Barrier. Because of that, I’m rather like a dignitary. Whenever I visit another territory, I must visit at least one temple of Elahandra.”

“Protocol,” Chizeld agreed although he looked like his head hurt just thinking about it. “No other choice.”

Jewel clasped her hands together in prayer-fashion and lifted them to the heavens. “Please,
please
, don’t let them talk my ear off.”

“Who is the prayer to?” Lorin inquired dryly.