Outcasts of Velrune (13 page)

“It is not like you to sleep so late. The sun has already risen.”

Eve, still not fully awake, only mumbled. “Sorry, Mr. Penna.”

“Rough night I presume?”

Eve’s tail found its way into her hands. “Y-Yeah. I was worried about Max and couldn’t sleep.”

“Is that it? I thought perhaps you stayed up all night gallivanting about or some such silly thing.”

Eve tightened the grip on her tail, keeping quiet. Mr. Penna looked at her expectantly for several seconds then gave up.

“Well then, if that is what is troubling you, the sooner we get moving the sooner you will see him.” He bent over and held his hand out to her. “Now then, let us get you some breakfast and be on our way.”

“Kay.”

Eve, finally awake, let go of her tail to take hold of Mr. Penna’s hand. He pulled her up with ease. On her feet, Eve pointed at the stick in Mr. Penna’s hand.

“Please don’t poke me like that again. You scared me. I might have hurt you.”

Mr. Penna gave a hardy chuckle.

“I-I’m serious.”

Mr. Penna laughed harder. “I am not poking fun at you, Evangeline. I know very well what you can do. This pole used to be twice as long.”

Eve’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry.”

Mr. Penna scratched at his chin. “How does that old saying go? Oh yes. ‘Let sleeping dogs lie or in time of need and dealing with a lacarnian,” Mr. Penna held the pole vertical, “use a really long stick.’”

Eve now shared in Mr. Penna’s laughter. “I don’t remember hearing that last part before.”

“That, my dear, is why I am the teacher. Now, enough of this silliness. Grab some breakfast and let us be on our way.”

Eve had breakfast while Mr. Penna packed the horses, leaving for the next camp as soon as they finished. They maintained an easy pace for most of the day. Eve even let Spook out of her pocket so the mouse could play atop Starlight. Late in the afternoon they came across a large disturbance on the trail. Mr. Penna studied the area.

“It seems a bit of commotion took place here recently. A run in with bandits perhaps? A large number of hoof prints lead North. Evangeline, are you able to detect any scents with that keen nose of yours? I wonder if these tracks had anything to do with our friends.”

“Maybe.”

Eve walked around the tracks in an ever-expanding arc
. Should I tell Mr. Penna about last night? What if he gets mad at me, or worse, hates me for it? I can’t tell him, not yet.

After a few minutes she walked back over to Mr. Penna. “I can definitely smell Max and Tyco. I think I detected a hint of the diggers and Melody as well. Maybe two other groups. One in particular left a rather foul odor.”

“Can you tell who went where?”

“Umm, Max and Melody, and at least one of the diggers, went north followed by the group with the foul odor. The other group, which smelled like the other guards we’ve met, went after them. The guards, Max and Melody returned and headed on to the next camp. Tyco never went north, he kept to the main trail.”

Mr. Penna smiled oddly. “Is that so? That is quite a nose you have Evangeline.”

Eve took her tail in her hands and looked down at her feet. U
h oh, too much
.

She poked at a few pebbles with her toe. “Well, some of the scents were layered so I only assumed they left and came back. M-most of it I just kind of guessed at.”

“Uh huh. Well, at least we do not have to worry about making any detours. Shall we be on our way then?”

Eve released her tail in relief. “Definitely!”

Without another word, Eve took off at a run to the west. Mr. Penna took Starlight’s reins and followed after her. They reached the next camp in the early evening. Before Mr. Penna could stop her, Eve ran straight to and inside the guardhouse, speaking rapidly to the first guard she found.

“Did any other travelers come from the eastern camp yesterday or this morning?”

The guard responded crossly. “Where’s your owner, lacarna?”

Eve started to get frustrated. “That’s who I’m looking for. He got ahead of us and should have passed through here already. Have you seen anyone?”

The guard turned to another guard sitting in a corner. “Marcus, detain this lacarna. She is without her owner.”

The guard in the corner stood and moved towards Eve to grab her arm. Eve jerked away in anger. “No, wait, that’s who I’m trying to find.”

Mr. Penna stepped into the guardhouse. “Good evening, gentlemen. The lacarna is with me.”

“Do you have her papers?”

“No. I am not her owner. We were separated. The rest of our party should have already come this way. In fact, we think some of the guards from here might have run across them on the trail. His name is Maxwell Laskaris. He may have been with an acolyte and some diggers. Possibly another man by the name of Tyco.”

The guard relaxed. “Ah, you must be Mr. Penna. One of the diggers never showed, but the rest of your party has been through here. Lt. Biros left yesterday. The rest left early this morning. They mentioned that you would be coming along.”

Eve calmed herself. “Then Max did arrive safely?”

The guard ignored her. Speaking only to Mr. Penna he relayed the events from the past couple of days. By the time he had finished, Eve had grown very anxious.

“Mr. Penna, if we leave tonight we can catch them before they leave the final camp in the morning.”

The guard still did not face Eve. “I’m afraid I cannot let you or any traveler leave until morning. We are under strict orders from Sergeant Kallis.”

Eve started to get angry again. “What do you mean you can’t let us leave?”

Growing tired of her outbursts, the guard faced Eve. “The road is too dangerous. Between the bandit attack and the rumors of a lacarath it would be crazy to travel at night.”

“I can smell the bandits long before they could ever see us and the lacarath attack happened far northeast of here.”

The guard, losing his temper, moved towards Eve, but Mr. Penna stepped between them. “I can assure you we plan on following your directive to wait until morning.”

“But, Mr. Penna.”

Mr. Penna turned, his gaze boring into Eve. “No, Evangeline.”

“But…”

Eve had seen Mr. Penna get mad at Max, but not this angry. “That is enough Evangeline. Outside, now!”

Eve’s jaw dropped. She took a step back.
He’s never yelled at me before.

She lowered her head and shuffled out of the guardhouse. Outside she did her best to fight back tears.

I just want to get to Max.

Mr. Penna came out of the guardhouse. Speaking gruffly, he pointed to a spot near the west opening of the camp.

“Take the horses over there, unpack our bedrolls and fix us supper.”

Eve kept her head down, sniffled and mumbled. “Yes, Mr. Penna.”

Eve led the horse to the spot Mr. Penna had indicated. She laid out the bedrolls and prepared a light supper. When she had everything finished Mr. Penna came over, collected his plate, and went back over to the guardhouse without saying a word to her.

Eve let Spook out while she ate. “What’d I do wrong, Spook? Does Mr. Penna really know what I did last night? Maybe I should go back home.”

Once Eve finished supper she lay down on her bedroll and watched Spook play as she mulled over the past two days. She didn’t notice Mr. Penna arrive until he was sitting across from her. He leaned in close, speaking in a low voice.

“I did not think those guards would ever tire. All but the night watchman are asleep now and he is not overly inclined to leave the guardhouse.”

Mr. Penna paused a moment then reached out and softly stroked her face. “I am truly sorry I had to do that to you my dear, but I had little choice.”

Tears started to form in the corner of Eve’s eyes. “I just wanted to get to Max. I’m sorry, Mr. Penna.”

Mr. Penna smiled tenderly at her. “Though I sounded harsh, I did not have any ill intent behind it. I am afraid you will soon find out that such treatment is expected in places like Moenia. Those guards had no intention of letting us go. If I did not act the part they would have been suspicious of us, which means they would have kept us under close watch. That would have made it a bit difficult to slip out without them knowing it.”

Slip out?
Eve choked back the tears, not sure she had heard him correctly. “What?”

“I am almost as anxious to reach Maxwell as you are my dear. Now I think we shall have our chance. I hope you can forgive me.”

Eve dried her eyes. “So you only pretended to be mad at me?”

“My child, I would never dream of treating you in such a way. It pained my heart to even pretend to do so.”

Eve gave a weak smile. “In that case, I forgive you.” Her smiled faded. “I wonder if Max would have done that?”

Mr. Penna snorted. “Maxwell has the heart of the young and foolish. He would pretend nothing despite the consequences. To tell you the truth, I have a feeling that will never change. At least not when it concerns those he cares about.”

Eve giggled. “I like that about him.” Eve saw Mr. Penna smile the same way her mother did when she talked about Max like that.

How is it they can tell so easily?

Eve changed the subject. “So what do we do now?”

“We get the horses and leave as quietly as possible.”

Eve looked at the all things she had unpacked; their bedrolls, plates, cups. “Do you think we can pack things up without them noticing?”

“No. That is why we are going to leave anything and everything that is not already packed. We will be at the final camp by morning; in Moenia by nightfall. We will not need this stuff anymore, at least not until we start back. We will worry about that when the time comes.”

“So we just get on the horses and go?”

“Not you, I need you on foot leading. I cannot see all that well in the dark, or in daylight for that matter.”

Eve laughed then covered her mouth before the night watchman could hear her. When the fit passed she removed her hand.

“That’s fine with me. Can you carry Spook though? I may have to stay close to the ground. I don’t want her slipping out of my pocket in the dark.”

Mr. Penna sighed. “I guess I owe you one for earlier, hand her over.”

Eve gently took hold of Spook, who had worked her way up to Eve’s shoulder. She placed her in Mr. Penna’s hands, and he reluctantly deposited the mouse in his shirt pocket. He stared right at Eve.

“Are you ready?”

“Yep!”

Mr. Penna stood, gesturing to the open gate. “Then lead on.”

Eve got up, glancing back at the guardhouse to make sure no one watched them. With no one in sight she slipped out the camp gate. Mr. Penna got on the mare and followed after Eve, being sure to stay within eyesight. Starlight, still tied to the mare’s saddle, followed along.

An hour passed before the night watchman noticed that Eve and Mr. Penna had departed. He knew he would be in trouble with Sgt. Kallis when he returned, but not enough to run after the two in the dark. Instead he stayed in the camp and used his time to find a good excuse for their disappearance.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The morning after the bandit attack, Max gave no resistance to leaving for the final camp. With little time to sleep, he was too exhausted to argue with Sgt. Kallis. Instead, he tried to use the day’s travel to figure out the best way to convince the Sergeant to wait for Eve and Mr. Penna. Unfortunately, the several hours ride didn’t help, leaving him at the last camp without a plan.

The following morning, with only his determination, Max stood by his horse refusing to budge until Eve could arrive. Behind him stood Melody, cringing at the impending argument. Sgt. Kallis towered over Max, no more than a foot in front of him.

“Maxwell, we are leaving now. Lieutenant Biros is expecting us in Moenia.”

“He can surely wait one more day. Eve and Mr. Penna are only a day behind us.”

The vein on Sergeant Kallis’s forehead grew larger. “We can take care of that later. Now get on the horse!”

Melody raised her hand halfway. “I myself would like to wait another day to see if Zeth makes his way here. He is a good friend, and I don’t want to give up on him.”

Sergeant Kallis growled at her. “You stay out of this, acolyte.”

Max leaned forward an inch. “We’re staying here.”

Sergeant Kallis reached out to grab Max. “Listen here, kid…”

Max grabbed the handle of his sword, sliding it partway out of the sheath one of the other guards had loaned him. He had taken to wearing it rather than packing it on the horse. He wouldn’t be caught weaponless again.

Sergeant Kallis snickered. “Maxwell, my boy, you don’t want to mess…” He tilted his head up to look past Max. “What the…?”

Max felt insulted that the Sergeant lost attention in his threat, until he heard what the Sergeant saw.

“Maaaxxxyyy.”