The Troven (Kingdom of Denall Book 1) (17 page)

Chapter 16

Farin walked slowly back toward Hillside Inn. During the weeks they had stayed in Hillside, Bendar worked as a clerk, Kaz put on a show for a group of patrons every couple of days, and he wandered the streets looking for any kind of job he could find. Today he was returning from a farm on the outskirts of the village that had needed some fence posts set. He hadn’t had that kind of workout since he was on the farm back home.

As he approached the inn, he saw Commander Aldis standing out front. He waved at Omer’s soldier.

“Hi,” he called out as he came close. He hadn’t seen Aldis since they came to Hillside. “What brings you back this way? Have you caught the crooks who stole our stuff?”

Commander Aldis smiled in a friendly way, then reached out a hand and gave Farin a formal handshake.

“I think they have moved on. We haven’t seen a trace of them. I’m actually here on other business,” he said. “I have heard that there is a young man telling stories about special, magical stones.”

Farin pointed at the inn door. “You heard right. Kaz tells all kinds of stories. He’s even told them about how you saved us from the bandits. When he tells the story you came in with sword drawn, chasing down the thieves single handedly.”

Aldis cracked the slightest smile. “So his stories are all made up?” He sounded a little disappointed.

“Not all of them,” Farin said as he pushed open the door for the soldier. “Most of his material actually comes from Bendar,” he explained, pointing out his friend. “Bendar studies everything. Just last week he came across some old records where he works as a clerk. The records were about some boring trade dispute between landowners in Oakdale,” Farin said as he stuck his tongue out in disgust. “Kaz turned Bendar’s boring research into a grandiose tale of feuding families that nearly tore the kingdom apart.”

Aldis pointed at Bendar. “What about the stories of the magical stones? Are those also made up?”

Farin shrugged. “Mostly. You’d have to ask Bendar if you want to separate fact from fiction. But be prepared to be bored.” Farin led Commander Aldis to Bendar’s table.

“Bendar,” Aldis said, addressing the intellect. “Can we speak for a moment please?”

Bendar looked up from a book he was reading and seemed surprised to notice he wasn’t alone at the table. “Y-yes,” he stammered. “Yes, of course, Sir. It’s good to see you again.”

When he had Bendar’s attention, the soldier turned to Farin, “Would you mind giving us a minute?” he asked.

A little surprised by Commander Aldis’ dismissal, but happy to not have to hear Bendar’s history lesson, Farin quickly agreed and left to watch Kaz sharing his tale of how he had bravely fought a pack of drams. The story was funny, and Kaz had the audience completely engaged, but after having heard it retold and changed a couple of times, Farin was more interested in finding out what other gossip might be traded at the other tables in the inn tonight.  Perhaps he would get a lead on a new job. The marks on his ears flared red as, table by table, he turned his attention toward the back of the room. After a few minutes of shifting his focus from conversation to conversation, he realized he had arrived at Bendar’s table.

Bendar was speaking quickly, so it seemed he was excited about whatever they were discussing, “…logical to conclude that there are indeed magical stones. Several books agree that they did exist at some time, and then were scattered to various places. Their current location is, of course, a mystery, but I doubt they would just disappear.”

“Is their location
truly
a mystery? Have you never seen such a stone?” The question was met with stunned silence. Commander Aldis continued assertively, “You seem to know quite a bit about magical items. Perhaps you could come with me to Omer’s keep and speak with him. He has a keen interest in the subject, and he’s actually looking for someone to fill a vacancy in the keep.”

Farin listened intently for a response. From the way the commander addressed Bendar, it seemed that his invitation was more of a command than an optional trip. “I have some important work to complete here in town, but that should only take a couple of days, then I would be happy to meet with Omer, though I can’t stay for too long.”

“I will return in two days to escort you to Omer’s keep,” Commander Aldis replied. “Be sure you have finished whatever important work needs to be done. I feel that after you meet Omer, you might
decide
you want to stay on at the keep.” Commander Aldis said this with some significance, and the tone made Farin’s skin crawl.

Farin turned around and watched as Aldis stood up from the table and strode out of the inn. Farin joined Bendar at the table, “What was that all about?” he asked. It was clear that his friend was shaken up.

“I am not entirely sure,” Bendar said while he watched the door through which Aldis had left. “Kaz seems to have made a bit of a stir with his tales.”

Farin looked at Kaz and around the room. The people were laughing and enjoying the show, but they couldn’t actually believe Kaz was any kind of authority on magical history, could they? “They’re just stories,” he commented with bewilderment as he turned back to Bendar.

“I know,” Bendar agreed. “But some people seem to think…” he stopped speaking and deliberately turned to look down at the table while placing his hand up to block his face.

Farin turned around to look at the door, but Bendar reached out and grabbed his arm. “What?” Farin asked, still craning his neck to look at the door.

“Look at me!” Bendar said in a hushed but insistent tone. Farin looked at his friend. “The coach driver just walked in the room.”

Farin tilted his head down so he could subtly look over his shoulder. The thin man walked into the room and sat down at a table as he watched Kaz telling his tale. “We have to get Aldis!” Farin said.

“I don’t think that’s an option,” Bendar replied, softly. He moved his head slightly, pointing at the driver.

Farin turned around and the thin man was looking right at him. He waved at the pair, then spoke in a whisper that Farin could barely hear. “Nice to see you again.”

Farin stood up and was about to cross the room when Bendar grabbed his arm. “Not now,” he said, urging his friend to sit back down. “We’ll lose everything if we start a bar fight.”

While glaring at the coach driver, Farin reluctantly took his seat in silence. He scratched a small note on the table with his fingernail, and Bendar looked down to see the word, ‘listener’. He nodded and the two watched Kaz in silence until the show was over and Kaz had made his now habitual, dramatic exit, then quickly retired to their room, and locked the door behind them.

“What’s going on?” Kaz asked, surprised by their sudden appearance. Farin held his finger to his lips and they all sat down on the bed in the corner of the room.

“Speak only in whispers and talk into the pillows as much as possible,” Farin said as he beckoned to his friends to lean their heads in close together, and demonstrated how to hold a couple of pillows near their faces to dampen the sound of their discussion. “It should keep our conversation more private.”

Kaz grabbed a pillow and held it up near his mouth. “Is someone going to tell me what is going on?”

“You’ve had your last performance,” Bendar said. “We need to leave, tonight.”

“What?” Farin and Kaz asked in unison.

Farin looked around the room, “We don’t have the supplies we need yet, Garin hasn’t returned, and you haven’t collected the payment for your clerical work.”

Bendar drew his eyebrows together and his marks flared maroon. Kaz held up his hand between the two other boys. “Would someone like to let me know why we’re whispering into pillows and talking about leaving?” he asked, looking between Bendar and Farin.

Farin took a calming breath, “Sorry, Kaz. We saw the stage coach driver in the crowd tonight. He recognized us.”

Kaz looked questioningly at Bendar and Farin, then dropped his pillow. He spoke in a loud voice, “It’s a good thing Omer’s guards make regular patrols through Hillside,” he announced. “We’ll report any bandit we see and that’ll be the end of it. Maybe we’ll even get our stuff back.”

Bendar shook his head, and pulled Kaz back down into their huddle. “It’s not that simple. Commander Aldis also came back today too. He heard your stories about magical stones, and he’s coming back in two days to take me to Omer’s keep for what sounds like a lengthy internship.”

“Hmmm,” Kaz said softly. “That does complicate things.”

“It certainly does,” Farin agreed. “We can’t leave because the bandits are back and will be on the roads.”

Bendar cut in, “We can’t stay because we’ll be prolonged at Omer’s keep. And,” he added, “if we report the bandits, they’ll probably just take us to the ‘safety’ of his keep sooner.”

Kaz looked at Bendar with confusion on his face, “What’s wrong with that? Wouldn’t it be nice to be in the safety of Omer’s keep?”

Bendar shook his head back and forth, “No, it would not. The way Aldis talked, I don’t think I would easily be able to leave if he let me leave at all,” Bendar took in a deep breath, seemingly looking for the right way to explain something. “In some of the texts I have read about these Stones of Power, they have stirred up some powerful disputes as people have sought for them.  If Omer believes in the stones, a man with his power and influence could be a dangerous person to anger, especially if he thinks that we somehow have knowledge of where to find one of these stones for him. If we want to get to our destinations, we need to get moving.” In Bendar’s agitation over the situation, he threw down the pillow he had been holding and stood up to pace the room for a moment. Farin waved him back over.

“What are we going to do?” Farin whispered to his friends when they were huddled close together.

The three boys were silent for a time. Farin tried to think of anything that would help them get out of the situation. The people in Hillside had come to know that they were in the inn and that they were daily looking for work. They loved listening to Kaz’s stories, and some of the people he had met had even suggested that they stay in Hillside for the duration of their Troven. They would notice very quickly if the boys just left. Kaz had also pretty much told everyone that their plans were to go to Norwell, so the first place people would look for them would be on the main road. “Is there another road to Norwell?” Farin asked.

“Not any well-travelled roads,” Bendar answered. “There are some horse paths and hiking trails, but they are mainly through the rocky, northern forests. Not much lives in there.”

“That sounds perfect,” Kaz said a little more loudly than he anticipated. Startled by the sound of his own voice, he grabbed a pillow and pulled it over his mouth. “Fff muliv domurren a--” Farin yanked the pillow down from his mouth and dramatically mimed how to hold it near, but not on his mouth. Kaz smiled sheepishly and started again, “If we leave tomorrow morning at the normal time, nobody will think anything is amiss. We’ll go our separate ways, then meet on the north side of town and head up to where Garin is working, pick him up, and start our trip through the Northern Forest.”

Bendar shook his head almost as soon as Kaz started talking. “That kind of trip requires a lot more planning. We need almost completely different supplies than what we have been collecting,” he said, pointing at the pile of materials in their room. “I’m planning for us to be able to collect food on our way, harvest berries, set up snares, maybe even trade with other travelers. If we go north, we’ll need to carry all of the food we’ll eat.”

“Fine,” Kaz relented, “We’ll get more food, no big deal.”

“It is a big deal,” Bendar argued.

Farin placed a calming hand on each of the boys’ shoulders. “It sounds like it will be a big change,” he agreed, “But you won’t have to do it alone. Unless you can think of another way, we need to move north, and we need to leave soon.”

Bendar pulled out a piece of paper and began scribbling out a supply list. He then tore the paper into three pieces and handed one to Farin and one to Kaz.

“I am not happy with this plan,” Bendar grumbled. “But if we can get everything on this list, we can make it work.”

Kaz patted him on the back. “Okay, so that’s settled. Let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be an adventure.”

The boys carefully prepared their travel packs, trying to fit everything they had into them. After several weeks in Hillside, they still had lots of room in their packs for the supplies Bendar had put on their shopping lists.

Farin looked carefully at his list. It was amazing how quickly Bendar was able to make mental calculations and come up with exactly what they would need. Farin’s list consisted mostly of dried food. Although one piece of jerky was light, he knew a pack filled with the stuff would be heavy. He didn’t mind hard work, and was actually a little excited to get traveling again, but the more he thought of leaving behind any hope of recovering their stolen items, the more agitated he became. If they were going to strike off on their own again, he wanted his sword, not to mention the items his father had given to him and Garin from his own Troven. Especially remembering the smug look on that coach driver’s face as he had taunted them below in the tavern earlier got his blood boiling. Farin decided he had one more thing he needed to do before they left town.