Ties of Blood (14 page)

She found Darryl, Ballard, and William sitting at one of the tables in the corner of the common room. When they saw her none of them called out but their thoughts were clear on from the look on their face and the moments of their bodies. She didn’t care if they approved or not. She didn’t have the energy left in her to continue the charade.

“Now this is a sight I must say I didn’t expect, though I can’t say I am disappointed.” William said giving her a pleasant grin.

Eloen returned his smile and bowed at her waist. “This is who I am your Majesty. I am a soldier, not a milkmaid.”

“The look suits you well.” The prince said nearly laughing at her defiant tone.

Eloen gave the prince a slanted smile. “Now that you have fulfilled your promise it's time for me to uphold mine. So what is the next step Your Majesty?”

The prince winced as Eloen put emphases on the term majesty. “I would much prefer you to call me William.” The prince said giving her a pleading look. “As for out next move I believe we should head for Copperstone. The lord there has known my father for a long time and has little love for my uncle. If anyone is willing to aid me it would be him.”

“As you wish William. When do we leave?” Eloen said with far more bite than she intended. She tried to give him a smile but she couldn’t find the strength in herself to force one on her face.

It was obvious to anyone watching William he was trying his best not to yell at the young lady talking to him. Eloen herself was surprised at how well the prince was able to hold his calm. “We will leave at first light in the morning. I have to meet with some of the officers of the Fort. I am going to have them search the area around where the mage brought down the mountain in the hope there is a chance he might have survived.”

At the mention of Thad, Eloen’s eyes widened and she felt as if the prince had hit her in the chest. She thought of hitting him back with a quick remark but when she saw the sorrow in his eyes she lost all will to continue in the verbal fight. Sitting heavily down in a chair across for Ballard she let her face fall into her open hands.

Ballard slid Eloen a bowl of portage that he had already ordered for her. She didn’t say thank you but simply started eating. It wasn’t badly made but it would have been a lot better with a couple spoons of honey. Once the bowl was empty she looked up at the worried looks of her companions. “I am going to have a look around town.” Eloen said standing. She could tell that Ballard and Darryl wanted to object but she effectively silenced them with a stern look.

CHAPTER XIV

Once the inn was behind her Eloen let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t know why but just seeing the prince made her anger flare. She had no real reason to dislike the man but something about him just rubbed her the wrong way. A part of her feared because he was a man with power and she wasn’t used to dealing with any man in a position higher than her own in social circles.

Not watching where she was going she found her feet had carried her back to the street that ended in front of the gates of the fort. The bent and busted gates they had seen when they arrived were gone, though they hadn’t been replaced yet. In the place of the gates were twelve guards standing shoulder to shoulder. Eloen didn’t envy them the duty of having to stand there for hours on end.

One of the guards noticing her moved out from a small guard and started walking toward her. “What are you doing there?” The man said forcefully as his hand moved to the large sword strapped on his side.

Eloen's first thought was to go for her own sword and teach then man what a woman could do with a sword, but the thought was dismissed as soon as she had it. Calming herself Eloen held her arms out empty palms toward the guard. “I am part of Prince William's entourage. I heard of what had transpired here and thought I would take a look for myself.”

The guard looked her over and gave out a short laugh. “Never heard the prince kept a sword wielding wench in his company.” The look the soldier gave her chilled her to the bone. It was as if all he could see was a woman in front of him not a fellow warrior. “Makes sense the prince would keep as many swords around him as possible. That prissy little brat wouldn’t know the difference between the tip and the hilt of a sword.” The other guards began laughing at the older soldiers joke. “Now, why don’t you run back to your little prince before you get yourself in trouble?”

Eloen looked over the older man closely. She noticed the five stripes on his left collar that marked him as a sergeant. “I might do that sergeant though when I tell Prince William what I heard today I can bet your position will soon change for the worse.” Eloen replied keeping her voice calm with only a hint of a biting edge to it.

The sergeant’s sword rang as it leaped from its scabbard. “Now why did you have to go and say that? I wonder if the prince would look for a wench that got herself lost in town. My bet is he would forget about you before the sun fell from the sky.”

Eloen could tell the man didn’t really want to fight. His threats were more to silence her. If she had been a normal woman of Abla she might have fallen prey to such a tactic but she wasn’t she was a noble of Farlan, and no one was going to treat her in such a manner. “I don’t know if the prince would look for me or not, but if he did he would find more than just my body thrown in the gutter.” Eloen said as she pulled her own sword free.

Eloen didn’t wait for the man to attack but quickly covered the few paces between her and the aging sergeant and attacked swiftly. Fuelled by the anger and contempt that had built up over the past weeks her blade darted around the older soldier with grace scoring a dozen small hits before the man knew what was happening. “You think the prince keeps me around just for a pretty face?” Eloen asked as she pressed the attack forcing the man back until he lost his balance and stumbled, twisting hard on his leg and slamming into the ground. “Should I finish this little dance or are you willing to swallow your pride and get back to your post?” Eloen asked as he tapped the fallen man's neck with the blade of her sword.

“Get off me woman before you find yourself in trouble your prince can't get you out of.” The soldier growled back.

Keeping her sword at the ready Eloen stepped back and let the man off the ground. Giving her a sharp look he collected his sword that had slid a few feet away. Eloen could tell he was embarrassed and wanted nothing else but the chance to flay her alive. Never letting her eyes roam from his Eloen slid her sword back in its sheath on her side.

Once she was certain the man had given up on the fight Eloen turned her back on the soldiers and wondered off back toward the inn. She had a bit more of a spring in her step as she walked. Her nerves were still on edge and her hands were shaking in urge to turn back and finish the fight but she was able to hold herself back. Her body craved a simple fight where she didn’t have to think of anything more that the enemy. Where she could take out all of her frustration on the body of her enemy.

As she walked back a group of four children ran in front of her path. One of the older boys around the age of eleven noticed her and stopped in his tracks. He watched her as she walked down the street for a few moments then turned and ran straight toward her. Eloen wasn’t sure what the child wanted but she was in no mood to entertain them with a game.

“Is that a real sword?” The boy asked boldly.

“Yes.” Eloen answered the boy curtly.

“Can I see it?” the boy asked his eyes open wide in awe.

Eloen wasn’t sure what all the commotion was about. Abla was a nation of soldiers, surely the boy had seen a sword before. It was about this time the other children noticing the other child’s missing presence made their way over to where the two stood talking. Hoping that it would hurry the boy on his way Eloen slid her sword from its sheath. The other kids not knowing what was going on stopped in mid stride their eyes opened wide at the sight of the weapon and the lone girl in the group let out a high pitched scream.

“Wow it's a real sword. I never saw a woman carry a sword before. Are you any good with it? Have you ever killed anyone before?” The child asked his voice brimming with enthusiasm.

“I can hold my own.” Eloen said sliding the sword back in its scabbard. She looked over the other children who have now gathered behind their friend. They were a ragtag group but they were fully dressed and didn’t look to be in the need of a meal. “It has been a pleasure but I must go.”

“What do you have to do? If you need to find any place in town we can get you there.” The boy asked plaintively as she turned around.

Eloen felt something grab her arm. Her hand went instinctively to the hilt of her sword as she swung her head around. When she saw the face of the little girl Eloen nearly laughed at her own actions. “Do you need something littlebit?” Eloen asked trying to give the girl a kind smile.

“I know the best place to buy tarts.” The girl asked with eyes so big Eloen though she might drown in them.

Eloen ran her hand over her forehead trying to think of a way to escape the children's grasp. It would be easy enough to simply tell them no and walk off but she doubted they would let her go without enough pleading to make her heart sink. She knew if she was mean they would run but she knew she didn’t have it in her to act that way towards children. “Alright I surrender.” Eloen said bowing slightly to the small girl. “Will you be so kind as to show me around the town?”

“We know all the best places.” The girl said tugging her arm as she led her down the street. The other children following quickly behind. The other children asked questions and began telling her everything from their names to what their parent’s jobs were. Eloen wasn’t surprised to find that most of the children's parents were soldiers that was except the young girls whose name was Brenda. “My mother died when I was born, and papa died a few weeks ago.”

Eloen's heart broke when the words came of Brenda's mouth. While the girl tried to keep a sunny smile on her face her eyes told Eloen that she was hurting. “Who takes care of you now?” Eloen asked worriedly.

“My friends bring me food, and a lot of the shop owners do too. It’s not too bad..... I can take care of myself for the most part.”

Eloen could see the tears welling up in the girl’s eyes as she spoke. One thing she could understand was the pain that came with losing those you loved. The fear of being left alone. Without thinking tugged the girls arm and pulled her into a tight hug. “I lost someone very important to me as well....I.... miss him a lot.” Eloen said tears threatening to fall from her own eyes.

Brenda couldn’t hold it in any longer and she began to sob. Eloen could feel the tears of the young girl as she buried her head in Eloen's shoulder. After a while the sobs quieted and Brenda pulled away from Eloen. “So you’re alone just like me?” Brenda said looking at Eloen with her puffy red eyes.

Looking around at the kids who obviously cared for the girl Eloen Gave her a big smile. “Just like you I have friends to help me but just like you when the night falls I am alone.” Eloen said not hiding to pain that the words caused her.

The girl gave Eloen a tight hug then pulled back giving her a bright smile that looked slightly odd on her teary face. “I know, why don’t we be alone together? That way we won’t feel as bad.”

Eloen pulled the girl into another tight hug then pulled back and gave the child a good looking over. She was young no more than nine years old, close to the same age as the young girl Thad had taken in. She knew what the softhearted fool would do in this situation. “You know I travel a lot so you wouldn’t be able to see your friends much.”

“That's ok, no matter where I go they will still be my friends.” The girl said happily.

“Then it's settled you will stay with me.” Eloen declared happily.

The girl grinned back for a few seconds then began hopping up and down. After a few seconds the girl calmed down and remember what they were doing beforehand. Pulling Eloen behind her laughing she began to tell Eloen everything about the town.

When they reached the shopping district the girls eyes widened as she ran from stand to stand looking at everything they had displayed. While all the buildings had the same drab look many of the shops had banners and stalls that made the place look a little less dreary. While she looked at the shops a thought hit her and she looked around for her small escort. It didn’t take long to find Brenda who was looking at a small jewelers stand. Eloen moved quietly up behind the girl to see what she was looking at. Brenda's eyes were glued to a pair of stud earrings that looked like roses.

“Do you like those?” Eloen whispered in the girl's ear.

“They’re really pretty.... but I bet they cost a bunch.” The girl said sadly.

Eloen turned to the man running the small stall who had been watching the two out of the corner of his eye. “How much for the earrings?