"Guess this is it, huh?" said Robin, finally. He stared at the setting sun...Decimandria was so beautiful. "In a strange way, I'm gonna miss this place." Alex grinned a little. "Yeah...I didn't know how attached I'd become to this world." Eve was silent. "I'd gotten attached to the people..." she said in a low voice. Alex noticed this. He nudged Robin to take the reins, and and turned around on the buckboard. "I should've asked you this sooner." he said to Eve. "But are you okay? I mean...how are you coping?"
Eve blinked at him. "I'm...I'm as fine as I could be, I suppose." she said. Alex opened his mouth to say something more, but decided against and turned back and took the reins from Robin. "We should be coming up to Lemara soon." he said. "Try not to get in conversations with anyone. If anyone asks, we're here just to see the mage about some personal stuff. Don't mention anything more." Everyone nodded in acknowledgement.
Felicia's mind was speeding. She could't believe how fast time had went by. How quickly she'd gotten used to this life. And how quickly everything had...gone bad yesterday. She sighed deeply. So many emotions flowing through her, she tried to focus her mind on the present and stared at the road ahead. It was the same one she'd gone on so many times before; a bit elevated about the rest of the land, shrubs on either side with a few trees here and there. It was a pleasant place...especially at this time of day.
As the cart reached a small bend, Felicia peered instinctively around the other end and suddenly doubled back in shock. Coming the other way was an entire squadron of Tezeroff soldiers. They were dressed in the typical white gambesons emblazoned with a gold qilin (white and gold being the Tezeroff house colors). Felicia had mistook the head of the qilin to be a lion for the longest time until Alex had enlightened her one day.
Right now, though, seeing the soldiers coming so intimidatingly towards them, all she felt was unease. She deliberately started staring at the floor of the cart as if the soldiers would see what she knew by looking in her eyes and somehow hold her accountable for it. Alex felt a bit uneasy too; what was a squad doing all the way out here, he wondered.
As they two parties came nearer, to Alex's immense frustration, the one leading the squad was none other than Vis Heid; the soldier who'd been greatly impressed by Alex's swordsmanship and had always offered to buy him a drink at the local pub, which Alex had always politely refused. Alex knew there was no way out of this. Vis was gonna spot him and hail him over to stop and he would get into a conversation.
Vis was walking in high spirits at the head of the squadron, bragging about something to the other soldiers as they laughed. Suddenly, he looked up and spotted the driver of the approaching cart and his mouth widened into a smile. "Oi!" he shouted. "O'er here! If it isn't ol' Alex himself!"
Bracing himself, Alex pulled the reins to slow the horses down and came to a stop beside the squadron leader. Without getting off, Alex addressed the man who was on foot. "How's it going, Vis?" he asked politely.
"Great!" replied Vis. "More than great! We finally get to leave that shithole-" he stopped himself and glanced at the girls in the back of the cart. "Get to leave that town and see some of the countryside." Alex grinned. "Nice. I'd better not waste any of your pr-"
"Where are you heading?" interrupted Vis. Alex sighed inwardly. "To Lemara." he said.
"Selling cakes?" asked Vis, his eyes darting to the back to see if there were any. "I'd buy some if you are."
"Sadly, not."
"Then what are you-"
"What about you?" interrupted Alex quickly. "Why'd the Captain let a bunch of his best men out like this?"
"Well, it wasn't the Captain so much as the Lieutenant." beamed Vis. "But tell me, what are you folk going into Lemara for? You heard too?"
"Heard what?" asked Alex, his heart skipping a beat.
"About the mage."
Alex raised his eyebrows. Vis sighed. "The mage's been killed." he said. Alex recoiled in shock. "Killed!?" he asked, incredulously.
"Yeah." said Vis, apparently glad there was someone who hadn't heard the story and he could lay it out in sensation. "Apparently, some bandits got him quite close to Lemara. He was coming up this very highway." he said, motioning the road they were on. "Whether they pounced on him when he was sleeping, or they attacked him when he was walking, no one has any idea. A few folk found his body lying by the side looted to the bones, and brought him into town."
Alex's heart sank. After all this time, the mage had been killed? Killed!? God fucking dammit! He felt unrelenting fury; toward the way the universe was messing with them and the bandits. "But...wasn't he a mage?" asked Robin. "How'd they kill a mage?"
Vis looked at him curiously. "Mages aren't invincible, kid. Especially, not these mages who travel town to town looking for work. Everyone had always told him he shouldn't travel alone, but he never listened. Guess the poor fool finally paid the price..."
"For fuck's sake..." muttered Alex. Vis turned to look at him. "You had business with the mage?" he asked. Alex kicked himself for voicing his emotions. "Yeah...er...we had some business with him. Waited a long time, but..."
"Yeah, Herm's gonna be so disappointed." muttered Felicia weakly and immediately shrunk under the looks the others gave her.
"Herm!" exclaimed Vis. "Speaking of Herm, he's at home, right?
Alex felt a rising feeling that things could were going really badly. "Yeah, yeah. He's...at home. Why?" Vis shook his head. "Nothing. The Lieutenant ordered us to patrol this road and try to find the bandit camp and on the side, warn the blacksmith that some bandit gang has come up and to be on his guard."
"Oh." said Alex.
"Yeah. This is a peaceful place. Not much unusual stuff happens here, so it's best to warn folk when something does come up."
If you only knew about the unusual Alex thought. It suddenly dawned on him if the mage had been murdered by the same "gang" that Sem had been a part of. His hate for Sem's kind increased. The degree of how bad this situation had gotten was sinking in.
"Oh, don't worry." said Alex, out loud. "We'll warn him when we get back."
Vis shook his head and puffed out his chest. "The Lieutenant personally gave me the order. No offence to you, but I'm gonna have to see the message is delivered myself." Alex groaned inwardly. This was getting worse by the minute.
"Well, wouldn't wanna keep you waiting then." said Alex, managing a smile. "You still owe me a drink, so look me up in town when you get back, eh?"
Vis's face shined with pleasure. "Of course, my friend. The first three rounds are on me!"
With that, the two parties separated. Vis, in even higher spirits now, was whistling as he went along. Alex, in even lower spirits now, bowed his head. Almost subconsciously, he went on a little way and pulled up on the side of the road to think.
"This is bad. Very bad." said Robin. Eve looked up indignantly. "Why? Why are we feeling guilty? We didn't do anything? Why are we afraid? We'll tell them the truth." Alex shook his head. "D'you really think they'd believe all that cock-and-bull story about a jawless monster, who happens to be Herm's son too, came back suddenly after a few years and mauled his parents to death? Or do you think they'd find it more probable that the four strange kids he took in killed him in order to run off with his money?"
"Come on-" began Liana.
"Plus, we have no idea how the law works here. Especially in a backward town like Lemara. They might not even listen to our story. They'll just hang us for murder. Or even if they do listen, maybe they'll just throw us boys in the prison and you girls to a broth-" Alex stopped himself. After a few seconds, he continued. "We have no idea how they'll react when they find out Herm's dead. Even if they let us go free, if they search us, they'll find all the gold and they might keep it and throw us in the street. They might take the caravan, the house, everything. We're not the Ferms' kin; we have no right to their property."
"So, if they don't hang us immediately or throw us in the gallows, in the best case scenario, we'd be homeless and penniless and begging on the street?" asked Robin. Everyone was silent, each painfully aware that every second they wasted here was Vis taking one more step towards the truth.
"Not if we run." said Alex, finally. Robin looked at him. "Run where?" he asked. "The fucking mage's dead. We have nothing left." Felicia turned to him. "We have each other." Robin's face contorted into an incredulous expression and he was about to burst into a long insult when Alex stopped him. "She's right. We have each other. Right now, we're together. We can run. We have no ties."
"But where?"
Alex unfolded the map he'd torn off from Herm's book before leaving and traced his finger to where they were right now. "We can't go to any of the neighboring towns like Nermia or we're screwed." he muttered, half to himself. "We have to go far enough away where they won't care to chase us." Everyone peered over his shoulder to search for something.
Finally, Alex tapped his finger on a point in the map. "How about Barfoss?" he asked. "It's...at a good distance...I think. But it's not too far away. Plus, from what I've read, Barfoss is the a big city. Five new people won't be such a sensation there."
"And, assuming we reach Barfoss alive, what do we do then?" asked Robin.
"We find the town mage and have him send us home." said Alex, simply. Robin rolled his eyes. "If there is a mage." he corrected.
"Be optimistic, bud. We'll figure this all out." muttered Alex, plotting their route. "We won't stick to the highway all the way. We'll shift out into the back roads here and there just to throw off anyone pursuing us."
"But won't there be more of a chance of coming across bandits or something in the back roads?" asked Liana. Alex and Robin both eyed their swords. "It's a chance we'll have to take." said Alex, seriously. There was silence for a few minutes.
Robin looked around. There was bit of doubt about Alex's plan in the faces surrounding him. But he knew that plan was the best they had, and in the end, Alex was their 'leader'. They had to stick by what he said. "Sounds like a plan to me." said Robin, loudly. "Now, let's get the fuck out of here before the soldiers come rushing back, ready to fuck us." Alex glanced at him, then snapped the reins. "Giddy up!" he said to the horses. With a quick gallop they set off in the direction of their new destination.
* * *
Robin had realized that the journey would be a long one; but he hadn't quite anticipated how long. They were traveling for three days now, and their destination didn't look like it was getting any closer. Alex seemed to have nothing on his mind but getting to Barfoss. Robin wondered if being so...vulnerable...and out in the open with the girls made him paranoid or something. He would not allow the five to stop at any place for long. He'd skip every town or settlement they came across. At night, they'd set up a small camp. The boys would sleep under the cart and the girls inside it using a thick blanket as cover (because the girls had refused to sleep on the floor for fear of insects and snakes) Of course, Alex would try not to sleep and always take the night watch. He did that till Felicia pointed out if he wanted to 'protect' anyone, he needed to be well rested. The food supplies were also running dry. Alex had made the girls raid the entire pantry that Lis had kept, just in case, before they had left the Fegg homestead, and now it was paying off. However, Robin knew even Alex realized that either they need to stop by some town and restock, or get to Barfoss faster. So far, Alex appeared to be taking the latter route.
"What is wrong with you, bro?" asked Robin one afternoon as they drove, for the fourth day, toward Barfoss . Alex turned around to look at him. He looked tired and a bit haggard. He had faint bags under his eyes and his hair was disheveled. They both looked at each other for a second, and Alex grinned. "Hehe, guess I have been acting paranoid, eh?" he asked. Robin sarcastically narrowed his eyes in response. The expression Robin had reminded Alex too much of the one Felicia had started to give him these days, and in spite of himself, he laughed out loud. Once it started, it was hard to control. Plus, he didn't want to stop. The more he laughed, the more he felt his worries wash away.
"Been in the sun too long?" asked Robin quizzically, looking at him. "Not enough sleep?"
Alex wiped his eyes. "Sorry. I guess I needed that." he said, still grinning. Then he let out a deep sigh and looked over his shoulder into the cart. The three girls had dozed off. Alex turned back around, and closed his eyes for a second. "Robin." he finally said.
"What's up?"
"Listen, I've been wanting to tell you this for some time, but I never got a chance." said Alex.
"Go on." said Robin, a bit curious now.
"If things ever do go to shit on this journey, I want you to take the girls and run off while I try to buy some time from whatever we're dealing with."
"Eh? Come again?"
"If some bandits, or some...creatures...ever start chasing us, I want you to take the girls and run. I'll stay back and try to buy some time." said Alex, his tone serious.
"Oh, wanna be the hero, huh?" said Robin, a bit crossly.
"No, I need you to be the hero, Rob." said Alex. "If I go...the girls are in your hands. I need you to take care of them no matter what. I need you to get them home safe no matter what. Can you do that?"
"Listen-" began Robin.
"Robin, please. Can I count on you?" said Alex, interrupting. Robin stared silently at him for a second; he'd very rarely heard Alex take this serious, but calm, and yet compelling tone before. He realized Alex meant every word.
Robin let out a deep sigh. "Fine...you can count on me." he said.
Alex smiled, his face lighting up once again. "That's my boy."
Silence fell between the two again as the cart moved northward. "How far are we, d'you think?" asked Robin finally.
"If we're lucky, we should come up to Barfoss sometime after midnight. If not, then tomorrow afternoon at best." answered Alex.
"Wharyoutwotalknabou?" mumbled Felicia from behind, rubbing her eyes. Feeling her stir, Eve and Felicia, who'd been using her as a pillow got up too. "Nothing." said Alex. Even through her half-asleep countenance, she gave her signature look at the back of Alex's head who had now developed a kind of sixth sense of sensing that.
"I was just asking Alex why he was so paranoid." said Robin, coming to the rescue. Felicia rubbed her eyes and shook her head as if to refresh herself. "Yes." she said, in a much more eloquent tone. "Why are you so paranoid?"
Alex let out a deep sigh. "I dunno. Ever since we got started on this journey, I've had a bad feeling about it. I can't explain it. I just...I dunno." he said, giving up. Felicia looked at him with concern. Perhaps her being so critical of him was a bit too harsh? Maybe she needed to be supportive by being more affectionate instead of playing hard-balls?
She got up from the bench of the moving cart and walked over to Alex and put her arms around his neck from behind. He was still driving sitting on the buckboard, and he didn't respond in any way. But Felicia felt him definitely...relaxing a bit when her arms went around him. "We're all here, Al." she said in a low voice. "Don't worry so much. We'll be fine. We are fine. If something comes up, we'll deal with it together just as we always have."
Alex closed his eyes and breathed in deep and slightly lowered his head so it was almost resting on Felicia's arms. "You're right. You're right." he said. "I'm sorry I was so...unreasonable. I'll be fine now." Felicia nodded, lightly kissed him on the cheek and let go. She looked up at the sky; barely a few minutes of sunlight left. "What're we doing? Are we gonna stop for nightfall or just keep going till we reach Barfoss?" she asked Alex.
Alex pulled the reins, making the horses slow down and stop. "I think we'll camp for the night. It'd be pointless going to Barfoss at night anyway; we have no idea what we'll find." he said. "Let's find a quiet spot to turn in."
* * *
Before daybreak the next day, the five were on the move again. Alex was feeling a lot better today. He'd had a good night's sleep for the first time in a few days because the other four had pretty much forced him into a bedroll saying they'd all stay up for night-watch but he had to sleep. And the sleep had worked wonders. He was feeling positive and his attitude infected the others around him. Alex realized once again how much he influenced the others. For the first time in days, they were all smiling and joking around as they lumbered through the country roads with the morning fast turning into noon.
They had barely enough food left for one more meal, but the five were feeling confident they'd be in Barfoss long before that. "Yeah, and he said-" Robin was saying, sitting at the back of the cart with the girls cracking jokes, when Alex interrupted them. "Hey...hey look!" The four turned around to look and gasped.
There, looming in the distance was a city... a proper city. There were huge stone walls surrounding the entirety of it. Soldiers were stationed at the huge city gates. Beyond it they could faintly make out some buildings. Some adorned with ribbons, others stoic and silent. One building rose above all though. It was too small to be a castle, yet it still bore resemblance to one. Alex figured it was the Lord of Barfoss' abode; his mansion.
The five then shifted their gaze to the outskirts of Barfoss and realized there was a kind of settlement outside the city walls too. The 'suburbs' were a little spread out. A bit barren, but full of small houses. There were clothes left to dry swinging in the wind, some children playing, a few soldiers leaning by a fence, laughing about something, and one or two carts being pulled toward the city gates. The hub-hub of the city reached the five all the way back to where they were stopped.
Robin let out a short bark of laughter. "This is it. We've finally arrived." he said. "We've reached Barfoss." He paused. "Now what?"