Meuridge is pronounced "Mew-ridge"
Chapter 24:
Meuridge
Silas listened to the smacking of hooves on the dirt ground as Meredith and Silas hurried on, the sun rising in front of them. They had only been travelling all night, but Silas was already tired and sore. After traveling many miles a day for a little less than a month, Silas felt muscle fatigue. He had not ridden a horse for such an extended period in a long time, so all of his muscles were fatigued. Silas refused to tell Meredith though, because Meredith would insist they stop for a rest, and that would only slow them down. Still, Silas could not hold back a groan that came up when his horse jumped over a small stream, and his whole body rocked as the horse landed. Meredith's horse also made the small jump, but after a short while after the jump, Meredith began to slow his horse.
"Why don't we take a short break? We've been travelling all night, so we have some time to waste." Meredith said as he pulled his horse off to the side of the trail. Meredith still had his female disguise, Janette, on, but he was quickly becoming bored with it and wanted to change to a new identity, and after he heard Silas groan, he figured it was as good a time as any to stop. They had been making good time trying to get east, so wasting a little time taking a short break would not hurt them much.
Silas pulled the reins of his horse and moved off of the trail, following Meredith in his disguise and into the woods, where they would be able to rest and remove their disguises without being seen by any humans that happened to pass by on the empty trail. Carefully, Silas moved his sore joints and lifted himself shakily off of the saddle of his horse and off to the ground, where his muscles loosened a bit once his feet had made contact with the solid ground. A light hiss slid from his lips as he moved his feet, feeling the returning pain shoot up his nerves to his upper legs from the bottoms of his feet.
Meredith looked over at Silas with a concerned gaze as he asked, "Are you alright, Silas?"
"I'm fine, thanks." His muscles were trembling. It was hard for him to walk straight without using his horse for support.
"I'll give you something when we rest. It should help with the pain." Meredith said as he slipped off his horse and grabbed the reins to lead his horse forward. Both men knew they had a small hike ahead of them. To be able to remove their disguises, they had to be deep in the forest, otherwise they could risk being in danger. If even one person accidently saw them out of disguise or changing disguise, their mission would be over and their lives would be thrown out of their own hands and into the fire pit. Neither one of the men could risk that.
The pair carefully walked farther into the woods with their horses, disturbing as little foliage as possible in order to make the area seem untouched, making it so a curious traveler would not pass by and notice the small clearing. The farther they walked, the narrower the clearing became, and the path became rougher, full of rocks and small hills of dirt that made it difficult to walk straight, though Silas continued to walk through his pain, hoping to rest as soon as they reached the end of the path.
To their surprise, the sound of water became louder as the pair continued forward. The plant life around them lessened, and the trees became thinner and thinner, until there was nothing left but an open space and a large, open pool of warm water. Steam rose up from the surface and danced around the air like wisps of smoke. Silas's eyes widened as Meredith smiled wide, looking at the water with a hint of excitement.
"By the gods, it's a hot spring." Meredith said as he looked at the swirling water in the small pond. Silas moved up next to Meredith and looked down too with a relieved sigh.
"We must be blessed by the gods." Silas said with a crooked grin as he stretched his fatigued arms over his head.
"Or they're welcoming us home." Meredith said with a bittersweet smile. He turned to Silas, "You should get in. It'll help with your soreness."
"What will you be doing?" Silas asked as he let the magic used for his disguise disintegrate, returning to his normal elven appearance.
"I'll be tying your horse up and making some medicine." Meredith said as he grabbed the reins of Silas's horse in his free hand. He led the two horses over to a nearby tree branch near some flora they could eat while they waited for their elven riders to finish their break. While Meredith did this, Silas pulled his tunic over his head and put it down beside him. His wedding ring gently thumped against his chest, and Silas gingerly removed the string and placed it in the center of the shirt on the ground. Silas then slipped his boots off, sweat from the heat of the hotspring quickly building on his forehead. He then slipped his pants off and placed them in a neat pile near the shirt and boots, only leaving his undershorts on. First, Silas bent down and felt the water with his pinky, testing the heat. Though the water was very hot, Silas found it to be pleasant. Smoothly, Silas sat on a rock and slid his body into the hot spring. With a content sigh and smiling like a happy kitten, Silas enjoyed the hot water that submerged his body up to his collarbone.
Meanwhile, Meredith removed his disguise using the stone and walked to the side, where the heat from the hot spring could still be felt without the heat being overwhelming. He then pulled out some small herbs and a wooden [tn content="mortar and pestle"]
[/tn] from one of the small satchels on his waist. He put the herbs in the mortar and grinded the herbs together with the pestle, as he hummed an elven hymn as he worked.
"That hymn," Silas said as he turned his head towards Meredith, "I've heard it before. It's not from our village, so where did I hear it?"
"Really?" Meredith said as he continued to grind the medicine, "Maybe you heard it from Eva? That's where I learned it."
At the mention of Eva's name, Silas sat up a bit, forgetting the fatigue his muscles were feeling, "Eva? How would she know a hymn like that?"
Meredith stopped grinding for a moment to return Silas's look, "Didn't you know Eva was married to an elf? Maybe she learned it from her husband? I believe she lived in an elven village too, so maybe she learned it there."
"She's married?" Silas said, unable to conceal his surprise, "She never struck me as a person who would get married."
"Well, she was married. Her husband was killed." Meredith said plainly, returning to grinding his medicine, "It was-" Meredith began, but quickly stopped himself, shaking his head, "Nevermind, it's not my place to tell you these things. Eva will tell you when she's ready."
Silas slipped back into his place in the water, staring down at the ripples forming as he thought of Meredith's words.
Well, she was married. Her husband was killed.
Silas found he was at a loss for words at the revelation. He felt frozen and his hands felt numb. Silas felt a twinge of sadness deep in his chest.
"I'm sorry. I thought you knew." Meredith said as he looked at Silas, whose eyes were downcast. Meredith looked at Silas for a minute, letting the silence brew between them before he said, "Did it make you think of Emmeline?"
Silas looked up in surprise, staring at Meredith's serene face, before Silas weakly smiled, "Is it that obvious?"
Meredith nodded gently, "You've always been one who has his thoughts on his face, even when you try to hide it." Meredith paused, looking up at the sky as the sun began to rise high into the sky, "I'm sorry that I was not with you when you both needed me."
Silas looked down at the hot water, the steam billowing around his warm face. He swiped angrily at the slowly climbing steam before saying, "It's alright. It's over now."
Meredith looked over at the defeated, shrunken figure that was a former shell of the happy, smiling child he once knew. As Meredith tried to find a semblance of the child he once knew, he vowed to himself that he would help Silas in any way possible to bring Silas the peace and happiness he once knew. As Meredith thought this, he added a few drops of water from his flask into the mortar to bind the medicine he had been making together, then mixed it all together as he pulled a cloth from another one of his satchels.
"How are you feeling?" Meredith asked as he put the medicine in the cloth.
"Refreshed." Silas said tightly as he stood up, the water clinging to his body quickly falling back into the water, "We should get on the road. We're not far from the next town."
"Ah, yes. Meuridge." Meredith said as he began to put his supplies away, "When we get there, I'll give you the medicine I just made. We can rest there for a few hours. We need to change horses anyway."
Silas nodded as he began putting his clothes back on, starting with the necklace that held his wedding ring. Meredith passed a glance at Silas's broken wedding ring as it gleamed in the sun, but he quickly looked away, feeling guilt building in his chest. Silas finished pulling down his shirt and stuck his legs through his pants as Meredith grabbed the horses, who protested being pulled away from their grazing.
Just as Silas finished adjusting his clothes, Meredith turned to him and said, "Come on, it's only a few miles away." Meredith then passed the reins of Silas's horse over to him.
…
Clarence leaned heavily to the left as he tried to look around Alywin to see the city gates. With no success, he tried to lean heavily to the right, but he leaned too heavily, and his body began slipping off of the saddle on his horse. With a panicked screech, Clarence readjusted himself to the middle of his saddle, while Alywin turned around from in front of him and raised his eyebrow.
"What are you doing back there?" Alywin asked as he glanced at the frazzled Clarence. Alywin's horse shook his head and snorted.
"Nothing." Clarence said as he looked away from Alywin's piercing eyes and up into the trees surrounding the trail they rode on. Alywin glared for a moment before staring back forward and pointing nonchalantly up the dirt road to the imposing city gates, surrounded by a tall stone wall.
"There's the entrance to Meuridge." Alywin said as his horse clomped on. As Alywin said this, the dirt trail began to open up, so Clarence clicked at his horse to get beside Alywin's horse. As the town's stone walls came into view, Clarence gasped happily, which caused Alywin to lift his eyebrow again.
"Why are you so surprised by the view? Haven't you done extensive travelling already? How can a boring city like this excite you?"
"Are you kidding?" Clarence said with a huge smile on his face, "This is the first time I feel like I'm actually travelling. Usually when I would travel, I would take a carriage straight to whichever duke or ruler needed my assistance or requested my presence, and I was never allowed to wander outside of a certain area, which was usually the immediate area around their mansions or castles." Clarence shook his head, but he could not contain the smile on his face, "I never got to go anywhere I wanted to go. It was always where other people wanted me to go, and it was only with people my family wanted me to be around."
"Maybe there's a reason they did it." Alywin whispered to himself, which Clarence did not hear in his excitement to get into the town. Their horses clopped on as they made their way to the large gates. Clarence's excitement began to build as they got closer to the gates, and Alywin tried to hide the smile growing on his lips at Clarence's glowing expression. As they got close, the guards stepped out from the sides of the door with their spears at their sides.
"Hello, Gentlemen." One of the soldiers said with a small bow, using a respectful tone with the two men as they were approaching on horses, something that was more of a luxury in the Yursear kingdom. Most commoners travelled in wagons with groups of other people to other towns, "I'll need to see your travelling papers or your citizenship tokens."
"Of course." Alywin said with a charming smile as he pulled out his and Clarence's tokens from the small inner pocket of his jacket. He passed them to the guard on his left with a gracious smile, which the guard returned happily.
"Duke Oliver and Earl Lawrence." The guard said as he read the names off the citizenship tokens. He looked them over quickly and passed them back to Alywin, "Have a wonderful trip in Meuridge." The guard said as he and the other guard stepped back and signaled for the door. Alywin tucked the coins back in his jacket, and the gates opened loudly, revealing a relatively quiet town. Alywin and Clarence both tapped the sides of their horses and walked through the gates.
"So I'm an earl." Clarence said as he trotted forward, out of earshot of the guards.
"Yes, Earl Lawrence." Alywin said with a smirk, "I can't give you too high of rank, or someone might get suspicious." Clarence snorted, which caused Alywin to laugh.
"So," Clarence began after Alywin's laughter began to die down, "What should we do first?"
"We should probably stop at an inn and drop off our bags." Alywin looked forward with a smile, "And I know just the place."
Clarence felt sweat form on his eyebrow as he looked at the smiling Alywin.
…
"You're joking, right?" Clarence said as he looked at the grandiose hotel, Theresa's, Alywin wanted them to stay at. Green pillars ran up the cream-colored building, and between the pillars were windows that opened outward. Women in heavy makeup and low-cut, corseted dresses were sitting in the sills of the open windows, laughing and calling out to the people on the road. It was only when one of the women in the windows saw Alywin and Clarence that she happily squealed before calling the other women, who all happily yelled and called from their windows. They all quickly raced away from the windows as Clarence stared bewilderedly at a smiling Alywin.
"Come on, they're waiting for us." Alywin said as he directed his horse to the side.
"What?!" Clarence said to the waning figure of Alywin, "Who is waiting for us? Why are they waiting for us? Al-" Clarence began before remembering Alywin's fake name, "Oliver!" Clarence glanced around as people walking around him began to stare, so, with his face reddening, he hurried after Alywin.
When Clarence followed Alywin, he found his elusive friend behind the hotel, at a small stable. An old man was there, speaking with a happy smile on his face to Alywin as Alywin dismounted from his horse.
"You should have told us you were coming back, Sir! We would have made preparations for you!"
Alywin smiled, and to Clarence's surprise, it seemed like a genuinely happy smile, showing his top row of teeth in a glistening smile, "Please, I told you that I don't need anything special. I'm just glad to be back." Alywin leaned back on his heels and crossed his arms as he continued to smile.
The old man looked over to Clarence as he rode up, "And you brought a friend, I see?" The old man smiled, showing the few teeth left in his mouth. Still, to Clarence, the old man seemed authentically kind and happy. It made Clarence smile too, "Welcome, young man. Don't let the gossipy birds inside scare you. They're all friendly, they're just excited to have their favorite customer back."
"Customer?" Clarence asked, confused by the old man's words. The old man glanced over at Alywin, and in response, Alywin softly patted the old man on the back.
"It's alright." Alywin said with a smile, before turning towards Clarence, "What are you waiting for? Get off your horse. You can give the reins to this old crow. He'll take good care of the horses."
"Old crow?" The old man barked with a laugh, "Is that what I am now?" Clarence stared at the two men as they bantered with each other, dismounting from his horse and grabbing the reins in his hand. The old man smiled again at Clarence, and opened his hand, which Clarence shyly responded by putting the reins in the old man's hand. He felt embarrassed and shy, which was odd for Clarence, because usually, even when he was at a loss for words, he could find something to push himself through conversations. The respect and admiration that came from the two men in front of him though, was something Clarence was unfamiliar with. In the castle, everything said was used to veil people's true meaning, so Clarence learned to always be alert with other people. Yet he felt uncomfortable being so alert in front of this old man.
"Go inside now, the birds are already screeching for their favorite customer." The old man said as he began to lead the horses over to the stable, "Enjoy your stay, young man." The old man finished with a smile in Clarence's direction. Clarence nodded, unsure of how to reply. Alywin gestured over to a sturdy wood door to their right, then he began walking in that direction. Clarence quickly followed his companion, glancing one more time at the old man as he rallied the horses into the stable. Clarence then looked forward as Alywin opened the door. Before he opened it all the way, Alywin snapped his fingers as if he just remembered something and turned to looked at Clarence,
"Listen. I just want to warn you before we go in-" But before Alywin could finish his sentence, a stampede of heeled shoes clicked up to the door before hands of all sizes reached out from behind the door and grabbed Alywin, dragging him inside. Clarence's eyes widened to the size of saucers as he watched Alywin suddenly disappear, before he was suddenly grabbed too by the same hands.
All Clarence could hear between happy yelps of excitement and calling and cooing was a loud, ���He brought a cute friend!" before chaos broke out. Clarence was practically carried through a long hallway as hands came out of nowhere to touch and squeeze all over his face. The faces of women popped in and out as the sea of bodies carried Clarence into a large room.
"Ladies! Let them go! You're going to suffocate them! Let them go!" A loud, husky voice shouted, which made the sea of women quickly scatter and leave the room, leaving a frazzled Clarence to stand in a small, unfamiliar room. The room looked like a tidy, plain office, with a wood desk in the back of the room, stacks of paperwork sitting in neat piles, and a small vase with fresh Yursinean flowers sitting in it. Behind the desk was a window with heavy, brown curtains pulled to the side, letting the view of the alley show through the impeccably clean windows. To the right of the desk was a large bookshelf full of books. In front of the desk was a woven, colorful rug that seemed odd and misplaced with the rest of the plain, colorless room.
Mere feet from Clarence was Alywin, who was attempting to fix his outfit and hair, both disheveled from the same treatment Clarence received. Standing up behind a plain wood desk and quickly approaching Alywin and Clarence was a tall, stern-looking woman. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and her plain, dark green dress sat on the muscular, tall woman stiffly. She walked up first to Alywin, grabbing him softly by the face before giving him a big kiss on the cheek and a tight hug, which Alywin returned with a happy smile.
"Why have you waited so long to visit us?" The tall woman said as she pulled back from the hug, "And why are you so thin? Have you been eating?"
"I've been busy lately, so I haven't been able to slip out. I've been eating though." Alywin said before gesturing over to Clarence, "Theresa, this is my friend, Clarence."
The tall woman looked sharply at Clarence, which reminded him of his tutors as a child. As if on instinct, Clarence straightened his back and stood very still as the woman looked him up and down. Suddenly, the tall woman smiled and walked over to Clarence, kissing his cheek and grabbing him in a hug.
"Welcome child." She said with a strong pat to Clarence's back, which made Clarence wince slightly. She let go of Clarence and turned back to Alywin, "So what brings you two here?"
Alywin smiled and shrugged his shoulders, "I just felt like visiting."
"You don't really think I'm that naïve, do you?" The tall woman glanced over at Clarence, "You suddenly show up here and for once you actually bring a friend with you," Her eyes shifted back over to Alywin, "What do you need?"
Alywin sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "I guess I can't slip anything past you, can I?"
Theresa raised a severe eyebrow, "Did you even try?" This statement caused Alywin to laugh heartily, while Clarence stood uncomfortably, confusion written all over his face. Theresa shot a glance over to Clarence before her face softened and she said, "You both look hungry. Let's eat and you can tell me why you've come. Also, make sure to spend some time with the girls, Alywin. They talked about you every day since your last visit. I'm about to throw them out into the streets with their incessant chatter about their brother who's a future duke." At the word brother, Clarence shot a confused glance over to Alywin, but Alywin refused to return his stare. Instead, he continued staring at Theresa.
With a nod, Theresa sharply turned towards the door, her hands clenched together in front of her and her arms bent at her sides. She briskly walked over to the door Alywin and Clarence entered from, her shoes silently clicking against the hardwood floor, and quickly opened it. Suddenly, a flurry of bodies ran from the doorway as giggles and shouts rang out. Theresa's face lowered as her lips held a tight frown.
"Are we not opening soon?" Theresa snapped sharply, "You will get time with these two later. For now, go prepare!" Soon the large group of women cleared out, continuing to shout and laugh as they scurried down the long hallway and up a set of stairs at the end. Theresa watched the group of giggling women closely until the last one raced up the stairs, then turned back to Alywin and Clarence, "Come now, we have much to discuss."