[Ridge]
The evening sunlight cuts the trees in half, leaving the bottoms of the trunks shrouded in shadows. I didn't realize how much I needed some fresh air, and out here in the middle of the forest is about as fresh as you can get around here. A crisp breeze bites at my nose on it's way past. Summer is winding down. Soon, the brief period of chilly weather will come and go, and then the famous harsh winters of the Empire will arrive.
Dinner was finished with pointless small talk, and afterwords Raforn apologized to me in his own way. He's too stubborn to actually say the words 'I'm sorry', but I'm used to that after years restraint from slugging Kadeeth. Raforn may be temperamental, but dealing with him is child's play compared to that jokester.
Kadeeth and I brainstormed some ideas on where to go from here. Joining a war is difficult, but starting one is grueling. There's no step by step guide for that lying around in the Duke's study. Trust me, I've looked. Besides a straight up guide, the man doesn't have a single book about war. Not even a fictional novel to draw ideas from.
We let Tellur and Raforn be included in the planning this time. Kadeeth was against it at first, but considering they'll hear everything anyway, and Tellur was an elite Knight, there was no point in keeping it from them. If anything, Tellur was the most helpful in our scheming. He suggested that we head deeper into the western frontier.
He explained that since we've been joked up at the cabin for days because of our injuries, the Nymour forces have likely spread around the country more by now. So at least we don't have to try to convince people of the invasion's existence. Mob mentality, when it doesn't go your way, can be impossible to sway. I don't think it would've gone over well.
Raforn also pointed out that they must've followed the Ravenous guard south, or gone up the far end of the western forest, because there were no signs of invaders in his village when Kadeeth hired him. Which means we have a clear path to most of the western front, and in turn, it's resources.
After our initial thought pool we stopped for supper, and to reexamine my foot. I tried to pester Raforn more about his eyes, but he refused to budge. I should've dug more into that when he first mentioned it. Now he's all closed off again. I just hope it's nothing bad, and that the reason he was rejected by his teacher really doesn't have anything to do with his capability to properly treat people. Specifically, people with leg injuries.
There's still a lot to talk about. 'Going West' isn't exactly a well thought out plan. It doesn't even include an actual objective. Do we go around asking everyone we meet to join our cause? Do we reach out to other Nobles and Knights? Should I go around interviewing strangers?
Kadeeth slips onto the step beside me. We're sitting on the stairs leading to the cabin's back porch. It's a needlessly large deck, with clearly imported wood. There are no trees in the Empire with this blue-ish color to them. This porch is just as useless as the botanical knowledge I acquired at the Academy. It wasn't a popular class, so I don't share my thoughts out loud very often, but I'm surprisingly informed about most native Imperial plants. Though I only took the class because I needed a filler class after skipping a few levels of basic swordsmanship.
Someday I'll ask Raforn to make that rismint fruit dish for us. He's the only one of us who can really cook anything remotely edible. I pride myself on probably being a close second though, considering Kadeeth's a Noble and Tellur's a drunk.
"West, huh?" Kadeeth breaks the serene silence. It's unappreciated but necessary. I let the words fade out, taking my time to reply.
"I guess so. How far?" I ask the cool evening air.
He pulls his legs up and crosses them, "To the Coast?" I laugh internally, not wanting to disrupt the calm any more than we already are. The scenery here is amazing. It makes me feel nostalgic, sad almost. It tries to draw my mind to places I've been avoided since the fire, or even long before then.
"I've never been to the ocean." I smile warmly. The forest reciprocates it with another gush of wind.
Then a scratchy sound rings through my ears, and both of us flinch. I turn around to see Tellur standing cringed in the doorway. A thin fabric sash is strapped across his chest, supporting a heavy wooden instrument. These were all the rage a few years ago, a new form of music that swept the Empire.
They were imported by a popular trading company, which is probably more than half the reason Nobility took a liking to them. They follow the trends, not their personal preferences.
Tellur coughs, embarrassed, and adjusts the small knobs nailed into the neck of the guitar. Then Raforn appears from behind him and gives him a light punch to the arm. The big man doesn't even budge.
"What are you doing?" I ask, realizing I won't be getting my quiet time back. Maybe it's better that I have people to distract me from having to confront the darker thoughts nipping at my heels. It's true that I'm doing better now that I have a new goal to accomplish, but once misstep and I'll be back in that dangerous pit I call my own mind.
The guys walk over and sit on either side of us on the steps, so that we're all in a line. What a strange group we are. Can we really trust these guys to help us?
"We found this in the study." Tellur admits, fiddling with the strange knobs some more.
Kadeeth asks, "It's my father's. Can you play?"Tellur nods.
"Where would an oaf like you learn to play that thing? Is that what they teach you in those fancy Knighthood schools?" Raforn grumbles, "That and how to clear out other people's liquor cabinets?"
The insults go right over Tellur's head, "No, I learned right after I graduated. I joined the Imperial army for a bit, and I met a guy who had been to the country these originated from." From the fond look in his eyes, I'm guessing that guy was his friend he talked about before, Hess.
Tellur stopped his story and started strumming. I don't know what he did to the strings with all that fiddling, but it no longer sounds like a dying cat. Now it's sound matches the cool temperature, and blends with the fog settling in for the night. It's beautiful.
I guess it's possible to have a nice moment, and not have to be alone.