Anilyia (38 page)

“Is that bad?” Liselle asked.

“Nobody is allowed to use my name except my
father and mother. Everyone else must address me by title,” she
said, looking around as though afraid someone might hear.

“Sorry, Your Highness,” Liselle said with a
sigh. “I guess I’m just not used to dealing with royalty. I’ll keep
it in mind.”

Anilyia nodded. Then she reached out and
touched Liselle’s hand. “I’m glad you rescued me too. Thank you,”
she finished with a smile.

“You’re welcome.” Liselle returned the
smile.

They ate their midday meal then continued on
their journey. The trail down was at a similar gradient to the one
leading up. It worked different muscles in the legs, wearing them
out just as much as traveling up the pass had. They camped at
nightfall in a small clearing with a stream. Liselle went to sleep
worried about the fate of her dragon lover.

They had just filled their plates with
breakfast when Vevin landed nearby. Anilyia immediately hid behind
Tathan, grabbing his hand and making it impossible for him to eat.
Just as Vevin transformed into human form, Liselle ran into him
full speed, flinging her arms around his neck. He stumbled back a
few steps, but remained standing as he laughed and wrapped his arms
around her.

“Where have you been?” Liselle asked
accusingly.

The question caught him by surprise. “I’ve
been flying, like I said I would,” he replied.

“I expected you to be gone for a few hours,
not a few days,” Liselle pouted, folding her arms.

“I’m sorry, dearest,” Vevin said. “A few
days isn’t much time for me. Normally, I go flying for a couple of
weeks, but I hurried back to get to you.”

“Well . . . if you hurried back, it’s
alright,” Liselle said, throwing her arms around his neck again.
They held each other while Tathan pried his arm away from the
princess so he could eat. The princess also ate, but stayed hidden
behind Tathan the entire time.

The feel of her against his back was nice.
He liked it when she held his hand, he liked the smell of her hair
when she put her head on his shoulder, he liked the way she looked
at him and he liked the way her body curved. Tathan liked
everything about the princess. Liselle had warned him not to do
anything, but he couldn’t help being attracted to Anilyia.

At least she was finally getting along well
with his cousin. Hopefully, she would come to like Vevin too,
because no matter how much the irritating Yellow Bird of Sunshine
wanted them to get her home immediately, it just wasn’t going to
happen. It would take a couple of weeks to get to the northern part
of the Willden and another few weeks to make it to Kethril. Two or
three months to Mayncal was optimistic.

Liselle led Vevin back to the group.
“Vevin’s back,” She said with a huge grin. Anilyia pushed tighter
against Tathan.

“Welcome back, Vevin. It is truly good to
see you again,” Sir Danth said with a welcome pat on the back that
sent the dragon staggering.

“Thank you,” Vevin replied, narrowing his
eyes at the dark knight.

Tathan grinned. “Welcome back. Did you see
anything of the road ahead?”

“Oh yes! It’ll take about ten days to reach
the Willden. The Lost Road continues for a long, long way. It’ll be
a while before we get to Kethril,” Vevin said.

Tathan nodded. “That’s what I thought. Thank
you, Vevin.”

“Did you by any chance see if Rojuun were
following us on the road behind?” Sir Danth asked.

Vevin sat down next to Liselle while she ate
her breakfast. He had his arm around her waist and their thighs
touched. “There are about five hundred warriors staged in a canyon
a short distance away from where we came out. I thought about
killing them, but didn’t want to upset Liselle,” he admitted. She
smiled at him. “Plus, they do have magic and I didn’t think it was
a good idea to attack them alone.”

“Very wise,” Sir Danth agreed with a
nod.

“I say we travel steadily until we’re deep
in the forest. At some point, we’ll try to take a couple of days to
rest, but not until we’re certain of safety,” Tathan suggested.
They all agreed.

“Oh, I stopped in Puujan for a few minutes,”
Vevin said. “The wings looked neat from the sky. It was so
beautiful,” he told them. “I talked to Hulda. Word hasn’t gotten
out about our rescue yet. I also got the princess some new clothes
and stuff.” A pack appeared in his hands.

Liselle arched an eyebrow at him.

“You said she needed a new dress and her own
towel and blanket and soap and stuff,” Vevin said. “I was trying to
think of what you would want me to do.”

She relented instantly. “That was very
thoughtful of you, dearest. Thank you.” She gave him a kiss on the
cheek. Liselle put her plate down and carried the pack over to the
princess. Anilyia shrank away when Liselle reached out a hand, but
took it after a moment and allowed herself to be led a ways into
the forest.

A few minutes later, they came back. Anilyia
was dressed in sturdy travel clothes that had intricate needlework
to make them beautiful. They were fit for a princess, but capable
of handling the abuse of the road. She carried the pack over her
shoulders like Tathan and Liselle did, even if she did seem a touch
offended by the concept.

They cleaned up the camp and headed down the
Lost Road to the Willden Forest.

***

It took twelve days to reach the Willden.
Hard rains slowed them down for half that time. Vevin took to the
sky every occasionally to see if the Rojuun threatened. He was able
to fly high enough that they didn’t spot him, though Liselle
worried each time he flew. The Rojuun fell just a little bit
further behind each day.

Tathan knew when they reached the Willden.
At first, the trees were frightening, seeming to loom over the Lost
Road. They darkened the sky with their leaves, while sounds of
monsters came from just beyond sight. He didn’t understand why it
was hostile though. When he and Liselle had first entered from
their valley, it had been unthreatening and they were supposed to
be friends with the forest now.

Anilyia tried to climb into Tathan’s skin
the entire time, which would have been fine if the closeness of her
body didn’t arouse him so much. Tathan liked the company of
beautiful women and had never tried to restrain his desires in the
past. She had taken to sleeping against him at night. Their
sleeping rolls kept skin from touching, but he could still feel the
shape and warmth of her.

Sometimes when everyone was asleep, he would
gently caress her bare arm or reach a hand down to her waist.
Anilyia’s skin was soft underneath his fingers and even when he
wasn’t touching her, he imagined touching her. Tathan became
grateful for every cold river or pond he could bathe in on their
journey.

The growls and hoots of monsters came closer
and closer, and the trees shrank in on them. Anilyia whimpered into
his chest, too afraid to look.

Then Vevin bellowed a great dragon roar. No
monster anywhere was brave enough to take on a dragon. The trees
stood up straight, letting light in along the path, while various
creatures in the brush scattered. A few minutes later, the only
sounds were birds singing in the trees and insects flitting about
their business.

***

Two more weeks passed. After that first day,
the forest had become welcoming. As usual, Liselle greeted every
flower she could. Sir Danth was especially quiet again, staring
into the forest as though trying to find something. At night, he
would scout ahead for long periods of time, coming back to make
breakfast before the rest of them woke up. The behavior bothered
Tathan because the knight had become quite enjoyable to be around
before the rescue of the princess.

Vevin still scouted from the air every few
days. He reported that the Rojuun had finally reached the edge of
the forest. Three hundred entered while two hundred stayed behind.
Those three hundred never reappeared and Vevin said he could hear
their screams even from his lofty height.

The morning was foggy and every sound was
muffled, making the forest seem otherworldly. They ate their
breakfast and continued the journey. Tathan wanted to find
someplace where they could spend a few days to recover. He could
tell that his companions were road weary. To be honest, he was too.
Even Sir Danth had lost a bit of his step.

Oddly enough, Liselle was handling it best.
There were always flowers for her to touch and every time she did,
it put a little more spring in her step. Vevin was tired though. He
hadn’t flown in four days. Dragons needed long periods of rest once
in a while and the schedule of humans was hard on him.

Anilyia walked quietly next to Tathan, still
holding his hand. Liselle joked that their hands had become
permanently attached and they would never be able to separate.

“There’s a creaking sound ahead, Tathan,”
Vevin said from behind. Tathan looked over his shoulder to see the
couple’s hands attached just like his was to Anilyia’s. He shook
his head and loosened his sword in its sheath.

“I’ll move ahead and take a look, Master
Tathan,” Sir Danth said next to him, eager for something to do.
Tathan nodded and the knight ran ahead.

A few minutes later, Tathan could hear the
creaking and a structure began to form through the fog.

Sir Danth reappeared in from of them. “It’s
amazing,” he said. “I believe it’s an inn built in the time of
Morhain. I’ve never been this far north, so I don’t know anything
about it, but it will make an excellent place to stay and rest for
a few days. We need the rest, Master Tathan.” There was a pleading
tone to his voice.

“Yes, definitely. Let’s check it out to make
sure it’s safe and we’ll see if there’s anywhere good enough to
rest,” Tathan replied, clapping a hand on the knight’s shoulder. He
realized that the knight hadn’t smacked his shoulder since before
rescuing the princess. At that point, Tathan decided that he would
get the knight alone sometime very soon and find out what was
wrong.

“Oh my! It’s a really neat building,
Tathan,” Vevin said, doing an eager dance. ”Don’t worry, there’s no
one here and it’s safe.” That was good enough for Tathan. Vevin’s
supernatural sight came in handy at times.

As they came closer, Tathan could see the
source of the creaking noise. A massive waterwheel was attached to
the five level building, moved by a river alongside the inn. The
road had a wide stone bridge for the water to flow under. They
walked over and discovered an enormous intersection where the trees
were far back.

“I bet that’s the Ancient Road we traveled
on from Aaltdiin to Brondaggiin,” Vevin said excitedly, pointing to
the other wide highway. “Kethril will be about a week further west
on the Lost Road.” He suddenly stopped dancing. “I’d really like to
stay here a few days before we continue, Tathan. I need rest.”

“We’re definitely staying here a few days.
All of us need extra rest,” Tathan assured him.

“It’s like our house,” Liselle said
quietly.

Tathan examined the building more closely.
The inn was made of the same stone their house was. The roof looked
to be stone shingles and there were three rows of multiple chimneys
built like the one on their house. He could make out the
silhouettes of other buildings behind the inn. The idea of
exploring them interested Tathan as much as it did his
companions.

The Lost Road Inn, as he mentally named it,
sat at the southeast corner of the intersection with the main
double doors on the Ancient Road side of the building. Trees were
carved into each of the stone doors with a pattern of vines
surrounding them. When Tathan pushed on them, they opened without
so much as a squeak.

The common room was huge, with four stone
fireplaces lining the far wall. To the left, was an enormous bar
with stone kegs behind it. To the right, was a large stage. Tathan
couldn’t help but think that any Rojuun would absolutely fall in
love with it.

Dominating the center of the room was a
double staircase that led to an inside balcony. There were no
chairs or tables in the room, just an open floor. It still felt
warm and inviting, as though the inn wanted visitors.

Sir Danth headed up the stairway while Vevin
and Liselle went left toward a set of large doors on the far wall
next to the bar. Their footsteps and voices echoed in the empty
space. Tathan turned to the princess who was trying to look at
everything at once. “Where do you want to explore?” he asked.

Anilyia pointed at the kegs behind the bar.
“I would like very much to have a glass of wine. Can we see if
there’s anything here?” she asked hopefully.

Tathan nodded. “I seriously doubt there will
be, but with a building like this it’s worth a look.” He followed
her to the kegs. They were made of stone just as ancient as the
building. When he tried one of the spigots, nothing came out. They
ran along and tried every one of them to no avail, but the princess
laughed and it became a game. Then they checked all of the cabinets
to find them empty as well.

Liselle and Vevin came back out of the
doors. “The kitchen is amazing, Tathan,” Liselle said. “It must be
large enough to serve hundreds of people, and there’s running water
too.”

“Running water?” Tathan said in surprise.
“That’s rare, usually reserved for noble houses and most of those
don’t even have it.”

“Morhain was known for their aqueducts,” Sir
Danth said, coming down from the stairs. “I believe there is a
stone reservoir behind the building that holds water. This is an
extraordinary place.” They all met at the bottom of the stairs.
“There are no beds or any other furniture, but the inn feels
welcoming.”