Kethril (30 page)

The men stepped back, looking more worried
than before. Tathan rolled his eyes and sighed. He dismounted and
said, “bolah frim goo ibble.” The men took two more steps back.

Tathan stopped trying to talk and led his
horse to the front of the wagon. The men watched him with worry.
The wagon had two posts that normally went on either side of the
horse pulling it. He saw that the men had already unhooked the
horse from the posts. Both Tathan and Anilyia had ropes on the side
of their saddles as part of their gear. He took his, tied one end
to the pommel of his saddle and the other to the dead horse’s
halter. When he dragged the horse away from the wagon, both men
dashed forward to help, one pulling on the rope and the other
pulling on the reins of Tathan’s horse. In short time, they had it
out of the way on the side of the road.

Anilyia dismounted, not to help, but to
stretch her legs and rub some feeling into her sore behind. The men
seemed quite capable of handling things on their own. Tathan took
his horse and tied it outside the far post of the wagon instead of
putting it in between. The men frowned in confusion, but shrugged
and helped.

When they were done, Tathan came for her
horse. Anilyia grabbed the reins and protested. “Hey! I’m not going
to walk!” He put a hand behind her neck and kissed her. It stopped
the protest. When he released her, she swayed. “I’m still not
walking,” she insisted.

He grinned, took the horse to the other post
and tied it to the outside. The men understood and helped. The
father got on the wagon and released the brake. Tathan and the
younger man pulled the reins of the horses. With a loud squelch,
the wagon pulled from the mud and rolled back onto the road.

There wasn’t any way Anilyia was going to
walk, so she crossed her arms and remained on the side of the road,
ready to stay there until she fell over dead. “Come, Milady,” the
father called out to her, holding out his hand.

He obviously meant for her to ride next to
him on the seat of the wagon, but that wasn’t an acceptable
solution either. Tathan came around to the side and put his fingers
together down low to give her a step up. She glared at him before
deciding it was better than walking. Anilyia mucked through the
sloppy mud and planted her boot into his gloved hands, getting them
muddy too. He hefted her up and she was sitting beside the
farmer.

Tathan and the son climbed in the back with
the supplies. Anilyia glared straight ahead, arms folded once more.
The wagon seat wasn’t wide and it was necessary to sit with the
outside of her thigh touching the farmer’s. Were they in Mayncal,
he would have been executed for the touch. She decided to let it go
this time.

The farmer snapped the reins, each attached
to a horse. They pulled the wagon, but looked indignant at the
treatment. Anilyia understood how they felt.

“I’m Robert and this is my son Mikael,” the
father introduced himself. “I can’t tell you how much we appreciate
the help.”

Anilyia waited for Tathan to make their
introductions before remembering that he wasn’t able. The farmer
looked hurt by the lack of response. She sighed. “I’m Princess
Anilyia of Mayncal. This is my bodyguard and escort, Tathan.” She
waved in the back of the wagon over Tathan’s head.

Robert stared at her for a moment, not sure
what to say. He opened his mouth a few times and then just drove
the wagon. Occasionally, he would turn and open his mouth without
saying anything. Tathan fell asleep, managing to avoid the lack of
conversation altogether.

A half hour down the road, Robert turned
onto a path leading to a large house surrounded by two smaller ones
and two barns. There were fields on either side with bales of
wheat. People came out of the houses as the wagon pulled up. “Papa,
what happened to the horse?” one of the young girls asked.

Robert answered, “He fell over dead. These
nice . . . people helped us out.” He got down from the wagon and
pointed at a couple of the boys. “Billy, Junior, you two take good
care of these horses and make sure they get fed.” Robert reached up
to help Anilyia down. She accepted his hand and jumped to the
ground. When her legs buckled, he wrapped his arms around her to
prevent her from hitting the ground face first. She extricated
herself from his arms as quickly as possible and glared at him.

He held his arms up in a gesture of peace.
Anilyia looked for Tathan. “Tathan? Are you there?” she asked in
concern.

Tathan sat up in the back of the wagon and
rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Mabibble honk to the wibble,” he
answered. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

“Who is this, dear?” a matronly woman asked,
coming up to Robert and putting an arm around his waist. She looked
to be about the same age as Robert. Her hair was brown with traces
of gray and she wore a heavy apron over her sturdy dress.

“These good people helped us get unstuck and
let us use their horses to pull the wagon back.” Robert gestured at
Anilyia. “She says she’s Princess Anilyia of Mayncal and tells us
that’s her bodyguard in the wagon.”

The woman laughed in disdain. “Oh really?
Our humble farm graced by royalty? What an honor!” She bent her
knees in a mockery of a curtsy. The people around them laughed.
Anilyia glared. If she could have cut the woman’s head off with her
eyes, she would have. The woman noticed the look. “Oh, she’s a
testy one, isn’t she?”

Robert wasn’t laughing. He squeezed his wife
to him. “I’m not certain she isn’t a princess, Sheila. Look at the
quality of her clothes and the gold jewelry.” She raised an eyebrow
in response and appraised Anilyia in a new light.

“Nah, she’s not a princess, and that’s not a
bodyguard,” a muscled young man about a year older than Mikael
claimed. He was pointing at Tathan who was limping up to Anilyia’s
side. “I could take him easy.”

Tathan responded by
drawing his sword, jumping forward and holding the tip of the blade
to the man’s stomach. Once again, all eyes were on the sword that
drank light. Anilyia
really
didn’t want anymore killing. “Tathan, please?” He
responded by sheathing Lightdrinker in one fluid motion. Anilyia
sighed wearily. “I just want our horses back so we can get to the
next town. I need a bath and a good night’s sleep.”

“Stay here. It’s miles to the next town in
either direction and we’ve food and a room. I’ll have the girls set
you up a bath even,” Robert suggested.

“Robert? . . . Are you certain?” Sheila
asked.

“I think so. They’re not wearing normal
clothes,” he answered, pointing at the way Anilyia and Tathan were
dressed. “That’s not a normal sword, that’s not a normal necklace
and . . . I think she’s telling the truth.” He pointed at Tathan’s
sword and Anilyia’s necklace.

“More importantly, they helped us when we
were in a bad position, Mother,” Mikael said. He had his arm around
a pretty woman his age. They looked like husband and wife.

Sheila nodded. “That’s what’s important
then. The lot of you get a bath ready with warm water,” she told a
group of girls ages nine to fourteen. Turning back to Tathan and
Anilyia she said, “Dinner will be ready soon. We’ve just been
waiting on the men. You’ll eat and then we’ll give you beds for the
night. Princess or not, you’ll not be telling me no, is that
clear?”

Anilyia didn’t answer. Nobody bossed her
around . . . except Liselle, but she wasn’t human. Sheila saw that
there wasn’t going to be a winner in the contest of wills. Pointing
a thick finger, she said, “See that your bodyguard doesn’t go
around stabbing my boys.” Then she turned and headed back to the
house with a grunt.

The princess turned to Tathan. “Don’t stab
any of her boys. Is that clear?”

“Mabibble honk to the wibble,” Tathan
answered. That was good enough for Anilyia and she followed Sheila
to the house.

The next hour was a blur for the exhausted
princess. Mikael’s wife decided to become her best friend. The
women took care of Anilyia much like handmaidens would. She was
bathed and put in a dry dress one of the women loaned her while the
traveling clothes were cleaned. When they took her down to dinner,
she saw that the men had done the same thing with Tathan. The blood
was gone and he was wearing simple clothes, though the sword was
still around his waist.

The food was amazing and there was plenty
for everybody. Someone had baked pies that made Anilyia’s mouth
water. Tathan ate slowly though. She discreetly studied him during
the meal. His shoulders were slumped and his eyes were glassy
again. The limp had been getting worse every time he walked and the
gibberish hadn’t become anymore intelligible. They needed to get to
Liselle as soon as possible. If they could just stay away from
sadistic bounty hunters, corrupt innkeepers and friendly peasants
in need, they might make it.

Most of the talk was about mundane events of
family life on the farm, like chores. Anilyia was bored.

“How will we replace the horse, Robert?”
Sheila asked.

“We’ll make enough selling the extra wheat.
It’s been a good year,” Robert answered.

“But we were going to use that money to
build new pens for the pigs and buy furniture for Mikael’s house,”
she protested. “They’ve got a baby on the way.”

Anilyia didn’t think they needed any more
children. There were kids everywhere. Peasants bred faster than
rabbits and it seemed as though they would take over the world
sometimes. A crackpot philosopher once told her father that they
should let peasants vote for who should be king. Daddy had the
idiot killed.

“I know, dear. A few of us will go to the
market in Tillg. I think we can get a good price there on a horse
and some furniture,” Robert told her. A few faces brightened at the
mention of a trip to the capital.

“I don’t like it. There’s been sightings of
bandits on the road and I don’t want you hurt,” Sheila said.

The clinking of coins on the table startled
everyone. Tathan had tossed gold and silver near Robert, three
pieces of gold and twenty of silver. It would buy everything that
had been mentioned and more. Anilyia thought it was ridiculous. Ten
silver pieces would have bought an excellent workhorse. Tathan
stood up and put his hands on the side of his face, indicating he
wanted to go to sleep. Then he walked away before anyone could
protest.

Anilyia had just gotten her pie and wasn’t
about to leave without finishing it. She was almost full enough to
make up for the lack of good meals they had suffered the past few
days and that piece would finish the job. The peasant family stared
at her, making her uncomfortable. Robert hadn’t touched the wealth
of coins.

“We can’t accept that,” Sheila said.

“So don’t. I certainly don’t care,” Anilyia
replied with a shrug. She took a bite of pie. “This is so good,”
she said with a full mouth, pointing at the pie with her fork.

Sheila shook her head in disapproval. “Well
then you should take it back.”

Anilyia swallowed the bite in her mouth.
“You want me to take the pie back? I didn’t have it in the first
place. That’s confusing, but it is very good. Did you make it?”

Sheila glared at her. “I mean the coins. You
should take them back. The pie was made by Missy.” She pointed at a
nice looking girl about fourteen years of age.

“Ahh, that makes sense. The pie is sweet and
pleasant like Missy. If you had made it, it would probably taste
cranky.” Anilyia took another bite. Some of the family reacted with
wide-eyed shock and open mouths, others barked out short laughs
before stifling them at the look of anger on the matron’s face.

“Take the money back,” Sheila demanded.

Anilyia set the fork on the plate and folded
her hands in front of her. With all the sweetness in the world, she
said, “It’s not my money, it’s Tathan’s. Therefore, it’s not mine
to take. As far as the bandits on the road are concerned, tell them
that the gold was given to you by Tathan of the Shadows and that
he’ll know if they take it from your husband and boys.” She helped
herself to a second piece of pie, took her plate in hand and stood.
“I’m going to take my pie to my bed, eat it, and then go to sleep.
Missy, will you please show me my bed?” she asked the pretty
girl.

Missy got up, looking fearfully at Sheila
the entire time. The matron was too busy glaring at Anilyia in fury
to notice. A few moments later, Anilyia was sitting cross-legged in
bed, savoring each bite of the pie. When done, she handed the plate
and fork to Missy. Anilyia covered herself with the blankets and
fell asleep.

***

Tathan kissed her cheek. Anilyia woke with a
start, but remained quiet when he held a finger in front of her
lips. A flickering candle was the only light in the room. Two other
girls were still fast asleep in their beds. Tathan took her hand
and led her silently out of the room and down the stairs.

He grabbed a lantern by the back door and
they went outside. The rain had stopped and a few stars were
showing through the clouds as they walked to the farthest barn.

Once inside, she did her best to ignore all
the odors associated with livestock and followed him to a ladder.
He gestured for her to climb. “You want me to go up there?” she
asked skeptically. He nodded and grinned. Intrigued, she climbed
the steps, using the first few to scrape the mud off her feet.

Hay was in piles on the wooden walkway.
Tathan scrambled up behind her and put the lantern on a hook. Then
he kissed her passionately.

When he began pulling the peasant dress up
her thighs, she pushed him away. “Is this what peasants do?” she
asked in alarm. “Sneak off to the barn and frolic in the hay?”
Tathan grinned impudently and nodded. Anilyia put a hand to her
neck. “Oh my! I’m certainly not that kind of girl, you peasant
cad!” she said playfully.