Redemption Of The Sacred Land (Book 3) (11 page)

“That’s because you actually have to chew it,” Tatrice said. “You choke because you don’t chew enough. You gobble everything down in two bites.”

Sylvalora returned with a metal carafe of wine and four goblets on another silver tray. She poured wine into two of the goblets and handed them to Bren and Tatrice.

“Are you not joining us?” Tatrice said to Sylvalora.

“No.” She poured wine into the other two goblets. “These are for our new guests.”

There was a knock at the open door. Shadesilver and Amadace were standing there.

“Are we too late, Matron?” Shadesilver asked.

“Come in. Not at all. Come in and see for yourself.” Sylvalora handed Shadesilver and Amadace a goblet.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Tatrice knew this scene was all wrong, that she should be trying to escape, but the feeling kept slipping away. The harder she tried to hold on to it, the more it slipped away and seemed completely absurd. Shadesilver and Amadace were not fighting it, and Bren seemed to be enjoying himself.

“I received word from my men that the rest of your party plans to return to Brookhaven,” Toborne said. “I think you all should meet up with them there.”

Tatrice could hardly contain her excitement. “We are going home?”

“Aye,” Toborne said. “See, I am a reasonable fellow. No need for concern. I want you to go back home. I want you to spread the word of my good will to your friends.”

“Will you be joining us?” Bren asked.

“I am afraid that Sylvalora and I have business in Lux Enor. I am sure you will join us there when you are done visiting Brookhaven.” He clasped his hands together. “In fact, I think you should all be going as soon as you are done eating and drinking. If you fly from here tonight, you should arrive about a half a day after the others, barring no interruptions, that is.”

“See, Tatrice,” Bren said. “No need to worry. Toborne is an upstanding fellow.”

Toborne seemed pleased with Bren’s assessment.

“I can’t wait to get home,” Tatrice said. “I am so excited, I couldn’t eat another bite.”

Something is wrong here!
Tatrice thought, and then the thought was gone again.

Dorenn could hardly contain his excitement when they topped Watch Hill and he could see the village of Brookhaven nestled in its little valley. He turned to Rennon to see if he was as excited as he, but Rennon was not seated next to him on the buckboard. He could have sworn Rennon had ridden next to him most of the journey from By’temog. He looked around at the rest of the caravan but didn’t immediately see his friend. Something at the back of his mind nagged him. Something bad had happened to Rennon. He saw a brief image of Rennon being carried away by a gang of ruffians, but the image quickly faded away like a dream after waking. It was vaguely reminiscent of the time he saw Lady Shey carried away, but this time, he was sure it was just a dream. Rennon would turn up. A moment later, Rennon was pulling himself up onto Dorenn’s buckboard, a broad, excited smile on his face.

“I can’t believe we’re home!” Rennon said.

Dorenn reached over and put his hand on Rennon’s forehead.

“What are you doing!” Rennon protested.

“Just checking. I thought you might be a Drasmyd Duil. I had the weirdest dream about you being carried away.”

“Well, it’s me. I’m not a Shadow Lurker.”

“I can see that. Still, I had to be sure.”

Rennon took a deep breath. “Do you smell it, that pine and evergreen smell, and the cook fires?”

“Aye, the sights and smells of home. It almost feels like we never left.”

As they got closer to the village, Dorenn noticed garlands and ribbons of Summerwills Day decorated the houses and shops. With the cool mountain air and breezes, he had almost forgotten the heat of the plains, and how hot it was the middle of summer.

When they neared Sanmir’s apothecary shop, Rennon left Dorenn’s side. He wanted to know who Sanmir had running the place. Dorenn wasn’t surprised to see Deylia, from one of the wagons behind his, also run up to the shop. The two claimed to be only friends, but Dorenn wondered about them every time he saw them together, which was virtually all the time.

The wagon lumbered along the cobblestone street until, at last, Dorenn beheld the Tiger’s Head Inn, his home. Durn, the stable hand, waited outside the front doors for Dorenn’s approach.

He thought it strange that Durn didn’t rush inside after he saw him driving up to tell his parents that he had returned. At last, he saw Durn recognized him and went inside. As his wagon pulled up to the portico, Durn came out of the inn followed not by his mother or father but by the elf princess Seandara.

Kimala slept soundly after she, Trendan, and Sanmir reached the old fortification outside of Signal Hill. The stone walls were crumbling and it only had half a roof left standing, but it was safe enough for the three to rest and catch a breath. Overgrown vegetation essentially hid the structure from view. Sanmir prepared an area of the fort for habitation as best he could while Trendan went out on a scouting mission. Sanmir cleared the old wood-burning stove of dirt and debris and used it to boil some bittering tea.

As night approached, Trendan returned from his scouting mission. He found Sanmir sitting by the stove sipping tea. Kimala was still sleeping, he presumed. “I found no evidence that we were followed here.” He used a crumbled bit of the stone wall as a chair. “It’s almost as if they haven’t missed her yet. I don’t like it. I can’t help but think Naneden either has no interest in Kimala anymore or she is leading us into a trap. I never have fully trusted her, even after it was confirmed she was working on our side the entire time.”

“You have always had a problem with trust. Why is that?” Sanmir asked over a sip of tea.

“I have no answer for you. Trust is not something I’ve ever given away lightly.” He reached out to pour himself some bittering tea in the cup Sanmir left out for him. “Remind me again why you convinced me to rescue her.”

“Now, Trendan, there’s no need to be degrading. Kimala is more important to us than you might realize.”

“Why is she still asleep? Were her injuries so grievous?”

“No, not particularly. I mean, there are no broken bones at least. I gave her a sleeping draft after I patched her up. It’s normal to the healing process. We need her to be able to get around on her own power when we leave here.”

“If I am such a burden, then why did you risk your life, archer?” Kimala limped into the area Sanmir had prepared. “Is there another cup?”

“Certainly, I left one over by the stove for you, mistress,” Sanmir answered.

Kimala found the cup and poured herself some tea.

“I meant no offense,” Trendan said.

“You gave it, nonetheless.” She took a sip of her tea. “Where are we?”

“In an old fortification near Signal Hill,” Sanmir answered.

“Excellent, we are not too far from Brookhaven. We have to get there as soon as possible.”

Trendan cleared his throat. “We are supposed to get to a Migarath Portal and go to By’temog, where the others are waiting.”

“No, they won’t be there. They are headed for Brookhaven as we speak. They may have already arrived.”

“I think your sense of time may be off, mistress,” Sanmir said. “We came to you from By’temog by portal. We left the others there. Unless they traveled by portal as well, they would not have had the time to make the journey.”

“Why Brookhaven?” Trendan asked.

“I suppose I’m useful to you now?”

Sanmir appeared annoyed. “You have always been useful to me. Ignore the boy and his offhand comments.”

Kimala nodded. “Before Kerad arrived, I overheard Naneden making plans to set a trap at Brookhaven.”

“Why would he do that?” Trendan asked. “How could he possibly know any of us would return there?”

“Toborne set a trap for Tatrice and Bren in Trigothia. He plans to send them and their dragons to Brookhaven. I don’t know how he knew the others would return there, but he did. I’m sure he has people watching Dorenn’s every move. They are setting up Summerwills Day as a distraction. There is something at Brookhaven Toborne plans to use to capture someone. It wasn’t clear to me how or who. I don’t know the whole scheme. I tried to get more information, but I was caught.”

Sanmir scratched his head. “Are you certain the plans would still be carried out with you discovered?”

“I was eavesdropping when I gleaned the information. I don’t think Naneden realized I overheard. It was before Kerad showed up and exposed me.”

Trendan took another sip. “Brookhaven would be a good place to entice Dorenn and the others to return to. It wouldn’t take much; they are all worried about family there.”

Sanmir sighed. “I didn’t tell them everything about the state of Brookhaven when I left it. The village elders were busy trying to resurrect an ancient prophesy of Ashonda. According to legend, when the village needed her again, she would return to protect them. The village was in near panic, even though the armies of Naneden never attempted to take it. I am convinced Morgoran and Ianthill are too smart to stay in the village for long.”

Kimala found a place to sit. “They left Brookhaven untouched for a reason. Toborne and Naneden, I mean. The pieces are all there, but I haven’t been able to figure out how they fit together. I do know that Brookhaven is definitely part of their plan.”

“All right. We head to Brookhaven at first light. We can sneak into the village after dark to my shop. I think it best we don’t stay hidden if we are the first to arrive,” Sanmir said. “Maybe we can investigate what is supposed to happen there.”

Chapter 7: Illusions and Deceptions

Morgoran came to take Dorenn’s wagon to the stables as soon as they stopped in front of the Tiger’s Head Inn. “Go and see about your family,” he said.

Dorenn nodded and handed over the reins. Seandara greeted him with a warm and friendly smile. She radiated with exuberance at seeing him well. He didn’t know what to think about her being there. The last time he saw her, he made a fool out of himself, being afflicted with essence sickness.

“It is good to see you, my lord,” she said when he walked up to the inn entrance.

All he could think to say to her was, “I am not sure I should be referred to as a lord, my lady, but I am pleased to see you as well.”

“You are the lord of the manor, sir. That’s all I meant.”

He took her hand and kissed it. He had seen visiting nobles do that to his mother and he thought it was appropriate, but he felt awkward afterward. He could tell by her expression she felt awkward about it, too.

Dorenn greeted Durn with a manly hug and shook his hand. “Where are my parents? I thought my mother especially would run out to greet me.”

“Come inside, Master Dorenn, and I will fill you in on the goings on of late.” Durn ushered him through the doorway and into the common room. “Your parents are both in fine health but are not present at the inn anymore.”

Dorenn sat down at a table in the common room with Durn. Seandara joined them.

“I am sure you are anxious to know of your parents, so I will get right to it. A few days after Sanmir left to find you, a messenger came to the inn to talk with your father. He bore the crest of Ardenia, so I let him pass. He explained to your father and mother that the king of Ardenia was very ill and expected to pass from this world. His only heir to the throne, Prince Daleil, had been recently killed in an Enforcer battle with those inflicted with the wild magic. With no other heir to the throne, the rule of the Arden family will come to an end with King Noeed Arden, making the Adair family the next in line for the throne. Being a direct descendant of Princess Marella Arden, your father is the only person, by blood, who can claim the throne legally upon the king’s death. The messenger came to retrieve your father and mother and escort them back to Ardenia. Your father knew you might return to Brookhaven someday, so he put me in charge of the inn with the stipulation that I impart this information to you upon your return.”