Richard Tuttle - Sapphire of the Fairies

The routine continued until about anhour before dinner when Garth set them to more swordplay anddisappeared. Garth returned just as Kalina was serving a dinner ofpork and carrots with a green pea soup. Arik had downed the hoghimself during one of the tracking sessions the day before and thathad led to a lesson in butchering. The boys were almost too tiredto eat. Every other day was broken up by the necessity of movingthe wagon from one campsite to another, but this day had beenbrutal.

Garth sat down and took his plate fromKalina without a word. Everyone ate in silence until the meal wasover. Garth, as usual, lit his pipe after dinner and gazed at theboys before he spoke. “Whoever they are, they did not move theircamp today. It would appear that they wish to know where we aregoing.”

“Where are we going?” demandedTedi. “Arik and I had plans to reestablish ourselves in anothertown, but since we have joined up with you, we have had no ideawhere we are heading.”

“Where were you heading?”Kalina asked.

Tedi glanced at Arik and the taller boyjust shrugged. “We weren’t sure,” Tedi said. “Just some place southof Lorgo. Any town that would accept us as apprentices would havebeen acceptable.”

“Have you given any thought tochanging your names?” Kalina inquired. “There can be little doubtthat your names are now being circulated along thecoast.”

Tedi blushed but stated defiantly, “Ofcourse we have. Surely you do not think us so stupid as to announceourselves in each village?”

“Certainly not,” Kalinareplied dryly. “I think you should shave your face every morninguntil your facial hairs stiffen, then you should grow beards. Itwill make you look older.”

Now it was Arik’s turn to blush. Tediat least had the start of some facial hair though it did notrequire any shaving, but Arik had not a hint of any. “I don’t thinkI could grow a beard,” admitted Arik.

“Sure you can,” Kalinainsisted. “Follow my instructions and in a few weeks you will havea fine face of hair. The single, most important thing that you twocan do to avoid close inspection is to be older and wiser. Garth’slessons will help you only after the inspection has already beentoo close.”

“Why are the Dark Riders afterus?” Tedi asked. “Master Clava related the tale that Garthmentioned to him, but it all sounds ridiculous.”

“The tale is not ridiculous,”Kalina stated sternly. “It is to be taken with deadly seriousness.The Dark One is real and his interest in children born in the yearof the Collapse is real. If the Dark One can destroy certainchildren born that year, he will reign for a thousand years atwhich time the Great Demon, Alutar, will be released from hisprison to rule forever. If he cannot locate these certain children,he can destroy all of the children born that year and still succeedin his goal. The threat is quite real.”

“How can he tell whichchildren are the ones whom he seeks?” Arik asked.

“I am not sure,” sighedKalina. “There are many prophecies that deal with the Collapse, orthe Darkness as these times are called, but they are confusing atbest. Tell me about your own family, Tedi. What do you know of yourparents and their brothers and sisters?”

Tedi’s eyes narrowed and he stared atKalina with barely concealed suspicion. “Why do you want to knowabout my family?” he asked.

Kalina met his gaze evenly. “Are youashamed of your family?” she quipped, “or are you embarrassed thatyou do not know about them?”

“I am not ashamed of myfamily,” Tedi asserted. “I just want to know why you want to know.We know practically nothing about you and Garth and you expect usto tell you everything. You could be working for the Dark One forall we know. The fact that you killed some Dark Riders meansnothing to me. If these children are as important as you say, I amsure that the Dark One would sacrifice some men to find the rightchildren.”

“Fair enough,” Kalina smiled.“I look for anything that stands out from the ordinary. Thenecklace you are wearing is finely crafted and worth more than yourentire town could scrape together. Yet you claim to be a simplefisherman’s son. I merely want to know how you came by it. If youruncles or aunts were wealthy nobles, it would not be so outstandinganymore. That is why I ask.”

“You still didn’t say who youand Garth are,” reminded Tedi.

“How many Dark Riders do youneed us to kill before you will believe that we do not serve theDark One?” asked Kalina. “A hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand? Ifyou think we serve the Dark One, no number of dead Dark Riders willever convince you. If we wanted you dead, you would have been deada thousand times already. You will have to come to trust us forourselves. If you are not there yet, then decisions will have towait.”

“Hope that whoever isfollowing us, allows us time to wait,” Garth remarkedglumly.

Fredrik and Niki rode side-by-side downthe dusty trail heading north. It had been a week since they leftCidal by heading westward towards a seldom-used north-south trail.The north-south trail was pretty barren and the only food they wereable to procure had been coconuts, some kind of berry and a chickenthey stole from a farm. The chicken had almost cost them Fredrik’slife when an arrow streaked past his head. With no target to aimhis magic at, Fredrik had simply run off with thechicken.

Niki was miserable. She was hot, tiredand dirty. Her days in the mansion in Cidal seemed a distant memoryand she kicked herself every time it surfaced. She always knew thatshe was destined to be a queen someday and when her chance finallycame, she had thrown it away. The worst part of it was that Fredrikhad become extremely quiet since they left Cidal. She could haveaccepted him yelling at her for her rash behavior, or even if helaughed about it, but he never mentioned it. His only talk was ofwhere to stop for the night or where they should look for somefood. If he didn’t say something about it soon, she was going toscream.

Fredrik sat up straight in his saddleand cocked his head slightly. “There is a wagon up ahead,” heannounced. “Let me do the talking. Maybe we can get something toeat.”

Niki perked up at the mention of foodand the two magicians rode steadily up to the wagon that wasstopped at the crossroads of two dirt trails. An old man and ayoung boy were sitting under a tree alongside the wagon having afood break and Niki’s eyes lit up when she read the sign on thecanvas of the wagon. It read, “Boris Khatama Merchant”.

Fredrik and Niki dismounted and Fredriktied the two horses to a low branch of a nearby tree. Slowly, theywalked over to the merchant. “Greetings, Merchant,” Fredrik said.“I see that you are having a meal break. I wonder if two hungrytravelers might join you?”

“If the two hungry travelersare peaceful and courteous, they are welcome to share what littlewe have,” greeted Boris. “How are you called?”

Fredrik thought quickly about how heshould respond. Finally he decided that he would be truthful, butvague. “I am Fredrik and my traveling companion is Niki. We arefrom the south and have been some time without properfood.”

Boris nodded as if he understood thenecessity of being vague these days. “I am Boris, the merchant, andI am traveling with my niece, Tanya. Welcome to our poortable.”

Fredrik looked around for the man’sniece and flushed when he realized that who he had taken for ayoung boy was the niece. He bowed slightly and held Niki’s hand asshe lowered herself to the ground. Fredrik quickly sat next to herand the niece rose and went to the wagon and came back with twoplates of bread and cheese and some dried beef. She returned amoment later with two glasses of wine. Niki sniffed the bread andcheese as if it might be moldy, which earned her a nasty glare fromTanya. Both men managed to miss the exchange and seemed to bemeasuring the other’s mettle.