Bab 378: Vagrants
The three royals and Eira trotted away from the city walls and into the open countryside. The areas were wooded, and more than one area had been cleared for farming.
"I am glad mother did not actually try to force us to go to the land of magic," Mairwen said when she was sure that the caravan could no longer hear them.
"You noticed that look on her face too, hm?" Alaron chuckled. "She was very close to taking us prisoner and forcing us to be safe. That would have been an awkward battle."
"Would you have really fought Her Majesty?" Renat could not imagine openly defying his ruler. The thought of having to choose between his wife and the woman who controlled the entire Empire sent a chill down his spine. It was an easy choice, but not an appealing one.
"Just be glad it did not come to that. Our family has enough drama without adding another war to it," the Guardian said evenly. He opened his mouth to expound on his witty remark but snapped it shut.
"What's that?" Eira was the second one to notice the out of place sound. It was many voices.
Renat cocked his head as he tried to pinpoint the location of the group through the trees. "Perhaps it is a celebration for the Empress's parade?" The scientist tried to think of the most logical answer.
"Out here? Unlikely. They don't seem to be celebrating." Alaron could hear murmurs but not laughter. It seemed pretty mundane except for the number of people.
"We should check it out," Mairwen stated.
"We should skirt around them," Renat spoke at the exact same time.
The pair shot anxious glances at one another. This was not something where they would easily agree. While Mairwen felt it was her job to keep the Empire safe, Renat knew it was his job to keep his wife safe. The two goals seemed to be at odds yet again.
"Trouble in paradise?" Alaron chuckled. "Your honeymoon is indeed over."
The couple turned their glares on him. "We will work it out," the princess bristled.
"Allow me to solve the problem for you," the Guardian offered as he raised his hands, releasing the reins. The horse knew his rider well enough to continue steadily onwards, despite the lack of leadership. "You three skirt around, and I will go in to check it out. It is likely just a group of vagrants passing through, but this way we will know for sure."
The solution was met with general agreement. Alaron pulled his horse to a stop and dismounted, giving the reins to Eira. "I'll meet you up ahead at the river crossing. Don't you dare leave me behind."
Mairwen chuckled. "As if we could. Even after dying, you managed to find us again."
"Good point. I won't be long." Alaron saluted and ducked out of sight. It was almost like he had vanished.
"And I thought Chief Zan was the only one who could make an exit like that," Renat said with surprise. Now that he was living in the castle, the scientist had seen the Councilman appear and disappear without warning many times.
"I think it is a Guardian thing," Mairwen mused. "You would hardly believe some of the amazing things that I witnessed when they were on the battlefield."
The lanky man shivered. "If they are anything like what I saw, then their disappearing act is one of their less impressive tricks."
"You aren't wrong," Eira nodded. They searched the trees for the cloaked figure, but could not trace his path. "We should head to the meeting point, Your Highnesses," the soldier suggested. "The Guardian will arrive with a report soon enough."
"And we do not want him to beat us there. Come on." Mairwen clicked her heels, and the others fell in line, avoiding the unknown encampment ahead of them.
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Alaron moved with the swaying of the breeze and the shadows cast by the clouds across the sun. Thanks to a later than usual annual meeting, the young man had been able to attend the Fellowship with the rest of the Guardians the previous winter.
The others had taught him as much of their craft as they could in such a short time. The silver-eyed man came out of the gathering with a renewed respect for his calling and a strive to be better. With a few new tools and a lot of useful advice, Alaron had felt more equipped to tackle his new role.
The man realized belatedly that he might miss the next meeting due to this quest. 'All the more reason to find Dania quickly.' Not that he needed any more motivation. The chance to prove himself and help his sister and maybe even the Empire was more than enough to fuel the flame inside him.
Slowing down as he came near the camp, Alaron decided to focus on his task. The people were not hard to find. Tents were set up in a circle with a firepit in the middle. About two dozen people—mostly men with a few women—were carrying out the daily tasks or milling about. A large covered wagon stood off to one side filled with supplies.
Although a couple of people were stationed around the outside, they only seemed to be keeping a cursory glance on the forest. Mostly the people, dressed in threadbare clothes, were talking and carrying on naturally.
'I guess they aren't worried about being attacked.' Alaron thought as he watched them. 'They seem like harmless wanders. Possibly even poor merchants with that loaded wagon. I see little to be concerned about...' Then something caught his eye. One of the men closest to the fire turned his way, and his tattered vest parted to reveal the golden hilt of a dagger hidden underneath.
It was very out of place. This poor man could not afford a weapon so fine. 'Is it stolen?' Additionally, the man carried himself proudly, not like most commoners. Looking at the man's face, Alaron noted that he was in his mid-twenties, medium height and build with mismatched eyes. While one was green as the moss on the trees, the other was sky blue.
The woman he was speaking to was just as tall and young as well, but she leaned to one side. The pair walked over to sit by a tree close to Alaron's hiding spot, and the Guardian noticed she was nursing a slight limp. She nearly tripped on the edge of her dress as she ambled beside her companion.
The longer the cloaked figure watched from the shadows, the more he felt that something was off.
Alaron squinted as he tried to put his finger on what bothered him. Their clothing was frayed, but it looked intentionally distressed. The cloth itself did not seem old. The tents had the same false appearance. Even the large wagon, which appeared to be new, had deep scores in the sides of the wood to make it look run-down.
'Why appear to be poor if you are not? Are they trying to avoid bandits? It seems like looking weak would only attract that kind of attention.' The Guardian watched for some time, hoping to get some clue that would solve this mystery. He could not go back to his sister and say that everything was fine when he did not believe it was true.
Nearby the man and woman were mostly shooting the breeze, talking about nothing in particular. While their interaction was not romantic, it was very familiar. Their accents and words were refined, another indication that they were not vagrant outcasts from the city.
The woman had just finished commenting on the time when the man with the mismatched eyes called out.
"Millard!"
One of the men who appeared to be keeping guard turned his way and stumbled over. He was thin as a pole and wore an eternally confused expression.
"You called me, Collyn?" He asked with a dip of his head. His accent was thicker and muddied, which was much more common among the citizens of Valiant.
"Any messages from the boss?" Collyn asked with one eyebrow raised. His fingers drummed on his knee.
"I would've told ya if there was…" Millard scratched his stomach.
"I hate waiting…" Collyn said to the woman with a limp. "That accent is too much," he added to the skinny man.
"Wha da ya mean?" Millard drawled, his lopsided grin only adding to his baffled expression.
"Stop." The sitting man glared. "You sound like an idiot."
"I dunno. Sounds pretty normal to me…ouch!" The last word was spoken as Collyn swept out his leg viciously and brought Millard down on his bony rear. "You don't have to be so mean, you know." His regular crisp accent was back in place.
"You don't have to be so into this…" Collyn motioned to the other man from head to toe, "Whatever this is."
"I have to find some way to use my hours until it is time. And after what happened, who knows how long that will be." Millard's eyes were hungry for a moment before he slipped back into his impression. "Besides, ya don't think it's that bad, do ya?"
Just then a flitting mechanical ball came whirring into view and smacked right into Millard's dense skull. The thin man's eyes glazed over as he tipped to one side.
Collyn grinned. "Couldn't have said it better myself."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone