�I am humbled by you comparing my beauty to yours. I am but a heather flower while yours is an Imperial rose,� said Cahira. It was fun to her. A game almost, this subtle compliment-insult fiasco called courtly manners. She wished that Rhian
was here at the tavern for her barbs were always sharpest.
The door of the tavern slammed open. All chatter stopped as the every face in the bar turned to stare at the door. Rhian stumbled in, her eyes wild and her dagger drawn, reeking of vomit.
Connor groaned inwardly. The kamikaze fanatic. Just what he needed now.
"Bastard!" Rhian hissed.
Caden rose to his feet, as did two other soldiers seated next to him. Behind the counter Cahira's father nervously twisted a drying rag. Cahira herself was gaping open-mouthed. What had happened to Rhian?
She looked half-crazed and drunk. Maybe the large bruise on the side of her head was a sign of a concussion.
"What is this?" one of the soldiers asked.
Cahira shook her head and brought herself out of her trance. "Ah, just a regular who started early," she said, feigning humor as she walked toward the disturbed Rhian.
"Come now, Nessa, let us see if we can get you sobered up," Cahira said as she grasped Rhian's arm and guided her to the door.
Once outside, she turned Rhian to face her. "What are you trying to do? Get yourself killed by those soldiers? What if one of them recognized you? You would bring us all down!"
"Ewald is dead," Rhian said with cold indifference. "And he renounced us before he died. Spat on us and swore his allegence to the One Gods. He was still sputtering his nonsense when his head
left his shoulders. The gods will not be merciful on his tortured soul."
Cahira gasped as the words sank in. "You were there? You did nothing?"
"Did you not hear me or did your time spent with the nobles in your tavern fill your head with air? He betrayed his gods for his own meager life. When his soul returns, I believe it will be in that of a snail,
a coward hiding beneath a rock."
Cahira sighed heavily and went to hug Rhian who moved away from her. Cahira knew how much the Movement meant to Rhian. She knew also how much Ewald symbolized that Movement to everyone. �I thought someone would be there.
Someone would save him. Something,� she said.
�Someone. Someone. Well, Someone didn�t. Someone didn�t exist,� she hissed. �Not even I� he denounced us, Cahira!� she cried shaking from rage as she clenched her fist and fought tears. �He denounced our Gods and killed our hope,� she shivered out between clenched teeth.
�Connor said�� started Cahira.
"Cahira, get yourself back inside before they think something is
wrong," said Connor from the vine stairwell.
Cahira nodded. She touched Connor�s shoulder as she walked by and Connor grasped the paper between her fingers and slid it into his inner jacket pocket. Connor waited until the creaking of the vines had marked Cahira to be nearing the top.
"You stupid wench!" Connor complained. "What in the hell were you trying to pull? Do you want your death to come so soon?"
Rhian hissed at him. "Arrogant pig! First you strike me and mar my face, and now you insult me. How long did you know that Ewald was not what he said to be?"
Connor would have gladly struck the girl if she hadn't been born a female. Instead he grabbed her chin roughly. "What do you know of it, love?" he spat
"I know that he cut his ties with us and our beliefs ere he died. I know that he spat on us, we who followed him, who would have followed him to the very end. He was a traitor, a coward. His end was too kind," Rhian replied, her eyes blazing defiance.
Connor dropped her chin. "You heard this?"
"Till his head rolled into the crowd I listened to him spew this shit," Rhian cursed.
"It hurts me to hear such vulgar words pass from your pretty mouth," Connor said, with only half his regular sarcasm.
"Our hope is dead now, dead with the twisted bastard who thought to lead us into deceit and downfall," Rhian said, the anger cooling a bit in her eyes.
"Ai me," Connor groaned. "Why is it always placed on me to keep up moral?"
Rhian tilted her head to the side. "There is something else you
'forgot' to tell me?"
"Blah blah blah, Ewald was not your hope, blah blah. Suffice it at that, love. You'll hear no more from pass from my lips tonight. Pressing matters are at hand," Connor said.
Rhian started to speak but Connor lifted a hand.
"Go home. This doesn't concern you. Yet. For now wait."
Rhian started again to protest and Connor rolled
his eyes. "Why can't you let it rest?"
Rhian raised a lip in a snarl. "You torment me and tell me to leave. You thought I would not be insulted or in the least bit intrigued?"
Connor sighed. "Wheels have begun turning, little inferno. Go home and wait for them to gather momentum."
Connor watched as Rhian made her way away from the tavern. To home or where else he didn�t know. She looked back occasionally and to that he smiled. She was rather pretty. A stupid pain in the ass, ai, she was. Beautiful, though, and he always loved a girl with a lot of spirit.
He slid the paper from his jacket and opened it. Cahira. She could be of some use. She wasn�t mental deficient and an able fighter. Even if she wasn�t she caught the Chief Commander�s eyes. No one in the tavern that night could doubt his intention with the young maiden. He smiled at the note.
My beloved meet me at the creek of our first night and be secretive
I wish not to be discovered as sweethearts
Connor pocketed the note quickly with a little laugh. He couldn�t return to the tavern as of now. It would look suspicious. Damn Rhian, that stupid little pig-head, he still had half a pint left!
Badir poked at the fire as Ailis roasted her potato on a stick. He was unsure of how long he would be watching her. It was already pasted into twilight. He could see Ailis was ready to sleep. If Cahira didn�t return soon, Badir would take her home and put her to bed.
A sudden rush in the forest had Badir on his feet. It could just be a dog or even a rabbit. However, for all he knew it could be a bear or a boar. Or� Rhian?