Al Dakar

By Amanda Wray

 

Chapter Three

           

            They tried to put as much ground between themselves and her mother’s estates as they could before sunrise, urging the horses to a quick trot for long stretches, and slowing to a walk only to allow the animals to catch their breath. It would take them all of the coming day’s ride to reach the outskirts of House Al Dakar’s jurisdiction, before the grasslands would give way to scrub sometime the following day, and finally to desert as they made their approach to the Mountains of Mist.

            By the time darkness began to give way to the first faint rays of daylight, Mandine was already hot, tired, and grumpy from several hours in the saddle. They had stopped once already to water the horses at the edge of a farmer’s property, but now that daylight was approaching Aleric had shaken off Mandine’s request that they stop again. He didn’t want to risk stopping on someone’s lands again, he explained, because the farm hands would likely be up and about by now, and would think it suspicious. Instead he suggested they wait until they reach a secluded stream he knew of, but when Mandine asked how far ahead it was, her question was met by an uncertain grunt and a vague, “Not too much further, I think.”

            And so Mandine quenched her thirst with stale, warm tasting water from her saddlebags, and tried to breakfast on bread and cheese. Eating at a trot was difficult, and when she slowed to a walk Aleric kept looking back at her impatiently, stopping to let her horse catch up to his. So she tried to maintain the faster pace, with the end result being that most of her food ended up beneath Silk’s hooves instead of in her mouth, as breakfast for crows and sparrows, instead of for herself.

            As the sun rose higher, Aleric allowed them to rein their horses to a walk. The road was beginning to fill up with farmers on their way to the fields, peddlers on their way to market, and even a knot of her mother’s soldiers at one point.

At the sight of those, Aleric pulled the hood of his cloak close around him and Mandine did the same. She eyed the soldiers obliquely as they passed. They did not seem anxious or perturbed; they were walking their horses along slowly, chatting with each other and now and then casting an eye upon the passersby.

They had passed one patrol of House Al Dakar’s guards along the road close by her mother’s estates shortly after leaving the night before, and had moved their horses into the brush by the side of the road to avoid being spotted. Those soldiers had been patrolling for poachers and horsethieves; Mandine had expected to encounter them. But she had not expected to encounter any soldiers in daylight -- not before news of her disappearance could have gotten out, anyway. They were also a good five-hour ride from House Al Dakar. Although they were still well within her mother’s jurisdiction, Helena’s soldiers seldom ventured this far out from the manor.

After the guards had passed them and were some distance down the road, Mandine lowered her hood and booted Silk up along side of Shadow to where Aleric was just lowering his own hood. “What were they doing out here?” Mandine asked. “They can’t know I’m gone yet. No one should even suspect much until I don’t show up at supper tonight.” Mandine had been known to wander off during the day, even to miss her studies, to the frustration of her tutor, a fat and balding man named Jasen. He had the annoying habit of clearing his throat way too often, especially when he was fighting to control his temper, as he often seemed to be doing around Mandine.

“I’ll be missed before that,” Aleric said. “But our disappearances shouldn’t be linked until neither of us show up at Helena’s table tonight.” He twisted in his saddle and frowned at the backs of the distant soldiers, now almost obscured down the dusty road. “There have been some… reports, out in the country side. They were most likely sent to investigate them.”

“What kind of reports?” Mandine asked when it became apparent that Aleric did not feel like volunteering the information on his own. “Why wasn’t I informed that soldiers were being dispatched out here?”

Aleric glanced at her, surprise clear in his eyes. “Your mother gave up making you sit through the daily debriefing two years ago, I thought. After that most unfortunate incident involving, I believe, the seneschal and a dead mouse.” He attempted to deliver that sentence with the utmost gravity, but a trickle of humor seeped into his voice anyway.

Mandine compressed her lips into a tight line. Of course the daily debriefing on the Manor activities would have been where matters of concern to the estate were gone over, most of which were trivial and dry, like how much flour was remaining in the kitchens. Well, maybe not that trivial, but close, Mandine thought. Her remembrances of those hour-long sessions were anything but fond. As for the mouse, it had been needed to liven up an otherwise deadly boring afternoon.

“Well,” she said. “I am sure I have matured somewhat since then.” She glanced obliquely at Aleric for any hint of mocking in his expression, but found none. “So perhaps you would care to enlighted me about these reports, and where these soldiers have been deployed to, and for what purpose?” She tried to make her voice firm and business-like, as she was sure her too-serious sister Avrigail would be, were she the one inquiring after the information.

“As you command, my Lady,” Aleric murmured, earning another quick glance from Mandine. This time she was sure she had detected a hint of mocking in his voice. She frowned again, but sat up straight in her saddle and edged her horse closer to Aleric’s, as he kept his voice low. The road was not empty, and having their conversation overheard would raise eyebrows at best. “In the last fortnight or two, there have been some strange reports coming in from the outlying areas…. Rumors I am sure. Nothing firsthand, mind you. Tales borne out of worry because of the drought and a thousand other hardships, of course. Nothing more.”

“Well what do the rumors say?” Mandine asked impatiently.

“New ones have been arriving every few days… most involve sightings of strange creatures… hellhounds, some say, like out of stories.” He laughed a little, a trifle uneasily, Mandine thought. “You know, hounds the size of horses, breathing fire…. other things too. The sky turning red. People dying in freak accidents, and then their corpses getting up and walking around.” He laughed again, in a self-depracating way, as if he felt foolish for even repeating the things he had heard. “If you ask me, people are getting overanxious about the drought, and the crops. Letting their imaginations make something sinister out of it, and getting carried away with themselves. But whatever the cause of it, farms are being burned, women hung as witches. People are beginning to work themselves into a panic. Soldiers have been sent out to investigate the rumors, but mainly to protect more farms from being burned, and more innocent people from being caught up in the hysteria.”

Mandine frowned thoughtfully. “And these… stories… do they come from all over, or just around here?” she moved the reins to her left hand and gestured at the expanse of farmland visible in front of them with her left.

“Mostly up this way,” he admitted. “Heading towards the Mountains of Mist. Worse the closer you get, it seems. Another reason I didn’t want you to make this journey by yourself.”

Mandine arched an eyebrow at him. “You implied there wasn’t any substance to these rumors… just people worrying over the weather.” She glanced skyward. It was hazy, but cloudless. She tried to remember the last time it had rained, cast about in her mind for some milestone to measure the time by. Her sister had been pregnant seven months. Had it rained at all during that time? She thought it must have, but she couldn’t remember. Maybe the weather was worry enough.

“I don’t think the stories are true of course,” Aleric said quickly. “But be that as it may, people are still anxious. People do stupid things in the best of times, and this is hardly the best of times for most people. People get suspicious of things they wouldn’t think twice of, ordinarily. A young woman traveling alone could breed such suspicions… people can find witches in unlikely places.”

Mandine didn’t comment, and they rode on in silence. Outwardly Mandine kept her features smooth, but inside she was frowning. Images from her nightmare of the previous night, and countless other nightmares in the weeks before it flashed unbidden through her mind. Strange beasts with heads like those of wolves and hooves like horses. A sky streaked with red, like blood. An army of walking corpses. Clouds of buzzards and ravens filling the skies, some alighting on those walking corpses and tearing chunks of flesh off, then soaring off again. And all through it, flitting in and out of the shadows, were Seekers in flowing white robes, pale hair spilling down their backs. Sometimes they turned to her with eyes that looked like chips of blue ice, beckoning with spidery fingers.          

Mandine shivered, and felt a prickle between her shoulderblades, but refused to give in to her nerves and glance behind her. Foolishness, she thought. If people out here could claim they saw corpses walking and dogs that breathed fire, couldn’t she have nightmares without there being a connection? Maybe the worry over the drought and the crops was affecting her subconsciously as well. But with visions of the same things? a small voice asked herself. Mandine shook her head, trying to rid it of the thought.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Aleric said, looking over at her. “Are you alright?”

“Of course,” Mandine answered a bit too forcefully. Just what she needed would be for Aleric to think he had frightened her with those tales, as if she were a child. She forced herself to laugh. “I am not frightened of silly… stories.” She had stopped herself before saying silly peasants’ stories. For someone who professed to envy those who were free of certain… constraints… of noble life, Mandine was not doing a very good job at adjusting to her new role of masquerading as a peasant. She had more of a mental adjustment to make than just the physical one, and the mental adjustment was proving to be a good deal harder.

Aleric gave no sign that he knew what she had been intending to say, and instead began to turn his horse off the road near the pale, jutting stump of a lightening-downed tree. “The stream is off the road this way a bit, if I remember correctly,” he said. “We can water the horses again and rest for a minute.”

Mandine nodded gratefully and followed him into the underbrush, dismounting to lead her horse through the thick forest that sprang up as soon as they left the dusty road behind. After a few hundred paces Mandine did begin to hear the sound of trickling water, and another few paces brought them to a shallow stream. Mandine hobbled Silk with a length of rope that Aleric handed her from his saddlebags, and tried to stretch her legs surreptitiously as the two animals lowered their heads to drink. Aleric was refilling his waterbags with fresh water, and after a moment Mandine dug hers out of her saddlebags and tossed them to Aleric to fill as well. The bank of the stream on either side was mud for several feet, showing that this stream had once been much wider and deeper. The drought was taking its toll everywhere.

Mandine took advantage of Aleric’s turned back to rub her butt and stretch her legs some more. She was definitely not used to such hard riding.

 Mandine grimaced, taking note that the sun was hours yet even from midday, and wondered how long Aleric would make them ride before dark. At this rate, they would make it to the Mountains of Mist in record time.

Aleric straightened from the stream and handed her waterbags back to her. As she took a drink from one, he said, “I hope you don’t mind if we rest here for a little while. The horses are tired, and we’ve been making better than good time so far.”

“If you think it’s best,” Mandine said nonchalantly, trying not to let her immense relief show on her face.

Aleric seemed to find something funny anyway, as he lowered himself to the ground and began to unwrap a small package of cheese and bread. Remembering her early difficulties with eating on the road, Mandine hastily sat down next to him, and tried not to wince at the pain as her sore bottom encountered the forest floor.

She murmured a word of thanks as Aleric broke off a large piece of bread from the loaf he had produced, and sliced her a hunk of some sharp cheese. She ate in silence for a while, washing down large bites of bread and cheese with fresh, cool water. “Don’t get me wrong,” she said around a mouthful, “I’m grateful for the food but I hope we can stop for a real meal this evening.”

            “There’s an inn we can stop at in Maragill,” Aleric replied. “We should get there not too long after dark.”

            Mandine nodded, glumly. After dark meant they had another…. eight hours at least in the saddle ahead of them. She grimaced around a mouthful of bread and cheese, and changed the subject. There was something she’d been wanting a straight answer to for quite a while, but had somehow never felt comfortable asking. Away from her mother and the estates, she judged now to be as good a time as any. “Why did my mother hire you? Really? Just to look after me?”

            Aleric seemed to find something interesting in his cheese for a moment. “Your mother told me she thought there might be a special reason why you should be protected even more than her other children. She didn’t say what it was,” he added at her questioning look.

            Even though his answer brought up more questions than it solved, Mandine felt relieved. Until then, she hadn’t realized how much it bothered her, the rumors she heard sometimes that Aleric was kept around because he was her mother’s lover, and his role as her combat instructor and sometimes bodyguard was just to keep the relationship discreet.

            Almost as if he’d been reading her mind, Aleric asked, “Why, what had you heard?” The teasing in his voice was evident, as though he knew very well what she had heard. Which, she reflected, he probably did.

            Now it was her turn to study her cheese. “Nothing, I just wondered,” she said, hoping she wasn’t blushing. She suspected she was, though. “I didn’t think I was such an unruly child that I needed a keeper, though, and I figured…. I figured that since I am getting older, maybe you wouldn’t need to… I mean, I am sure that hanging out with me wasn’t what you had planned when you started your career.” Not precisely what she had intended to say, but it would do. She pretended to not be very interested in his response, and busied herself with picking crumbs off her tunic. She knew how much she had appreciated Aleric’s friendship over the years, and especially now – more than she could ever bring herself to tell him, she thought. She only hoped a fraction of that sentiment was returned, that Aleric did not feel that his years spent at House Al Dakar were a waste.

            “Not what I had planned,” he repeated. “No, I suppose that would be a fair assessment.” He was silent for a moment. “When I was fourteen, I ran away to become a soldier. To find a life of adventure.  I still might find it,” he said, smiling at her, and gesturing to their current surroundings.

            Mandine mulled that answer over. Not all she had hoped for, but she supposed it would do. She cast about for something else to say, but Aleric forestalled her. “I don’t regret it, if that’s what you’re asking.”

            “Why not?” Mandine asked. “You just said you didn’t get to do what you wanted to do.”

            He got up and went to the horses, giving each one a handful of oats from his saddlebags. Mandine thought he wasn’t going to answer, but then he said, “I found something even better.”

            Mandine waited for him to explain that. What could he have found at House Al Dakar that was better than adventure? She thought of her mother again and sincerely hoped it wasn’t that. But Aleric didn’t say anything else except, “We should get moving if we want to make it to Maragill before dark.”

            Mandine forced her stiff legs out from underneath her and rose to her feet. She tossed Silk’s hobbles back to Aleric and began to lead her horse back to the road with significantly more vigor than she actually felt. She thought about asking what Aleric had meant about finding something even better, but he no longer seemed to be in a very talkative mood. He appeared lost in thought, and she failed to catch his gaze as they mounted their horses and headed back onto the road.