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Dasen was still not sure where it had all gone wrong. A few hours ago he had been holding Teth’s hand as he walked, kissing her every time they stopped, dreaming about what would happen when they found a real bed. Di Valati Alsance’ warning had seemed like a lifetime gone. He had been prepared to risk it all to be with Teth – who knew if they’d be alive tomorrow, let alone attending a university. Now, he panted, gasped, and stumbled just to keep her in view, as if she now wanted to be rid of him, as if she hoped he would fall so far behind that she could forget he had ever been following.
Even when they stopped, a rare event since Potter’s Place, she kept moving, kept him away from her, did not turn and throw him against a tree as she had that morning, leaving him more breathless than he had been from the walk. They did not talk. Every time he tried, she answered with silence. He had even tried to apologize. He was not sure what for, but he had tried nonetheless. Surely, he could have been more sympathetic at Potter’s Place, but what did she expect? Did she really think they would live in some mud covered shelter like animals? The very idea had been a joke. He was glad he had kept himself from laughing. And now he was supposed to feel sorry for stating the obvious, for saying that they couldn’t raise their children in a cave? It was just more evidence of the hold that chaos had on her, of its attempts to pull her back into its embrace. It reinforced Dasen’s belief that she needed a strong hand to bring her back to the Order. Just as soon as they got out of this cursed forest . . . .
Teth had stopped. Dasen did the same, standing ten paces behind her on the other side of a thicket she had just skirted. She watched the ground, knelt, then studied the trees, low to high and back again. Dasen bounded around the spindly bushes that separated them until he was at her side. She barely acknowledged him, so he waited, breaths suddenly faster, hands sore from the grip he maintained on the one-tined pitchfork he had kept as a walking stick.
“We’re near another freehold,” Teth finally whispered. “A tree has been taken from that hill over there, and there’s a snare here, recently set. Maybe today. I can see footprints as well. They must be recent because they were made in the mud.” She adjusted her damp shirt – adding to their misery, it had been raining off and on throughout the day – seemed to study it, looked up into the gray sky, then breathed deep. “I think . . . .”
The whiz and thwack of an arrow hitting the tree in front of them cut off her words. Teth dropped so fast that, for a second, Dasen thought she’d been hit. But he could only stand, stunned, watching the arrow quiver in the tree a foot from his chest.
"What are you doing?” Teth hissed. “Get down, you idiot!”
The words brought Dasen from his shock, and he fell to a crouch behind the birch, close enough to be touching Teth. He held the pitchfork out like a pikesman receiving a cavalry charge, prepared himself to use it on whatever emerged from the forest before them.
"I was wondering why you were carrying that thing.” Teth rolled her eyes. “Just try not to stab me while you're swinging it around, alright?"
Dasen opened his mouth to expound the usefulness of his weapon, but Teth shook her head, held a finger to her lips, and turned back to the trees. She sighted along the quivering arrow to a pair of cedars growing from a common root. Dasen could only see the barest outline of a man standing behind one of the trunks as he brought another arrow carefully to his bow. Teth matched his movement, stringing her bow in a single fluid motion and selecting an arrow to grace its string.
"Who‘re ya?” a voice yelled from the cedars. “If I’d wan’d ta, I coulda’ dropped ya befir ya knew I’s ‘ere, so jest lay down yir weapons, an’ we’ll talk."
Dasen looked at Teth. She wore a thoughtful, if slightly dumbfounded, look as if running through their options without much success. The voice had spoken in the Imperial tongue with a heavy western Kingdoms accent. He was no invader. The freeholder, Dasen realized, or even better a forest master. In either case, exactly what they needed.
Dasen stood up and threw his pitchfork to the side. "Don’t shoot!” he yelled and realized only then that that was a real possibility. His breath caught as he waited to see an arrow strike his chest. When it didn’t come, he drew another and continued, “My name is Dasen Ronigan.” He emphasized his last name, knowing the power it held. “And this is my . . . my wife . . . Tethina." It felt strange to refer to Teth as his wife. He looked reflexively at her, but she just scowled, looking like she wanted nothing more than to shoot him with the arrow she held. "We are on the run from the invaders. We did not know we were on your land and have no desire for a fight. If you can . . . .“
“Ronigan, ya say?” the voice interrupted Dasen. Its owner stepped from behind the trees and lowered his bow. “I heard ya was back fir yir joinin’ ceremony. How’d ya end up out ‘ere?”
“It’s a long story. I think we’d both rather it was told while we’re sitting.”
“Right sensible that,” the man agreed. He walked toward them through the brush. He was a tall, sturdy man in his later years. Wisps of white hair peeked from below the band of his broad-brimmed hat. His growing smile showed more than a few gaps. He had a sallow face with its beak of a nose and deep-set, cold-blue eyes. And his face was impossibly weathered – tanned skin hung on his thin head like a damp leather sack. But his eyes were those of a young man, sharp blue, alive, and welcoming. “An’ ya joined Tethina Galbridge, that right?”
“That’s correct.” Dasen looked for Teth, motioned her to stand. He expected her to be relieved, but her look could have killed him.
“. . . . her father right well. We’s in the forest master tagether long time back before either ya’s born.” Dasen was so set back by Teth’s baleful expression that he had missed part of what the old may had said. “My name’s Jer Muldon. This is my land, but yir welcome. It’s mighty nice ta meet ya.”
Jer covered the final few steps between them with his hand outstretched. Dasen accepted it with his own. Jer’s rough paw encompassed his and smashed it effortlessly. Dasen tried to keep the grimace from his face as he pumped the old man’s hand. “Very nice to meet you, Mr. Muldon,” he said. “We’re sorry to have trespassed. As I said. . . .”
“Nonsense!” Jer released Dasen’s hand and slapped him on the arm hard enough to nearly upend him. “I’s jist glad ya made it ‘ere.” He turned to Teth, who was slowly rising. “An’ this mus’ be Tethina,” he nearly hollered. He wrapped her in an embrace that brought her fully from her feet, but not before her thumb found Dasen’s ribs. He yelped, but no one seemed to notice.
“I ain’ seen ya since ya’s this big,” Jer announce when he set Teth down. “By the Order, ya look just like yir ma.” He paused seeming to choke on his words, then caught himself. “May she find peace in the Order and yir pa too. He’s as good a man as they come, let me tell ya. I wept like a bee-stung babe when I heard. One of the worst day of my life that one.” He shook his head so that Dasen thought the loose skin that encompassed it might come detached. “But this is a great thing ‘ere. Joined ta the Ronigan heir. That’s somethin’ ain’ it? But why’s ya dressed there like a boy? And yir hair? I thought that ya’s a couple a fellas, and ragged lookin’ ones at that.”
Teth opened her mouth to answer, but Dasen beat her to it. “Do you know about the invasion? Have you had any trouble with outsiders?” He hoped that Jer’s jocularity meant he had been untouched, that they were ahead of the invaders.
But the old man’s expression darkened at the question. His eyes glazed, head hung, smile fell. Dasen’s hopes fell just as fast. “That what’s goin’ on?” Jer spit on the ground, seemed momentarily overcome. “By the Order that ‘splains a lot, but who’s doin’ the invadin? Liandria? The Morgs? Can’t say it makes much sense.”
“From across the mountains,” Dasen interjected to keep Teth from interrupting. She jabbed him again. He yelped and swatted
at her.
“What’s matter?” Jer asked, looking around with concern.
“Mosquitos,” Dasen answered with a glare at Teth. She met it with one of her own, only far more fearsome. “The invaders came from across the mountains. They’ve captured Randor’s Pass and Potter’ Place at least. We’ve been on the run and thought it best that Tethina look like this in case they found us.”
“Right smart that is.” Jer patted Dasen on the back then turned to Teth. “Ya scared me fir a moment, Tethina. We’s heard the worst rumors ‘bout ya. Silly stuff ‘bout the district games an’ such. I din’ believe a word of it. I know ya’s had a tough ol’ life, but I knew yir pa’d raised ya ta stick close ta the Order.” He held her arms in his big hands as if he’d found a long lost daughter. Teth’s smile was painfully forced, but Jer seemed not to notice.
“Well, we don’t need ta talk ‘ere in the middle the forest like savages. Ya kids‘re prob’ly wantin’ a wash an’ get some rest after yir ordeal. An’ Tethina I’m sure we can find ya some proper clothes. I’m sure them pants is killin’ ya. Seri and the girls’ll take care of ya when we get back ta the house while Dasen and I figure out what’s been happenin’. I even managed ta snare a couple of rabbits, so we’ll ‘ave some meat ta fill our mouths an’ keep us from talkin’ too fast.”
Jer walked back into the trees, retrieved a string with three rabbits hanging from it – furry head askew, blood staining their long buck teeth – and led them back through the woods. They did not go far before stumps began to mark the landscape with regularity. “The Chancler granted me this land when I retired from the forest masters,” Jer explained as they walked. He kept Dasen at his side. Teth walked a few steps behind, puffing angrily with each stride. “Fir my years of service, an’ such. We’s in the middle of nowhere. Takes somethin’ ta haul the trees out, but we’s a good batch a hardwoods. Not that soft stuff yir pa uses in his mills. These’re ancients, tall an’ straight with beautiful grain. Woodworkers’ll pay a price fir ‘em, so makes it worth our while. Besides, ya never ‘ave ta worry ‘bout runnin’ out of wood fir the fire." He laughed heartily.
By the time it had faded, they were stepping into a huge clearing that looked remarkably like the one they had visited the previous night. The buildings were newer, stood straighter, had not faded wholly to grey, but they were just as empty. The few animal pens were deserted. The doors of the barn and shed had been torn from their hinges. The garden they surrounded was ravaged. But unlike the previous compound, there were people here. Three women in long dresses and bonnets looked up from the garden when Jer emerged from the trees. A boy, not more than five ran from the shed to meet them. A dog followed the boy then overtook him to bound onto Jer before extending a similar greeting to Dasen and Teth.
“All well, Danny?” Jer asked the boy when he pulled up a few feet from them. The boy eyed Dasen and Teth suspiciously – a rabbit eying a fox – before Jer remembered himself. “I almost firgot. Danny, this ‘ere’s Dasen and Tethina. I found ‘em in the forest. They’s good people, lookin’ fir some help.”
“Nice to meet you, Danny,” Dasen held out his hand, but the boy just backed away.
“Sorry ‘bout that,” Jer apologized. “The attack shook ‘im up somethin’ awful. Prob’ly be some time ‘fore he’s good ‘round strangers, ya know.”
“I understand,” Dasen assured.
Jer held the rabbits out to the boy. “Take these ta yir ma, Danny. Ask ‘er ta add ‘em ta the pot.” With another sidelong glance at the new arrivals, he accepted the rabbits, and with some effort, carried them to one of the women who were now approaching.
The first to arrive was a short, plump woman in her middle years. In appearance, she was as much the opposite of Jer as was possible, but her eyes had the same sparkle, and her round cheeks were split by the same smile. “I see ya’ brought back more than rabbits,” she said as she approached. “Who are these fellas then?”
“This ‘ere is Dasen Ronigan,” Jer said. Seri looked at him twice then gasped slightly when she saw that it was not a joke. “An’ his wife, Tethina.”
“By the Order,” Seri gasped then stared at Teth with wide eyes. “I never would have guessed. I’m sorry, dear. Ya must have had a terrible trial. By the Order, those clothes. And yir hair. Oh my, it makes me just want ta cry.” She rushed to Teth, held her in her hands, and inspected her.
“What did you expect?” a younger woman said under her breath. She was a few years older than Teth and plain. Her round face was framed by the trim of lace on the bonnet that hid all but a few locks of brown hair. She stood only slightly taller than Seri but was not nearly so stout. One of her hands held the rabbits. The other was wrapped around Danny’s small shoulders.
“Hold yir tongue, Lu,” Seri snapped. Her face turned fierce as she scolded the girl then softened for Teth. “We don’t believe the rumors ‘ere. Jer knew yir pa. He assured us it’s all rubbish. Louisa’s just upset on account of . . . . Well, we don’t need ta talk about that now.” Seri cleared her throat and turned to Dasen. “It’s so nice ta meet ya Lord Ronigan.” She did an awkward curtsy and signaled the other girls to do the same. They complied, leaving Dasen feeling more than a little embarrassed.
“Please,” he said, “I am your guest. If anyone should bow it’s me.” He looked at each of the women in turn ending on a girl slightly younger than him. She was small in height and build. Her head was turned down concealing her features, and she stood several paces back from the others, but the swell of her belly still clear. The baby was probably due any time.
“The last one there’s Summer,” Jer said. “Sorry, but she’s mighty shy. She’s joined ta my second boy, Kal. An’ ya met Louisa. She’s joined ta my first boy, Wil.”
“And where are your sons?” Dasen asked then was horrified to see the cloud that formed over every face. “I’m . . . I’m sorry,” he started.
“No,” Jer cleared his throat. “There’s no way fir ya ta know. Let’s jist not discuss it now, if that’s alright.”
“Of course, please it was not my intent to . . .”
“Seri, could ya take Tethina inta the house an’ find ‘er some clothes? Maybe Lu has somethin’ she could wear.” Jer cast Dasen a look that left no doubt about the change of subject.
With that prompting, Seri snapped out of a seeming trance and took charge. “Of course, come along dear. We’ll find ya somethin’.” She herded Teth off toward the house, but not before she managed to jab Dasen’s kidney and hit him with a glare that promised far more abuse to come. “Lu, get some water on fir our guests then clean those rabbits and get ‘em inta the pot. Summer, you an’ Danny finish up in the garden.”
“I should check on the baby,” Lu said. “She’s prob’ly wantin’ ta eat.”
“Well, there’s no reason you can’t do that while yir boilin’ water, is there?” Seri snapped.
“No, but the rabbits . . . .”
“Fine, give ‘em ta Summer. I swear, the two of you . . . .”
Louisa smiled as she fell in behind Seri and Teth. As she passed, she handed the rabbits to Summer. The seemingly reserved girl might have killed her sister-in-law with her eyes, but she accepted the string.
“Women,” Jer said with dismay. “They’ll fight over whether or not the sun’s comin’ up in the mornin’. I don’t know how Seri puts up with ‘em. An’ it won’t be too long befir Kevin’s lookin’ fir one.” He shook his head but smiled. “So now that we’s got the girls out of the way, why don’ ya tell me what ya know ‘bout this invasion an’ such.”
Jer placed an arm around Dasen’s shoulder and led him toward the house. As they walked, Dasen told their story in as much detail as he thought appropriate, ending with their goal of reaching Wildern so they could tell the Chancellor what they’d seen. To protect Tethina, he left out her role in their escapes, downplayed the dangers they’d faced, and gl
ossed over their time on the other side of the river. Jer listened intently with no comment beyond the occasional grunt or nod. The exception was his mention of the creatures. At that, the old man squeezed his shoulder.
“I seen ‘em in the sky,” he whispered. “But don’ say nothin’ ‘bout that ‘round the girls, if’n ya don’ mind. They’s already seen enough, an’ I don’ want ‘em any more panicked than they’s already.”
“Of course,” Dasen promised. “But what about you? What happened here?”
They stood near the barn, fifty paces from the house where the women had disappeared, but Jer watched the structure nervously nonetheless. He rubbed his weathered head and drew a breath but did not get a chance to speak.
“The water’s hot if ya want to clean up,” Louisa yelled from the porch. She sat a steaming wooden bowl on a small table then returned with a towel and razor.
“Why don’t ya go ‘head an’ clean up?” Jer suggested. “It’ll be some time ‘fore dinner. Our story’ll wait till yir done.”
Dasen nodded, and they walked silently back to the house. As they approached, he heard Teth’s voice rise from an open side window. “I’m sorry, but it won’t fit. My shoulders are just too broad.”
“Now, dear,” Seri responded with a sigh, “let’s try another. I’m sure we can find something. Maybe one of Summer’s dresses. . . .”
“She’s smaller than Louisa,” Teth growled. “This isn’t going to work.”
“So,” Jer pulled Dasen’s attention away, “sounds like Tethina has her own mind, if ya don’ mind me sayin’.”
“You could say that,” Dasen conceded.
“Don’ worry ‘bout it.” Jer slapped his arm and laughed. “Seri’s the same way. It’s good really. She had those boys under ‘er thumb right from the first. They couldn’t put a thing past ‘er. You’ll learn ta appreciate that when ya have yir own kids.” Dasen could only nod.
“Here ya are,” Jer said as they climbed the stairs to the porch. “I’ll leave ya to it.”
Dasen thanked him then pulled off his shirt, scrubbed himself down, shaved his nascent beard, then dried off, put on the clean shirt Seri brought him, and cautiously entered the house.
“Feelin’ better?” Jer asked.
With the sun setting, it was decidedly dark in the house, and it took Dasen a moment to find their host sitting at the end of a long table. At the other end of the huge main room, Summer was stirring a large pot that hung over a low fire. She had removed her bonnet, but Dasen could not see anything more than shadows through the strands of brown hair that had escaped the mammoth braid wound on her head. She stoked her swollen belly and hummed to herself as she stirred. On the other side of the room, Danny sat on a rug looking at one of the illustrations in a worn copy of The Book of Valatarian. Squares of colored light – red, blue, green, yellow – stretched across him from the bright panes at the top of a west-facing window. Finally, in the farthest corner, sitting on a stool, leaning against a wall almost behind a hutch that held painted ceramic plates and mugs, was Louisa. She held a baby to her and watched it eat. Dasen diverted his eyes, but not before he saw the white expanse of her bared breast.
“Louisa,” Jer scolded, “do ya have ta do that ‘ere? Ya have yir own room.”
She looked up surprised, the slightest shade of vitriol crossing her expression, then stood and marched without a word to a room at the back.
“Sorry ‘bout that,” Jer said. “That one’s almost more trouble than she’s worth sometimes.” He shook his head and looked toward Danny. “Makes ‘er some good kids though and not a hitch with either one. Summer, now, she’s a sweet girl but so small, an’ Kal’s the biggest of the boys. I worry ‘bout ‘er when the baby comes. Course, Seri knows what she’s doin’.”
Just then Teth walked in through a door in the back of the house carrying a wooden bowl. Her face and hair were still damp, skin pink from scrubbing. She still wore her men’s clothes, though the shirt was new, probably donated by Jer’s youngest son.
She waited a second for her eyes to adjust then scowled at Dasen as she approached the table. Dasen rose and met her before she reached the bench where she had surely intended to sit next to Jer. “Tethina,” he greeted, “you look refreshed. I am sorry that Seri was unable to find you a dress.” Teth almost growled, but Dasen wasn’t taking it. They weren’t in the forest any longer. He was not going to let her ruin the Muldon’s hospitality. “I am sure Summer could use a hand with dinner. Or I believe there was work to be done in the garden. I am speaking with Jer right now. I will have time for you later.”
Teth looked at him as if she’d been slapped. Her eyes went wide, mouth hung open, nostrils flared. Her muscles tensed so that they were almost shaking. But Dasen did not give in. “Go along now. Perhaps Summer can give you some advice on carrying a baby.” He did not stay to see the expression that the final comment earned him, but he could almost feel her hatred like heat from a fire as he turned. He took a deep breath and steeled himself. He had always known this would be difficult, but it would only be made worse by waiting.
Jer just smiled as Dasen returned to his seat. “Don’ be too tough with ‘er,” he suggested. “She’s had a hard life, that one. Never had no one but that aunt ta show ‘er what’s right.”
Dasen nodded but felt Teth’s eyes boring into him from where she sat with Summer by the fire. The girl was prattling on about the baby she carried, asking Teth to feel it kick. Teth barely seemed to notice for the venom she projected at her husband. “So what happened here?” Dasen finally asked, wanting desperately to change the subject.
Jer took a deep breath and scanned the room. Just then Seri entered and walked over to them. “Do you need anything? I’m sorry we don’t have tea. Some water, maybe?”
“We’s alright, mother,” Jer told her. “I’s just goin’ ta talk with Dasen fir a bit. Let us know when the stew’s ready.”
In way of answer, Seri rubbed Jer’s shoulders then bent and kissed the top of his bald head. He looked up at her with affection. A tear escaped her eye and rolled down her round cheek.
“None of that now, Mother,” Jer said gently. “We’ll be alright. Don’ ya worry. Now run along an’ let me talk ta Dasen ‘ere.” Seri nodded and brushed the tear away as she went to join Teth and Summer near the fire. To Dasen’s relief, Teth had stopped trying to kill him with her eyes. Her hand actually rested on Summer’s belly, a look of shock spread across her face.
“It’s just like ya said.” Jer’s low voice pulled Dasen from the scene. “They’s big men with big horses. Big as Morgs I s’pose, though I ain’t seem many of them. There’s about a dozen of ‘em. They came ridin’ up our little road yesterday right about this time of day. I’s jist comin’ back with the boys. We’d been planning out the next tree we’s gonna take when all a sudden there’s men everywhere, yellin’ in some language I never heard. I don’t even right know what happened. One of ‘em hit me and everythin’ went black.” He rubbed a purple lump on the side of his head for emphasis.
“When I woke up, Seri’s holdin’ me, and the invaders, as you called ‘em, are driving out of ‘ere with everything we have an’ using my own wagon ta do it.” Jer paused and took a deep shaking breath. “Worst part is they done took my boys. Tied ‘em up and led ‘em out behind the wagon jist like the sheep an’ pigs.” Jer’s voice broke as he struggled with the memory. “I wanted ta fight then, ta git my boys, but mother stopped me. Prob’ly good too cause I think they’d killed me, and then there’d be no one left ta look after the girls.”
Jer’s eyes remained fixed on the table a short way in front of him, but Dasen was certain that he did not see the worn planks. Dasen did not think that a man who looked as hard as Jer should be capable of weeping. It simply did not appear that his face would allow it, but he was close. He finally wiped the emotions away with a cloth that he produced from his pocke
t. “At least they didn’ hurt the girls none,” he forced a smile. “Men like that, they could of done a lot worse, I thank the Order fir that anyway.”
“And you haven’t seen them again?” Dasen asked.
Jer shook his head. “I kept an eye out all mornin’. Had the girls ready ta hide in the cellar – the bastards never did find that – had my bow ready, but they never showed again. Finally, I went ta check the snares. That’s when I found y’all.”
“But you saw creatures? In the sky?” Dasen tried to lower his voice, but Jer still scanned the room to be sure no one had heard.
“This mornin’,” he whispered. “They’s far off, but I’s always had good eyes, an’ I could see they wasn’t nothing normal. Matches what you seen, I suppose.”
Dasen nodded and thought. Are they still looking for us? “But no creatures on foot? Just the men on horses?”
“That’s right an’ lucky ‘nough from what ya said.”
There was a pause as both of them seemed to run out of things to say. They stared at the table for a while then Dasen’s eyes drifted to Teth. She was holding a bowl as Seri filled it with stew. The two of them talked. It looked almost as if she were enjoying herself. Dasen felt his heart leap at the thought. Is it working already?
“So,” Jer interrupted, “you think they’re from o’er the mountains? Ya think they’re the Exiles er some such?” He tried to make the last a joke, but the intensity of his eyes revealed the lie of it.
“I definitely think they’re from across the mountains,” Dasen said, voice cast low. “As for Exiles . . ., I don’t know. I . . . .”
“Time ta stop¸ you two,” Seri scolded. “Dinners ready, an’ the way yir talkin’ I’m beginnin’ ta think yir plannin’ somethin’.”
Jer snapped his eyes from the table. The sadness and stress of a moment before melted away, replaced by his warm smile. “Right ya are, Mother. We’s getting’ too serious. We need somethin’ ta fill our mouths ‘fore they get us in trouble. Ain’t that right, Dasen?”
“Surely. May I help get the food on?”
Seri laughed. “You’re a dear. Thank ya fir the offer, but we can manage.” With that she turned and asked Summer to get Louisa. Finally, she nudged Jer. “Did ya tell ‘im?”
Jer looked surprised then grabbed Dasen’s arm and spoke low while Seri filled cups with water. “I can understand why yir goin’ ta Wildern, an’ that’s a brave thing yir doin’, but there’s no reason ta subject poor Tethina ta all this. She’s more’n welcome ta stay with us. We’ll look after ‘er fir ya, an’ when all this is over, ya can send fir ‘er. I’m not tellin’ ya how ta keep yir wife, now, but women ain’t as tough as us men. Yir obviously plenty cap’ble given what ya’ve done thus far, but it’s gonna be a dangerous trip, an’ ya might not be able ta look after ‘er like ya’d want. That’s all I’m sayin’.”
Teth practically threw a bowl of stew at Dasen. Her face twisted up like she’d just eaten a bad piece of fruit. Obviously, she’d heard Jer. Dasen could only hope that she would not decide to make a point of the lies inherent in what their host had just said. He tried to make his face stern, but his eyes ended up pleading instead. After what seemed a long time, she growled, low in her chest and went to get more bowls.