Tavis sat still as he made a low droning noise while projecting his sight.
“Does he do this every night?” Gedris asked.
“No,” Ayawa said. “He knows how to do simple tasks like this and meditate to recover some strength at the same time, but it isn't like sleeping. He will need to sleep tonight, and we will start a little late in the morning to give him more time.”
Gedris sat on a cushion of lush grass she had grown and turned to Ayawa.
“Why were you so upset when I asked him what kind of weaver he was?” she asked.
Ayawa sat down on a bedroll and glanced at Tavis.
“He is a fire weaver, one of terrible power. He was arrogant when he was young, and he lost control. He vowed never to do so again, but we got into trouble on the road, and he took the risk to save us. I saw what it looks like when he loses control. I saw how he suffered.”
“His people lost the secret of how they controlled the weaves,” Gedris said. “They try to manage it now with the fire marks. But the cost to pay must be terrible.”
Ayawa nodded. “He has already paid the ash price.”
“Oh!” Gedris said. “So he has nothing left to trade?”
Ayawa shook her head. “Nothing. To weave fire now risks burning him out. You can't see it, but his chest and back are spotted with scars where the fire marks used to be.” Ayawa looked up at her curiously. “How do you know so much about weaving and the traditions of his land?”
Gedris looked away and sighed. “I was raised as a daughter to a noble lord in the northeast.”
“So you're a cellic yourself?” Ayawa asked.
Gedris nodded. “My family is of the Tai line. They are all water weavers.”
“Hmm,” Ayawa grunted as Gedris nervously rubbed one arm with the other.
“My family was powerful and had many luxuries. I was trained and educated by some of the best tutors. I can read and write in five languages, and I know the customs of court.”
“And you're a noblewoman?” Ayawa asked.
Gedris shook her head. “I a common whore.”
Ayawa leaned back at that remark.
“My family was trying to arrange a union between two of the houses. They wanted to trade me to a wicked man to secure the families loyalty. They told me it was my duty to my bloodline. All he wanted was a whore. My family knew it, that was why they wanted to give him me.” She sighed and looked up at Ayawa. “I was meant to be a bride to a man who had been married twice before. A man whose wives were dismissed after they could no longer serve him.”
“What do you mean no longer serve him?” Ayawa asked.
“They broke from the beatings. He is a cruel man who likes to hurt people. My family didn't care, they saw an opportunity to gain an advantage, and I was the price. So I ran away and fled west the night before I was to be given. I reached the borders of the sands, and there I found a temple to Ulustrah. I told the priestess there my story, and she took me in and hid me. A few weeks later a caravan heading west set out across the sands. She paid them to take me to Eastgate there I joined the order and began to serve the Goddess. I studied the lore and history of Ulustrah and the common lands. When a chance to go south and set up a new temple arose, I jumped on it.”
“So this is why you know what a southern warrior maiden is,” Ayawa said.
Gedris nodded. “Your people treat your women better,” she said.
“Ha!” Ayawa laughed with a shake of her head. “I ran from my lands because I was promised in a marriage as well. I was in love with Tavis, but my family would not accept it because he was not one of us. So they arranged a man from another tribe to court me. He presented me with his bow as his offering. I took it and stole away that night to find Tavis.”
Gedris smiled. “So we are both on the run from our families and the men they wanted us to marry?”
“I wager a lot more women than you, and I are running,” Ayawa said.
“There are many women in the temple of Ulustrah who have run from arranged marriages or violent husbands. Women who just wanted a chance to have a loving relationship. Ulustrah collects them and hides them. If a woman comes to one temple fleeing a man, they will send her far away to another temple so that he won't find her.”
“What if the woman is lying?” Ayawa asked.
Gedris smiled. “You can’t lie to a priestess of Ulustrah.”
“So many of your order are women on the run?” Ayawa asked.
Gedris nodded. “We form new families in the order. Some of us can't go back or have nothing to go back to. We find solace in the bonds we form in the temple, and often we find love.”
“Love?” Ayawa asked.
Gedris smiled. “Yes, love. Many women fall in love with one another. Their common suffering and pain bring them together, and they share with each other.”
Ayawa wrinkled her nose and shook her head.
“You find this thought disturbing?” Gedris asked.
“The natural order should not be tampered with. Women were meant to lay with men, not each other,” Ayawa said.
“Are you going to tell me if a woman offered you her love you would reject it?” Gedris demanded.
“I wouldn’t even consider it. I have a husband,” Ayawa replied.
“And what if he wants a second wife?” Gedris asked gesturing to Tavis.
“I am sure that scoundrel does, but if he wants to keep his ears, he won't try!” Ayawa snapped.
Gedris smiled and shook her head.
“Don’t you shake your head at me!” Ayawa scolded. “The natural order should not be tampered with.”
“Oh, then what is a hunt wife?” Gedris asked.
Ayawa froze and narrowed her eyes.
“How do you know about that?” Ayawa snapped.
“I told you I went to your lands to set up a temple. Your people didn't care much for our faith, but I got a chance to learn much about your culture. Yours has a series of names for the various wives who join. You are the crown wife because you are first. The second will be the hunt wife.”
“There will be no second wife!” Ayawa said sternly.
Gedris studied her. “What are you afraid of?”
“I am not afraid of anything!” Ayawa growled. “I have all I need with Tavis!”
Gedris let the matter drop as Ayawa’s aura filled with the reds of anger.
“I happen to like men as well, but I am not ashamed to love a woman,” Gedris added.
“You can love whoever you want,” Ayawa said. “I will not condemn your decisions, but as for me, I only need Tavis.”
Gedris studied Ayawa with a smile. She would indeed love who she wanted.
Tavis suddenly released his tone and opened his eyes.
“I don’t see anything for a mile around us,” he said with a yawn.
“Lay down and get some sleep,” Ayawa said. “I will stand watch.”
“I can set a ward,” Gedris offered again.
“A ward won't alert us until the danger is practically ready to slit our throats,” Ayawa said.
“I can set it around the camp,” she insisted.
Ayawa rolled her eyes. “I will keep watch. Go to sleep.”
Gedris huffed and leaned against the tree behind her as Tavis crawled into his bedroll and put his hat down over his face.
Gedris closed her eyes and let sleep claim her as Ayawa prowled around them, watching the shadows and praying for the morning.
When the sun was low in the sky, Gedris snacked on some berries she had blessed and tried to ignore the two of them kissing.
She tried in vain to clean her armor up as she began to feel the strain of wearing it. She desperately wanted a bath and a good clean outfit to change into.
They set out across the wilderness heading southwest into rolling grasslands. They rode together on the horses with Tavis in the center and Ayawa to he left. Gedris rode to his right lazily looking across the waving green grass.
“So this Gersius is far to the north then,” Gedris asked.
“How did you manage to figure that out?” Ayawa asked.
“You sent that man north to meet him,” she said. “I don’t know where this Windcrest you speak of is, but he distinctly said it was north.”
“I suppose that does give it away,” Tavis replied.
“So we are going south to find more of these friends of his?” Gedris asked.
“There are a dozen more scattered all over the common lands,” Ayawa said.
Gedris nodded. “So we are weeks away from heading north ourselves.”
Tavis and Ayawa glanced to each other.
“Some of them are together, and will be easy to round up,” Ayawa said. “We don't want to disclose too much priestess. If somehow you fell into the wrong hands we can't afford for you to give our plans away.”
Gedris glared over at her but said nothing.
As they crested a hilltop, they saw a small band of wagons moving west on a country road.
“It looks like cargo wagons,” Tavis said.
“Probably bringing food stocks to Calathen,” Ayawa added as she watched the distant wagons.
There were four wagons in all with only the lead wagon being covered. Each was pulled by four horses and steered by one driver. Perhaps a dozen men walked beside them wearing plain clothing. None of them appeared armed, but they decided to wait until the wagons were well passed before they ventured down to the road.
“We go west, unfortunately,” Ayawa said. “We will have to shadow the wagons.”
“Why not ride by them?” Gedris asked.
Tavis shook his head. “Even if they are friendly, they might mention seeing us to somebody else. We need to keep our presence as hidden as possible.”
“But you walk openly into towns,” Gedris argued.
“That can't be helped,” Ayawa said. “Under normal circumstances, we would watch a town for hours and move in after dark. But we can't afford to wait until we are sure it is safe. Gersius needs these men quickly, and any delay could be costly. The war with the Doan will not hold forever. They could break through any day.”
“The could be through already,” Gedris pointed out.
“No,” Tavis said. “If they were these roads would be clogged with refugees heading east.”
Gedris sat up in her saddle to see the distant wagons. “Won’t it waste more time hiding behind the wagons then? It would be faster to pass them and ride on.”
Tavis glanced back to Ayawa, who sighed.
“I don't want to risk it, but we do have to hurry,” she said.
“Then let's go past them,” Gedris pressed.
Ayawa stared at the distant wagons uncertain.
“We could circle around them,” Tavis suggested.
“That would take as long as following them,” Ayawa said. “She's right; the only way to gain time is to ride past them. We risk word of our presence being spread, but we will gain several hours.”
“Then we ride by and wave to the farmers like any other traveler,” Tavis said.
“Assuming they are farmers,” Ayawa said under her breath.
They pressed on with tense hearts as the wagons drew closer. They watched the men walking beside it as some of them began to glance up and notice them coming. None of them seemed alarmed or upset, so they pressed on at a firm trot and moved to the left to ride by.
“So far so good,” Tavis said his eyes watching from under his hat.
“They do appear to be farmers,” Ayawa whispered back.
“They are angry farmers,” Gedris said. “Their aura’s are ringed with red like they mean to attack.”
Ayawa glanced at Tavis and then reached over and slapped Gedris's horse in the rear, spurring it on at a gallop before they raced after her.
“Stop them!” a voice yelled from behind.
“Why didn't you tell us that sooner!” Ayawa scolded.
“Many men have angry auras!” Gedris replied. “It doesn’t mean they will harm you!”
“Well these men mean it,” Tavis said, looking over his shoulder to see men racing to unhitch horses. “They are going to use horses to pursue us.”
“Then, we run!” Ayawa shouted as she urged her horse to full speed.
The other two followed her lead and raced after her desperate the gain ground on the men behind them. They rounded a forested bend and lost sight of them, but they knew they must be on horseback by now.
“How much farther can we run?” Gedris asked. “I am in full armor. My horse cannot keep this speed up.”
“If we stop we have to fight them,” Ayawa said as they raced on.
“Why don’t we get off the road then?” Gedris suggested.
“The horses will leave a clear trail to follow!” Ayawa yelled.
“I can erase that!” Gedris replied. “They are probably a full two minutes behind us. We just need a place to hide!”
Ayawa looked over at her and then veered to the left, taking them into a field and running for a copse of trees.
Gedris pulled her horse to a halt and turned quickly to begin singing a silvery tune while waving a hand at the ground. The tufts of grass torn up by the passing horses vanished as new growth suddenly swallowed it.
“Get into the trees!” Ayawa shouted to the woman as she walked her horse to them, singing the whole way.
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Gedris made the trees just as eight men on horseback thundered around the bend and raced on down the road. One man pulled up and looked around before urging his horse on to catch up.
“That was close,” Tavis said with a sigh of relief.
“We should have stayed behind and followed them!” Ayawa scolded. “I knew better.”
Tavis shook his head. “We have an impossible schedule to keep. We can’t afford to take precautions. Gersius needs the men assembled as quickly as possible!’
“Gersius is going to need three weeks of hard marching to get there himself!” Ayawa said. “He probably isn’t even over the-” she caught herself and looked at Gedris.
“I know you don’t trust me,” Gedris sighed.
“It isn't that we don't trust you,” Tavis said. “But the less people know, the better. We have already been careless with our words. Not just with you but some of the others.”
“I am with you,” she said. “No one can capture me without capturing you as well.”
“Gersius was stolen right out from under our noses once,” Ayawa said. “By the same people who are hunting us now.”
Tavis nodded. “We also have another concern,” he added, looking at Gedris. “It will be foolish to keep traveling with her in her full armor. The priestess's of Ulustrah are targets now.”
Ayawa nodded as Gedris frowned.
“I am not taking my armor off!” she stated.
“You alert everyone who sees you with that on,” Ayawa replied.
“I am proud of who I serve!” Gedris replied. “Besides, what if we get into a fight? What good is a dress in combat?”
“If you keep that armor on we are almost guaranteed to get into a fight!” Ayawa argued.
Gedris sniffed and folded her arms.
“Please Priestess,” Tavis said. “Let’s get you something nicer to wear in the next town and try to draw less attention.”
Gedris glanced at him with a firm stare. “I will wear a dress if she wears one as well.”
Tavis smiled and looked at Ayawa, who was clearly not happy.
“Why would I wear a dress?” Ayawa snapped.
“Your outfit must be known to them by now. You are always in those leathers and pants,” Gedris said.
“I can’t fight in a dress!” Ayawa stated.
“Neither can I!” Gedris replied.
“Ladies,” Tavis said to try and stop them, but they both turned icy glares on him. “You know what never mind, go on fighting.”
“She wears one or I stay in my armor!” Gedris said with a note of finality.
Tavis sighed and looked at Ayawa. “It would help,” he said.
“Don’t you take her side in this!” Ayawa barked. “You know I don’t wear dresses.”
“Which is why it will help,” Tavis said. “The people that are chasing us must know our description. They are sure to be looking for a woman who wears leather armor. If you put on a dress, it may help conceal who you are.”
Ayawa narrowed her eyes and glared at him like a viper about to strike.
“You take that hat off then!”
“Now you 'r being unfair!” Tavis argued back.
“If they know my outfit they most certainly know yours!” Ayawa said.
“At least you don’t have to wear a dress,” Gedris teased.
Tavis shook his head. “Fine. When we get to town, I will take the hat off, but I want you in something with a little skin in the neck!”
Ayawa shot him a look of outrage as Gedris laughed.
“I am not showing my chest!” Ayawa growled. “These northern women have no shame!”
“I will wear one to keep his eyes occupied then,” Gedris suggested.
Ayawa looked like she was going to leap out of her saddle at the woman.
Tavis laughed and put up a hand to steady her.
“She is trying to anger you,” Tavis said. “Let’s get to town and find Ivers.”
Ayawa relaxed but threw the woman beside Tavis an angry glare.
“We will have to travel in the weeds then,” she said. “If we get back on the road they will find us for sure.”
“I wonder who those men were,” Gedris said. “They looked like farmers.”
“They may have been,” Tavis said. “There are bounties on our heads. If they were given our descriptions, they might have recognized us. And who knows what they might be paying to bring in a priestess of Ulustrah.”
Gedris glanced down at her armor and sighed. “I want a green dress,” she said. “Green and white.”
Ayawa made an aggravated 'humpf' and led the way.
It was near nightfall when they finally made it to the town they were looking for. It was a large enough settlement that it had a low stone wall barely as high as a man. It wasn’t patrolled and the only guards to be seen stood at the flimsy wooden gates.
“Not exactly a fortress,” Tavis said. “We could cross the wall anywhere and not be seen.”
“We will be too late to buy dresses,” Ayawa added as they watched them from the protection of a hedge.
“I am sure they will be open in the morning,” Gedris said.
“We're not staying here until morning. That wagon train is probably in the city now. We need to slip in, find Ivers, and slip out!”
“Then I keep my armor on,” Gedris said indignantly.
“You can wear your pants and shirt!” Ayawa said.
“My pants and shirt are designed to pad the armor!” Gedris replied. “Besides, they need a wash!”
“Ladies!” Tavis interjected. “It is getting close to dinner time. I am sure we can find a shop that will stay open for a little extra coin. Let’s just hurry and get inside the walls.”
“Fine!” both women said with a scowl.
He shook his head as they boiled beside him. They hid the horses in some trees and Gedris strapped her armor to her bags, leaving even her weapon behind.
Tavis led them as close to the wall as they could get under cover. He gave them a weave to make them lighter, then quickly they dashed to the wall. With ease, he lifted them over and then scrambled up it himself.
The streets were relatively empty as they made their way in. Tavis took off his hat, and Gedris finally got to see the short brown hair he hid underneath. With that mischievous smile, he looked like a boy playing at the game of hearts. Ayawa suggested they split up and walked with Gedris while Tavis walked fifty paces ahead. This way, anyone looking for three people together might not notice. Eventually, they found a dressmaker down a narrow side street and after banging on the door several times, Tavis was able to convince the woman who answered to let them in.
It was dark out when they finally stepped back into the street. Ayawa sulked as her dress of oranges and yellows danced above her ankles, and her soft yellow top hung down off her shoulders just enough to show the lines of her chest.
“I like it,” Tavis said with a smile that earned him a look of death.
Gedris had her green dress with an off white top trimmed in white lace. She pranced as if she were a common woman on her way to a lovers arms flaring the long skirt with her hands.
“You look perfectly happy to be dressed like a girl,” Ayawa scolded.
“You should be happy to be dressed like one. You look very good in that,” Gedris replied.
Ayawa' humpfed' again and Tavis suggested they head for the manors at the edge of town to look for Ivers.
They split up again this time with Gedris walking ahead of them Ayawa walked beside Tavis.
“That girl is trouble,” Ayawa said as they watched her.
“I think she is challenging you for some reason,” he said.
“She is trying to make me mad at her. It’s almost like she wants me to yell at her. I think these priestesses of Ulustrah like people being emotional.”
Tavis shrugged and made a couple of coughs. It was their signal to Gedris to turn right on the next street.
They followed her around the corner, and she was waiting by a lamp post, paying them no mind as they walked past her.
“Stay close,” Ayawa whispered as they went passed her.
She followed silently as they made their way down the wide cobbled street. It was flanked on either side by tall, stately houses ringed by fenced Gardens. Everything about them was well appointed from the iron fences to the elegant glass windows.
“He lives in the house with the blue bell on the wall,” Tavis whispered.
Ayawa nodded with her head to a house on the left down the street. There on a post by the walk to the door was a small blue bell.
They crossed the now empty street and made their way toward the house when suddenly the air filled with a cracking noise and the sturdy oak door came shattering off the frame. A man in gray metal armor came flying out the door and crashed into the stone walk sliding to within a few feet of the three. They could see the red star of Astikar on his armor.
“This can’t be good,” Tavis groaned as they heard shouting from inside.
They couldn't see the inner hall, but an orange light filled the space beyond, and there was a booming noise that shattered the lower windows hurling glass into the streets.
“Come on!” Ayawa roared as she grabbed the edges of her dress and ran for the broken door.
Tavis chased after her as Gedris stepped carefully around the man lying motionless on the stone.
Ayawa was through the door first to see a house in chaos. Furniture was thrown against every wall as if a great wind has picked it all up and cast it aside. Another priest of Astikar lay in a pool of blood just inside the door, and the ring of metal was heard in the room beyond. A woman's voice echoed from somewhere inside as she screamed profanities.
She bolted through an arched doorway into what might have once been a dining room. The table lay flattened to the floor and standing on it was Ivers in fine dress with a hammer of Astikar in one hand. He was brazenly battering the shield of another priest of Astikar who with sword drawn was trying to push him back. Beyond the room, the woman's voice was louder as she yelled at someone that she would kill them all.
Tavis was at her side in a moment, and they both rushed in and tackled the priest bearing him to the ground. The man called out for divine strength to wrestle them off as he struggled.
“You will pay for abandoning your faith!” the priest roared. Ivers kicked the man's helmet off, and Tavis clubbed him over the head with a broken chair leg. Before the man even went limp Ivers dashed through the doorway into the kitchen where even more angry shouting ensued.
They quickly got up and ran after him to see him hammer yet another priest from behind flattening him to the ground. There stood a woman with short blond hair and an angry scowl. She had a long kitchen knife in one hand and a pan in the other.
“There are more!” she shouted as Tavis and Ayawa entered.
Ivers spun around and smiled, throwing up his arms. “You two are a sight for sore eyes. And you have impeccable timing.” He paused a moment to look at Ayawa. “I like the dress.”
“What in the name of the earth mother is going on here?” Ayawa shouted, ignoring his remarks.
Ivers was a handsome man with a tall, solid frame. He wore a thin, wiry mustache and meticulously cut hair. His white shirt was stained with blood and ripped open down the front to reveal his muscular chest.
“You are supposed to be laying low!” Ayawa shouted.
“I am laying low,” he replied.
“Then what do you call this?” Ayawa demanded.
“These men came here to arrest me!” the woman replied.
Gedris arrived behind them surveying the scene.
Tavis and Ayawa glanced at the woman who held a large kitchen knife in her hand still.
“And you are?” Ayawa asked.
“Forgive me,” Ivers replied. “This is my wife, Tasheen.”
“Oh so this is the women you described as more beautiful than the moonlight,” Tavis said.
Ivers smiled and nodded as Tasheen threw down the knife and pan.
“This isn’t the time for that!” the woman scolded. “These men came here to arrest me!”
“Why would they be here to arrest her?” Tavis asked.
“I was a priestess of Ulustrah,” Tasheen replied. “They said they had orders to arrest any woman who has ever served the Goddess.”
“And it gets worse,” Tavis said, shaking his head.
“This fool Father Abbot is making a huge mistake,” Gedris said with a smile.
“They demanded entry into our home and tried to take her away,” Ivers added. “I was forced to reveal myself and ordered them to stand down, but they have orders to arrest anyone who tries to hinder them. They left me no choice.”
“Why would they be after the women who have left the temple?” Ayawa said.
“None of us truly leaves, we go silent,” Tasheen said.
There were shouts outside the house and sudden calls for the watch.
“We don't have time for this. You blasted that man clear into the street, and the noise has probably brought all your neighbors out,” Ayawa growled. “The city watch will be all over this house in minutes!”
“I will talk to the guard captain he is a good man,” Ivers said. “He used to fancy my sister.”
“You need to get your gear and head out to find Gersius!” Ayawa interjected.
“Gersius is alive?” Ivers said with shock.
“No time!” Tavis shouted back as the voices outside grew.
Ivers nodded and turned to his wife. “It would seem your days of being silent are over. Quickly let’s get the bags we keep packed and get away.”
She nodded and hurried off into the house.
“I will meet you in the back garden,” he said, pointing to a door on the other side of the kitchen.
They ran out into the walled garden and waited a minute until Ivers and Tasheen arrived with packs on their backs and swords at their sides.
“We can use the alley here to slip away and head south to the wall,” Ivers said, pointing at the back gate.
They quickly followed his lead, and after a tense twenty minutes, they scurried over the wall and made their way into the fields beyond.
“So the old soldier is still alive,” Ivers said as they circled to the horses.
“He is alive and well,” Ayawa said. “He needs you and any men you can muster to help him.”
“Help him with what?” Ivers asked.
Ayawa turned to him and smiled. “Become the Dragon Knight.”
Tasheen laughed and shook her head. “he would need a dragon first.”
“He solved that problem already,” Tavis said with a grin.
“What?” both of them said at once.
“He has the cooperation of a blue dragon,” Tavis said. “She is at his side as loyally as you two are to each other.”
“How the blazes does that man do the impossible so often?” Ivers barked. “Nobody has even seen a dragon in hundreds of years, and he just walks into the woods and finds one?”
“There is the red far to the west,” Ayawa pointed out.
“There is a rumor of a red far to the west,” Ivers corrected.
“He knew where to look,” Tavis interrupted. “Unfortunately he told the Father Abbot first.”
Ivers went silent, and Tasheen took his hand. “Then it didn't all go according to plan?” he asked.
“We don’t have time to tell you the full story, but Gersius has suffered greatly at the hands of the Father Abbot, and so has his dragon,” Ayawa said.
“The poor man,” Tasheen said.
“So are you taking us to him then?” Ivers asked.
Ayawa shook her head. “We have a few more to gather. We are hoping you can get a few of them for us and then take them all to the old fort near Windcrest.”
“Windcrest,” Ivers said. “You mean the old fortress in the hills there.”
“Yes,” Ayawa replied. “Gams is on his way there now. He will organize the Army. You will likely be needed to lead one of its units. Probably the other priests.”
“Then Gersius knows he won’t get into the city without a fight,” Ivers said.
“Gersius knows all too well,” Ayawa answered.
They were silent a moment as they sneaked into the trees where the horses were hidden.
“So who is this?” Tasheen asked, finally speaking as she looked to Gedris. “I know of you two from my husband's stories, but I don't believe I know you.”
Gedris smiled and nodded. “I am priestess Gedris of Ulustrah my Lady. These two rescued me on the road when I was arrested for loving the Goddess.”
“So they are arresting women in other places?” Ivers asked.
“Probably all across the common lands,” Ayawa said. “The order of Ulustrah has sided with Gersius. The Father Abbot has declared them an illegal faith.”
“Then, the two orders are war!” Tasheen said.
“I am afraid so,” Tavis said. “This is going to get much worse before it gets better.”
Ivers shook his head. “Gersius was so sure there was a problem in the order. He challenged the Father Abbot over the raven guard, and he challenged him over the way the war was being conducted. He must have suspected there was something wrong.”
“He knew there was something wrong, but he believed in his heart that the Father Abbot had to be innocent of it. He thought Dellain was manipulating him somehow. In truth it looks like it is the Father Abbot who is pulling the strings,” Ayawa said with a dire tone in her voice.
Ivers nodded his head. “I would have felt the same. The Father Abbot is the highest of Astikar's blessed. To suspect he might be corrupted would be shameful.”
“He’s a cruel monster if he can so callously declare the faith of Ulustrah illegal!” Tasheen spat.
“He has made a mistake,” Gedris said. “He will rally those like you against him. His enemies will grow in numbers he never dreamed of.”
Tasheen nodded. “Assuming he hasn’t arrested them all already.”
Ivers sighed as they paused beside the horses.
“I know where a group of loyal men are hiding. They wanted to come with me when we fled. I will pick them up and carry them with me to the north,” he said. “Do you have anyone you need gathered near Barisdown?”
Ayawa smiled and nodded. “Three actually. One of them is in Barisdown.”
Tavis and Ayawa went over the plans carefully sharing where to find the three men. While they did Tasheen took Gedris to the side.
“So does she know?” Tasheen asked.
“Not yet,” Gedris said with a playful smile. “She will take a little time to crack.”
Tasheen glanced at the three talking and turned back to Gedris.
“Most women try to crack the husband first,” Tasheen said.
Gedris laughed. “I know how to win his heart without saying a word to him.”
“And how do you plan to do that?” Tasheen asked.
Gedris leaned over and whispered in her ear. Tasheen’s eyes went wide as Gedris explained her plan.
“You clever little monster,” Tasheen said. “You are going to make him wild.”
“He’s a boy at heart. He will be no challenge, it is her who will be my great beast to slay,” Gedris said.
“You sound like you know how to hunt great beasts,” Tasheen laughed.
Gedris nodded and the three by the horses parted company.
“Come my sweet,” Ivers said. “We have a long night ahead of us.”
Tasheen nodded her head and gave Gedris a final smile before following her husband into the night.
“That will save us some time,” Ayawa said as they watched them vanish into the night.
“Let’s hope this road doesn't’ get any bloodier,” Tavis replied. “Half the towns in the common lands have temples to both Astikar and Ulustrah.”
“I can assure you much more blood than this has already been shed,” Gedris added.
With that somber note, they headed into the night to find a safe place to camp unaware of the shadows that followed them.
Jessivel stood beside a tree stump there were using as a table when one of his men escorted the man in black to him.
“What is this?” Jessivel asked.
“My lord, he says he needs to speak with you,” his soldier replied.
Jessivel looked from the soldier to the man wrapped in all black so that only his eyes were visible.
“What is an assassin doing here?” his captain Herris said from the other side of the stump.
Jessivel turned to regard the man and raised a hand to silence him, then turned back to the stranger in black.
“What do you want?” Jessivel asked.
“Our Lady wishes to know why you are following the trail?” the man asked.
“Can your lady not speak for herself?” Jessivel asked.
“She prefers to remain unknown,” the stranger said.
Jessivel studied the dark eyes a moment. “We are hunting for Gersius. I have orders to bring him in to answer for his crimes. Why are you interested in our movements?”
The man tipped his head. “We too are interested in the man Gersius. We have been paid a rich sum to hunt him with a kings reward for his head.”
“Lies!” Herris shouted. “The order would never consort with assassins!”
Jessivel turned a dark gaze on the man. His long brown hair framed his stone-like face and made Herris quickly get hold of his tongue. When he was satisfied Herris was in hand he turned back to the assassin.
“So we both seek the same goal, but for different prizes,” he said. “So what did you want then?”
The stranger nodded. “Our Lady would like to offer you a boon to turn you away from this path.”
He heard Herris grunt, but the man held his tongue this time. He locked his eyes on the stranger in black and chose his words carefully.
“I have orders by the Father Abbot himself to find Gersius and capture him. I will not be bought from my course.”
The assassin nodded. “She offers a substantial sum if you will reconsider.”
“I will not,” Jessivel said firmly. “Gersius is ours, and we will see him brought to Calathen.”
“She will not be pleased to hear your answer,” the stranger said.
“I don’t care what your mistress thinks. Duty and honor will be done,” Jessivel said firmly.
“As you wish,” the strange man said. “Then we have no further reason to talk.”
Jessivel nodded, and the man retreated under guard. When he was safely away, Herris walked up behind him.
“We have to keep this secret. Moral will fail if the men hear they hired bloody assassins to find him,” he said. “We can’t let this get out.”
“No,” Jessivel said. “Tell them. Tell them everything. I want them to know.”
“My Lord, this is a dangerous revelation; we must not let it get out!”
Jessivel turned on the man. “We are seekers!” he said. “Our entire purpose is to find the truth! I will not keep the truth from my men! I want them all told!”
“Yes my Lord,” Herris said with a nod.
Jessivel turned back to the stump and glared at the map. He too many questions to answer; he needed to find the truth.