RE: Monarch

Chapter 19. Crossroads II

Cephur was not pleased. His face scrunched up almost comically as I explained that I would not be going with them, rather, heading south, escorting Maya back to the enclave.

"Let me get this straight. Instead of going home, you want to take little purple across the land, through the shadow canyons, to the enclave where youll what? Turn around and head back?"

I nodded and he scrunched up his face. "You have any idea what your father will do if we come back to tell him we let you run off?"

"I made her a promise, Cephur. Either we left together, or not at all. After everything we went through, I cant leave her now," I said, trying to project determination and command. Apparently, immune, he looked at me like I was an idiot child.

"And I have a feeling, if I tell you no, like your father would want, youll be slipping away from us in the woods to get back and likely getting yourself killed."

"Thats a suckers bet."

"Gods dammit." Cephur pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "Let me speak to my men."

I sat next to Maya as Cephur conversed with his fellows. He gesticulated wildly, and I was sure I heard the phrase, "This fuckin kid," uttered more than once.

"Will you be taking me back to Whitefall, your majesty?" Maya asked. There was more ice in her voice than the northern mountains. She didnt look at me.

It stung more than I cared to admit.

"No."

"Then what do you intend to do with me?" She asked. There was real fear in her voice. I could imagine how it felt: finally getting away from one captor, only to find yourself in the grasp of another.

"Ill be escorting you back to the enclave," I said.

"Sure. Just like how you are an apothecary, or the noble son of a minor military family with little to no standing in politics." Each word was heady and bitter.

"I will take you back," I said defensively, then added, "None of that was said to you directly."

"It doesnt matter. You let me believe it." Maya withdrew into herself and maintained a stony silence.

That was true enough.

"Thanks for not calling the demon. That took a lot of self-control."

"I thought about it," Maya admitted. "If they hurt you or tried to kill me, I likely would have. But the children were around. I did not wish to put them in harms way."

I squeezed her hand, then released it. "Youre a good person, Maya. Well get you home. A couple of weeks on the road, and youll never have to think of this again." She hesitantly nodded, but the distrust in her eyes was plain to see.

Cephur approached with two guards, and surprisingly, Lucius, in tow. "Alrighty. I want it on record that I find our current course of action unwise. However, as I cannot use force to persuade you, and the king would have my manhood at best, my head at worst, if I let his only son wander into hostile territory alone, that narrows our options a bit. So, weve got ourselves a posse."

He indicated one of the rangers. One was a stout man, not so much fat as he was thick and wide. He carried a two-handed zweihander that reminded me of my fathers, though this mans was slightly smaller. "This is Orben. Hell be operating muscle for the rest of the trip."

"Ello" Orben said.

Cephur reached up on his toes to smack the man across the head. "Thats a prince, you lumbering dunce."

"Ello your majesty." Orben smiled sheepishly. For whatever reason, I liked him immediately.

Then, Cephur pointed to the other ranger. A woman, only about a head taller than me. "This is Tamara. Shes the best lookout a man could ask for and could shoot the filling out of a bear claw." Her dull brown hair was pulled back tightly into a strangely ornate bun.

She inclined her head to me respectfully. "Your majesty."

Next, Cephur indicated Maya, startling her out of her brood. "Little purple here goes by Maya. Just Maya. Not hey you, not "hey-pointy-head," just Maya. Be nice to her. If youre nice enough, she may even heal you if we run into trouble." Orben and Tamara shared a surprised look. Cephur glanced at Maya and she raised an eyebrow. "Maybe. Councils still out on that."

I was more than happy for the help. The idea of crossing such a large distance on our own was too daunting to think about.

"Whats the plan?" I asked.

Our path was straightforward enough. The rest of the rangers would escort the children north towards the capital. I gave one of the men the sealed letter to deliver to my father. Lucius would travel south with us until we got to Kholis. He assured us that his father would be grateful for his return and that there would likely be a banquet. It would also be an excellent opportunity to rest and stock up on supplies for the longer leg of the journey.

Maya said her goodbyes to each of the children before we left, speaking to each of them and hugging them goodbye as the rangers looked on, perplexed. The children looked gutted to lose her. I took what wed need for the journey, around eight gold rods, and distributed the rest to the children. It wasnt even close to restitution for everything theyd been through, but they should at least share in the spoils. I caught Maya studying me before she turned away.

We left the cursed cottage behind and did not look back, happy to be rid of it once and for all.

Of course, I would return there eventually. But that part of the story is a lifetime away.

It felt amazing to ride a horse again. The wind in my hair, the trees flying by, the oh-so-intimidating Everwood reduced to nothing more than a shamrock blur. I laughed. I couldnt help it. The beast beneath me felt huge. Orben had to lift me up into the saddle. There was talk of switching our horses when we arrived in Kholis but I wouldnt hear of it. All I needed were lower stirrups.

"Your majesty, would you kindly get your royal ass back in formation?!" Cephur shouted, his voice faint.

I sighed and patted my horses side in apology. "Ill find a chance to get you a good run eventually, my friend." The horse grunted in acknowledgement. I wheeled him around in an artful canter, having him slide diagonally back into my place at the center of the formation. Orben clapped at the display while Cephur just shook his head.

"Shocking. The prince of our fair kingdom is an equine savant." Tamara said.

"Hey, I know what savant means," I said, slightly wounded.

"In that case I meant genius, your majesty." Tamara shot me a savage grin. I noticed her teeth came to sharp pointsall of them, not just the incisors like Maya. A Siladon ranger with elf blood. It was a natural fit, albeit a rare one. Perhaps that was part of why Cephur had picked her for this group.

"Just a reminder," Cephur called back to us, "Were a small detail. Please refer to his-majesty-Prince-Cairn-son-of-Gil-first-of-his-name-protector-of-demon-kin as simply Cairn while were out and about. No need to tip off any ill-meaning ears that we have a high-value target."

There was a chorus of affirmatives. In my opinion, they sounded far too happy about it.

Maya was stooped down, talking to her horse. It pranced about nervously, ruining its already mediocre gait.

"Problem?" I asked.

She sat up with a frown, shifting uncomfortably. "I am trying to make friends with it. It does not wish to be friends."

"You cant treat a horse like an equal," I said, trying to help. "You can be friendly, but not friends. They have to know youre in charge, or they get uppity."

Maya looked at me dryly. "The same way your kingdom treats non-humans, then?"

There was a dull whistle as someone sucked in air and cleared their throat. Loudly. I fiddled with my reins and said nothing. It was probably best to stay that way. I wanted to be patient. But there was this blasted surge of irritation.

"Are you uh gonna be like this all the way to the enclave?"

"I dont know!" Maya exploded. "You are trying to help, and I need your help, but I also dont want your help, which makes me feel bad because you already have helped."

" That sounds complicated."

"It is!" Mayas horse jerked at the volume of her voice. She nearly lost her balance, but I managed to catch under her arm, then quickly let her go. She turned a light shade of magenta.

Lucius snickered somewhere in the back. "Mom, dad, please dont fight."

"Shut up!" Maya and I snapped simultaneously.

"Folks, we are currently deep in the Everwood forest, known across the land for its high concentration of nasties. Im gonna have to ask you to keep the bickering and cross talk to a minimum quantity and negligible volume." Cephur said, annoyance hidden behind the pantomime of civility.

We rode like that without incident. The Everwood seemed to go on forever. I found myself growing sleepy, tree after tree passing in a hypnotic rhythm. As time passed, our formation seemed to relax somewhat. Tamara pulled up next to Maya and the two drifted away from me, conversing in dull whispers so as not to aggravate our leaders attention.

A strange feeling drifted over me. It took a while to identify it for what it was: security. Id been living on the edge of a knife for almost a full month. It felt strange to just relax and let someone else worry about our problems. This was the coddled environment I grew up in and having been forcefully wrested from it for what I estimated to be around a month, I could see how it had weakened me and dulled my senses.

I could not allow that to happen again.

There was a sharp whistle. It sounded exactly like one of the many bird calls Id heard coming from the forest, the only differentiator was its proximity, coming immediately from my left. Tamara took her pinched fingers from her mouth, playful attitude completely gone. Cephur cued his horse with a slight tug on the reins and conferred with her. In a neutral tone, the same sort one might use to make idle observations about the weather, Tamara spoke.

"We are being followed."

"Any idea what it is?" Cephur responded, just as casually.

"No. Theres only one. It doesnt seem all that large," Tamara said, then added, "by Everwood standards, at least."

"Could be looking for stragglers." Cephur raised his voice slightly. "Alright folks. Tighten formation. If you cant grab the person next to you, you arent close enough."

We pressed together. I was unable to see anything within the wood, despite looking in the same direction as the half-elf ranger. "How in the hells do you see something in all that?"

"Its more straightforward than it seems on horseback," Tamara answered, never taking her eyes from the forest. "You can't look for specifics. Just relax your gaze and look for anything that isnt moving."

I looked out and realized the wisdom of her words. Though I couldnt spot it myself, if something was keeping pace with us, it would look motionless against the vignette of moving trees and green.

"Good tip."

"I live to serve."

Cephur sighed at both of us loudly, and we maintained silence after that.

After a few more tense hours the sun began to set. I sighed in disappointment. Despite knowing the size of the forest, I had hoped we would at least be close to the end by nightfall. We continued at a slow trot until we found a small clearing and stopped for the night. Tamara hadnt seen any more traces of whatever had been tailing us. Orben walked the perimeter of the campsite, threading what looked like silver thread in a large circle around where wed be sleeping. Maya pulled the binding from her hair and ran her fingers through it, then tied it back up and started setting up her tent. I was about to approach when Cephur caught me.

"Give her time, lad. You just turned her world upside down. Twice," Cephur said. I scowled, not because he was wrong but because he was right. I just wanted to fix it somehow. If she was still angry with me by the time we got to the enclave, I wasnt sure what would happen. I glanced down at Cephurs sword.

"Thats a cavalry saber, isnt it?"

"Aye. I served. 23rd regiment."

I needed to get stronger.

"Would you train me?"

Cephur rubbed the back of his neck. "Its an honor youd ask, but I dont know that Im particularly qualified. My brand of fighting isnt particularly noble."

"Thats better," I said immediately. "Much better. I have no use for pageantry." I had no desire to fight duels or prove myself in the arena. More than anything, I wanted to be able to hold my weight. I needed to be able to do what Alten didsize up an opponent, immediately evaluate their weakness, and cut them down as efficiently as possible.

"Is that right?" Cephur studied me, hand to his chin. "You know, you arent what I expected. Not at all. Its like a completely different prince walked out of that cottage."

"Lets just say I have new and pressing insights of the things that linger in the dark." I said grimly.

"Theres something to be said for that," Cephur admitted. "Alright. Tomorrow at dawn, before we set out for the day. Ill put you through your paces. But I wont be racing a broken pony. If you dont wake up in time, thats it. If you give up, thats it."

We ate field rations around the fire, little square bits of dried meat and bread, then everyone retired for the night. Orben and Maya were the only two sleeping in tents. Cephur dozed lightly, propped up against a tree at one edge of camp. Tamara effortlessly scaled a large oak on the opposite side and relaxed thereshe somehow made it look comfortable, though I knew from personal experience there was no way that was true.

I took the first watch. The vurseng still wasnt completely out of my system. It was one of those annoying substances that stored themselves in fat, thus for the foreseeable future, every time I was overly active it would be harder to sleep. I stared deep into the dark of the wood and watched for movement. But there was surprisingly little activity. Perhaps it was simply because this group was larger, or we were just closer to civilization.

I found my mind wandering to Sera, of all people. The great downside of my plan was that it took me off the Whitefall board for far too long. Sera had elven blood. Her words had been vague, but I could read between the lines. At some point Father had an affair with an elfat least I hoped that was it: a nice, normal, consenting affairand he brought Sera back with him post-conquest.

And Sera clearly had knowledge of the invasion and was complicit in it. How far back did her relationship with them go? I was angry at her, sure, but if my options were saving my sister or killing her, I would much prefer the former. Plus, to some extent, I got it. I was the firstborn and legitimate son, and I had been ready to throw it all away and never look back. And Sera had to work so much harder for even a fraction of what I had. How much worse was it for her?

Maybe my absence alone might help. Perhaps with me not being there for a few years, Sera would step into a more central role, taking some of the responsibility in my stead.

Probably wishful thinking.

Familiar golden eyes stared out at me from the dark.

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