“It’s morning. Time to get moving,” he told me.
That didn’t seem possible, but the brightening sky confirmed what he said. If morning ever had an accomplice it was Cyhan. The two of them were definitely conspiring to rob me of sleep. I rose and began packing up our things. I wasn’t grumpy in the slightest. Honestly.
Penny had a nice hot pot of porridge going over the coals of our fire. My first taste told me that someone had forgotten to pack the sugar and spices. I neglected to mention that to her. After last night I doubted it would improve her mood.
“How’s the porridge?” she asked. It wasn’t clear if she was addressing me or everyone in general.
“It’s passable,” Marc answered.
“I’ve had worse… once,” Cyhan said.
“Sorry, I forgot to pack the seasonings,” she said apologetically.
“It’s not bad. I rather like it,” I said, hoping to make her feel better.
“Thanks for the sarcasm, it’s bad enough without you being a smart ass about it,” she glared at me as she said it.
My mouth dropped open in shock. I truly hadn’t been trying to be sarcastic. I looked at Marc for support; clearly I was being wrongly accused. He just shook his head at me in disappointment. Cyhan started chuckling under his breath. At least someone’s in a better mood, I thought sourly.
Marc offered to help me clean out the bowls when we were done. Since there was no stream nearby we had to use sand from a dry gully close by. “You didn’t listen to a thing I said yesterday did you?”
“I didn’t think it was too bad,” I lied. “No sense in being cruel about it in any case.”
“Wrong,” he stated.
“So I should have insulted the food? Like Cyhan did?” Now that I thought back, she had actually apologized after he had said that to her.
“No, she’s already mad at you. You should have stuck with a neutral response like I did. I don’t think you have what it takes to pull off something like what he said.”
“Well if being a jerk makes you more of a man then too bad… I’d rather be…,” my words tapered off. I could see no good in finishing that sentence.
Marc was too quick to waste the opportunity, “Don’t start looking at me like that! Just because I’ve joined the clergy doesn’t mean I like men!” He was laughing as he said it.
I started to reply with something terribly witty and clever, but I was saved by a distraction. Not that it was a good one. I stopped and closed my eyes so I could focus better. I could sense several men in the distance, at the very limit of my range. When we had left Washbrook I had been able to sense things almost a mile off, if I put an effort into stilling my thoughts. Now I found that a half a mile was the best I could manage.
“Hey don’t be like that!” Marc said, “…Mort?”
“Give me a second, there’s someone out there,” I held up my hand. I strained to extend my senses further but it was no use. The figures, there were perhaps five or six of them, moved even further away until I could no longer detect them. I opened my eyes to look at my friend.
“Well? What was that about?” he asked.
“There were people on the road, about a half a mile that way,” I pointed in the direction we would soon be traveling.
“Other travelers… or someone waiting for us?”
“No way to know. Let’s go tell the others,” I replied.
Cyhan and Penny were sparring when we walked back. This time Penny was more cautious, but the results were the same. No matter how quickly she moved and struck she couldn’t touch the older warrior. She wasn’t giving him a chance to throw her now however.
“You might want to save your energy,” I told them.
“Did you sense something?” Cyhan asked as they broke apart.
I explained what I had discovered. “It could be other travelers,” I said as I finished.
“It could be,” he replied as he began checking his weapons. “But we’ll be working on the assumption that there’s an ambush ahead.”
“Perhaps we could leave the road… circle around this part,” Penny suggested.
“Not practical,” Marc spoke up. “I’ve traveled this road many times. The terrain narrows at this part of the road. If we try to go around we’ll have to go several days out of our way,” he gestured at the hills which rose up steeply ahead of us. “I’m not even sure how to get back to the road if we try.”
“Better that than dead,” Cyhan said. “I know the wilderness to the north. If we circle the northern hills we’ll come to a deep gorge. It will take us tens of miles following it before we can exit, but it’s doable. We can afford the time.”
“I didn’t think you were the sort to avoid a fight,” I remarked.
“Then you don’t know me,” he said bluntly. “I only fight when the outcome is in my favor, or there’s no other option. We still have options.”
“I’d rather stick to the road,” I said, giving him an even stare.
“I don’t think you heard me,” he replied meeting my eyes.
“I heard you perfectly well. I’m taking the road. If you want to take another route you’re welcome to do so.”
The tension in the air was palpable. “You’re going to meet a bad end boy, and quite possibly hurt a lot of other good people on your way to it.”
I turned my back on him and headed toward my horse. Looking over my shoulder I replied, “I’ve already been promised a bad death, but my appointment isn’t for today.” I caught Penny’s eye as I said it. The only good thing about knowing when you’re going to die… is you can be very sure of when you won’t.
Penny spoke up again, “He’s right about that, we don’t die today.”
“One of your visions?” Cyhan asked. His question surprised me; I hadn’t realized she had told him so much about herself already.
“Yes.”
“That’s fine and dandy, but I don’t give a rat’s ass about when the two of you die. I’m more concerned with my own demise. I’ll bet your vision had nothing to say about me in it,” he responded.
“I didn’t know you then…,” Penny replied uncertainly. “He’s right Mort; we could be putting them in danger based on a vision that only concerns the two of us.”
Her quick reversal irritated me. A few days ago she had thought I was going insane, yet she would have followed me down that road without a second thought. Now I was supposedly ‘cured’ and she was my Anath’Meridum, yet she worried more about ‘his’ opinion than mine. Perhaps I was being irrational, but I couldn’t help the feeling.
“Tell you what,” I said, “Since I’m certain to survive I’ll go alone. I’ll come back for you ladies when I’ve made sure it’s safe.” Yeah it was a stupid thing to say, but I was starting to get seriously annoyed with two of my companions.
“If you travel more than a couple hundred yards or so from Penelope here you’ll both die from the strain on your bond,” Cyhan replied.
“What?!” Penny and I said in unison. No one had told either of us about that little drawback before we took the plunge.
“That’s ridiculous! Let’s undo this… we can’t live like this,” I said, raising my voice.
“Mort…” Penny said quietly.
“It’s possible Penny. We just have to both agree to it and it’s over,” I told her.
“No Mort. I won’t let you. I meant that oath… all of it. It’s important,” she said and I could see her blue eyes were glistening with incipient tears.
“Besides…” Cyhan started.
I was tired of his constant interruptions. He had already turned my future wife against me, “Kyrtos!” I barked at him. It was a spell to silence speech.
“That won’t work on me either,” he continued. Reaching into his pouch he pulled out the still glowing stone from our bonding ceremony. “As long as I carry this your magic cannot touch me.”
Today was just full of surprises. “Anything else I should know?” I bit out. I was angry beyond reason now. He
