“Good morning,” said a sleepy voice from behind me. Amelia had awakened and was sitting up, wrapped in her cloak, her blonde curls tousled about her head. She yawned and rubbed her eyes.
“Good morning,” I replied. She looked up at me admiringly as I stood, and as I bent to pick up my clothes from where I’d dropped them the night before, she gave a small laugh.
“It’s a pity you have to get dressed again,” she said. “I like you just the way you are!”
I laughed and went over to her, crouching and kissing her on the lips before getting dressed. She stood, too, and got dressed quickly. This morning, she seemed shy of her nakedness in a way she had not been the night before. I didn’t question that; I just turned my back to give her some privacy while she dressed.
After we’d been to the river to drink and to wash our faces and hands, we sat by the fire in the morning sun and ate dried meat and dried apples again, along with the fruity travel bread of the trollmen. There had been supplies for six trollmen in the sack, so there was more than enough for me and Amelia.
“So,” I said as we were finishing up, “I’ve been thinking about our next step. You said you were on your way to the town called Brightwater?”
She nodded, then swallowed a mouthful of food before she spoke. “That’s right. Brightwater is the nearest big town to the northern mountain range where the Beast mines are. Almost all the trade to and from the mines travels through Brightwater, and nearly everyone and everything there has some connection to the monster mining industry. It seemed like the logical place to start investigating the outbreak.”
“Makes sense to me,” I said, “but how do we know how far we are from the town?”
“Of course, with all that’s happened I’ve not had a chance to show you this yet. Look.”
Flipping to the end of her big spellbook, she pulled forth a sheet of parchment which had been hidden between the pages and held it out for me to look at. It was a simple map. I could see a mountain range at the top, a big forested area in the middle with a road running through it, and at the bottom, many small symbols which would be towns, and two bigger ones. I couldn’t read the words that were written on the map, but I recognized the layout of the Kingdom. Amelia pointed to a symbol depicting a town. It sat near the edge of the mountain range and was marked with a small word. There was what looked like a big body of water beside it.
“That’s Brightwater there, next to the lake which the town is named for,” Amelia said. “By my reckoning, we are on the road about here. See that bend in the road?”
I nodded. “That looks like the spot we passed just before our escape.”
“Which means that we are not far from Brightwater. All we need to do is get on the road and head north. We can be in Brightwater in a day or two at most.”
“Let’s do that,” I said. “We can rest there, and maybe you can get more information about your quest. It makes sense to head there without delay.”
We packed enough supplies to last us a couple of days into a carry sack, which I slung over my shoulder. Amelia had her fur cloak now, and her spellbook, and we both had the ugly, practical shortswords we’d taken from the slavers after our fight the day before. I had a Cold tattoo and a Fire tattoo, and apparently, I could use them both. Amelia also had a fully functioning Cold tattoo, fulfilling her dream of being a spellcaster.
All in all, it was a much better situation than we had been in yesterday.
Satisfied, we kicked sand over the remains of our fire and struck out for the road.
The road we trekked along was fairly well worn. We both wanted to put some distance between ourselves and the wagons as quickly as we could. So far, we had not seen any traffic on the road, but the body of Boris still lay in the bloody wagon, and we wanted to be well on our way before anybody found it and started asking questions.
We walked in silence for a little while, reveling in the freshness of the morning. The clean smell of the forest filled the air. The tall trees and thick ferns came right up to the side of the road.
Eventually, I broke the silence. “Although we might be hemmed in by trees on this road, I’ve never felt freer.”
Amelia turned her head to look at me in astonishment. “This is the first day you’ve ever been free, isn’t it?”
“It is. I’ve never once woken up free to decide whatever I wanted to do that day. Even though my foster-father treated me well, he was technically still my owner.”
“I’m so happy for you.” Amelia smiled. “Freedom is something really worth fighting for.”
She went on to explain many things which I could do with my newfound freedom, such as attending theatrical plays, visiting museums and art galleries, or listening to musicians in grand halls. Those things didn’t sound all that appealing to me, but I enjoyed hearing Amelia describe them in vivid detail.
We had shared an incredible bond the night before, and I found myself simply enjoying the way the wind blew her blonde hair or how her ice-blue eyes brightened when she spoke of the pleasantries of the capital. For me, the freedom to enjoy her company was reason enough to fight for freedom. Not to mention the fact that, had I never broken our bonds and escaped the slave caravan, I wouldn’t have discovered my hidden talent.
I was an Ink Mage.
I could draw runes on my flesh with ink from Beast Cores, and those tattoos would allow
