A week had passed since the council, and the majority of the travelers were satisfied with their stay. Most went to the main market, where all sorts of items could be purchased at reasonable prices. Edryd - who had finally recovered from his wounds and was able to walk - went about the aforementioned with Thoma and Batch.
Irun and a few others had gone a day prior to scout the roads ahead in case of another incident. The three roamed the market early in the morning while the stalls were still being set up, buying trinkets and other mementos they could bring with them on their journey home. In the meantime, the Master and the other synners were gathering their gear and packing their newly acquired items. It was not long before they would have to ride off back to their fortress, and everyone else scurried to grab their gear and pack their horses.
After about an hour or two of scouring the marketplace, the boys were making their way back from the main market place, when they saw the others almost fully packed. “Shit, we took too long. We should hurry,” Thoma said, urging his friends. “I’ll go on ahead and ask how much time we have left.” The boys rushed to gather their belongings to avoid being left behind. Batch - after having gathered his own gear - aided Edryd with his.
“Ah, I was beginning to wonder when you four bastards would show face,” Bernar called out to them as he saw them hurrying. “How much longer before we set off?” Thoma responded, ignoring the shit-eating grin on his older brother’s face. “Not much longer than you think,” Bernar responded. “It’s not as though we knew we’d have to leave today,” Edryd shot back. “Besides, normally we have at least a twelve-hour warning before,” Batch chimed in. “We did, though we should have kept a better track of the time we spent outside,” Thoma said regretfully.
“Well, the Master has declared that we should leave as soon as possible, so I gave out orders for everyone to pack their shit up and get going immediately,” Bernar began. The boys looked at each other. “We weren’t informed of that,” Edryd began, “although I’m sure that’s because we weren’t present.” “Where the hell were you four, anyway?” Bernar asked. “We were at the market,” Thoma replied matter of factly. “Uh-huh. Prey tell, doing what, exactly?” Bernar asked. “We bought trinkets and such for ourselves,” his brother replied abruptly. “Shouldn’t you have done that yesterday?” Bernar asked them.
“Ed’s shoulder has only just gotten better, and we were not going there without him,” Thoma replied. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, big brother, we must ‘pack up our shit and get going’ before the Master verbally and morally destroys us,” he continued. “Very well. On your way, young ones,” Bernar said through a small burst of laughter.
The four boys nodded and took their flight down the hallways and up the stairways that led to their chambers. They quickly gathered their gear, which, once again, was hanging on their bedsides, cleaned and dried, just like the first morning they had been there. Thoma found a note pinned to his jerkin with ‘Remember me, please. Yours, M.’ messily scribbled on the small parchment. He looked about him to see if he could find whoever wrote it, but to no avail. He figured it must have been the servant girl from the first night.
Damn it, what was her name again? Melanie? Marissa? he thought as he scratched the back of his head. I haven’t seen her since that night, and I doubt I’ll be returning here anytime soon, he sighed. By that time, she’ll probably have found someone who will want to take her hand in marriage or whatever it is people do these days. It saddens me to think that I’ll probably never get to see her again, but her beauty has definitely left its mark in my memories. Don’t think I could ever forget her, even without the note asking me not to.
He scribbled his own note, folded it, and left it on his pillow, praying she would find it.
He placed her note in his riding bag in a place he was sure it wouldn’t be wrinkled or torn. The others finished gathering their things and noticed no one else had gotten a note. Thoma chuckled and grinned from ear to ear.
The boys rushed downstairs to their horses and tied their bags to their saddles. They looked about for the Master, but he was nowhere to be seen. Garett was already mounted and called for attention. “Listen up, you lot,” he began. Everyone turned to face him. “We’re heading back to Codrean, and the Master has given both myself and Bernar explicit instructions to go ahead without him. He will catch up to us soon enough,” he said. The group of synners looked at one another, as this was unprecedented. Something’s not right, Thoma thought. “Let’s move!” Garett called out.
The synners spurred their horses, and began to follow Garett. Just as they were about to leave the gate to the main palace, Thoma looked back to see if he could catch a final glimpse of ‘M. the Illusive’, as he called her.
He did.
She stood in one of the windows of the second floor, looking out over the mounted warriors. She was looking for him as well. Her hair was tied up in a strip of cloth that wrapped around her forehead and covered her ears, tying at the back. She finally found him in the midst of the riders and their eyes met. She raised her right hand that held the note he had written, and gently waved it side to side. He humbly nodded to the figure in the window. His eyesight was good, but it wasn’t good enough to see the tear running down her left cheek. He turned away and faced his riding leaders. He felt his heart drop a little when he did so, and didn’t fully understand why. Nevertheless, he continued onward, and didn’t dare to look back again.
They rode for the better part of an hour, over the hill they had surpassed a few days before. Thoma could feel the sun warming his back, and took heart in it. Though the breeze was chilly, the warmth of the morning sun was a welcoming feeling. Just as he was about to get lost in a daydream of his muse, he heard hooves thumping in the distance. He glanced over his shoulder to see what it was, and sure enough he saw him coming at nearly a full gallop.
The Master had finally caught up to them.
“Well, well. I’d say it’s about half past the time you were supposed to catch up to us,” Garett was saying while the Master rode up to his side. “My apologies, I had some rather unpleasant business to attend to back at the palace,” the Master said. His eyes were glowing like they would whenever he was angry. Bernar noticed, and shot a nod back to Thoma, who had already guessed as much.
“Well, aren’t you glad that’s over and done with,” Garett said cheerfully. “I suppose I am, indeed. Although I doubt that that was the end of it,” the Master said. Garett raised an eyebrow, and shrugged soon after. “Meh. With all due respect, Master, fuck them sideways,” Garett said. “Tell me, for I’m certain you must know more than I regarding them, what respect are they due?” the Master said angrily. “I meant with respect to you,” Garett said calmly. “But to answer your question: Not even the amount a beetle can shit,” he said. “Glad to hear we’re on the same page,” the Master said, finally calming down a little. Garret, who had known the master since he was a boy, knew his personality well enough to be the only one able to calm him down in times like these.
I wonder what happened back there, Thoma thought of the brief exchange.
Comments (0)
See all