Chapter 5: A Sedate Escape, Part 1

[Two days with no updates - I think I should be more careful of what I promise.  More reasonable goals might be a good idea, I think.]

The forest around them was quiet, except for the sedate clip-clop of the horse’s hooves. None of them had spoken in several minutes. It wasn’t that they were intentionally remaining quiet, or that they didn’t want to talk to each other. It was just one of those silences that naturally descends on a traveling group from time to time.

Joachim didn’t like it. Companionable silence was all well and good when he had something he wanted to think about, but right now he didn’t want to be left alone with his thoughts. Because, frankly, his thoughts came perilously close to making him blush.

It wasn’t his fault. Not really. He couldn’t be blamed for being attracted to a stunningly beautiful woman who was suddenly accompanying him on his journey! No. It wasn’t his fault.

But that didn’t do anything for the blushes. Or for the thoughts that accompanied them. For Sthana wasn’t just beautiful; she was also smart. And a mage. A professional mage! She wasn’t much older than he was, at least he didn’t think so – he hadn’t asked her age yet. He wasn’t going to, either. That was one of the life lessons his father had taught him – never ask a girl her age. He’d then rolled up his sleeve and showed the young Joachim a long scar on his left arm, explaining how a failure to follow that lesson had given it to him. No, Joachim wasn’t going to ask Sthana her age. But still, she didn’t look that much older!

Maybe he could ask Kerim. Kerim was smart, and would probably be able to find out without making her mad. Or implicating Joachim. He began to turn to the courier, who was riding just behind him, then stopped.

Sthana didn’t seem to like Kerim. He wasn’t sure why, but he’d seen her avoid him, and tended to ignore him whenever possible. For his part, Kerim kept away from the girl, with an odd expression on his face.

Joachim had always thought Kerim was a hard man to read, but recently he become even more so. It was the tattoos, Joachim decided. Although he didn’t understand how (and Kerim refused to tell him), the tattoos let Kerim use Magesight to see. But they also obscured the man’s face, and Kerim had never tended to open displays of emotion. Plus those white pupil-less eyes – it wasn’t easy to look at them. Together with the bright pink-red tattoos, Joachim now found it very difficult to tell what his old friend was thinking.

They rode into a sunny patch on the road, and Joachim squinted his eyes. The path to Cazeel faced east here, and today was a sunny day. Thankfully, his horse – he hadn’t caught its name – seemed to be untroubled by the glare, and kept up its steady pace. He turned toward Sthana, at least partly to get his face out of the sun.

The four of them had left Koah that morning. Apparently, Sthana and Mark were also going to the capital, and had offered to accompany them. Joachim had jumped on the chance to spend a bit longer with the beautiful mage. Kerim had said nothing – actually, Joachim couldn’t remember Kerim stringing two words together in their presence. Now that he thought about it, it puzzled him. Why did Kerim dislike them so much?

No matter. The sunlight dissipated as they once again fell under the protective cover of tree branches. He faced forward again. What was I thinking about? He couldn’t remember. That happened too often, especially when he was left alone. It annoyed him.

It’s too quiet here. Joachim was bored. Any conversation at all would be preferable to this. He opened his mouth to speak.

Then he stopped. He cocked his head – What was that sound? The forest they were passing through was silent, seemingly devoid of life. The only sounds seemed to be coming from the hooves of their horses… But there’s something else. There! Again! It sounds like a… squawk?

“We should speed up a bit.” Joachim nearly fell off his horse at Kerim’s voice. He turned around and looked at the older man. Sthana and her friend – Joachim didn’t recall his name – did the same.

“Why?” That was Sthana’s friend. He was frowning – Joachim hadn’t seen him smile since they’d met, not even once. He had a suspicion that the man didn’t know how to smile.

“We are being hunted,” Kerim stated, in a voice which he might have used for describing what his breakfast that morning had been.

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