The weather was definitely getting colder the farther north they got. Alexandra pulled her shawl tighter as the wind started to pick up. The terrain the last few days had grown much more hilly, the fields giving way to small forests jagged outcroppings of stone jutting from under the ground. They had used the rock formations as shelter for the past few weeks as they continued traveling north.
Alexandra had finally retired her beloved purple dress, folding it neatly and securing it in her pack, at last the weather finally forced her into the regular traveling clothes she had been carrying since Lerwick. The foods in their collective packs were running low, to the point of depletion. To avoid trouble and to stay low-profile, they had gone out of their way to avoid any other travelers. They slipped by villages by night and gave larger towns a wide-berth. Several National Patrols had ridden by, but they had gone unseen. Occasionally there were others journeying along the roads, merchants, families, small horse-drawn caravans of materials and produce. They had gotten quite good at taking cover and crossing the open-country when they preferred to avoid the road. But now, with food at the point of exhaustion, a decision would have to be made.
"I think it's too risky," Zooey warmed her hands near the make-shift fire pit they had constructed from throwaway stones and old wood.
"What?" Luca tried to keep the mood light, "I thought nothing was too risky for you."
"That's true, but I was thinking of the rest of you not-so-good fighters. If things go down it'll be up to me to save everyone."
"Hey!" Luca realized the insult after a moment.
"We don't have a choice," Alexandra reasoned, "after tonight we'll be out of food. We'll have to go into the village."
"What if there are soldiers in the town?" Sophia wanted to avoid soldiers at all cost, nothing good had come of their encounters so far.
"And what if they turn us in?" Zooey did not trust anyone to start with, it was an attitude she had bred over many hate-filled years in the slums.
"We're so far away from the Avindr now." Alexandra thought it would be safe. "I doubt everyone knows what we look like and are on the hunt. Besides, if there are soldiers we'll just try to stay low and avoid them."
"We are dangerous criminals remember." Zooey rather liked the distinction.
Alexandra, for her part, did not like the distinction.
"We don't have a choice. It's either risk being caught or for sure going hungry. We've found some fruit and berries, but it won't be enough. The hunting's no good either, it's probably because the season is ending. I haven't seen anything scurrying about that could remotely be considered for a meal."
"Well, I don't want to go hungry. Actually, I'm hungry right now." Zooey's stomach was already growling.
Alexandra had decided on their course of action, for better or worse.
"There's a village up ahead, we saw the lights the other night in the distance. We'll put in there and get some more food. We still have the gold pieces they gave us in Lerwick, might as well use them I guess."
"What we will say?" Sophia was thinking ahead, "it might seem odd that we four just show up with gold pieces without a story."
Luca was trying to think of all the brilliant things he knew Alexandra would inevitably come up with. "Escaped from land pirates? Adventurers? Treasure hunters?"
"Same as before," Alexandra did not see a reason to change their cover story, "farmhands traveling back home. We have the gold pieces because it was a good harvest and we were able to make a good deal with the sellers in Avindr."
"Pretty simple." Luca was kind of disappointed it was not a grand fairy-tale.
"Simpler the better, people think about it less and are more likely to believe it."
"Fine, fine," Zooey laid down, "we'll go into town."
"Glad you approve."" Alexandra laughed, she knew Zooey was just being difficult and that her friend did trust what she said.
They settled in for the night, staying close to their little fire as the temperature slowly dropped. The stars overhead were beautiful, perhaps the crispness in the air lent a hand to their vision of the sky. The wind was also picking up the farther north they got, not the gentle breeze it had been in the lowlands, now it was cold and slightly biting. Alexandra figured it would only get worse the closer they got to the Rotsen Mountains, and she was glad of the clothing provided to them by the grateful residents of Lerwick.
It was an odd thought: they had saved a town. That of course is not what they set out to do, in fact, that thought never really crossed her mind. They ended up there completely by chance and once trapped there, Alexandra's only thought had been to get her friends out. In the process, she seemed to have led a mini-revolution and freed the enslaved citizenry. The fact it was all by chance and she had only been thinking about her friends made her feel guilty when the praise was lauded on them.
She felt a weight on her shoulders, pressing her down. She felt like a hypocrite: they were applauding her and praising her for her daring plan and leading the escape from the Lederan's palace, for enabling the townspeople to throw off the shackles placed upon them. But, with all that had transpired, her only thought had been to her friends, not the townspeople really. She did not think she deserved their praise, not for just trying to look out for her own. It was great that Lerwick was able to free itself, but that was never necessarily the plan.
She frowned, she wasn't sure where these feelings were coming from but they were throwing themselves at her and she could not abate them.
A coldness seized upon her heart.
She knew that they had accomplished something unbelievable, something that changed people's lives, but she still felt like a liar, a thief, stealing their affection and making them think she was special. She told herself she wasn't. All she was trying to do is find out who her father was, after that their lives would go back to normal. As awful as normal was, it was better than being on the run and having those closest to her in danger because of her.
She heard the words in her head, they sounded like her own voice, whispered into her very soul. Her friends blindly followed her because they trusted her, they cared about her, but deep down, she wished they didn't. The voice in her head told her she wasn't worth it. All their troubles had been born out of her personal quest; they would have been better off staying home, or not knowing her at all.
The morning came all too soon. The sun seemed to rise earlier, was it because they were farther north? The days did certainly seem to start sooner, something which elicited a collective groan from everyone.
Making sure the fire was out and cleaning up their campsite for the night, they started back across the short distance towards the great highway. The village they were now headed too was next to the road where it made a lazy turn to the left before continuing northwards once more. Built on the tops and sides of the small hills which now made up the countryside, it looked like pretty rustic. The wooden-built structures of varying size and levels were all a deep brown with green trimming. The village sat quiet well on the hills it was nestled into, it did not dominate or overpower the landscape, it lived along with it.
Turning right off of the highway on the village path, they soon found themselves in the small village square. The ground was still wet dirt, the moisture left from the morning dew. No paved roads or paths here, just flattened dirt for the small byways around the village square.
An old weathered stone statue sat before them. Leaning forward, Alexandra reached out and brushed some mud off the plaque which sat on the front facing the road: CONSTRUCTED IN HONOR OF THEODOREO GYESILVRE. FOUNDER OF THE VILLAGE OF GYLESMOORE.
"This must be Gylesmoore then." Alexandra stepped back and surveyed the tiny village square.
"What makes you say that?" Luca had not seen any street signs of any kind.
"Intuition," she murmured, noting that they were being watched.
"Alex," she heard Zooey whisper just to her side.
"I know," she wreplied in an equally-hushed tone, "we're being watched. Probably seeing who the strangers are."
"I don't see anyone." Sophia huddled in closer.
Zooey rested her hand on her still-holstered sword. "From the closed windows."
Alexandra swallowed and stepped forward further into the square. She held her hands out, showing she bore no weapon. She turned around twice slowly, allowing everyone to see every side of her. She returned to facing the statue and spoke.
"Gylesmoore, we are no enemy of yours. We are but four farmhands trying to get north as the season ends. We are weary and hungry and were hoping to shelter here for but a night. We have coin and can pay for our stay and supplies we'll need. Please, we ask permission to be in your village. If it not be your will, please let us know so we can be on our way without causing any distress."
"Don't give them the idea to send us off!" hissed Zooey.
"It's smart," Sophia followed what Alexandra was doing, "it shows we are willing to submit to their will, which puts them in the position of authority. That will put the villagers at ease and make them more hospitable."
"She's great." Luca truly admired Alexandra.
From the far side of the square, a large man emerged from a partially-opened door. He was wearing dark green overalls caked with mud, a pitchfork in his hand with some stray strands of wheat still hanging from it. Alexandra figured he must be a farmer, and judging by his imposing figure, probably the voice of the village.
He came half-way to her across the square and stood there, sizing her up. The silence hung in the air as Alexandra stood in front of him. She had already stated her case and offered herself for examination, the next move belonged to him.
Another moment past, Alexandra was nervous, she could hear her own heartbeat and hoped no one else could.
"I am Jorge," he finally spoke, "the Lederan of Gylesmoore for this season."
"I am Alexandra," she dipped her head in a show of respect, "these are my friends Zooey, Luca, and Sophia."
"Farmhands you say?" He eyed them over. "Some of you look like you've never worked a field in your life."
A small twinge of panic hit Alexandra as she realized that Sophia by no means looked like a farmhand. Her skin was too fair and smooth to have been a laborer. Herself, Zooey, and Luca could probably pass the inspection, barely, but Sophia did present a problem. She thought fast and chose her next words carefully.
she was trying to sound calm and natural. "Myself and my two friends are indeed farmhands from a small farm to the west of Avindr. My other friend here," she motioned at Sophia, "was one of the house-hands. She is also a friend and wanted to travel with us."
"I see." Jorge thought that over, "where are you heading? North you said? What town? There's not much for farming the farther north you go."
Alexandra knew she could not betray their true mission, but in fact she honestly did not know where they were going either. Miss Florence had just told them to reach the mountains, she had not given any destination names. Alexandra decided to tell the truth, at least as much of it as she knew.
"We are visiting a cousin who lives in the last settlement before the Rotsen Mountains."
"Alloa?"
"If that is it then yes," she countered quickly, realizing the name could be a verbal trap. "I am honestly a little unsure of the name, I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention. I was told though that the highway would take us there eventually."
"Alloa is the largest town in the north, sits right in the shadow of the mountains," Jorge offered some information. "It's the end of the road, nothing past it but the ominous and impassable peaks of the mountains."
"Then yes," Alexandra was thankful they finally had a name for where they were going, "then if what you say is true, then Alloa is where we are going."
"It's far, several weeks by carriage, I can't even imagine on foot."
Alexandra was disappointed to hear that but it did not dampen her resolve. "Alas it is where we must go."
It seems Jorge had made up his mind and he scratched his rough chin.
"You are welcome here. We are a small village but you are welcome to rest and resupply here. Come on out, they're okay!"
The windows on the buildings swung open, doors opened. People began emptying into the square to see the new arrivals. The villagers were friendly now that the strangers had been deemed not a threat. Children ran up to examine them, everyone was quite welcoming now.
Apparently trade and travel had been dying off as of late so a group of new faces arriving in the village was quite the event. Everyone wanted to know about the capitol and if they had any adventures on the road so far. Alexandra had reminded everyone to hide who they really were, they did not after all want to be turned in to a National Patrol as they were considered troublemakers and traitors by official decree from House Cornelius.
Speaking with the town's innkeeper, they easily secured a room for the night with a piece of gold that they had received in Lerwick. For once in their lives, there were actually moderately well-off financially, the handful of gold pieces was no paltry sum, at least this far away from the capitol.
Once they had gotten their packs squared away in their room and satisfied the curiosity of the villagers, they ended up at a back table in the local pub. The pub was not just the town's drinking establishment, it served as the village hall and the main meeting place, so it was the de facto social center of the small settlement. There were no real laws regarding drinking and age, if you were tall enough to reach the bar you would generally be served. Of course, as common sense dictated, children and young ones usually did not drink.
Zooey had ordered a pint, relishing in their geographical as well as financial freedom. Luca, always trying to emulate her, had wanted as one as well, but when he saw the size, he changed to a much more conservative mug. Sophia and Alexandra both just had water, neither were drinkers. Sophia because she did not like the bitter taste and Alexandra because she was always looking out for her friends and if she got tipsy and something came up she would probably not be able to deal with it. The others relied on her, on her wit and strength, she could not let them down.
Zooey was already halfway done with her drink, slamming it on the table and wiping the foam from around her lips. She liked the fact they were on the road again, free to travel, and for the first time had money to be comfortable and to order a proper drink.
"Ah, this is good," she stammered a little.
"Yeah," Luca was trying to down another mouthful of the ale. "'S good. It's way better then the gruel we'd have to eat in the steam plant in Lerwick. That stuff was awful, David had told me it would put hair on my back. None yet."
Alexandra laughed, she was sure he had actually nervously checked.
"Don't have too much," Sophia cautioned Zooey, "I've seen drink bring out the worst in people."
"I don't have a worst side," she was waved off, "I know my limits"
"How?" questioned Alexandra, "you've never had this much to drink the whole time I've known you."
"I just know," was the answer from a face obscured by the raised mug in front of it.
"Uh huh," Alexandra was just worried she would be kept up all night by a hung-over Zooey, not an appealing prospect, "all I'm saying is I'm not holding back your hair."
"Don't worry about it," Zooey was already motioning the bartender for another.
Alexandra was about to tell her off for drinking so much when the door opened loudly and Jorge stormed in. He was flustered, angry. He paced for a moment before flopping himself down in the nearest chair with a loud thud. He pounded his fist on the table and was muttering to himself. Zooey was too engrossed with her drink to notice too much or care, but Alexandra wanted to know what was going on. On the pretense of re-filling her cup of water, she slid closer to the bar and nearer to Jorge. Being an Oonskat, she was skilled at blending into the crowd, going unnoticed by the masses. She employed this skill now to slip closer without it being obvious she was eavesdropping.
Jorge was now having a discussion with some of the other village farmers. She could hear from his tone right away that he was furious and speaking quickly, barely taking the time to breathe between words.
"...damn taxes!" he cursed, "who are these people that they have the gall to show up here, at our home, and demand this kind of ridiculous tribute. What is this? This never would have happened before when Archdea..."
"Did they say they were officials?" one of the other farmers interrupted him.
"Very proud of it to they were, smug idiots! They said they were collecting the new taxes. They said they were from the capitol, from House Cornelius specifically, like that was supposed to make me impressed or afraid!"
Alexandra froze.
Cornelius. It was the name that haunted her, the name that hounded her and her friends. They had tried to kill them. Why? She only wanted to know who her father was? Why did the most powerful House in Prydain take interest? Why did they want her dead? Why were they here now? Was it a coincidence? Did they lead them there?
Alexandra's heart sank: had she brought this to the village? Was it her fault? It was her fault, she knew it.
Jorge was speaking again. "They said that House Cornelius, with an approval vote in the Landskyp was now collecting a fresh set of taxes."
"It wasn't much," another farmer interjected, "it wouldn't hurt us too badly if we just paid them so they'd leave."
"That's what they want!" Jorge slammed his fist down on the wooden table once more, "it's the principal! Who do they think they are?! A single Noble House collecting taxes on top of the national taxes already collected last season?! This is an outrage, it's wrong! If we pay them we give our silent approval. We work the land, we tend the herds, we pay the taxes we have always traditionally paid with due diligence. This is an insult!"
"What did you say to the upstarts then?" a third farmer was also angered at the money grab.
"I politely told them that we did not recognize House Cornelius' authority to collect new taxes. I also told them that this whole area is under the domain of House Feyrinak and we would wait for an official tax collector from the Landskyp before the matter would be discussed further. Basically I said no."
While traditionally the Noble Houses were each directly responsible for lands in Prydain as set up by Willem Arkland, that was now only a loose affiliation as most administrative business was conducted by the Landskyp as one conglomerate governing body.
"So they left?"
"Looks like it," Jorge was glad to see them gone, "and good riddance."
"I can't believe they just left after being told off" another mused.
"Yeah," Jorge was getting up, "headed back to the highway last anyone saw."
With the talk over, Alexandra did actually re-fill her water mug and made her way back to the table in the back her friends were seated at. She was nervous, the mention of the Cornelius name brought her worries, fears, and guilt back to the surface. She had been happy for awhile, free on the road, traveling with her friends. Now, the rest of the world had intruded on that blissful calm.
She knew they had to reach the mountains soon so this whole affair could be done with. After that, they could vanish, hideaway somewhere until everyone forgot about them. Or maybe Alexandra could go away on her own, it was her they seemed to be after. If she left, then her friends would be safe. She smiled a little as she pictured the protests they would put up. She was not even sure if she would be able to survive without them, they had been her family for most of her life now.
She sat back down at the table and instantly noticed that Zooey had already polished off her second pint. She burped loudly and laid her head down on the table, her eyes closing.
"What was that all about?" Sophia leaned over.
"Something about a runaway sheep or something."
A lie.
With all that had happened to them before, Alexandra did not want to drag everyone's spirits down with the reminder of the name Cornelius. The past few weeks they had been actually having a good time, traveling the open country with each other. Things were okay, they were actually happy for once it seemed. Alexandra did not want that to end.
"I do hope it's all right," Sophia finished her own mug of water.
"Yeah, I'm sure." she lied again, hoping the conversation changed topics.
Zooey's belch interrupted the moment of silence. Alexandra and Sophia jumped back in their seats a little at the loudness of it. Zooey once again laid her head down and fell into a light ale-induced sleep.
Alexandra reached over and poked the top of her head, no response.
Luca meanwhile at the end of the table decided he had had enough and was now just staring in defeat at his own mug of ale. He felt a little queasy and was internally debating the merits of ever drinking again. He wanted to, it was something grown-ups did, something warriors did, but his stomach was making a fine case against it at the same time.
They waited until Alexandra had finished her second mug of water, something she had never really desired but had to because it was the whole pretense for eavesdropping on Jorge. That accomplished, Sophia stayed with the passed-out Zooey while Alexandra walked behind Luca upstairs, making sure he got into bed okay. He stumbled a bit going up the stairs but was trying his best to hold it together in front of Alexandra, the person he looked up to the most. He heaved himself up onto the bed and Alexandra straightened the woolly blankets.
Tip-toeing back out, Alexandra made her way back down stairs. It was a funny sight: her two friends still at the table among the villagers in the pub. Sophia was sitting in her chair, keeping an eagle-eye on Zooey, who had her head down on the table and was lightly snoring.
The candle-light was dimmer in the main area as it was getting much later, most of the villagers had gone home now, having to wake up early to tend fields and flocks. The villagers that remained were either already singing drunken pub songs or had long since fell face-first onto their tables in pleasant stupor.
Village life, much slower than in the big cities; a place where everyone knew everyone and you could get drunk at the pub and not have to worry about being robbed or taken by criminals. Alexandra thought a place like this would be a good place to live; she did not think she could ever go back to the slums of the city after experiencing the countryside out beyond the city walls.
"She still out somewhere in the clouds then?" Alexandra nodded at the snoring member of their party.
"Blissfully elsewhere," Sophia giggled.
"Come on then, it's up to you and me to drag her butt upstairs to bed."
"Ah, the evils of drink," Sophia sighed as she stood and took Zooey by the arm.
Alexandra stepped on the other side of their friend and also took her around the arm. On the count of three, they heaved her up and put her arms around their own shoulders. With her feet dragging on the wooden floor, they slowly made their way to the nearby stairs and then began the long and difficult climb upwards to their room.
Zooey was a dead-weight on them, but both were giggling with all the ways they could tease her about this later. Yes it was difficult now, but the rewards of giving her a hard time would far outweigh the pain. The difficulty of the climb was not helped by the occasional burps emitted from Zooey as they pulled her up the stairs; her feet banging on every step as they went up. It was forever and then an additional eternity it seemed before they arrived at the door to their room upstairs at the inn.
Opening it slowly so as to not disturb Luca, they pushed it open and entered. Relying only on the moonlight coming in from the four-pane window across the small room, they tripped and stumbled their way over to Zooey's bed. They tried to set her down gently as best they could, and threw a blanket on top of her. Alexandra and Sophia stood there for a moment, surveying their work, arms folded in satisfaction. They had succeeded in their difficult mission and now themselves could rest.
"It sucks being the last sober one at the party."
"Don't worry," Sophia took in a deep breath, winded from the struggle up the stairs, "I'm right next to you there."
Alexandra let herself fall onto her own bed. "This'll be a nice change from sleeping on grass and rocks the past few weeks."
"It is," agreed Sophia, "but being out in the countryside, the peacefulness at night, it's so beautiful. It's quiet, no city noise, just the breeze in the grasses and trees. It more than makes up for not having a proper bed."
"It is great," Alexandra slipped her shoes off, "I never imagined all this was out here being trapped in the city my whole life."
"When I was younger, before I was exiled, sometimes we'd spend the off-season at the Bradana's country estate. Green grass, meadows, streams, all there in the same wonderful place. It was its own world," Sophia recounted wistfully, remembering her distant childhood.
Alexandra could not imagine it. "That must have been horrible every day, knowing you were missing everything. If I knew that all this was out here maybe I would have tried to escape the city. But you, you never complained about it. I don't think I would have been able to keep quiet, I'd be angry I couldn't be out here."
Sleep quickly coming to her, Sophia let out a yawn. "After awhile I knew it wouldn't be possible to leave the city; I resigned myself to the fact I would never see the beautiful country again. But now here I am, and it's all thanks to you."
With that, Sophia was sound asleep, unable to stay awake any longer. In the following silence, her words haunted Alexandra. She knew Sophia meant it as a compliment, as a kind of thanks, but it continued ringing in her ears.
It was thanks to her and her curiosity that they were free of the city and in the countryside.
It was thanks to her they were seeing Prydain and going new places. It was thanks to her that they were fugitives.
She had no idea where that last thought had come from, but more like it were quick to force themselves on her.
It was thanks to her they were in constant danger.
It was thanks to her they were on a blind quest going to who-knows-where, and had no plan about what they were going to do afterwards. They would not stop being fugitives even after they reached the Rotsen Mountains. Once they had reached their destination, they would still have to hide somewhere, possibly for the rest of their lives.
They did not have a plan.
They did not seem to have a future.
She felt a weight on her shoulders.
It was all thanks to her.